Acorn
Image editor for Mac users who want to retouch photos, paint, add text and export in many formats.
About Acorn
Acorn is an image editor for macOS from Flying Meat. It is used to edit and retouch photos, apply filters, crop, paint, add text and create new images. The publisher describes it as having no subscriptions.
Version 8 adds an object removal brush (Synth Fill), a Healing Brush, a rewritten brush engine, machine-learning subject selection and a Live Text tool for copying text from images. It also adds data-driven graphics from CSV files, an on-canvas ruler, JPEG-XL support and LUTs for colour grading.
Editing is non-destructive, with curves, levels, filters, layer masks and selections. Acorn can export to many formats, including JPEG, PNG, GIF, HEIC, TIFF, WebP, PSD, PDF and SVG, with live file-size preview and animated GIF and PNG export.
- Super Resolution machine-learning image resizing
- Apple Shortcuts and AppleScript support
- Layered screenshots with timed capture
- Perspective fix and crop tool
It requires macOS 14 Sonoma or later and runs natively on Apple Silicon Macs. A 14-day free trial is available from the publisher.
What it does
Requirements & licence
| Runs on | macOS |
|---|---|
| Internet | Works offline |
| System requirements | macOS 14 Sonoma or later; universal binary for Apple Silicon Macs (Intel support not stated on the page) |
| Licence | Commercial — Proprietary commercial licence (one-off purchase, 14-day free trial) |
| Source code | Not included — you buy the right to use the software, not ownership of the code |
| Distribution | Official publisher download |
| Last updated | 30 Oct 2026 |
| Support | Community or self-service |
| Documentation | Read the user guide |
Downloads
Learn Acorn
Hand-picked video tutorials from YouTube to help you get started and get more out of it.
Videos are made by independent creators and play from YouTube. More on YouTube
Get trained on Acorn
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Publisher
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