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Pixelmator Updated with Speed Improvements, Background Saves

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Apr 12, 2001
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Image editing software Pixelmator was updated to version 2.21 today, adding a multitude of new enhancements that increase the overall speed of the app.
Today we are happy to release the first Pixelmator 2.2.1 update. That may sound minor in numbers, but in our little Pixelmator world, it's a major one. We've done some radical improvements behind the scenes. One of them is a new Pixelmator file format. It's still the same file format you are used to, yet it now has a completely new architecture that takes advantage of the modern OS X technologies making your image editing even faster and more enjoyable.
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Pixelmator documents now open twice as fast, iCloud saves are faster, and better Quick Look support allows users to preview documents without opening them. Background saves have been added, and a progress bar shows file status when opening and saving documents.

Quite a few improvements to effects have been added as well, designed to allow users to search, preview, and apply effects faster. Multiple effects have seen speed enhancements, and bug fixes that cause crashes have been applied. The full log of changes to Pixelmator 2.21 can be found on the company's support site.

Pixelmator can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for $14.99. [Direct Link]

Article Link: Pixelmator Updated with Speed Improvements, Background Saves
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/09/24/pixelmator-updated-with-speed-improvements-background-saves/
A very nice piece of software this is. I use it as an alternative to photoshop for the little photo edits I have. I really hope this enters the big game one day then I'll be able to ditch photoshop for good.
 
I own Pixelmator and have experimented with it as an alternative to Photoshop for less involved projects - but I can't get beyond the lack of layer styles. They are too necessary and the workarounds in Pixelmator too inconvenient. Forums have been filled with people asking for this feature for years - but version after version arrives with nothing. Just don't understand it.
 
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Background saves? Finally! I love how even little "minor" x.1 updates with Pixelmator produce such big results! Really a great product, especially for it's price.
 
The app does a great job with what I need. I hope the company ventures out into the movie editing environment.
 
When did this drop to $15??? I already own a copy that I think I paid $50 for, but to get it on the Mac App store I just bought it again. It'll let me put it on more computers.
 
Still no 16-bit TIFFs?

Now is the time to add features for those leaving Photoshop's subscription world Pixelmator! NOW IS THE TIME!
 
Keep fighting the good fight against Photoshop. For most of us Pixelmator is all we'll need. Let the pros with the big budgets pay for the perpetual Adobe CC licenses.
 
One of the best, most user-friendly programs for OS X with an excellent price-value ratio. I'm really just an amateur and I can't even take full advantage of what this application is capable of, but it's my favourite piece of (third-party) software.
 
Love IT!

I recently got turned down from updating to Adobe CC Photographer bundle because my version of CS5 is a Student Edition. This made me rather upset as I believe that students should be able to take advantage of the discount and the cheaper price of CC. So I decided to take a little of the money I WOULD HAVE spent and purchased Pixelmator. I absolutely love it for what I do. I mostly do creative image editing for portraits/landscapes and only busted out photoshop when I was doing a project where I needed layers. I also used Photoshop for some web design work and Pixelmator does that perfectly. I also use Lightroom 4 often but this whole experience made me what to try something different when upgrade time comes a couple years from now (for me).
 
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Pixelmator is terrific, it's not a Ps clone so you have to approach things a little differently, there are enough similarities with shortcut keys (mostly) so that you can you find your way around quickly. It's very rewarding when you dig into it.

The big thing though is that the development team is pretty tiny especially compared to the likes of Adobe. You get the kind of customer service you'd expect to receive from a Mom & Pop store. You can actually contact the development team directly through Twitter or their Support page and they are quite responsive. You don't have to work your way through a labyrinth of low-level layers hoping to get your concerns registered.
 
Can we stop fighting over this already? ;)

I think everybody who tried Pixelmator just loves it!








