Dustin Mierau
@mierau.me
Blippo+. Playmaker. Path. Napster.
MacPaint remake. Hotline remake.
Mac nerd. Maker of software.
I delete my account annually when I tire of social media. But for now.
MacPaint remake. Hotline remake.
Mac nerd. Maker of software.
I delete my account annually when I tire of social media. But for now.
MacPaint had this top-left preview overlay that displayed the pixels of the area you were zoomed in on at 100%. Because this version of MacPaint is resizable, I of course had to make this preview resize too and show exactly what you were seeing (snapped to pixel boundaries). 😄
January 9, 2026 at 5:12 AM
MacPaint had this top-left preview overlay that displayed the pixels of the area you were zoomed in on at 100%. Because this version of MacPaint is resizable, I of course had to make this preview resize too and show exactly what you were seeing (snapped to pixel boundaries). 😄
I love how zen MacPaint is fullscreen.
January 9, 2026 at 4:44 AM
I love how zen MacPaint is fullscreen.
Doesn't get old: copying a document created in MacPaint on macOS 26 over to System 6 and seeing it open perfectly.
January 8, 2026 at 8:25 PM
Doesn't get old: copying a document created in MacPaint on macOS 26 over to System 6 and seeing it open perfectly.
MacPaint remake will appear on stage at CES 2027. We're going to synergize the AI industry with our initial offering of MacPaint NFTs and the introduction of MacPaint Coin.
January 8, 2026 at 6:35 PM
MacPaint remake will appear on stage at CES 2027. We're going to synergize the AI industry with our initial offering of MacPaint NFTs and the introduction of MacPaint Coin.
A hybrid approach and I kind of like it... I mean, relatively speaking in this liquid glass world. 🤷♂️
January 8, 2026 at 5:18 PM
A hybrid approach and I kind of like it... I mean, relatively speaking in this liquid glass world. 🤷♂️
Fun fact I never thought about until I had to implement it: marching ants selection animation is actually a diagonal line pattern drawn on the 1px outline. The animation is just moving the pattern offset at 60fps. Kind of like a barber pole. A neat trick that worked so well we still use it today.
January 8, 2026 at 5:18 AM
Fun fact I never thought about until I had to implement it: marching ants selection animation is actually a diagonal line pattern drawn on the 1px outline. The animation is just moving the pattern offset at 60fps. Kind of like a barber pole. A neat trick that worked so well we still use it today.
The feature I was most terrified to implement in MacPaint was the lasso tool. I used an LLM to help me understand the original MacPaint's assembly code. 😄
This is because the tool doesn't just select the area you outlined nor select just black pixels. It actually collapses on the outlined shapes.
This is because the tool doesn't just select the area you outlined nor select just black pixels. It actually collapses on the outlined shapes.
January 8, 2026 at 5:05 AM
The feature I was most terrified to implement in MacPaint was the lasso tool. I used an LLM to help me understand the original MacPaint's assembly code. 😄
This is because the tool doesn't just select the area you outlined nor select just black pixels. It actually collapses on the outlined shapes.
This is because the tool doesn't just select the area you outlined nor select just black pixels. It actually collapses on the outlined shapes.
As I excavate 40 year old Mac screen fonts from the depths of system floppy disk images and forgotten resource forks, I stop to appreciate just how amazing these fonts were at a mere 9pt.
Each one clearly and cleanly expresses its unique character at even the smallest sizes.
Each one clearly and cleanly expresses its unique character at even the smallest sizes.
January 8, 2026 at 3:31 AM
As I excavate 40 year old Mac screen fonts from the depths of system floppy disk images and forgotten resource forks, I stop to appreciate just how amazing these fonts were at a mere 9pt.
Each one clearly and cleanly expresses its unique character at even the smallest sizes.
Each one clearly and cleanly expresses its unique character at even the smallest sizes.
The original Macintosh MacPaint guide book is 98% accurate still for the remake. So I can just point people to this book for help. 😄
archive.org/details/maci...
archive.org/details/maci...
Macintosh Mac Paint : Apple Computer, Inc : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
MacintoshMacPaintApple Computer, Inc. 1983How to Use This BookLearnign MacPaintUsing MacPaint Lines and patterns Text Using the paintbrush Editing...
archive.org
January 7, 2026 at 7:22 PM
The original Macintosh MacPaint guide book is 98% accurate still for the remake. So I can just point people to this book for help. 😄
archive.org/details/maci...
archive.org/details/maci...
MacPaint will support multiple documents and tabbed windows as you'd expect. :)
January 7, 2026 at 5:50 PM
MacPaint will support multiple documents and tabbed windows as you'd expect. :)
Implemented Brush Mirrors in MacPaint remake. Since the original MacPaint window wasn't resizable, I wonder if I should make the mirrors act on the visible canvas area vs the entire canvas. It's a neat tool.
January 7, 2026 at 5:46 PM
Implemented Brush Mirrors in MacPaint remake. Since the original MacPaint window wasn't resizable, I wonder if I should make the mirrors act on the visible canvas area vs the entire canvas. It's a neat tool.
