Thick strokes of oil paint dragged on with a knife, one over another – ridged, streaked with half-mixed colour and piled up at the edges, catching light from the upper left.
Thick strokes of oil paint dragged on with a knife, one over another – ridged, streaked with half-mixed colour and piled up at the edges, catching light from the upper left.
In the app you can adjust the colours, stroke size and painting pace. It runs natively on your Mac, drawn live in real time – no video, never quite the same twice.
Use it on your Mac
- Get SCRNSVRS free from the Mac App Store.
- Select Palette Knife in the library.
- Click Set as Screensaver or Set as Wallpaper – or both.
Preview free · macOS Tahoe 26 or laterNeed a hand? Read the setup guide.
Palette Knife FAQ
How do I set Palette Knife as my screensaver on a Mac?
Install SCRNSVRS free from the Mac App Store, select Palette Knife in the library and click Set as Screensaver. macOS starts it whenever your Mac is idle, exactly like a built-in screensaver.
Can I use Palette Knife as a live wallpaper?
Yes. Click Set as Wallpaper in SCRNSVRS and Palette Knife plays on your desktop behind your windows and icons. You can use it as screensaver and wallpaper at the same time.
Is Palette Knife free?
Palette Knife is included in SCRNSVRS Unlimited. It's free for your first 7 days; after that Unlimited is $1.99/month or $9.99/year (€1.99/month or €9.99/year) for every screensaver, including new ones. It can also come up in Free this month, when 25 premium screensavers are free for everyone.
Is Palette Knife a video loop?
No. Palette Knife is rendered live on your Mac with Metal, so it never repeats and stays sharp on any display size. The clip on this page is a screen recording of the real thing.
Will Palette Knife slow down my Mac or drain the battery?
No. SCRNSVRS drops to 30 fps on battery and stops rendering when the wallpaper is covered by a full-screen app, so Palette Knife costs next to nothing in everyday use.
Which Macs does Palette Knife run on?
Palette Knife needs macOS Tahoe 26 or later.
