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I just bought version 1 in case they ramp up the price on launch. I suggest everyone do the same, as you get a free upgrade and there's not really much point in waiting to download it if the launch price will be either the same price it is currently or higher.

Yep, I just bought my copy too just to be on the safe side. Even though it may still be $29.99 tomorrow, their blog, though dated, still conflicts with MacRumors.

No biggie though, as you mention. The app is only 33 MBs too, so why not?
 
I'm quite sad about this... I have been a longtime user of Pixelmator 1. I purchased it directly from them for $59.99 back in 2009. Unfortunately this excludes me as being upgrade eligible. A penalty for being an early adopter :(.

Me too. :( I've been with Pixelmator since 1.3 back when I bought my Mac Mini after trying CS4 & hating it. ;) Guess I'll just pay the $30 to upgrade. (Even though I bought my original version for $60 :()
 
Yep, I just bought my copy too just to be on the safe side. Even though it may still be $29.99 tomorrow, their blog, though dated, still conflicts with MacRumors.

I've done the same. I then immediately deleted it without opening the App and my purchases list shows it as "Uninstalled". Now I'm ready for the new one.
 
I'm quite sad about this... I have been a longtime user of Pixelmator 1. I purchased it directly from them for $59.99 back in 2009. Unfortunately this excludes me as being upgrade eligible. A penalty for being an early adopter :(.

Agreed. I put the fault on Apple for this: they're bending over backwards with their MusicMatch service to get your CDs integrated with the cloud, but they have failed to provide an AppMatch service to sync up your pre-App-Store purchases.

At least you know about the upgrade and can get in while the price is still low.
 
The noob population (that Apple caters to in particular) getting access to powerful, easier tools is growing almost daily. These noobs are getting more and more powerful tools placed into their hands. This trend has become especially noticeable over the last few years. The noobs then become Pro-sumers. Pro-sumers displace the so-called "Pro" market because things that formerly only Pros could do are much more accessible by Pro-sumers.

So, soon enough, most of us will learn and do your "work", having gone through less of a learning curve, and doubtless with some of your work already automated.

The "Pro" "graphic designers" of today might well be out of a job down the line. It's all about greater accessibility and making complex technology easier to understand.

Yes, soon Joe Average will edit just like the Pros.

Your denigration of designers is a slap to the face to all those who spent hard time getting to a point of status. Your bias for being pro-apple and anti-anything else is overwhelming, ignorant and offensive. Keep in mind when I say offensive, because I make this clear throughout this reply.

That said, you need to learn a lesson;

NOBODY in the industry uses pixelmator. Waltz into any professional agency or studio and 100% of the time they will be using Adobe CS and I stress the word PROFESSIONAL because I strongly believe you don't understand what professional means in the real world.

In the 10+ years I've worked as a graphic designer, be it as a freelancer, on contract or permanent, I have never seen anything used except for Photoshop. You *could* use your one-sided argument about 10+ years ago when Corel Draw had some kind of presence, but that is not the case as Pixelmator wasnt around then.

That said, nobody is going to use Pixelmator for the following reasons:

1) Not a standard
2) No support for all photoshop filters, effects, etc.
3) No support for older PSD formats especially with complicated layers
4) No studio is going to take the risk of having a potentially botched conversion of a PSD file when sending it out for a print job that costs in the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.
5) No studio is going to arrogantly ask for pixelmator-only compatible formats to work with. Just go look how far studios are getting by without adapting to Indesign and still using Quark. You'll have a hard time, because its not happening much.

The biggest one is the fact that its NOT a standard. Nobody is going to sympathize or side with noobs if theyre completely out of the standard loop. I know you absolutely adore everything apple has released, but not everything has gone out with record sales, for example.... FIREWIRE?? Not exactly the dominating interface apple wished it to be considering how widespread USB is (and will be more so with USB 3.0 given all the legacy support). Also, having software or access to doesnt make you a designer. Guess what, I have 3D Studio Max installed on another machine of mine. Does that make me a 3D artist? No. Does it make me a good 3D artist? No again. Again, an insult and offensive to think some schmoe with some 3rd rate software is going to be as qualified as someone whos worked on their craft for a year, 5 years, 10 years or their entire life. Dont be arrogant. You put apple on a high pedestal for anything they do (ive seen you make extremely biased comments on the forum) but I would hope that you know that the guys working on the UI at apple arent your joe schmoe noob capable of producing amazing aesthetics simply because he knows how to use a handicapped copy of photoshop. These guys are artists, and photoshop is a tool, a much more complete tool than pixelmator.

