Pixelmator
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Daily Update for December 7, 2012
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Pixelmator announces big bug with OS X 10.8.2
Ouch. You know it's a bad day for Pixelmator Team when they have to publicly announce a major bug in their marquee app. The bug causes some Macs to "restart when intensively using Pixelmator" -- like right when you're in the middle of a major project. The issue also causes other nice side effects, such as "the app would stop responding without restarting a computer, or just cause some graphical glitches." Well, the Pixelmator Team has posted a huge apology to users on their blog, and they've found out what's happened. Apparently, the issue is caused by NVIDIA GeForce graphics card drivers and not by Pixelmator's code. The team notes that they've tried various workarounds and nothing has worked, but the hardware engineers at Apple are on the job trying to figure out a fix. If you have a Mac with an NVIDIA GeForce GT 120, GT 320M, GT 330M, 9400M or GT 9600 graphics card and use Pixelmator, you may want to use another image editing app for a while until this gets resolved. To find out what graphics card is in your Mac, pull up OS X 10.8.2's System Information Utility and it will be listed in the overview.
PIxelmator 2.1 offers Retina and iCloud support, more
Pixelmator has always been popular for the not-quite-ready-for-the-expense-of-Photoshop crowd. The image manipulation/retouching app for Mac is powerful, works well, and is good competition for applications like Photoshop Elements. Pixelmator 2.1 has just been released, and at a very attractive price through the Mac App Store at a very attractive US $14.99. The app is now Retina-ready, supports iCloud for syncing, and has added new effects including miniaturize, rain and snow and new filters. The app also supports Mountain Lion. Effects previews have been improved, and with this release, Pixelmator continues to enhance its reputation as a powerful and inexpensive photo editor. I'll have a detailed look at the app soon, and see how it compares to the competition. The app is a 27.8 MB download, and requires OS X 10.6.8 or later. Graphic artists and photographers who aren't in the Photoshop camp will want to take a look for certain. We've got some sample screenshots in the gallery. %Gallery-162110%
Pixelmator updated to 2.0.3: Better memory management, more enhancements
Pixelmator today updated its self-named app to version 2.0.3, with a lot of improvements to the popular image editing application. Probably the biggest improvement is in the management of memory usage. Pixelmator says that most users will "see their memory footprint cut in half" which should "sweeten performance noticeably and make using Pixelmator an even faster and smoother experience." If you use the Export for Web feature regularly, you'll be happy to know that Pixelmator has fixed both the stability and compatibility issues that were inherent in previous versions. The list of improvements and fixes is incredibly lengthy -- readers can get a full list of them here. One final note: if you are one of the many Lion users who is unhappy with the Autosave feature, the company has provided a Terminal command that you can use to turn off that capability in Pixelmator. Pixelmator notes that they're on track to release their next major update to Pixelmator 2.1, although they don't mention a specific ship date.
Pixelmator 2.0 released with new tools, content-awareness, Lion support
I ditched Photoshop for Pixelmator about a year ago, but there were a few things missing in Pixelmator which caused me to fire up Photoshop once in a while. I also recently bought Aperture in an effort to better organize and retouch photos I started taking on my new Canon Rebel. Pixelmator 2 fixes many omissions which had me reaching for Photoshop, and in some ways is better than Aperture. Read on to learn about a few features I checked out in the short time I tried out the update. Lion Support Full screen is great, but when dealing with images I think full support for Lion's autosave and versioning will really hit photogs and designers in the sweet spot. I also dig how Pixelmator has eschewed floating palette-mania for inline toolbars that appear when various tools are selected. Text tool Oh, finally we have some control over text! Here's a great example of the toolbar appearing in a document (image) window when needed, and it's really helpful. No clutter, no moving things around, just the tools you need to tweak the tool you're using. Anyway, the Text tool finally has the fine control over text alignment, adjustment and placement that was sorely lacking before. Vector Shapes Mercy me, there's a vector set of tools in Pixelmator at last. Create shapes, use a proper pen tool and editing tools, etc. I'm not going to say Pixelmator matches Photoshop here, because there are still some tricks you can't do with paths in Photoshop that are still missing from Pixelmator, but the addition of vector shapes keeps me from launching something else just to add a simple shape that I can easily scale. Smudge, Sponge, Red Eye and Healing Smudge does exactly what you'd expect, and works great. Sponge allows you to saturate and desaturate areas of your image, and it works well also. But photographers will be stoked to use the excellent red eye feature, and even more excited by the smart healing brush. I actually think red eye and healing work better in Pixelmator 2 than in Aperture. One thing I can definitely say: the responsiveness is better in Pixelmator. If you have ever been aggravated by Aperture's crummy pinch-to-zoom and scrolling when dealing with the red eye and healing fixes, you'll be happy to know that Pixelmator is "like butter" by comparison. Apple needs to optimize Aperture (or fix the bugs!) fast. Mac App Store Pixelmator 2 is on the Mac App Store for a lowered price right now ($29.99), and I gladly bought it even though I had the non-MAS version. Why? Because totaling up every penny I've spent on Pixelmator in the few years I've been using it is still about 10% of what Photoshop will cost you. There's hardly a better value out there, especially if you work with pixels on a daily basis.
