Pixelmator - close, but no cigar
If you work with images, chances are that you use Photoshop. When it comes to photo editing and digital art work, there really is very little competition for Adobe’s product. Sure, for basic touching up and resizing, Picasa, iPhoto and co will do a fine job, but for creative professionals there really is only one option on the market. While no-one’s likely to topple Photoshop from its lofty position anytime soon, the products available directly below it in the software hierarchy are very interesting indeed.
Pixelmator is one such program, a Mac-only image editor and a new one at that. Released last year by two brothers, it has two main selling points. First of all, it looks stunning and secondly, it takes advantage of Mac OS X’s built-in technology to make editing super fast.
The program has all the usual tools that you’d expect - burn, dodge, crop, layers and so on - as well as a number of filters which are powered by Apple’s Core Image technology. Because Pixelmator is built for OS X alone, it can and does use all of the fancy effects that’d you’d come to associate with a Mac exclusive product. On looks alone, Pixelmator is a fantastic advertisement for the platform and in terms of aesthetics, puts Photoshop to shame.
However, when it comes to actually using it for everyday tasks, Pixelmator lacks numerous basic features which make up your image editing workflow. For instance, you can’t save an image size and resolution as a preset to use later and the colour mode (RGB, CMYK, etc.) can’t be altered. There’s no action history, magnetic lasso or magic eraser, to name a few. When I’ve tried using it to edit images for Thunderbolt or Impact, these shortcomings are immediately apparent and I’ve gone straight back to Photoshop.
Pixelmator is a fine program, but one with more potential than substance. What it does, it does well and makes it look fantastic to boot. If you’re looking for a program that provides more flexibility than iPhoto and fits in well with Leopard’s aesthetics, then this is definitely worth a look. At only $59, it’s certainly tempting. As for the creators’ intention to “give Photoshop a run for its money”, they’ve still got a long way to go.