PC Paintbrush
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
PC Paintbrush (also known simply as Paintbrush) was a 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 MacPaint on Apple Computer's new Macintosh platform. Unlike MacPaint, Paintbrush took advantage of the PC's Enhanced Graphics Adapter to enable users to work in 16 colors. It was also one of the first pieces of PC software to use a mouse and the earliest versions were distributed by Microsoft with a mouse included. Unlike most other applications before and since, Paintbrush version numbers were recorded with Roman numerals.
Along with the release of Paintbrush, ZSoft created the PC's first popular image format: the PCX. 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 ability accordingly. By its final version Paintbrush was able to open and save PCX, TIFF, and GIF formats.
Paintbrush was later adapted to the Windows 3.1 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. Both PC Paintbrush and Publishers 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.
