How to get your child drawing on a Mac
Download Paint My
Get Paint My from the Mac App Store. It’s a free download for macOS 14 Sonoma or later, with no account to create.
Close the welcome tour
On first launch, click “Skip” to close the welcome tour, or click “Continue Free” on its last page.
Make a canvas
On the “New Canvas” card, pick “Classic” and a surface such as “Fine Paper” or “Slate”, then click “Create Canvas”.
Pick a tool and a color
Click Pencil, Marker, Chalk, Paint or Spray Can in the tools palette, or press P, H, K, O or S. Then click one of the five color dots.
Undo a mistake
Click “Undo” (the back arrow) in the palette to take back the last stroke; the free version keeps 50 undo steps. “Clear Layer” (the trash button) empties the active layer, and “Undo” brings it back.
Keep the picture
Choose File ▸ “Export as PNG…” or “Export as JPEG…” to save a copy on your Mac. Every export is free.
A drawing app for kids on Mac, with no account
Paint My is a native drawing and painting app for Mac, and a free download from the Mac App Store. Its welcome tour ends with a promise the app keeps: “The free version keeps working — no account, no tricks.”
As a kids drawing program for Mac, it keeps the first steps short: click a tool in the floating palette, click a color, and draw with the mouse or trackpad. Clicking a tool picks a style the free version includes, so a child doesn’t pick a locked brush by accident.
Mouse strokes draw at full pressure, so lines come out at full strength without a pen tablet. Learning alongside your child? Read our guide to digital painting software for Mac.
Is Paint My a safe drawing app for kids?
In Settings ▸ About, the Privacy row reads “No data collected”. Paint My has no networking code and no third-party code, runs in the App Sandbox and opens just the files you choose. Nothing is uploaded.
Purchases go through the App Store. The store appears when someone reaches for a Pro feature, such as a locked brush style, and at the end of the welcome tour. It never pops up on a timer, and Paint My never asks for a rating. Pro features carry a small lock badge, and “Not Now” closes the store.
If your child’s Apple Account uses Ask to Buy, a purchase waits for your approval and Paint My shows “This purchase needs approval.” Pro turns on once you approve it.
A paint app for kids on Mac: the free tools
The free version has 14 brush styles, one in each tool family plus every eraser, with 3 layers, 50 undo steps and one canvas open at a time. For shapes and fill, see Paint for Mac. Start with these:
- Pencil (P): “HB Graphite”, for outlines and doodles.
- Marker (H): “Chisel”, a flat-tip marker for bold color.
- Chalk (K): “Soft Chalk”, with a powdery texture.
- Paint (O): “Acrylic”, which covers what’s underneath.
- Airbrush (A) and Spray Can (S): “Airbrush” for soft sprays and “Classic Can” for speckled spray paint.
- Pixel (X): “Pixel Brush”, for blocky pixel pictures.
- Eraser (E): all three styles, “Hard”, “Soft” and “Color-aware”.
- Colors: a five-color palette of black, white, red, blue and yellow.
Easy drawing ideas for kids: mirrors, pixels and replay
Mirror drawing: choose “Symmetry” ▸ “Left ↔ Right” in the toolbar, draw on one side of the middle, and the mirror image appears on the other. “Left ↔ Right” and “Up ↕ Down” are in the free version. Mandalas use the Pro Quad and Radial modes; see the symmetry drawing app guide.
Pixel pictures: press X for the Pixel Brush and a grid appears, so each click fills one square cell. The pixel art app for Mac guide shows how to change the cell size.
Replay: choose View ▸ “Replay Session” (⇧⌘R) and the picture rebuilds itself inside the app, one step at a time. The free version replays up to the last 50 steps, so a replay lasts about 10 seconds at most. File ▸ “Open Toy Car Sample” shows a toy car painted with the app’s own brush strokes. It replaces the canvas in front, so open it on an empty one.
Sound: turn on Settings ▸ Tools ▸ “Brush sound”, and pencils scratch while spray cans hiss. It’s off by default.
Questions
Which drawing app is easy for kids on a Mac?
Paint My keeps it simple: click a tool, click one of five colors and draw. “Undo” sits in the tools palette, and there’s no account to set up.
Does my child need an account?
No. Paint My doesn’t ask anyone to sign in or create an account.
Does Paint My collect data?
No. Settings ▸ About reads “No data collected”, the app has no networking or third-party code, and nothing your child draws is uploaded.
Can kids buy things in the app?
Yes, but only Paint My Pro, through the App Store. The store appears when someone picks a Pro feature or reaches the end of the welcome tour. With Ask to Buy, a purchase waits for your approval.
Do we need a drawing tablet?
No. A mouse or trackpad works, and mouse strokes draw at full pressure. A pen tablet adds pressure on 46 of the 57 brush styles and tilt on 13, including the free “HB Graphite” and “Soft Chalk”.