So how does Pixelmator stack up against the industry standard? The price speaks for itself. 30 bucks. You get what you pay for. No designer is going to use it. Ever. Unless Pixelmator does something drastic... like, i dont know, add 100% compatibility and feature set? Not likely.

I wish the mods on this forum would at least temporarily ban you for making such ridiculous comments for guest and other members to read. I mean it when I say your posts are OFFENSIVE. They are an insult to my intelligence and others. This one is especially an insult to every graphic designer whos spent more than 5 minutes and 30 dollars on getting to a professional status.
 
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Still no genuine CMYK support = not pro.
Pro printing requires CMYK and the proper manipulation of color separations - and nope you can't "just" convert the flattened project RGB TIF to CMYK.
Plus Photoshop's drag-and-drop integration with Illustrator, and InDesign for that matter, is extremely helpful too.

I like Pixelmator, and I recommend it to anybody except print professionals, but the program is still obstinately not pro...and I'm really not sure why they resist.
 
I'm quite sad about this... I have been a longtime user of Pixelmator 1. I purchased it directly from them for $59.99 back in 2009. Unfortunately this excludes me as being upgrade eligible. A penalty for being an early adopter :(.

You paid a mere $60 dollars nearly 3 years ago when the economy was better. I dont see the need to be in grief. $30 dollars for a solid application to meet your needs isnt going to put you in debt, Im sure you could make that money in a matter of 2-3 hours even at minimum wage.
 
GIMP does everything that Pixelmator does and MORE.

I do agree Pixelmator is a very nice program and has a really nice User Interface and in all reality doesn't cost to much for what you get. But Free is always nice and GIMP will do anything that you need to do and if you need to do more there is Adobe Photoshop.
 
Vector Designer

I use a program called Vector Designer for any vector image needs that I have. I'm sure it is much simpler than InDesign but it gets the job done and is only $29.99. The authors also have great tutorial videos to show how to use the program.

It is available in the app store and I am sure that there is a free trial available at the authors site. Made by a company called Tweakersoft. http://www.tweakersoft.com/vectordesigner.html.
 
As has been said by many pro web guys, we can't move from Photoshop to Pixelmator fully until Pixelmator supports a full suite of non destructive layer styles

This. I understand that Pixelmator is great for folks who want to crop and tweak personal digital photos, but for web work, it and other PS alternatives just can't cut it yet.

Like everyone else, I desperately want a viable alternative to Adobe's slagware, and every once in a while I check in with those other programs to see if they're there yet. I'll do the same with Pixelmator 2 as well (presuming there's a demo/shareware version available), but I'm fully expecting to be let down again.

In my wildest fever-dreams, I imagine Apple releasing their own graphics suite along the lines of iWork; fast, fully Mac-like alternatives which don't feel like they're missing any functionality compared to the "standard" programs. If only…
 
GIMP does everything that Pixelmator does and MORE.

I do agree Pixelmator is a very nice program and has a really nice User Interface and in all reality doesn't cost to much for what you get. But Free is always nice and GIMP will do anything that you need to do and if you need to do more there is Adobe Photoshop.
For my graphics needs I use GIMP, Scribus and Inkscape - all pretty complete apps.
Got Pixelmator, but it is missing a lot of tools I'm used to from GIMP. On the other hand, it has some stuff that is not to find in GIMP, so the two make a nice team.
Haven't touched Photoshop since v7.
 
For my graphics needs I use GIMP, Scribus and Inkscape - all pretty complete apps.
Got Pixelmator, but it is missing a lot of tools I'm used to from GIMP. On the other hand, it has some stuff that is not to find in GIMP, so the two make a nice team.
Haven't touched Photoshop since v7.

Of all the PS alternatives, Gimp is the most useful, yes. Haven't used Inkscape in quite a while, but I recall it being not terrible as well. However, for as long as these programs require X11 to run and all that implies - slow, ugly, stupid in-window menubars, frustrating control key-based hotkeys, iffy cut/paste support - they are not going to be serious contenders for Mac use as far as I'm concerned.
 
Pixelmator 2

The tutors at PixelmatorTutorials.net can't wait to get their hands on this new release and start introducing existing users to the new features at the same time showing those who want to start with image editing that Pixelmator is a great tool for learning just that.

Note that today might be your last chance for buying Pixelmator at the reduced price. The price will be back at USD 59 shortly after the release of Pixelmator 2.
 
