Still, it will likely please many photography enthusiasts who do not have to work in CMYK or other color spaces or modes, and who don’t need video capability or sophisticated Photoshop-style nondestructive adjustment layers. Layer styles and effects are easy to apply.ĭespite the fact that certain Pixelmator features resemble those found in Photoshop, Pixelmator is not Photoshop, and it does not pretend to be. It’s an advanced consumer app that, with version 3.1, gains additional flexibility and features for both consumers and prosumers. Photo-editing enthusiasts who seek to replace Photoshop with Pixelmator have to accept Pixelmator on its own terms. Pixelmator says it is working to implement 16-bit support for other Mac models.įree floating palettes can be cool, but you have to work harder to keep your desktop in order. Details like the program’s inability to lock a layer can result in some frustrating keyboard-mouse acrobatics.Īnd while there can be no complaints about 16-bit capability-users have been clamoring for this feature-it seems silly not to have extended that capability to all Macs capable of handling it, not just the Mac Pro. The lack of a tabbed interface in the main window makes it harder to switch between separate images for compositing. The ordering process is easy, with step-by-step instructions. With version 3.1, Pixelmator adds 16-bit performance, which means that you can open and edit high-bit-depth files in this version of the program-but saving and converting to 16-bit is reserved for the Mac Pro.Īnother new feature introduced in version 3.1 lets you print cards, posters, gallery frames, and postcards, from within the app, via the MILK Print on Demand service. The Warp tools, introduced in Pixelmator 3.0 FX, assist in a wide range of editing tasks. It even has a full complement of vector tools, which work well, though their capabilities are restricted. Pixelmator offers a slate of useful consumer features that Photoshop added over time, such as the healing tool and red-eye removal. I found these tools to be fluid with excellent performance, both on an old Mac Pro, and on a newer iMac and a MacBook Air. The program’s support for both iPhoto and Aperture in accessing libraries, events, and albums within its browser palette is an added convenience. The new Liquify tool lets you twist parts of an image, add whimsical artistic detail, or distort images in whole or part with the Warp, Bump, Pinch, and Twirl commands. Click or drag to enlarge, pinch, squeeze, or stretch parts of your images for a grotesque look or to create and enhance unusual details. The program also offers a wide range of special effects in categories such as Blur, Distortion, Sharpen, Color Adjustments, Tile, Stylize, Halftone, Generator, and more. As a full-service image editor, it has an extensive, Photoshop-like toolbar that offers a slate of traditional, recognizable controls that most photographers need for editing, compositing, and enhancing images, as well as for drawing and painting. Pixelmator shares some basic features in common with Photoshop. The 16-bit output transforms Pixelmator into more of a pro-level tool, but only for Mac Pro users. That said, version 3.1 follows closely on the heels of Pixelmator 3.0 FX, whose new features are included in this review. Much attention has been focused on Pixelmator as enthusiasts seek to escape the confines of Photoshop CCĪpple featured Pixelmator as part of its performance demos of the new Mac Pro, so it’s no accident that the Pixelmator Team has now released a fresh update of the program roughly in tandem with Apple’s new flagship desktop Mac. Mac App Store link) is the latest iteration of an image-editing app that’s often viewed as the hobbyist photographer’s alternative toĪdobe Photoshop.
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