Pixelmator Photo for iPad Now Available [Updated]

[MacRumors]

Update: Pixelmator Photo is now available for iPad. Original story follows.

The team behind Pixelmator, the popular photo editing app designed for Mac and iOS, today announced the upcoming launch of a new app, Pixelmator Photo.

Pixelmator Photo is an app designed to allow photographers to edit images on the iPad with a collection of nondestructive color adjustment tools that match those available through the Pixelmator desktop app. Pixelmator Photo was designed specifically for the iPad and takes advantage of Apple's latest iOS technologies.

It features AI-based auto enhancing tools, RAW support, a repair tool for removing unwanted objects from photos, and preset filters inspired by analog film.

There are tools for adjusting brightness, exposure, hue, saturation, vibrance, shadows, and highlights, and there are standard features you'd expect to find in any photo editing app like levels and curves, plus options for selectively adjusting colors, fixing white balance, cropping, and more.

The ML Enhance tool powered by machine learning automatically enhances and crops photographs using a Core-ML powered algorithm that the Pixelmator team trained with 20 million professional photos. It fixes white balance, exposure, and individual color range in each image, while also cropping photos to the ideal composition.

Pixelmator has always had a powerful repair tool, which has been brought to Pixelmator Photo. It can be used to remove blemishes or cut out whole objects accurately from photos while preserving the background.

The app offers a collection of presets inspired by different photography styles, including black and white, cinematic to emulate the orange and teal film look, classic films based on classic film looks, and modern films for a more modern style. There are also presets for landscape shots, urban shots, and night shots, plus users can save their own custom presets.

Pixelmator Photo can be pre-ordered for $3.99, a $1 discount off of the $4.99 launch price. The deal will end when the app becomes available on April 9. [Direct Link]

Article Link: Pixelmator Photo for iPad Now Available [Updated]

 

[Amazing Iceman]

Is this app really needed if you already have Pixelmator and Affinity Photo?
What are the advantages?

 

[npmacuser5]

Pre-order Not available on my iPad Air 2. Says this iPad missing required features. Not sure what features they are talking about. Another reason to upgrade!

Update: added screenshot of iPads compatible with the pre-order:

 

[EugW]

Is this app really needed if you already have Pixelmator and Affinity Photo?
What are the advantages?

I have both too. Just wondering what the difference is between Pixelmator and Pixelmator Photo, since they don’t spell that out.

Mind you I don’t use Pixelmator. I probably will use Affinity Photo much more but I can’t say for sure since I only recently got it. My uneducated guess is that Pixelmator Photo will add to Pixelmator which in combination will compete better with Affinity Photo.

Pre-order Not available on my iPad Air 2. Says this iPad missing required features. Not sure what features they are talking about. Another reason to upgrade!

Update: added screenshot of iPads compatible with the pre-order:

Looks like I upgraded right at the right time. Last week I upgraded from an iPad Air 2 to the iPad Pro 10.5”, which is an awesome machine. The 11” is even better, but was too spendy.

 

[TMRJIJ]

Pre-order Not available on my iPad Air 2. Says this iPad missing required features. Not sure what features they are talking about. Another reason to upgrade!

Update: added screenshot of iPads compatible with the pre-order:

That sucks. I love Pixelmator. Guess this will be more of a reason to finally upgrade.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

I have both too. Just wondering what the difference is between Pixelmator and Pixelmator Photo is, since they don’t spell that out.

Mind you I don’t use Pixelmator. I probably will use Affinity Photo much more but I can’t say for sure since I only recently got it. My uneducated guess is that Pixelmator Photo will be a more direct competitor to Affinity Photo.

It would be nice to see more information about it, perhaps a review from a beta tester. If I find it, I'll post a link.
[doublepost=1554224174][/doublepost]

That sucks. I love Pixelmator. Guess this will be more of a reason to finally upgrade.

It probably requires a better Processor. Now you have a great excuse to get the latest iPad Pro at the largest size!
[doublepost=1554224903][/doublepost]According to the AppStore description and their own Website, Pixelmator Photo is primarily a color adjustment tool with a 'Magical' Spot Removal Tool powered by ML.
I don't see any indication that it supports Layers or any other editing tools.
So it could be either a simplistic App or an App so advanced that does away with all the extra editing tools.

Should we take a chance and spend the $3.99 ?

