Pixelmator's Effects Browser is where you'll find all the filters and effects you can apply to your photos. For the purposes of this tutorial, I am going to be using the Effects Browser. You don't, however, need to be able to use all of Pixelmator's features to get great results.
You could spend hours just learning how to use the basic tools in Pixelmator. Pixelmator offers tonnes of features, from simple photo editing to professional level vector image creation. If you don't already have it, download a free trial of Pixelmator.Īlso, download and unzip the resource pack that contains the images I used for this tutorial.
Even better, Pixelmator offers a thirty-day free trial so you can follow along with this tutorial and see if it is for you before paying a penny. Never has it been so easy to use powerful software to turn your photos into works of art. Recently, though, the image editor Pixelmator has started to offer Photoshop level features at a fraction of the cost and with an easier to use interface, too.
Use your iPhone or iPad for photography? Get pro tips for taking better images at our photography session at Macworld/iWorld in San Francisco March 27-29.For years Adobe Photoshop has been the gold standard in image editing software. If you’re running Mavericks or working on a Mac Pro, you’ll get a special speed advantage, but most new features in versions 3.0 and 3.1 will benefit all users. Pixelmator 3.1 is a fine upgrade, on top of a recent major upgrade, so if you’re running an earlier version of Pixelmator, it’s worth installing the new version now. Moreover, while photo pros who collaborate in groups or work in standardized environments still need Photoshop, most hobbyists probably do not. 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 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. With its enhanced, multiple-display support, Pixelmator offers even more flexibility to open window palettes wherever you want to, and on any display you choose. Pixelmator 3.1 interface looks much the same as the earlier 3.0 version-very dark.
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.
Recently, Apple 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. Much attention has been focused on Pixelmator as enthusiasts seek to escape the confines of Photoshop CC subscriptions. Pixelmator 3.1 Marble ( Mac App Store link) is the latest iteration of an image-editing app that’s often viewed as the hobbyist photographer’s alternative to Adobe Photoshop.