PC Paintbrush
Encyclopedia
PC Paintbrush was graphics editing software created by the ZSoft Corporation
in 1985 for computers running the MS-DOS
operating system
.
It was originally developed as a response to the first paintbrush program for the IBM PC, PCPaint
, which had been released the prior year by Mouse Systems
, the company responsible for bringing the mouse to the IBM PC for the first time.
In 1984 Mouse Systems
had released PCPaint
to compete with Apple Paint on the Apple II computer and was already positioned to compete with MacPaint
on Apple Computer's
new Macintosh platform
. Unlike MacPaint, PCPaint
enabled users to work in color.
When Paintbrush was released the following year, PCPaint
had already added 16-color support for the PC's 64-color Enhanced Graphics Adapter
(EGA), and Paintbrush followed with the PC's advantage of EGA support as well. (The EGA supported 64 colors, of which any 16 could be on the screen at a time in normal use.)
Also following the lead of Mouse Systems
and PCPaint
, one of the first pieces of software on the PC to use a mouse, the earliest versions of Paintbrush were distributed (by Microsoft
) with a mouse included. Both Microsoft and their competitor Mouse Systems
bundled their mice with Mouse Systems' PCPaint
in 1984. At Christmas 1984, amidst record sales volumes in the home computer market, Microsoft had created a "sidecar" bundle for the PCjr
, complete with their mouse, but with their competitor's product PCPaint
. With the release of Paintbrush the following year, Microsoft no longer needed to sell the software of their competitor in the PC mouse hardware market in order to have the same market advantage.
Microsoft's mechanical mice outsold Mouse Systems' optical mice after a few years, but PCPaint
outsold Paintbrush until the late 1980s.
Unlike most other applications before and since, Paintbrush version numbers were recorded with Roman numerals
.
Along with the release of Paintbrush, ZSoft, following in the footsteps of PCPaint's Pictor PIC format, the first popular image format for the PC, created the PCX
image format.
The first version of Paintbrush only allowed the use of a limited EGA 16-color palette. By version III, 256 colors and extended SVGA resolutions were supported through the use of hundreds of custom-tailored graphics drivers
. The PCX format grew in capability accordingly. By its final version, Paintbrush was able to open and save PCX, TIFF, and GIF
files.
Paintbrush was later adapted to the Windows 3.0
operating system as Publisher's Paintbrush. Publisher's Paintbrush allowed importation of images via TWAIN
-based capture devices like hand-held and flatbed scanners
. Support for 24-bit color and simple photo retouching tools were also added, as well as the ability to open more than one image at a time. The program also added many simulations of real-world media such as oil paints, watercolors, and colored pencils, and it had a number of new smudge tools that took advantage of the increased color depth. Both PC Paintbrush and Publisher's Paintbrush were supplemented and later replaced with the more budget oriented PhotoFinish
.
After ZSoft was sold, resold, and then finally absorbed by The Learning Company
, an extremely low priced and simple graphics application was released under the title PC Paintbrush Designer.
ZSoft Corporation
ZSoft Corporation, founded by Mark Zachmann, was a Marietta, Georgia software company in the 1980s known for the PC Paintbrush software and its PCX graphic file format. ZSoft first merged in 1989 with Mediagenic. When Mediagenic went bankrupt in 1991, Zachmann was able to regain his independence...
in 1985 for computers running the MS-DOS
MS-DOS
MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
.
It was originally developed as a response to the first paintbrush program for the IBM PC, PCPaint
PCPaint
PCPaint was the first IBM PC-based mouse driven GUI paint program . It was developed by John Bridges and Doug Wolfgram.The hardware manufacturer Mouse Systems bundled PCPaint with millions of computer mice that they sold, making PCPaint also the best-selling MS-DOS-based paint program of the late...
, which had been released the prior year by Mouse Systems
Mouse Systems
Mouse Systems Corporation, formerly Rodent Associates, was founded in 1982 by Steve Kirsch, inventor of the optical mouse. In addition to being a vehicle for Kirsch's invention, the company was responsible for bringing the mouse to the IBM PC for the first time.Like all early optical mice, their...
