Pixelmator Pro for Mac

 I have just discovered an image app that may completely replace and streamline my photo editing workflow. It's Pixelmator Pro 2.3 Abracadabra, just released earlier this week.

Pixelmator's graphic, introducing the latest version of this Mac-only image editing app.

Making the transition to a Mac from Windows a few years ago, I stuck with the traditional multi-platform image editing software when I moved to my new system. I found alternatives to Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, but they were all available for Windows, too. I saw an occasional reference to Pixelmator, but paid little attention because it was Mac only. Little attention until I recently watched a YouTube video by Austin photographer Jim Nix.

I purchased Pixelmator Pro a few days ago at a Black Friday sale price of about $16 USD. Normally the price is $39.99 USD, still a bargain for this powerful application.

Layers-based Pixelmator Pro does all that most amateur photographers need and most of what all enthusiast amateur photographers need. This non-destructive editor utilizes Apple's operating system as a foundation for many functions, making operation speedier and reducing the app's footprint. While companies producing programs and plugins like Luminar AI, Sharpen AI and NoNoise AI were generating all the buzz about machine learning/artificial intelligence, the engineers at Pixelmator were busy redesigning full-feature Pixelmator from the ground up, incorporating machine learning in numerous tools and operations.

This is one of my first edits in Pixelmator Pro. In just a few minutes with Pixelmator Pro I processed this picture of an electric scooter from an Olympus ORF raw file, clearing away obstructions, enhancing the vehicle, reducing attention on the background, adding a border and watermark.

The Pixelmator website describes Pixelmator Pro as an image editor "...with an extensive collection of tools for editing and retouching photos, creating graphic designs, painting, drawing vector graphics, and adding stunning effects, it’s the only image editor you’ll need." I agree with that. Based on my early evaluation, it comes close to being the perfect app for photographers -- an app that does it all.

New features in version 2.3 include the ability to remove the background from an image with just a click of the mouse, automatic selection of the subject with a single click and other significant refinements of masking and selection. An extremely important feature added in version 2.2 is Shortcuts, all of the Pixelmator machine-learning powered tools among 28 app actions now available to Mac system Shortcuts for batch processing, including access from Finder.

A JPEG from an older image that originated with an Olympus ORF raw file. Machine learning enhancement with one click of the mouse.

One significant gap in the toolset is the inability to automatically and manually address lens defects. That's probably because Apple doesn't supply that with its support of camera imaging formats. Photographers used to using Photoshop plugins with other editors will find similar presets to achieve many of the looks found in these plugins. However, the excellent faux film likeness achieved in Exposure X7 and FilmPack 6 are not replicated by the effects presets in Pixelmator Pro.

A couple of other bothersome features that caught my eye: 1) the thumbnails in Pixelmator Pro presets are tiny with no way to temporarily enlarge them, and 2) the presets have numbers repeated in each set, not names, thus there's no memory aid to assist in reuse of specific presets.

This image shot with a manual-focus fisheye lens was processed from an ORF raw file with only a couple of clicks of the mouse. It demonstrates one limitation of Pixelmator Pro -- no chromatic aberration correction. There is, however, a tool for manually fixing lens distortion.

The pros outweigh the cons in this app about 9 to 1. It is a beautifully designed piece of software worth much more than the price. Every photographer with a Mac should give it a try.

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