 

[mdwsta4]

Sounds like this is more of a Lightroom type of tool? Affinity is great, but just like on my desktop, I don't use photoshop for 95% of what I shoot. Lightroom is perfect so this may be a good alternative since I'm still using CS6 and LR6 (no subscription BS)

 

[MrMister111]

Confused by all these different versions.

I've now got all my photos and videos using iCloud photo library on my 256Gb iPad. I only want very basic editing and organising but want to be fully integrated with iCloud photo library for using on my iMac and iPad.

Which app do I choose?!?
Thanks

 

[now i see it]

....$3.99

And photoshop back in the day before creative cloud cost $699.00 retail for the DVD.

 

[GoAndrius]

Probably the simplest and most obvious way to put it is: Pixelmator is a layer-based image editor. Kinda like Photoshop. Pixelmator Photo is photo editor with a focus on RAW editing specifically. Kinda like Lightroom. Obviously not the most marketing-y description but probably the kind of description most people will immediately understand.

As for the device cut-off — there isn't a way to differentiate between, for example, the iPad Air and the iPad Air 2, so in order to make sure that everybody who gets the app has a great user experience, we've had to set the cut-off point a little later than we maybe would've liked to. Compatible devices are listed on the App Store page and our Pixelmator Photo page.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

It would be nice to see more information about it, perhaps a review from a beta tester. If I find it, I'll post a link.
[doublepost=1554224174][/doublepost]
It probably requires a better Processor. Now you have a great excuse to get the latest iPad Pro at the largest size!
[doublepost=1554224903][/doublepost]According to the AppStore description and their own Website, Pixelmator Photo is primarily a color adjustment tool with a 'Magical' Spot Removal Tool powered by ML.
I don't see any indication that it supports Layers or any other editing tools.
So it could be either a simplistic App or an App so advanced that does away with all the extra editing tools.

Should we take a chance and spend the $3.99 ?

Sounds like this is more of a Lightroom type of tool? Affinity is great, but just like on my desktop, I don't use photoshop for 95% of what I shoot. Lightroom is perfect so this may be a good alternative since I'm still using CS6 and LR6 (no subscription BS)

Confused by all these different versions.

I've now got all my photos and videos using iCloud photo library on my 256Gb iPad. I only want very basic editing and organising but want to be fully integrated with iCloud photo library for using on my iMac and iPad.

Which app do I choose?!?
Thanks

Edit: What @GoAndrius said.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

As for the device cut-off — there isn't a way to differentiate between, for example, the iPad Air and the iPad Air 2, so in order to make sure that everybody who gets the app has a great user experience, we've had to set the cut-off point a little later than we maybe would've liked to. Compatible devices are listed on the App Store page and our Pixelmator Photo page.

What about the new iPad Mini 5? That should have enough horsepower for the app.

 

[symphony]

That’s hella cheap!

I’ve always enjoyed the look of their app’s UI, it’s so elegant, and very reminiscent of Apple.

The Pixelmator team needs to build Pixelmator Pro for both iPhone and iPad IMO.

 

[EugW]

Probably the simplest and most obvious way to put it is: Pixelmator is a layer-based image editor. Kinda like Photoshop. Pixelmator Photo is photo editor with a focus on RAW editing specifically. Kinda like Lightroom. Obviously not the most marketing-y description but probably the kind of description most people will immediately understand.

Makes sense, thx.

As for the device cut-off — there isn't a way to differentiate between, for example, the iPad Air and the iPad Air 2, so in order to make sure that everybody who gets the app has a great user experience, we've had to set the cut-off point a little later than we maybe would've liked to. Compatible devices are listed on the App Store page and our Pixelmator Photo page.

I'm curious why this is a thing. Not that it directly affects me, since I'm now using an iPad Pro 10.5. I'm just curious though, considering things like RAM are so different.

 

[GoAndrius]

What about the new iPad Mini 5? That should have enough horsepower for the app.

iPad mini 5 is supported, strange that it's not appearing on the list... We'll have to double-check this. As far as I know, it's possible to buy the app (or at least test via TestFlight) on the 5th generation mini and 3rd gen Air.

 

[furbzv1]

i already have affinity photo but at the price cant really say no.