Pixelmator releases ... an iPhone game called Flapcraft
I am a big fan of Pixelmator, the excellent image editor for the Mac, and was surprised to see that team's latest project: an iOS game called called Flapcraft, which hit the App Store today. Not surprisingly, the team used Pixelmator to create the game's look. What a clever way to show off your image editor. Flipcraft is a lot of fun. You play as a viking who jumps off of a ramp and executes elaborate tricks. An extensive upgrade system allows for higher jumps, bigger tricks, and more points. It's short, but entertaining. Plus, it looks great. You can pick it up for US$1.99 in the App Store right now. The Pixelmator gang has produced a making-of video which shows the team creating the game's art and designing its website. Pixelmator is indeed a really powerful graphical tool -- it's too bad all of that art and design talent doesn't come with it!
Pixelmator 2.0 announced, coming to Mac App Store later this summer
Today, the Pixelmator team provided a peek at the next version of their namesake image editing tool. With the code name of Chameleon, Pixelmator 2.0 is a major upgrade that is expected to ship later in the summer of 2011. Anyone who has already purchased the app via the Mac App Store for US$29 gets a free upgrade to the new version when it arrives. Along with the increase in functionality provided with the upgrade comes a new price point -- $59. The new feature list is quite comprehensive. First, there are drawing tools (pen, freeform pen, convert, and path selection tools) that allow users to create and edit vector shapes. These tools also include pre-drawn triangle, line, rectangle, circle and custom shapes available on a new Shapes palette. The fill and stroke settings for these shapes are adjusted in a new Shape Settings palette, and shadows are easily added from this palette as well. Probably the most anticipated new feature in the upgrade is the content-aware fill technology that can be used to delete unwanted elements in images. Want to get rid of that sunburned spot on your nose from your vacation photos? With the new Healing Tool or the regular selection tools, it will be easy to select an area and let Pixelmator fill it with nearby image content. New retouching tools are part of the upgrade, including a Sponge Tool for adding or reducing color from image areas by dabbing at them, Burn and Dodge tools to darken or lighten portions of an image, and a Red Eye Tool for exorcising the red glow from eyes in your pictures. Finally, there's also a new Smudge Tool for smearing paint or obscuring details by using a brush tip to do the retouching. The user interface has been streamlined and made easier to use, there's a new Eyedropper Tool for picking up colors, and a number of other toolbars and palettes that have been included. With the announced upgrade, Pixelmator appears to be making great strides towards becoming a much less expensive alternative to Adobe's Photoshop. What do you think, Pixelmator owners? Are you looking forward to the upgrade? Let us know in the comments.
Mac App Store highlights "apps for the creative home"
Apple has set up its first highlighted section for the Mac App Store, in which it displays "apps for the creative home." There are five apps featured in each of four categories (covering things from design to music and photography), and there are some good picks in there, from Apple's own apps to TUAW favorites like Pixelmator, djay and a few others. To be honest, while apps getting featured tends to be good for developers and customers, the display section looks a little sparse. With only five apps per category, that leaves three spaces open on each, and it certainly looks (though of course this is just an assumption) like Apple had trouble finding enough quality apps to fill the space. Not to mention that we're seeing repeats already -- many of these apps have already been featured. For whatever reason (app prices, difficulty in development, customer usage habits), I'd suggest that the Mac App Store isn't taking off quite as meteorically as the iOS store did for both the iPhone and the iPad. Obviously things are growing over there, and we've seen some very impressive numbers already. But it looks like the curve will be a little less steep for the Mac App Store.
