Acorn — lightweight image editing for Mac
Acorn is a Mac-native image editor from Flying Meat built around speed and clarity: essential painting and retouching tools, real layers, and filters—without the weight of a giant creative suite. If you need to polish photos, prep screenshots, or composite a few layers without living inside manual menus all day, Acorn stays out of the way.
Tools and related settings live in a focused workspace where layers stay visible; deeper options—filters, levels and color tools, canvas and image sizing—sit where they belong in the menu bar. That layout keeps routine edits fast while still leaving room for more careful work.
What you can do
- Screenshots-to-edit: Capture and refine screen grabs without switching apps.
- Layer-based workflow: Standard stackable layers with opacity and blend modes.
- Filters you can stack: Chain adjustments to build stronger looks than a single pass.
- Selections & masking: Rectangular, elliptical, freeform, and magic-wand style picks.
- Vector & text: Shape layers, typography, gradient fills, and reusable text styles.
- Canvas & sizing: Resize image or canvas quickly—including adjusting via the window when it fits your flow.
- Full screen: Use the display real estate for detailed edits.
- Pressure-aware input: Tablet-friendly strokes where supported.
- GPU acceleration: Keeps brushes and filters responsive on capable hardware.
- Automation & extensions: Script and extend via Python (and related APIs—see vendor docs).
Everyone eventually needs to fix an image—Acorn’s pitch is that most jobs shouldn’t require a week of tutorials. Add type or simple shapes, combine photos, tune exposure and color, export, and move on.
Details & updates
- Version: 8.5.1
- Developer: Flying Meat Inc.
- Interface languages: English, German, Polish
- Compatibility: macOS 14 or later
- Architecture: Apple silicon (ARM) and Intel (x86-64)
Release notes and version history: Acorn release notes
Purchase and downloads: prefer the developer’s official channels.
