#PIXELMATOR REVIEWS MANUAL#
#PIXELMATOR REVIEWS PRO#

Pixelmator 2.5, launching today, is strong evidence that thatвЂ™s not going to happen. My fear was that eventually the app would be discontinued. It wasnвЂ™t exactly intended to, since the apps specialize in different areas, but the standard Pixelmator nonetheless felt light on meaningful updates even before the release of Pixelmator Photo. Not even Pixelmator Photo, the more modern photo editing tool, could replace the original Pixelmator. Try as I might, I could find no replacement for the excellent layer-based image editor.

In fact, last summer I had to try living without it for a time while the app was briefly incompatible with the iOS 13 beta. Over time I regularly change up task managers, email clients, note-taking apps, and more, but nothing has ever come close to replacing Pixelmator for me. Pixelmator Photo costs $4.99/ВЈ4.99 and you can get it from the Apple App Store.Pixelmator is one of the few apps IвЂ™ve used longer than anything else. Pixelmator Photo is a snip at just $4.99/ВЈ4.99 but itвЂ™s best for people who just want quick fixes and all the benefits of machine-learning artificial intelligence rather than in-depth adjustments. And the regular Pixelmator is a more powerful all-in-one photo-editing, drawing, painting and illustration tool at the same price. Google Snapseed offers a far wider range of effects and adjustments, including local adjustments, and itвЂ™s free. The editing tools are great as far as they go, especially the film presets and perspective corrections, but with no local adjustments or layers tools (you need the вЂotherвЂ™ Pixelmator for that), Pixelmator Photo feels quick, cheap and useful, but also a bit limited. You canвЂ™t launch Pixelmator Photo direct from the Apple Photos app, so that means you have to start from the app and import from Photos вЂ“ it sounds a small thing, but it is annoying. The repairs aren't always invisible, but people who haven't seen the original photo probably won't suspect a thing. You might not use half of them, relying on the film emulation presets and key Lightness and White Balance settings instead, but theyвЂ™re there if you want to experiment with more advanced image effects вЂ“ and you can save your own custom presets.

#PIXELMATOR REVIEWS MANUAL#

The manual adjustments are straightforward and responsive too. Pixelmator Photo automatically crops the image as you make adjustments so you donвЂ™t get any messy perspective correction вЂwedgesвЂ™ at the side of the picture. The ML Crop tool is a nice idea that you can find yourself using more and more as you learn to trust the app to get your composition right, and the perspective correction sliders are smooth and responsive. The ML Enhance button can take a couple of seconds to do its work, as can the Repair too, but it feels quick compared to desktop software. Pixelmator comes with a wide range of film emulation presets, which work intelligently with any ML (machine learning) adjustments you've already made. If you want direct file compatibility between Pixelmator images on your iPad and the desktop software, you need the Pixelmator iOS app, not Pixelmator Photo.

#PIXELMATOR REVIEWS PRO#

It doesnвЂ™t appear to use the same file format as the regular desktop Pixelmator Pro app, unfortunately, so editing Pixelmator Pro files on your desktop doesnвЂ™t look like itвЂ™s possible right now. Pixelmator Photo will also open raw files directly, from over 500 camera models. What this means is that you can use Pixelmator Photo to edit any image stored in these locations, so itвЂ™s like having a handy iPad editor for images available everywhere, including your desktop computer or laptop. You can store Pixelmator Photo files separately on your iPad or in Cloud locations like iCloud Drive or Dropbox (though it wouldnвЂ™t import a new file with the Dropbox option selected вЂ“ Pixelmator is aware of this).

On the upside, Pixelmator Photo is not tied to Apple Photos. Pixelmator Photo works independently of the Apple Photos app, so it makes importing and editing images more long-winded but gives you more choice in where you keep your images.

Pixelmator reviews