Pixelmator grosses $1 million in Mac App Store after 20 days
After just 20 days in the Mac App Store, the Pixelmator team announced that it has grossed more than $1 million through sales. When the Mac App Store launched Jan. 6, the software was made available exclusively through it. Pixelmator is currently the fourth top-grossing app in the Mac App Store. Only Pages, iPhoto and Aperture come in higher. Pixelmator is still on sale for US$29.99.
CoverSutra kerfuffle highlights Mac App Store teething troubles
The Mac App Store is off to a great start, but it's not all sweetness and light. Users have been confused by how some third party apps bought elsewhere show as "installed" in the store UI whilst others don't -- and in fairness, it is confusingly inconsistent. Meanwhile, developers are struggling to deal with the lack of upgrade pricing, and what that means for their existing customers. As with the iOS App Store, everyone buying an app pays the same price, whether they are a new customer or someone who bought a previous version. There is also no ability to "grandfather in" licenses from elsewhere. For example, I purchased Pixelmator v1.6 from its website for $60 back in September, but the team has now announced that v2 will be exclusive to the Mac App Store. If they had maintained the $60 price point, I would have had to pay the full amount again in order to move my license from their own system and onto the Mac App Store. Generously, they have dealt with this by offering Pixelmator v1.6 for $30 on the store for a limited time -- with a free upgrade to v2 when it is released. This isn't perfect; some people like me feel annoyed that they paid twice the current rate just a few months ago for a product that won't get an upgrade to v2, and Pixelmator's developers are also effectively giving new customers an upgrade discount they perhaps shouldn't be entitled to. Overall, though, it's the best of a bad set of choices they can make. Not all devs are having such a smooth ride, however.
Pixelmator now $30, available exclusively on Mac App Store
Pixelmator is an image-editing app for Mac that has a lot of fans. For just US$59, it performs many of the tasks that can also be done with the much more expensive Adobe Photoshop. The developers, Saulius and Aidas Dailide, have announced that Pixelmator will now be available exclusively through the Mac App Store. The price tag for Pixelmator has dropped as well; for a limited time, you can purchase the app for $29.99, making it even more of a bargain. So why did the developers decide to move Pixelmator to the Mac App Store? In a blog posting on the Pixelmator site, they cite the following reasons (quoted from the post): The Mac App Store is the future of Pixelmator (and probably of all other great Mac apps, too) sales and distribution. Thanks to the Mac App Store, installation of your favorite image editor becomes easier than ever. Because we are always improving Pixelmator, you will rest assured that your Pixelmator is always up-to-date with the latest improvements and features within the Mac App Store. With the Mac App Store, you can easily re-download Pixelmator anytime you wish. This is especially useful when you get a new Mac. With the Mac App Store, the headaches of dealing with all those serial numbers and anti-piracy system stuff are gone forever. Peter Cohen at The Loop interviewed Saulius Dailide, and the interview reveals insights into the price change -- it's basically a way for existing users of the app to transition to the new Mac App Store purchase and upgrade infrastructure without being penalized. By purchasing the app at the lower price point now, buyers receive a free upgrade to the upcoming Pixelmator 2.0. Several of the TUAW staffers have made Pixelmator their first Mac App Store purchase, and during the transition period it's certainly a good deal for a great piece of software.