 

[Jarrodbcall]

It would be nice to see more information about it, perhaps a review from a beta tester. If I find it, I'll post a link.
[doublepost=1554224174][/doublepost]
It probably requires a better Processor. Now you have a great excuse to get the latest iPad Pro at the largest size!
[doublepost=1554224903][/doublepost]According to the AppStore description and their own Website, Pixelmator Photo is primarily a color adjustment tool with a 'Magical' Spot Removal Tool powered by ML.
I don't see any indication that it supports Layers or any other editing tools.
So it could be either a simplistic App or an App so advanced that does away with all the extra editing tools.

Should we take a chance and spend the $3.99 ?

I’m in a similar spot, so I asked on Twitter and got this response:
“It’s focused around photo editing, with a completely nondestructive workflow and full RAW support. Pixelmator is a layer-based image editor, geared more towards creating designs and compositing. Both great apps, just have different uses! ”

 

[SBlue1]

Been using Pixelmator for a while now, what a great replacement for PS. Worth every Cent.

 

[Jarrodbcall]

Probably the simplest and most obvious way to put it is: Pixelmator is a layer-based image editor. Kinda like Photoshop. Pixelmator Photo is photo editor with a focus on RAW editing specifically. Kinda like Lightroom. Obviously not the most marketing-y description but probably the kind of description most people will immediately understand.

As for the device cut-off — there isn't a way to differentiate between, for example, the iPad Air and the iPad Air 2, so in order to make sure that everybody who gets the app has a great user experience, we've had to set the cut-off point a little later than we maybe would've liked to. Compatible devices are listed on the App Store page and our Pixelmator Photo page.

I should know this, but is it still useful for someone who doesn’t use RAW? I just use my phone camera, but don’t think the editing features in photos are robust enough and haven’t found an app that is simple but powerful.

 

[maxromanovsky]

Oh boy, I am so waiting for an app that will support:

• Photo collections as in Lightroom, at least with ability to filter, perform bulk actions on photos and bulk export
• Panorama merge
• HDR merge

@GoAndrius does Pixelmator Photo support some of those features?
P.S. I know I'm being naive to expect such features from $5 app

 

[EugW]

Didn’t even know the App Store allowed pre-orders.

Anyhow, at CAD$5.49, I’ve pre-ordered.

 

[bluespark]

This is beautiful. Really beautiful. I'm interested in learning more about its features, but this could be a "killer app" for me.

 

[definitive]

yeah, i'm not giving this company any more money after how they switched from pixelmator to pro. moved to affinity's apps instead.

 

[GoAndrius]

I should know this, but is it still useful for someone who doesn’t use RAW? I just use my phone camera, but don’t think the editing features in photos are robust enough and haven’t found an app that is simple but powerful.

Absolutely, in fact, the color model that our color adjustments use cleverly simulates the high dynamic range of RAW images even in low dynamic range photos. That's a complex way of saying it edits regular photos with color accuracy similar to the way it edits RAW images! Definitely a great option for editing iPhone photos, something for which I personally already use the app.

Oh boy, I am so waiting for an app that will support:

• Photo collections as in Lightroom, at least with ability to filter, perform bulk actions on photos and bulk export
• Panorama merge
• HDR merge

@GoAndrius does Pixelmator Photo support some of those features?
P.S. I know I'm being naive to expect such features from $5 app

We're leaving the photo management side of things to Photos. Panorama and HDR merging also won't be available in 1.0 and it most likely won't be the first things we add after 1.0 as we've got things like Clarity and Denoise adjustments in the works but it's something for us to keep in mind.

yeah, i'm not giving this company any more money after how they switched from pixelmator to pro. moved to affinity's apps instead.

Just out of interest, what was it you didn't like about the transition from the original Pixelmator to Pixelmator Pro? Bearing in mind the facts that, for App Store apps, there isn't a way of providing upgrade discounts...

 

[pbird]

We're leaving the photo management side of things to Photos. Panorama and HDR merging also won't be available in 1.0 and it most likely won't be the first things we add after 1.0 as we've got things like Clarity and Denoise adjustments in the works but it's something for us to keep in mind.

Sounds good, denoise was the the only adjustment I was missing in the screenshots that I have seen so far that is really important to me.
I do hope that you will also support presets that can be applied to a batch of photos in one go. As far as I know there isn't an iPad app that supports applying multiple adjustments to a large selection of photos at once.

Edit: Actually I was wrong, the Raw Power app does support batch applying of presets. Interestingly that app is made by the former lead programmer of aperture.