, the company responsible for bringing the mouse to the IBM PC for the first time.
In 1984 Mouse Systems
Mouse Systems
Mouse Systems Corporation, formerly Rodent Associates, was founded in 1982 by Steve Kirsch, inventor of the optical mouse. In addition to being a vehicle for Kirsch's invention, the company was responsible for bringing the mouse to the IBM PC for the first time.Like all early optical mice, their...
had released PCPaint
PCPaint
PCPaint was the first IBM PC-based mouse driven GUI paint program . It was developed by John Bridges and Doug Wolfgram.The hardware manufacturer Mouse Systems bundled PCPaint with millions of computer mice that they sold, making PCPaint also the best-selling MS-DOS-based paint program of the late...
to compete with Apple Paint on the Apple II computer and was already positioned to compete with MacPaint
MacPaint
MacPaint was a bitmap-based graphics painting software program developed by Apple Computer and released with the original Macintosh personal computer on January 22, 1984. It was sold separately for US$195 with its word processor counterpart, MacWrite. MacPaint was notable because it could generate...
on Apple Computer's
Apple Computer
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...
new Macintosh platform
Platform (computing)
A computing platform includes some sort of hardware architecture and a software framework , where the combination allows software, particularly application software, to run...
. Unlike MacPaint, PCPaint
PCPaint
PCPaint was the first IBM PC-based mouse driven GUI paint program . It was developed by John Bridges and Doug Wolfgram.The hardware manufacturer Mouse Systems bundled PCPaint with millions of computer mice that they sold, making PCPaint also the best-selling MS-DOS-based paint program of the late...
enabled users to work in color.
When Paintbrush was released the following year, PCPaint
PCPaint
PCPaint was the first IBM PC-based mouse driven GUI paint program . It was developed by John Bridges and Doug Wolfgram.The hardware manufacturer Mouse Systems bundled PCPaint with millions of computer mice that they sold, making PCPaint also the best-selling MS-DOS-based paint program of the late...
had already added 16-color support for the PC's 64-color Enhanced Graphics Adapter
Enhanced Graphics Adapter
The Enhanced Graphics Adapter is the IBM PC computer display standard specification which is between CGA and VGA in terms of color and space resolution. Introduced in October 1984 by IBM shortly after its new PC/AT, EGA produces a display of 16 simultaneous colors from a palette of 64 at a...
(EGA), and Paintbrush followed with the PC's advantage of EGA support as well. (The EGA supported 64 colors, of which any 16 could be on the screen at a time in normal use.)
Mouse Systems
Mouse Systems Corporation, formerly Rodent Associates, was founded in 1982 by Steve Kirsch, inventor of the optical mouse. In addition to being a vehicle for Kirsch's invention, the company was responsible for bringing the mouse to the IBM PC for the first time.Like all early optical mice, their...
and PCPaint
PCPaint
PCPaint was the first IBM PC-based mouse driven GUI paint program . It was developed by John Bridges and Doug Wolfgram.The hardware manufacturer Mouse Systems bundled PCPaint with millions of computer mice that they sold, making PCPaint also the best-selling MS-DOS-based paint program of the late...
, one of the first pieces of software on the PC to use a mouse, the earliest versions of Paintbrush were distributed (by Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
) with a mouse included. Both Microsoft and their competitor Mouse Systems
Mouse Systems
Mouse Systems Corporation, formerly Rodent Associates, was founded in 1982 by Steve Kirsch, inventor of the optical mouse. In addition to being a vehicle for Kirsch's invention, the company was responsible for bringing the mouse to the IBM PC for the first time.Like all early optical mice, their...
bundled their mice with Mouse Systems' PCPaint
PCPaint
PCPaint was the first IBM PC-based mouse driven GUI paint program . It was developed by John Bridges and Doug Wolfgram.The hardware manufacturer Mouse Systems bundled PCPaint with millions of computer mice that they sold, making PCPaint also the best-selling MS-DOS-based paint program of the late...
in 1984. At Christmas 1984, amidst record sales volumes in the home computer market, Microsoft had created a "sidecar" bundle for the PCjr
IBM PCjr
The IBM PCjr was IBM's first attempt to enter the home computer market. The PCjr, IBM model number 4860, retained the IBM PC's 8088 CPU and BIOS interface for compatibility, but various design and implementation decisions led the PCjr to be a commercial failure.- Features :Announced November 1,...
