Pixelmator 1.6 released

Posted on July 13, 2010 by IdeaMonster

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It’s been a long time since the last version of pixelmator hit the internets, and now the long awaited 1.6 is out. Was it worth it? Is it super-cool? Is it a photoshop killer?

Well sort of

What we get in 1.6 is the long awaited layer groups (FINALLY!) which are done much nicer and user-friendly than in Photoshop. So yeah, this is a big plus.

We also get performance improvements and 64 bit / Grand Central Dispatch and all that other technical mambo jumbo. Bottom line? It’s 40% faster. This is of course always a good “feature”.
Precision transform tools are now more precise, rulers are now more ruler’y and there are supposed to be little tweaks here and there.

Still no real text tool though which is a buzz kill because that is the only major feature setting the app a bit behind but hopefully we’ll see text tools in 1.7. I’d just hate to wait for it for a year ;)
Overall performance is much better, and I love the new layer groups.

There’s also importing from devices such as cameras, iphones, ipads, and exporting to popular social sites. Might come in handy, although I don’t think it’s as important as the text tool ;)

So yeah, it got better, and closer to beating photoshop’s price-to-quality ratio. A good app and you should at least give it a try at pixelmator.com

Tutorial : Fake 3d in Pixelmator and Photoshop

Posted on February 1, 2010 by IdeaMonster

Here’s a quick little tutorial on how to make some fake-3d objects like cubes, book-shapes, dvd covers, cd cases and more. Those simple shapes can be recreated in Pixelmator (and photoshop since all the functions are exactly the same) easily. Then we can texture them and make them look a little bit more real. Sure with a lot of work they can be real, but the purpose of this tutorial is to create a more cartoonish-style fake 3d + we’re low on time ;)
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Pixelmator tutorial – emboss and brushed metal

Posted on January 21, 2010 by IdeaMonster

Here’s a quick little tutorial on how to create an emboss + brushed metal + some fire effect in pixelmator. This will actually work in photoshop as well since the tools used are the same (even the same keyboard shortcuts). So if you’re a photoshop user feel free to also try it.

So here we go :
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Pixelmator tutorial : making a promo visual

Posted on January 15, 2010 by IdeaMonster

Here’s a little tutorial for pixelmator, since I’m working on some new visuals for the upcoming second promo EP from Krop. So let’s start shall we ? All you need for this tutorial are basic pixelmator or photoshop skills, a copy of pixelmator, about 20 minutes and a photo of a person. I used one of the promo pics from Krop. Read more for the tutorial itself. If any of the images is too small for you, you can right click on it, and choose view image opening it in it’s full. This release is an upcoming one, but if you like electronic dance music with an alternative twist check out the last cd at kropband.com . It’s a free download.
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Space’y design + Pixelmator

Posted on December 19, 2009 by IdeaMonster

A while ago I designed the cover artwork for the “Krop” music project. The idea was to be as “from outer space” as possible, and at the same time have some of that 80’s look to it. Since that’s the decade the aliens came to earth anyway.

I used pixelmator pixelmator a 59$ photoshop wanna-be app for the Mac. It’s faster than the big brother, has a lot of the same tools (some stuff is lacking but we can’t have everthing for 59$, right?) and is pretty easy to use. If you own a mac and want to have a cheap photoshop alternative go give it a try.
I used a lot of duplicates of the character with different blurs and color settings + some painting over with a rainbow gradient and masks.
Then some noise with low opacity was added to give it a feel of the 80’s even more. I will also be in charge of the music videos to follow, so I guess it’ll also be about similar effects there too.
Go check it all out at kropband.com

Square Extension photoshoot tutorial

Posted on December 3, 2009 by IdeaMonster

Now I will show you roughly how we created those “town painting photos”. This tutorial is for people who basically understand the software (this can be done in either photoshop or pixelmator on mac). We used pixelmator. The most fun part was of course taking the pictures, and imagining (keyword here!) what can we do with them later. I strongly suggest to keep that in mind while on a photoshoot. Some amazing ideas can come at any time. The effect is supposed to be a little “unrealistic” and “neon’y” so here goes, experiment and play with it:

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