Photoshop on rMBP

lol get your eyes checked.

 

^^^ what he said lol

 

I recommend using Pixelmator. It was $15 at the Mac App store recently.

It has A LOT of the tools you get in Photoshop, plenty of filters, layer support, etc. and best of all iCloud support too (so you can save files using Documents in the Cloud), and it's only like 30MB or something ridiculously small versus Photoshop which takes like 5GB with all its dependencies).

Oh, and it's RETINA optimized so it looks terrific.

I was in the same position as you, getting annoyed at how terrible Photoshop looked on my rMBP. I like the resolution and the size of things when the screen is in Retina-optimized mode, so I don't want to keep changing things back and forth just to make one program look slightly better.

I mostly used Photoshop to create layouts for websites, marketing materials, documents, etc. and occasionally touching up a photo. I found that Pixelmator has taken care of that completely, so I haven't had to launch Photoshop since I installed it.

 

without layer styles, pixelmator = useless

 

Not true. It can do some of the things that are achieved via layer styles in other ways. It isn't any harder, it's just a little different, but once you get a hang of it it's not so bad.

I am positive that some things are unique to Photoshop for some advanced users, but for people who just want to push some pixels around it is a much cheaper and decent alternative, and maybe even a better alternative for those on a retina pro.

So yes, as far as being a Photoshop clone it is not, but as a good alternative if you give it a chance and have basic needs, it can do well.

 

Or wait a couple months for Adobe to update to retina... I admit it looks terrible now, even the install screens are blurry but it's not unusable.

 

If you really want to, you can create many of the layer style effects by hand. Photoshop is one of those aging applications that is still dragging along a very heavy code base. I'm amazed that people are so picky on features given the price when it's a very good value.

 

Yeah, but if you haven't purchased the new one yet, Pixelmator at $15 is a bigger bargain than Photoshop at $200 for an upgrade or $589 for a full version (on amazon, since MSRP is $699).

It sure beats being a bootlegger. With something you buy on the App store you also get the ability to update and re-download as you please without worrying about backing up your discs or serial keys.

If you are on an older version of Photoshop then you are probably out of luck anyway. I doubt Adobe will update CS5 to retina, they will most likely just update the latest edition.

It may be because people didn't really fork over the money for a legit copy of Photoshop, so to them Photoshop = FREE while Pixelmator costs $15 making it much more expensive.

Not making any accusation, I am just saying that for a program that costs only 2% of Photoshop's price tag while doing most of what ordinary people would use Photoshop for anyway, people aren't cutting Pixelmator a lot of slack.

($15 / $699 MSRP of Photoshop full version = 15/699 = 0.021... or 2%). And even taking subscription options into account, $15 one time forever is still FAR less than any legitimate Photoshop buying option.

 

why in god would i want to build each layer effect by hand? plus the fact that the whole point of layer styles is to have non-destructive editing. i couldn't think of a more stupid thing then adding certain effects, being told by your creative director to change it/alter/pull back/add more, but you have to start all over again since pixelmator can't do that.
plus if you ever need to collaborate with someone else using the .psd file (which everyone does if you're actually creating things on a professional level in a professional environment), you are royally screwed.

 

Valid points, so for people who do Photoshop for a living Pixelmator is not the best solution.

However, for ordinary people who do things on their own (freelancers or hobbyists) it is just fine.

 

Such an angry response. I've always felt they were somewhat limiting. I also don't think pixelmator needs to be an exact copy. If photoshop's tools are what you require, that is your option. Given the complexity of an application of that size, you are going to duplicate it in precise functionality moving to another package. In terms of editability, there are other strategies for approaching such a thing when dealing with raster graphics. Just the inclusion of smart objects helps a lot there, although you may require some cleanup in the end. I'm assuming that we're on the topic of still graphics here. Professional environment can mean a lot of things. Typically one of them is that you don't bother with new hardware if you can't actually use it. If you're tied to creative suite, that is what should influence your purchasing decisions. Switching software suites because you bought the wrong hardware is asinine in any work environment.

I would suggest that they screwed up if they purchased new hardware prior to verifying that it would meet their needs. I won't touch Mountain Lion until I am sure Photoshop, Zbrush, color navigator, capture one, phocus, illustrator, and a few other things run flawlessly without numerous pesky bugs. It's pointless.

 

I agree. I'm using Lightroom 4 and PS CS6 at 1920x1200 and it looks great to me. If the text is blurry, I've not noticed. In these products, it's the quality of the image, not the menu text, that interests me.

 

I have been using both of the programs , Pixel and PS6.. Right now the retina feature is a big miss on adobe software. I have resorted to using a higher resolution or pixelmator for quick edits.

Photoshop will always be my choice over pixelmator but it's also pretty neat and useful.

 

um, you do realize that even at 1920x1200, the viewport of the image you're working on is also still screwed up right? doesn't sound like you actually care about the 'quality of the image' at all.

 

I was used to PaintShop Pro on the PC, but thought I'd try Pixelmator for the price. It is indeed visually fine on the Retina display, but has so few functions I don't find it usable for much more than a bit of cropping and resizing. Running PSP (or whatever it's called Photo Pro X4 is it?) in a VirtualBox window in 2880x1800 is so much more powerful.

 

I purchased CS6 Design Standard (Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop/Bridge) at a student price for $350 so I'm happy. I haven't tried Pixelmator and nor will I. It's just not a professional-level application. That being said, buying Photoshop would be a waste if you're not planning on using it professionally.

The fact CS6 is not retina-ready is a mild inconvenience and has no effect on my production quality what-so-ever.

In any case, Creative Suite WILL be retina ready at some point in the near future.