The noob population (that Apple caters to in particular) getting access to powerful, easier tools is growing almost daily. These noobs are getting more and more powerful tools placed into their hands. This trend has become especially noticeable over the last few years. The noobs then become Pro-sumers. Pro-sumers displace the so-called "Pro" market because things that formerly only Pros could do are much more accessible by Pro-sumers.

So, soon enough, most of us will learn and do your "work", having gone through less of a learning curve, and doubtless with some of your work already automated.

The "Pro" "graphic designers" of today might well be out of a job down the line. It's all about greater accessibility and making complex technology easier to understand.

Yes, soon Joe Average will edit just like the Pros.

Just because you can hold a hammer you are no carpenter. Just because you can hold a spoon you are no cook. Just because you have a brain doesn't mean that you use it.
 
As a graphic designer, pixelmator is for noobs. I'd never use it for work.

"Noob", while a derogatory term, implies the level of skill at the user, not the required features aforementioned user is required to complete a certain task. Please stop being annoying.

Thing is, before Pixelmator, there was nothing between the pile of horse droppings that is GIMP, and Photoshop. It has never been, nor will it ever be, aimed to become an industry standard application for use in professional studios.
 
Still no genuine CMYK support = not pro.
Pro printing requires CMYK and the proper manipulation of color separations - and nope you can't "just" convert the flattened project RGB TIF to CMYK.
Plus Photoshop's drag-and-drop integration with Illustrator, and InDesign for that matter, is extremely helpful too.

I like Pixelmator, and I recommend it to anybody except print professionals, but the program is still obstinately not pro...and I'm really not sure why they resist.
^^this

I'm in print design, so Photoshop is still my only real option, but who knows, in a few years time Pixelmator may mature into a worthy alternative. I hope so.

By the way, I can't believe they're using the phrase 'content aware' so freely. I'd have thought 'smart erase' or something would have been less likely to upset Adobe.
 
free upgrade if the first was bought through MAC APP STORE ONLY?? i bought it before the app came to the app store, or the app store even existed. Would about the early adopters??? how come i don't get a free upgrade?? unless I'm misunderstood...

The purpose of the upgrade was only to get people who otherwise would have waited for 2.0. It wasn't designed as a "if you buy version n, you'll always get version n+1". I imagine they wanted to get a proof of concept on the App Store, before deciding to go 100% App Store only for the general release of 2.0. The free upgrade path allowed them to get a fair number of new users (who otherwise may have waited until 2.0), as well as existing users that liked the idea of (legally) using Pixelmator on multiple machines. Pay for that privilege now, get the (more compelling purchase motivation) 2.0 upgrade later.


NOBODY in the industry uses pixelmator. Waltz into any professional agency or studio and 100% of the time they will be using Adobe CS and I stress the word PROFESSIONAL because I strongly believe you don't understand what professional means in the real world.

See, the problem with making a 100% claim is that it only takes 1 instance to prove that you're wrong. So: you're wrong. I'm a developer, and I use Pixelmator for 90% of my PSD editing. I'm not a designer, but I'm a person that is manipulating PSD files PROFESSIONALLY. It does everything I need it to, and at a significant price savings. Previously, every person in an agency that needed to work with PSD files -- UX, Design, Project Managers, Developers, Creatives -- ALL needed to have Photoshop. Now, only the Designers really need it. Most, if not all of the other people can be perfectly fine using Pixelmator. That's a HUGE market. And the difference from Photoshop Elements to Pixelmator is huge, if for no other reason than PSE _still_ can't open layer groups.
 
Excuse me?

Ive used pixelmator enough both on my own installation and my dads to know that it lacks any kind of professional use. I have photoshop, therefor I have no need for pixelmator.

The fact that you are getting angry with anyone saying Pixelmator is good is ridiculous. You left a huge rant against LTD about his "apple fanboyism" but you are the complete opposite and cannot give credit where credit is due.

I do a lot of professional work with Pixelmator. I use both Pixelmator and Photoshop. Pixelmators real time filters and tools are a TON better than Photoshops non real time filters and tools (IE gradient tool), and Pixelmator is a lot faster, hence why for certain things I use Pixelmator instead of Photoshop.

Not to mention the "you get what you pay for" doesn't hold water here. Tell people who purchase CS3 or CS4 that. I'm pretty sure they all feel ripped off as they were horrible iterations of CS.

Another thing is real pros don't stick to one tool, they use the tools they need to get the job done. If one program does something better than another the pros will use it. If you limit yourself to only photoshop you will be missing a lot of potential workflow improvements. Photoshop is a great tool, but its far from the best at everything.
 
Just because you can hold a hammer you are no carpenter. Just because you can hold a spoon you are no cook. Just because you have a brain doesn't mean that you use it.