Third-party apps not purchased via Mac App Store may appear as Installed
Apple just released the Mac App Store, and with it came one very unfortunate feature. It was well-intentioned, but poorly executed, and it ends up being an "attractive nuisance," meaning that it's something that you're really better off ignoring: third-party apps not purchased via the Mac App Store may appear as "Installed" there, leading to unrealistic expectations of what you can do with Apple's latest service. Here's a quick overview of how the Mac App Store works, in case you haven't tried it: 1) you search for an app, 2) when you find an app you want, you click on the button showing "Free" or "Buy" with the price listed, 3) the button changes to "Installing" while the the app is downloaded to your Applications folder and 4) the button changes to "Installed" when the app is fully installed. The problem is that the Mac App Store also recognizes apps that you have purchased outside of the Mac App Store if the version of the app matches the Mac App Store version exactly, using something called the "Bundle ID." For example, if you noticed that the Mac App Store showed iPhoto as "Installed," even though you bought it through the boxed iLife set, but the Mac App Store did not notice that you already have Pages installed, it may be because you haven't installed the latest iWork update. As you might expect, this has led to quite a bit of confusion, so it bears repeating: if you have not purchased an app through the Mac App Store, you cannot re-download it or get any future updates through the Mac App Store. For that, you will have to continue to check for updates using the app's built-in mechanisms, or check the developer's website. The folks at Panic and Barebones have written very good posts about this, as have the folks over at Macworld, so check them out if you're still unclear about how this works.
Pixelmator setting up shop in the Mac App Store
Pixelmator is a favorite Mac application around TUAW. The US$59 image editor is used by many of our bloggers to fix or manipulate the pictures you see here on the site. We were thrilled to see that the Pixelmator team announced on their blog that they'll be selling their application in the upcoming Mac App Store. The team says that they're happy that they'll be able to focus on continuing to make Pixelmator the top Mac image editor instead of spending time on figuring out ways to get the word out about their app or manage a web store to sell the product. They're also lovin' the fact that they no longer have to work on developing and keeping up update and licensing systems, digital rights management, and similar time-consuming -- but necessary -- back-end systems. Now they can simply focus on Pixelmator and leave the rest to Apple. It's good to see that the Pixelmator Team is supportive of the Mac App Store, and we wish them continued success as they move into their new "home."
Pixelmator 1.6 "Nucleus" released
My Mac photo editor of choice, Pixelmator, has been updated to version 1.6 just recently. It's mostly a performance update, adding performance and bug fixes, support for 64-bit architecture, and a whole lot of polish for Snow Leopard. Additionally, they've redesigned the transforming tools, added an import feature (to bring in images from a camera or another source), and added the ability to send out photos directly from Pixelmator to Facebook, Flickr, or Picasa. That's pretty slick. And of course this is a free update for registered users, so you can install it from right within the app. If you haven't picked up Pixelmator yet, you can get a license for $60 -- not exactly cheap (or free, if you're a Gimp fan), but when you compare it to another full-featured editor like Photoshop, it's quite a bargain.
iPhone Screentaker updated with iPad templates
Fabian Kreiser has recently updated his screen capturing app for Mac OS X to include support iPad screen captures. Like previous iterations of the app, version 1.2 of iPhone Screentaker allows you to add certain design elements to your iPad screenshots. These include encasing them an iPad and setting the orientation background color. Images can then be saved as either JPG or PNG, with the option to scale to fit iTunes. One little quirk about the app is the "Capture Screenshot" button. While its existence would seemingly indicate an associated action, in my experience clicking on it didn't do anything. I wasn't able to find anything documenting its function, either. While you can certainly accomplish a similar end with an image editor, such as Adobe Photoshop or Pixelmator, that may prove too time consuming or difficult for some. Screen capturing has been a feature on the iPhone since iPhone OS 2.0, and taking a screen capture is as simple as pressing down the sleep and home button at the same time. The feature serves a myriad of purposes, from facilitating the marketing of an app and documentation workflow for developers, and for allowing reviewers, like us here at TUAW, to highlight certain features of an app. iPhone Screentaker is available as a free download at Fabian Kreiser's site.
