Another step closer to ending Photoshop rule
Sure it still has a long way to go, but at $15 Pixelmator is what their slogan says – an image editor for the rest of us. The amount of pro and semi-pro features though, put it a little above that line. And yes – it can open and edit PSD files. The new version added a couple of nice features, and one that is simply groundbreaking. But more on that later. First we get some vintage and depth of field effects that are a bit Instagram’esque, but higher quality. That’s the “for the rest of us part” – easily applying filters to our photos for them to get that “hipster look”. But what’s truly awesome about this release are the alignment guides – sure they’re sort of present in Photoshop, but not as precise and user friendly as here. This is the way to do guides, no questions asked. You can even align objects to the same spacing, as other on-screen objects have, along with precise pixel info right there on the image. This is awesome and hopefully PXM will get the much needed layer styles to become the image editor of choice for even more designers.
The App is available as a free update on the Mac App Store. Visit their site at www.pixelmator.com for some nice preview videos.