Filed under: iLife, Multimedia, Software
Pixelmator hits 1.0
Long-fabled image editor Pixelmator (arguably one of the hottest, and most discussed Mac applications of the year) has finally left beta testing, and version 1 is available to download and buy. Compatibility with layered Photoshop PSD files (and over 100 other file formats too), Core Image-driven editing, Automator actions, iSight and iLife integration and a heck of a lot more await, and it's certainly a compelling option given that a licence costs just $59.If you're wanting to get a quick look at the features in Pixelmator (and our very own screencast didn't whet your appetite enough), then in conjunction with the launch of the app, well-known screencast producer Don McAllister of ScreenCasts Online has produced a brief screencast that takes a look at the basics of the application.
Pixelmator requires OS X 10.4 Tiger, with a Core Image-compatible graphics card recommended.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
geochick said 1:43PM on 9-25-2007
And there was much rejoicing... too bad I'm stuck at work right now... can't wait to take it for a spin.
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Brandon said 1:51PM on 9-25-2007
this app didn't live up to the hype imo. its UI is pretty but it kind of falls flat from there.
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JHatch said 1:55PM on 9-25-2007
If this will give me a fast and dirty image editor that is compatible w/ Photoshop, I'm in. Anyone know if it supports CMYK?
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Gary Byrd said 1:57PM on 9-25-2007
Finally! After several months of watching for, waiting on, and testing Pixelmator it has finally arrived tot he public. I was fortunate enought to be on of the beta testers and I must say that this is one fascinating product. If you are looking for a complete replacement to Photoshop then you will be slightly disappointed, but if you do not need all of the "bells and whistles" of Photoshop then Pixelmator is just what you need. Although it can compete with Photoshop in many ways and in some cases much better than Photoshop.
For $59 you cant beat it. It is perfect for web designers, churches, schools, and professionals alike.
Before you shell out a boatload of cash for Photoshop, or before you try a pirated version of Photoshop you should purchase a legitimate copy of Pixelmator. I promise you will not be disappointed!
Gary
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akatsuki said 2:27PM on 9-25-2007
So how does this compare to Acorn? Or perhaps the upcoming Iris? Seems like a suddenly competitive market... I think I will let it settle out before buying any of them.
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Kishen said 2:24PM on 9-25-2007
anyone know if is there a free trial period if I download?
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Tony said 2:32PM on 9-25-2007
So, how does it compare to Photoshop Elements? The price is more inline with Elements, so that's probably a better comparison.
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Hawkman said 2:46PM on 9-25-2007
Usually when Mac developers hype their software it's to try to disguise the appalling lack of features - but this looks better than I expected. Colour me interested.
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quandmeme said 3:13PM on 9-25-2007
I asked the same question as #6. I can understand waiting for MacWorld or who ever to do the comparison and then linking to it when the software is $3000 a license and nobody sent TUAW a demo copy. But here you could probably swing a trial copy! You've posted the news, how 'bout a review?
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David Fischer said 3:26PM on 9-25-2007
I've not tried Pixelmator yet -- later this week for sure. But I gave Acorn a spin. It's a nice little app, and the author is quick to respond to bug reports and suggestions (we had a little email back and forth on some issues I found).
Acorn has a lot of potential for a $40 hobbyist image editor. But it's not quite there for me; as of a couple days ago it was missing free rotate. And I can't pay $40 for an image editor that lacks free rotate. It will have it later, along with other features, according to the author.
The questions I'll face is which of these two is more mature, is likely to get better faster, and is either worth $50-ish.
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Angela said 3:48PM on 9-25-2007
If you download from their website, when you open it up after installation it give you an option to try it for 30 days. I think that's a pretty generous trial period.
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Nik Fletcher said 4:27PM on 9-25-2007
quandmeme: As someone who's never owned (or used) Photoshop, I'm hardly in a position to review it - that said, I do find it very easy to use.
Thanks,
Nik
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Enils said 4:47PM on 9-25-2007
Finally... I've waited for this for a while now and so far I like what I'm seeing. I took it for a quick spin and here are my €0.02:
+ this thing is lightning fast. I could probably launch it and do a resize+crop+save in less time than it takes for PS CS3 to load on my macbook.
+ seemingly pretty loaded with features, considering the very affordable price.
+ did I mention how fast it is?
- the UI, while good looking, is a tad bit too much form over function for my liking. I found the half-transparent palettes to be pretty hard to read against my wallpaper. The main toolbar icons also need more contrast, somehow.
- the palettes need to be able to snap together.
- when you open a larger image, the window fills the entire screen including the space where the toolbox and palettes are. This leads to a lot of frustrating clicking and dragging before you've got the workspace arranged so the palettes and the image window don't overlap each other. This needs to be fixed, imo.
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macjonny said 5:06PM on 9-25-2007
Wow....I'm surprised I didn't get an email or something for a notification of this since I signed up a while ago at their website. I saw the first news of it here!
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George said 5:55PM on 9-25-2007
1.0 has no ruler. User error? At least I can't find it in Help either. To me, that's a pretty big missing feature.
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sashel said 6:32PM on 9-25-2007
There is a lot missing or not acting like it should but its crazy fast... i mean really... amazing...
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Anthony said 9:27PM on 9-25-2007
I loaded a file I was working on yesterday and noticed that the exact same file is more then twice the size in PXM then in PSD. 3.5 MB vs 1.2 MB. Hopefully this gets worked out.
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geochick said 9:31PM on 9-25-2007
Took it for a quick spin, Yep its fast even on my PPC Mini. Love the UI and the use of layers. It was really easy to drag in an image, add text, do some cropping and test out some of the blending modes. It reminds me of Fireworks as far as functionality only much nice UI and as other folks have pointed out its really fast. I was expecting a bit more filters and I'm feeling that I need some kind of tutorial because it seems that there is a lot I can do here but don't know to at this point.
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Billy K said 1:43PM on 9-26-2007
I know I'm late to the party here, but I finally got to installing and testing a bit. I like it. It's like on older, simpler version of Photoshop, which I think is great (I still use CS1 and 8.0). I really, REALLY wish I could turn off the palette transparency, though. And where is CMYK? Kinda important (i.e. 100% necessary) in my work.
Last thought: How does this not run afoul of dozens...hundreds of Adobe patents?
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Matt said 6:35AM on 9-28-2007
Another lacking feature is the curves adjustment. Was one of the first things I noticed at my first look (http://mediakirsch.com/blog/2007/09/26/pixelmator-first-look-at-the-final-version). And yes, I, too, miss rulers and snapping palettes. I hope it will be added, that could convine me to buy Pixelmator.
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