(NO it's not a full PS replacement....yet. But beware... it might just be what you're looking for! And it's pretty good (and pretty too) at what it does)
 
!?TheMacDaddy!? said:
I recently got turned down from updating to Adobe CC Photographer bundle because my version of CS5 is a Student Edition. This made me rather upset as I believe that students should be able to take advantage of the discount and the cheaper price of CC.
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Glad I found this out, as I have been using the same Student/Teacher edition of CS5 and was thinking of using it for jumping on board CC. I don't know what Adobe thinks they're doing, but they are not helping themselves. I don't even understand why there's ANY prerequisite associated with the Photoshop/Lightroom bundle.

Reading their "fine print" on the CC page, I see nothing about a student/teacher version not being eligible. Did you talk to anyone or was it just an emailed, autoresponse denial? If the latter, I'd get in touch with an actual human being and see about getting around that.

I'm sure Pixelmator is fine for general uses, but if you've used Photoshop for any length of time like I have (18 years), stepping back to something like Pixelmator is a mighty long step down. (I can't make use of anything that can't work with RAW images, for starters.)
 
malnar said:
Reading their "fine print" on the CC page, I see nothing about a student/teacher version not being eligible. Did you talk to anyone or was it just an emailed, autoresponse denial? If the latter, I'd get in touch with an actual human being and see about getting around that.
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I did not know about this either until I tried to upgrade and couldn't. I then contacted Adobe's customer service and was promptly transferred over to the sales department who told me that student/teacher editions were not eligible for the photographers 9.99/mo bundle.
 
I did just an open, edit, and save of one image in the new version (saving as jpg, not Pixelmator format).... and noticed that the file size went up considerably. Typically, my FZ200 saves jpg's at around 5mb in size. If i edit them in Pixelmator, and bump down the quality slider a little bit, it would result in a file size of about 2-3mb. I just did one, and it ballooned to 15mb in size.... even though i lowered the quality slider... what gives!

Had the three example images, but not sure how you put just them small image that you can click on for full... so here is just the smaller setting screen shot...

Edit%20Screen.png



Although same file format, and cropped to a smaller size... and lowered the quality bar (see third image)... file size went up from 5mb to 9.1mb. This definitely wasn't the case before this update...
 
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Tknull said:
I did just an open, edit, and save of one image in the new version (saving as jpg, not Pixelmator format).... and noticed that the file size went up considerably. Typically, my FZ200 saves jpg's at around 5mb in size. If i edit them in Pixelmator, and bump down the quality slider a little bit, it would result in a file size of about 2-3mb. I just did one, and it ballooned to 15mb in size.... even though i lowered the quality slider... what gives!

Had the three example images, but not sure how you put just them small image that you can click on for full... so here is just the smaller setting screen shot...

Image


Although same file format, and cropped to a smaller size... and lowered the quality bar (see third image)... file size went up from 5mb to 9.1mb. This definitely wasn't the case before this update...
Click to expand...

If you are saving the jpg as your final output then you should use export instead. That should knock the file size down. (shift command-e)
 
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extensor said:
If you are saving the jpg as your final output then you should use export instead. That should knock the file size down. (shift command-e)
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Yes, I received a reply from tech support saying that for the time being I should do that. It does force me to open the jpg as a pixelmator doc, then export to jpg... as opposed to just opening in its native jpg format and enjoying background saving... but I am happy to know a fix is coming soon. Very pleased.
 
Dream of the day when I can work exclusively with Aperture and Pixelmator. Just need a new version of Aperture, and either one of them to process HDR and panoramic shots.
 
fivedots said:
Dream of the day when I can work exclusively with Aperture and Pixelmator. Just need a new version of Aperture, and either one of them to process HDR and panoramic shots.
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Yes, and it does seem like Pixelmator keeps working on adding new features, so it is encouraging. I liked seeing Apple single them out by name at one of their demos. Personally, i've been really frustrated finding a good photo editor to use. I dont want to have to use one for both organization and editing. I prefer to just use an editor to edit, and iPhoto or Aperture to manage/organize. And i'm really not a fan of the apps storing the original file, and a file with changes you have made to the photo.... I just want the final end product.
 
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