How to do calligraphy and hand lettering on a Mac
Set up your page
In the “New Canvas” card, pick a preset such as “Portrait” and a “Surface” such as “Fine Paper” or “Kraft”, then click “Create Canvas”.
Draw guidelines
Press U, choose “Line” from the “Shapes” menu and pick the blue swatch. Hold ⇧ as you drag to keep each baseline level; the lines go on their own layer.
Choose the nib
Click “Pen & Ink” in the tools palette (or press N), then click it again to open its style tray and choose “Calligraphy”. “Ballpoint” is free; “Calligraphy”, “Fountain” and “Brush Pen” are Pro.
Set size and smoothing
Click “Tool Options” to set “Size” and raise “Steady” for smoother curves. Press [ and ] to resize the nib between words.
Write with the nib angle
Pick the black swatch and write slowly: strokes along the nib’s edge come out thin, and strokes across it come out thick. On a pen tablet, press harder to widen a stroke.
Hide the guides and export
Open the “Studio” sidebar from the toolbar, right-click the guide layer and choose “Hide Layer”. Then choose File ▸ “Export as PNG…”: hidden layers and the paper stay out, leaving a transparent background.
A calligraphy app for Mac with a 45° flat nib
Paint My gives you a real broad-edge nib for digital calligraphy. “Calligraphy” has a flat tip held at 45°, so a stroke along the nib’s edge makes a hairline and a stroke across it makes a full-width line. The contrast comes from direction, even with a mouse.
A pen tablet is recommended for lettering: pressing harder also widens the stroke. The angle is fixed to the canvas, not the screen: turn the canvas with a two-finger twist on the trackpad, as you would turn paper, and the nib turns with it. ⌥⌘0 straightens it again.
Fresh ink glistens, then dries to its true color; the sheen never reaches your exports. Compare every pen in the Pen & Ink family of the brush library.
Brush pen lettering, digitally
For brush lettering, use “Brush Pen”. Its oval tip turns with your stroke and pressure sets its size, so you press harder on downstrokes and lighter on upstrokes. A mouse draws at full pressure, so with a mouse the line keeps one weight.
As a fountain pen drawing app, Paint My offers “Fountain”: a smaller oval tip that follows the stroke, changes size with pressure and responds to tilt. See the drawing tablet for Mac guide for more on pressure and tilt.
Chisel marker lettering
The “Chisel” marker, a free style, holds its tip at 45° but ignores pressure, so thick and thin come only from the direction of the stroke, with a mouse or a pen. Its translucent ink darkens where strokes cross, as marker does on paper.
With Pro, “Dual Tip” and “Alcohol Blend” keep the same 45° angle: pressure changes the size of “Dual Tip” and the flow of “Alcohol Blend”.
Hand lettering on Mac, from rough sketch to ink
Paint My has no text tool, so every letter is drawn by hand: it is a hand lettering app for Mac, not a font tool. Sketch the words first with “HB Graphite”, then ink over them. Each new tool and color starts its own layer (up to 3 layers in a free painting), so you can hide the pencil afterward.
For pencil roughs, see the sketching app for Mac guide. Started on paper? Scan a drawing with your iPhone to your Mac and ink over it.
Which lettering tools are free?
- “Ballpoint”, the “Chisel” marker, “HB Graphite” for roughs, and all three erasers.
- Pro adds “Calligraphy”, “Fountain”, “Brush Pen”, “Dual Tip” and “Alcohol Blend”.
- 3 layers and 50 undo steps; Pro has no layer limit and no undo step limit.
- One canvas open at a time, a five-color palette, all 8 surfaces and every export.
Questions
Can you do calligraphy on a Mac?
Yes. Paint My is a native Mac app with a “Calligraphy” nib fixed at 45°, plus “Brush Pen”, “Fountain” and “Chisel” for lettering. It’s a free download for macOS 14 Sonoma or later; “Ballpoint” and “Chisel” are free, and the other lettering pens are Pro.
Do you need a tablet for digital lettering?
A pen tablet is recommended, because pressure changes the size of “Calligraphy”, “Fountain”, “Brush Pen” and “Ballpoint”. A mouse draws at full pressure, and the 45° nib still gives thick and thin from direction.
Which brush should I use for brush lettering?
Use “Brush Pen” in the “Pen & Ink” family. Its tip follows your stroke and pressure changes its size, so press harder on downstrokes and lighter on upstrokes. “Brush Pen” is part of Pro.
How do thick and thin strokes work?
On “Calligraphy” and the 45° markers, the tip holds its angle, so a stroke along the tip’s edge is thin and one across it is thick. On pressure styles such as “Brush Pen”, pressing harder with a pen tablet makes the line wider.
Is there a text tool for lettering?
No. Paint My has no text tool or fonts, so you draw every letter by hand with a pen, marker or brush.
Can I export lettering with a transparent background?
Yes. File ▸ “Export as PNG…” leaves out the paper and any hidden layers, so hide your guidelines first. Every export is free.