Iris suspends development, users can upgrade to Acorn for free
I never actually used Iris (my image editor of choice is still Pixelmator), but the one-window image editor released a few years ago certainly had its share of fans. Unfortunately, those fans may be disappointed to hear that Iris' developer, Nolobe, has suspended development on the app. Nolobe's principal Matthew Drayton says that back in 2007, when Iris started development, there were no cheap yet quality image editors, and nowadays, the app has simply become a "me too" app. He doesn't want to do that, so he's out. Fortunately, however, Iris owners aren't completely left in the lurch -- Drayton highly recommends Acorn, and anyone who currently owns Iris will be able to get a free upgrade to that app. Sad to see that a quality image editor is calling it quits, but the reasons seem legit and the transition should go smoothly. If you own Iris, watch your email for directions on how to upgrade, or contact Nolobe yourself. It's not all glum news from Nolobe: the company has a great deal going now for its flagship FTP client, Interarchy. Commemorating the two-year anniversary of an office-gutting fire (well, maybe it is kinda glum, now that we think about it), the Interarchy Fire Sale offers a steep discount on the app for the next week, along with discount codes for several other leading indie apps (including Acorn). The $19.95 Interarchy 9 licenses are valid for free upgrades to version 10 (now in beta), which adds up to a savings of almost $70. [via DF]
Macworld 2010: TUAW goes to the mothership
No Macworld is complete without at least one pilgrimage to the mothership in Cupertino, and so yesterday, before the meetings and interviews we're planning today, David Winograd, Dave Caolo, and myself made the trip to the Apple Campus. In the gallery below, you can see what we saw, from the boxed versions of Mac software -- Popcap games boxed! Pixelmator boxed! -- to the endless souvenirs and trinkets for sale in the company store ("There are quite a few of us who know your site," winked the unnamed cashier to us as we checked out), to the original iPod box sitting in the office window, and the office desks full of multiple 30" Cinemas. It was glorious, all of it. Yes, even the woman who shooed us away with a "No pictures!" warning when we tried to take shots of the multiple basketball courts and volleyball court on campus. Check out all of the sights of our walk all the way around the Infinite Loop in the gallery below. %Gallery-85064%
Using iWork as an image editor
I recently noted the image-editing functionality of Preview.app, which can act as a "good enough" image editor for many that don't have access to Photoshop. While it's difficult to argue with the free price tag, Preview is not without its limitations. Fortunately, many of these limitations are unlocked if you happen to own Apple's iWork suite, which in its own right can serve as an image editor for the budget-minded.Read on to see how to use iWork in this unconventional way.
Pixelmator 1.5 Spider update out
The Pixelmator team has released another update to my favorite little photo editor. Pixelmator 1.5 Spider brings a host of web exporting and sharing options, including a new "Save for Web" feature and the option to send a picture straight to Mail or iPhoto. Additionally, there's a new Trim tool that will cut off transparent or background pixels, and a new Slice tool that will let you cut an image up into pieces and optimize each for the 'net. There's also the usual round of bug fixes, including support for full compatibility with Snow Leopard.As usual, the new version is available for update from right within the current app. For new users, Pixelmator is available for $59 over on their website, complete with a free trial if you want to check out this photo editing powerhouse before buying. I really enjoy using Pixelmator -- it's lightweight and easy to use, and while it's not quite as full-featured as Photoshop (though with every big version release like this, they get closer), it's a great app to do a little image editing in.
Pixelmator 1.4.1 brings noise filter, Pixelmator Learning with it
Our friends over at Pixelmator have released a new update, and while it's not quite as big as their point versions, it does add a few new features and a nice online guide to the program. The main new feature in-app is a noise filter that allows users to add random specks and pixels to an image, creating a little more realism and mess to whatever shapes they're working on. But the bigger addition is out-of-app: they've created an online Learning database with tutorials, tips, and lessons on how to make the most of the image-editing app. There's actually quite a bit of stuff there now, from text and video tutorials to even third-party tutorials submitted by users. If you are interested in learning more about how to use Pixelmator, definitely give it a look. They've also updated the user manual, too, so if you haven't seen that in a while, that's worth checking out as well.There are also a few performance updates and bugfixes -- here's the list if you want to check it for something you're interested in. I still don't see my personal issue on there: it seems like whenever I switch between the Spaces on my Mac that hold iTunes and Pixelmator, the OS doesn't want to stay put -- it keeps jumping back to the iTunes Space while I'm trying to work on Pixelmator. Of course that might be an iTunes issue, but hopefully the Pixelmator team is looking into it.Other than that, it's still a great app for editing and resizing images, and at $59, is definitely cheaper and simpler than investing in a big Photoshop suite. The 1.4.1 update will show up automatically for current users, and the app can be downloaded as a free trial from their site.