I remember reading in an interview that Bill Atkinson had built this feature for the original MacPaint that allowed you to edit text you had placed even after you closed the document.
He removed the feature because he didn’t want customers to get confused with overlap between MacPaint and MacWrite.
He removed the feature because he didn’t want customers to get confused with overlap between MacPaint and MacWrite.
January 7, 2026 at 3:22 AM
I remember reading in an interview that Bill Atkinson had built this feature for the original MacPaint that allowed you to edit text you had placed even after you closed the document.
He removed the feature because he didn’t want customers to get confused with overlap between MacPaint and MacWrite.
He removed the feature because he didn’t want customers to get confused with overlap between MacPaint and MacWrite.
Here Internet, my daughter and I just made this and she came up with "Alfie Mantford Cranch." Enjoy.
January 7, 2026 at 1:39 AM
Here Internet, my daughter and I just made this and she came up with "Alfie Mantford Cranch." Enjoy.
MacPaint in dark mode. Also you can drop or paste color images into a document and they are dithered and placed automatically. They re-dither when you resize the dropped image.
January 7, 2026 at 12:50 AM
MacPaint in dark mode. Also you can drop or paste color images into a document and they are dithered and placed automatically. They re-dither when you resize the dropped image.
Those who remember, MacPaint had a "Goodies" menu. In it were menu items for features they, I assume, hadn't figured out how to organize elsewhere. Useful features like zoom (FatBits), grid, brush shapes, brush mirrors, pattern editor, shortcut and intro images.
I had to add one: QuickTake. =)
I had to add one: QuickTake. =)
January 7, 2026 at 12:28 AM
Those who remember, MacPaint had a "Goodies" menu. In it were menu items for features they, I assume, hadn't figured out how to organize elsewhere. Useful features like zoom (FatBits), grid, brush shapes, brush mirrors, pattern editor, shortcut and intro images.
I had to add one: QuickTake. =)
I had to add one: QuickTake. =)
I just open and admire MacPaint works I find outline now. Admired in the frame they were created in.
Bert Monroy, if you're out there somewhere, your 80s MacPaint work was rivaled by nobody (as far as I can tell). 😍
Bert Monroy, if you're out there somewhere, your 80s MacPaint work was rivaled by nobody (as far as I can tell). 😍
January 7, 2026 at 12:18 AM
I just open and admire MacPaint works I find outline now. Admired in the frame they were created in.
Bert Monroy, if you're out there somewhere, your 80s MacPaint work was rivaled by nobody (as far as I can tell). 😍
Bert Monroy, if you're out there somewhere, your 80s MacPaint work was rivaled by nobody (as far as I can tell). 😍
Here are the remade hi-res MacPaint icons and cursors. I forgot macOS lost the ability to draw cursors using xor composite long ago (where they inverted over background content).
Most all cursors have white outlines now. I compromised by removing the white outline at the tip of the pencil cursor.
Most all cursors have white outlines now. I compromised by removing the white outline at the tip of the pencil cursor.
January 7, 2026 at 12:02 AM
Here are the remade hi-res MacPaint icons and cursors. I forgot macOS lost the ability to draw cursors using xor composite long ago (where they inverted over background content).
Most all cursors have white outlines now. I compromised by removing the white outline at the tip of the pencil cursor.
Most all cursors have white outlines now. I compromised by removing the white outline at the tip of the pencil cursor.
Here are some hidden features of MacPaint that surprised me:
- Patterns are stored with each document.
- Text pasted from clipboard can have its bounding box resized and thus rewrapped!
- Drawing tools would hide their frame if you held ⌥ and would draw with white as transparent if you held ⌘.
- Patterns are stored with each document.
- Text pasted from clipboard can have its bounding box resized and thus rewrapped!
- Drawing tools would hide their frame if you held ⌥ and would draw with white as transparent if you held ⌘.
January 6, 2026 at 11:47 PM
Here are some hidden features of MacPaint that surprised me:
- Patterns are stored with each document.
- Text pasted from clipboard can have its bounding box resized and thus rewrapped!
- Drawing tools would hide their frame if you held ⌥ and would draw with white as transparent if you held ⌘.
- Patterns are stored with each document.
- Text pasted from clipboard can have its bounding box resized and thus rewrapped!
- Drawing tools would hide their frame if you held ⌥ and would draw with white as transparent if you held ⌘.
Over the break I spent time on my complete remake of MacPaint (with some quality-of-life improvements). I started in 2024 and intended to release for the 40th anniversary, but MacPaint has way more god damn features than I think anyone remembers. Here's some video of me using the latest build. 😄
January 6, 2026 at 7:53 PM
Over the break I spent time on my complete remake of MacPaint (with some quality-of-life improvements). I started in 2024 and intended to release for the 40th anniversary, but MacPaint has way more god damn features than I think anyone remembers. Here's some video of me using the latest build. 😄