Your denigration of designers is a slap to the face to all those who spent hard time getting to a point of status.

Times change.

The trend will move forward regardless of your feelings about it.

The business you're in today can be reinvented tomorrow. Everyone must reinvent themselves. Tech is changing. Even specialized, niche markets. There is no niche market that is today immune from the sea-changes that take place in the wider consumer markets. It all filters and branches outward to niche segments.

And those niche segments are also changing, and are being integrated with the wider consumer segments. The average person a few years ago would be hard-pressed to do any advanced level of photo-editing, especially without purchasing ridiculously expensive software and having to put up with serious learning curves.

Now, in the span of only a few years, look at the kind of power that has been put into Joe Average's hands. It's incredible. You can even do, with some iOS apps (of all things!), things that were a few years ago only possible with much more complex and expensive software.

The line between "Pro" and "Consumer" has been blurred to an unprecedented degree. Hence, today we have what is known as the "Prosumer." And these Prosumers are growing in number and strength every day. One of the companies serving them is Apple.

The Pro market is dwindling. The Prosumer market is expanding rapidly. The skills that at one point were hard-earned and rare (Pro skills) are being steadily, slowly but surely, acquired by even average users with a little time and curiosity. As tech becomes much more accessible to Joe Average, those skills that were once prized in the industry will eventually become commonplace. What took a lot of skill yesterday can be easily accomplished and on a larger scale today, due to increased exposure and access that Joe Average, and for that matter you and I, are enjoying. It all filters down due to increased access.

The "Pro" market is not the same market that Apple allegedly turned their back on years ago. It has changed. And it is no longer a market that can sustain anyone exclusively. At all. Especially with the Rise of the Prosumer. The traditional "Pro" market is slowly dying, but also changing. It is becoming integrated with the consumer market, and Prosumers are making it happen.

In time there will be no specialized, niche markets at all in consumer tech, and that includes the "Pro" segment. We will all have access to them, with better tools that will be far easier to use.

As far as the skill and talent of "noobs" goes, when they will have access to these tools . . . things are going to get very interesting.
 
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Times change.

The trend will move forward regardless of your feelings about it.

The business you're in today can be reinvented tomorrow. Everyone must reinvent themselves. Tech is changing. Even specialized, niche markets. There is no niche market that is today immune from the sea-changes that take place in the wider consumer markets. It all filters and branches outward to niche segments.

And those niche segments are also changing, and are being integrated with the wider consumer segments. The average person a few years ago would be hard-pressed to do any advanced level of photo-editing, especially without purchasing ridiculously expensive software and having to put up with serious learning curves.

Now, in the span of only a few years, look at the kind of power that has been put into Joe Average's hands. It's incredible. You can even do, with some iOS apps (of all things!), things that were a few years ago only possible with much more complex and expensive software.

The line between "Pro" and "Consumer" has been blurred to an unprecedented degree. Hence, today we have what is known as the "Prosumer." And these Prosumers are growing in number and strength every day. One of the companies serving them is Apple.

The Pro market is dwindling. The Prosumer market is expanding rapidly. The skills that at one point were hard-earned and rare (Pro skills) are being steadily, slowly but surely, acquired by even average users with a little time and curiosity. As tech becomes much more accessible to Joe Average, those skills that were once prized in the industry will eventually become commonplace. What took a lot of skill yesterday can be easily accomplished and on a larger scale today, due to increased exposure and access that Joe Average, and for that matter you and I, are enjoying. It all filters down due to increased access.

The "Pro" market is not the same market that Apple allegedly turned their back on years ago. It has changed. And it is no longer a market that can sustain anyone exclusively. At all. Especially with the Rise of the Prosumer. The traditional "Pro" market is slowly dying, but also changing. It is becoming integrated with the consumer market, and Prosumers are making it happen.

In time there will be no specialized, niche markets at all in consumer tech, and that includes the "Pro" segment. We will all have access to them, with better tools that will be far easier to use.

As far as the skill and talent of "noobs" goes, when they will have access to these tools . . . things are going to get very interesting.

You just don't get it. Installing a tool on your computer doesn't give you any understanding of typography, composition, illustration skills, character design etc. etc.

Installing a tool on your computer also doesn't provide you with an original idea.

By your logic anyone with a simple enough version of Autocad on his computer could come up with great industrial design. So Jonathan Ives design of Apple products is really nothing special, because anyone on the street could have done it given a simple enough software.

By your logic I'm a carpenter because I can hold a hammer.
 
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