Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
68,087
38,837



Popular Mac image editing app Pixelmator today received a major update that incorporates many features included in macOS Sierra and introduces support for the Touch Bar on the new MacBook Pro.

With macOS Sierra compatibility, Pixelmator supports tabs, so multiple windows can be combined for easier management, and it includes the Universal Clipboard feature introduced in Sierra, allowing for cross-device copy paste.

Pixelmator now works with P3 wide color gamut, so you'll see brighter, more vibrant colors when using the app with the new MacBook Pro or one of the new LG 4K or 5K displays. Most importantly, this version of Pixelmator includes support for the MacBook Pro's Touch Bar.

pixelmatortouchbar-800x447.jpg

End users won't be able to access Touch Bar features until the first MacBook Pro orders begin arriving next week, but Pixelmator is launching it early. The Touch Bar keeps the most useful Pixelmator tools right at your fingertips for quicker editing and streamlined workflows. It automatically changes based on what you're doing within the app, and it can be customized to suit your individual needs.
Touch Bar:
- Set the most useful tool options for your selected tool right in the Touch Bar.
- The Touch Bar is customizable, so you can choose exactly which tools you'd like to keep in it.
- Use the Touch Bar to change color, alignment, and other text properties.
- When previewing effects or adjustments, a Show Original button lets you take a peek at the original image.
- Use Rotate and Scale sliders to transform layers.
- And do a lot more!
Pixelmator also now includes a new content-aware Smart Refine feature that's designed to make selecting content quicker and more accurate. Smart Refine is able to detect object edges in an image to automatically refine a selection outline. It naturally smooths the edges of a selection for easier blending, and there's a new workflow for making quick edits to a selection through painting.

Pixelmator can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for $29.99. [Direct Link]

Article Link: Pixelmator Gains Support for macOS Sierra Features, MacBook Pro Touch Bar
 
  • Like
Reactions: Michaelgtrusa
I love Pixelmator. One of the best apps on any platform.

It keeps getting better and better without the complexity of Photoshop.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Luap
I can't speak for Acorn or Affinity- I especially hear many great things about the latter- but for the level of graphics work I do (lightweight hobbyist), Pixelmator is a pretty-close-to-perfect blend of clean and friendly UI, capable tools, and fast performance. It's really nice to see them be on top of everything that MacOS has to offer.
 
  • Like
Reactions: eastmanweb
Thank god Apple added the Touch Bar to replace the F keys that nobody ever uses!

Speak for yourself. I use darker/lighter and mute/lower/louder frequently. Never used the other keys though like play/stop/forward. Gotta check if they work with iTunes and Youtube. Oh and there is a launchpad key? LOL. Anyway, I also never understood why people are pissed the esc key is gone since I never used it either. But I don't think that just because I don't use it nobody uses it.

Oh and yeah I love Pixelmator. Support them from day one.

The palette tool in the emoji bar ist a great idea. Use the right hand with the mouse and left hand for the colour while painting. Great. A shame I will never be able to use that feature since MacBook Pros are so insanely expensive now.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dilbert99
Love seeing new features in this program. Too bad they won't implement alignment tools even though they've been asked for by the user community for over 4 years. They also seem unwilling to respond as to why they won't implement said feature. Such tools are pretty much necessary for any complex file with hundreds of elements that need to be aligned just so. The mouse drag "snap-to" alignment guides just don't work when you have too many elements.

http://support.pixelmator.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=8246&p=46588&hilit=alignment#p46588
 
I've been using Pixelmator for years. While it is a great app and well worth the money, one thing has always bugged me. I hate the floating tool palettes. I've been wishing for an update that would give users the option to have fixed palettes on the sides. Getting tired of waiting for it. More tempted than ever to give Affinity Photo a try.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dilbert99
If there's a real bang for your buck application, this one get the award. It's amazing how the developer always takes advantage of the technology everytime Apple release something new. Thank you Pixelmator team!
 
Love seeing new features in this program. Too bad they won't implement alignment tools even though they've been asked for by the user community for over 4 years. They also seem unwilling to respond as to why they won't implement said feature. Such tools are pretty much necessary for any complex file with hundreds of elements that need to be aligned just so. The mouse drag "snap-to" alignment guides just don't work when you have too many elements.

http://support.pixelmator.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=8246&p=46588&hilit=alignment#p46588

I agree. I've asked several times for basic alignment tools over the years and never got any kind of response. I guess they're implementing the touch bar stuff since it's easy; perhaps alignment tools are something too complex for their coders to do.

I don't use Pixelmator much any more since it hasn't been updated with any useful new features in a long time. It just seems to be hobbling along with the same feature set and periodic compatibility updates for the OS. And the trendy black interface (and web site) that was introduced in version 2 is really tough on my eyes, especially on a retina display.

Anyway, touch bar support would be last on my list for improvements to this once-innovative app.
 
What's weird is that I had this app installed on my old Mac, but it's not showing up as purchased on my new MBP. Had version 3.5.1.

Found the issue. Apparently if an app is 'hidden' in the Mac App Store, it comes up as for purchase again. Pretty weird bug.
 
I agree. I've asked several times for basic alignment tools over the years and never got any kind of response. I guess they're implementing the touch bar stuff since it's easy; perhaps alignment tools are something too complex for their coders to do.

I don't use Pixelmator much any more since it hasn't been updated with any useful new features in a long time. It just seems to be hobbling along with the same feature set and periodic compatibility updates for the OS. And the trendy black interface (and web site) that was introduced in version 2 is really tough on my eyes, especially on a retina display.

Anyway, touch bar support would be last on my list for improvements to this once-innovative app.
What's your recommendation now as an alternative for Pixelmator?
 
"Pixelmator now works with P3 wide color gamut, so you'll see brighter, more vibrant colors when using the app with the new MacBook Pro or one of the new LG 4K or 5K displays."

Wide gamut does not automatically give you more vibrant colours, it requires source material that has more colour information in it.
 
Wow, I imagine picking colors over and over is a lot less tedious now. Dedicated little displays are great to have. I've got three monitors on my workstation, but one is really small and is dedicated to my messaging apps, email, and iTunes so I can keep that all separate. Touch Bar is small but can be as useful as a second monitor just because of all those little things you need shown all the time. Nintendo DS also used that concept, BTW, and it has worked well.
[doublepost=1479290881][/doublepost]My question: Can we have Terminal/iTerm2 showing CPU and memory usage from htop inside an SSH session on there? :D That would actually be useful for me as I frequently use my laptop to manage my servers.
[doublepost=1479291448][/doublepost]
Anyway, I also never understood why people are pissed the esc key is gone since I never used it either. But I don't think that just because I don't use it nobody uses it.
I can't use Vim without the escape key, so I'd have to rebind caps lock to escape. Not that big of a deal. I have much bigger problems with other aspects of the laptop.
 
Last edited:
Glad to see they are on the ball. Hopefully other devs will be too. But seems Apple is going to have to extend this to the MB too (I assume the MBA is a dead model running) to achieve any type of economy of scale for devs to incorporate it.

I think Apple needs to build in user customization for non-supported apps within OS X. So, for example, if MS only updates the Office 365 version, not the stand alone, users can make their own macros and map them to a TB key. Otherwise TB is at the sole mercy of devs and that would be a waste of real estate.
 
"Pixelmator now works with P3 wide color gamut, so you'll see brighter, more vibrant colors when using the app with the new MacBook Pro or one of the new LG 4K or 5K displays."

Wide gamut does not automatically give you more vibrant colours, it requires source material that has more colour information in it.
Well, it's obvious
and I totally agree with you
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.