, complete with their mouse, but with their competitor's product PCPaint
PCPaint
PCPaint was the first IBM PC-based mouse driven GUI paint program . It was developed by John Bridges and Doug Wolfgram.The hardware manufacturer Mouse Systems bundled PCPaint with millions of computer mice that they sold, making PCPaint also the best-selling MS-DOS-based paint program of the late...
. With the release of Paintbrush the following year, Microsoft no longer needed to sell the software of their competitor in the PC mouse hardware market in order to have the same market advantage.
PCPaint
PCPaint was the first IBM PC-based mouse driven GUI paint program . It was developed by John Bridges and Doug Wolfgram.The hardware manufacturer Mouse Systems bundled PCPaint with millions of computer mice that they sold, making PCPaint also the best-selling MS-DOS-based paint program of the late...
outsold Paintbrush until the late 1980s.
Unlike most other applications before and since, Paintbrush version numbers were recorded with Roman numerals
Roman numerals
The numeral system of ancient Rome, or Roman numerals, uses combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet to signify values. The numbers 1 to 10 can be expressed in Roman numerals as:...
.
Along with the release of Paintbrush, ZSoft, following in the footsteps of PCPaint's Pictor PIC format, the first popular image format for the PC, created the PCX
PCX
PCX is an image file format developed by the now-defunct ZSoft Corporation of Marietta, Georgia. It was the native file format for PC Paintbrush and became one of the first widely accepted DOS imaging standards, although it has since been succeeded by more sophisticated image formats, such as GIF,...
image format.
The first version of Paintbrush only allowed the use of a limited EGA 16-color palette. By version III, 256 colors and extended SVGA resolutions were supported through the use of hundreds of custom-tailored graphics drivers
Device driver
In computing, a device driver or software driver is a computer program allowing higher-level computer programs to interact with a hardware device....
. The PCX format grew in capability accordingly. By its final version, Paintbrush was able to open and save PCX, TIFF, and GIF
GIF
The Graphics Interchange Format is a bitmap image format that was introduced by CompuServe in 1987 and has since come into widespread usage on the World Wide Web due to its wide support and portability....
files.
Windows 3.0
Windows 3.0, a graphical environment, is the third major release of Microsoft Windows, and was released on 22 May 1990. It became the first widely successful version of Windows and a rival to Apple Macintosh and the Commodore Amiga on the GUI front...
operating system as Publisher's Paintbrush. Publisher's Paintbrush allowed importation of images via TWAIN
TWAIN
TWAIN is a standard software protocol and applications programming interface that regulates communication between software applications and imaging devices such as scanners and digital cameras....
-based capture devices like hand-held and flatbed scanners
Image scanner
In computing, an image scanner—often abbreviated to just scanner—is a device that optically scans images, printed text, handwriting, or an object, and converts it to a digital image. Common examples found in offices are variations of the desktop scanner where the document is placed on a glass...
. Support for 24-bit color and simple photo retouching tools were also added, as well as the ability to open more than one image at a time. The program also added many simulations of real-world media such as oil paints, watercolors, and colored pencils, and it had a number of new smudge tools that took advantage of the increased color depth. Both PC Paintbrush and Publisher's Paintbrush were supplemented and later replaced with the more budget oriented PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish is a discontinued photo editing software package, originally published by ZSoft Corporation. After The Learning Company acquired ZSoft, and was in turn acquired by Broderbund, PhotoFinish was discontinued....
.
After ZSoft was sold, resold, and then finally absorbed by The Learning Company
The Learning Company
The Learning Company is an American educational software company, founded in 1980. It produced a grade-based system similar to Knowledge Adventure's JumpStart series. The products for preschoolers through second graders feature Reader Rabbit, and software for more advanced students features The...
, an extremely low priced and simple graphics application was released under the title PC Paintbrush Designer.