Pixelmator Pro ruined by Apple acquisition?

[@mksundstrom]

Just gonna remind people that "Apple Logic Pro" used to be "eMagic Logic Audio" - Apple bought it, it's still here, and it's still being updated and upgraded all these years later.

[@davetriesthis]

Fun fact: up until the keynote, Apple wasn't sure that they were killing Aperture. The Photos app was, under the hood, the code for the new Aperture. (Source: I ran an Apple-supported Aperture training organization.) It's loss was directly tied to Steve's passing. Steve was the one pushing photography at Apple. (Also, I heard it was because Tipper Gore, a friend of his and a very good photographer, asked Steve why Apple had no Photoshop equivalent. ) I think that Pixelmator/Photomator will probably have some features integrated into Photos, but I really think it's likely to compete with the Canva/Affinity purchase. This new Canva model competes with Adobe by providing an online tool with easy creative options, and an increasing amount of AI technology. Affinity has a strong editing tool that has AI features. I think Canva/Affinity will become a tool where basic editing can be done in Canava and then round tripped into Affinity and back to canva. Or you can start editing in Affinity and push the image to canva to make something with it. Apple has no real AI based photo tools, and as you say their Photo app is not a good photo editor solution. Putting Pixelmator and Photomator under the hood there could improve Photos engine from the Aperture days and whatever got rewritten, while working with Apple Intelligence.

[@fmarinosfromafar9512]

👍 replied just to give you the extra thumbs up!

[@djcerla_official]

Apple does have AI editing photo tools built in Photos

[@Dave-my1we]

I don’t think that Photomator will be merged into photos and disappear. Why? Apple needs to compete with Adobe with a “suite” of “pro” apps. Photomator needs work to be a competitor of LR but it can get there with Apple’s deep pockets fairly quickly. Pixelmator already is there. Final Cut Pro is too. I think that Apple will, over the next several years, flesh out a “suite” for creative pros that may entice them to switch from Dad-obe.

[@TimelyAdventure]

As long as they keep it subscription free that will be way more compelling, that's why I switched from Windows because I could save about $300/year off Premiere and just use FCP.

[@iocomposer]

I switched from Adobe and they charged me an “early termination fee”. Now I can never ever go back.

[@OffroadTreks]

I wish they'd bring back Aperture

[@faribahi]

Me too. I still use old Macs in order to be able to use Aperture !

[@eddu4361]

@@OffroadTreks Sure! In an upgraded and modernized version. Would make a lot of Mac users happy for sure!

[@eddiegardner8232]

yeah, because I paid for it, then they switched to 64-bit programming and did not support 32-bit programs by recompiling them to 64-bit code. Don't like it when they obsolete programs I have paid for.

[@faribahi]

@@eddiegardner8232 We all have payed for it. It was the best photo editing software and in many regards still is. If you have an old DSLR supported by Aperture, you can still use it on non-supported Macs using Retroactive software.

[@OffroadTreks]

@@eddiegardner8232 yup. Such an insult to us. It never made sense. They got rid of that to focus on their stupid photos app which is still garbage. But they kept final cut pro.

[@Trinode]

Final cut for iPad made me drop final cut for mac... subscriptions kill anything for me. I was waiting for iPad support, but expecting it to be perpetual like the mac version. Now I'm a resolve user and less tied to the apple ecosystem, probably not what they intended though.

[@DigiDriftZone]

I take it you moved to Resolve? how are you finding it? - I think I'll stick to Final Cut on mac for now with the new 11 release that's pretty neat.

[@Trinode]

@@DigiDriftZone Indeed resolve yeah. It's different for sure, but I'm actually enjoying it. The fusion side (which is the apple motion equivalent and built in) is more work but more powerful, I've not compared to Final Cut 11 though, but I think it already had most of the things FCP11 has (eg transcribed captions, automatic masking, voice isolation and intermediate frame generation for smooth slow motions)

[@DigiDriftZone]

@@Trinode From my brief experience it seems while you can get better results in Resolve, you get 95% of the results in Final Cut with a lot less time/effort which is very appealing for me as I do this as a hobby. But I see the argument for both apps.

[@rohithmekala2608]

I'm happy that FC11 is not subscription based. Bodes well for future pro software on Mac from Apple

[@1218omaroo]

FFS... we get away from Adobe, to be swallowed by Apple. Why can't great little companies be happy with what they are and stay true to their base? I'm a Photomator user, not Pixelmator so much, and am truly happy with it in my workflow as it is. Dang...

[@tronam]

Final Cut and Logic were "swallowed by Apple" too.

[@Dave-my1we]

@@1218omaroo I think that you should go tell the owners of all these little companies that instead of being paid $100m for their company, they should just “be happy with what they are”.

[@1218omaroo]

@ LOL…yeah, I know. I worked for one of them.

[@qwertyzxaszc6323]

I think it's good that Apple aquired Pixelmator. I was recently getting worried for smaller companies like Pixelmator wondering if they could survive against bigger companies. You want them to prosper not just disappear.

[@PeterKaitlyn]

Something to also consider is that Apple made a big mistake when it killed a lot of it's pro apps... It angered users who depended on those apps... also there has been a lot of people moving away from Adobe in the last couple of years, myself included... and finally, I think that Apple made a huge mistake by downgrading it's creative suites... Creatives drive a lot of motion forward in computing and for a while, Apple was pushing those people away... I've noticed a shift lately... and now you have as well...

[@DigiDriftZone]

In Photomator, is there any way to get it to generate previews of my raws, so I can quickly "scrub" through hundreds of time-lapse images?

[@dcpowered]

Thanks for all your hard work with Pixelmator! People should just secure the lifetime license now, just in case Apple decides to mess with it and offers only the subscription option!

[@BrizoH]

Hmmm I’m debating it

[@fisherrich100]

Just hope Apple don’t ruin Photomator. I moved from LIghtroom and much prefer Photomator. It is a great piece of software for editing photos. Good companies tend to get swallowed up by the BIG companies.

[@speecher1959]

I was an Aperture user, and sure hated to see it go (While I was waiting for it to keep up with LR.). Photos is rubbish for photo editing, but I took care of that by using Luminar (now Neo) as an extension, so I get the Photos DAM and FAR better editing. I'll be very curious to see what becomes of Photomator. I have no problem paying for a "professional" app for photo-editing, but what I've seen so far seems not as refined as Luminar Neo.

[@tronam]

Dark Sky was a utility. Pixelmator/Photomator is a creative content suite, so probably not the best comparison point. Better to look at other content creation app acquisitions like Final Cut and Logic.

[@GolderiQ]

Awesome analysis thank you very much I was actually wondering about this. Other than that, what is your gear Sir? Camera, Lens, Microphone, and Lights please.

[@kuau714]

do you know if there is any plan for photomator to support the new Canon R1 and R5ll ?

[@karelkasik]

I really wanted to switch to photomator, but i cant deal with these features missing: 1. batch masking, copy and paste ignores masks, same problem with capture one 2. no basic denoise like in lr, i dont need ai denoise, i just need slight simple denoise to apply instantly to hundreds raw files, you can batch denoise, but it is ai, so it is veeery slow and mainly always at 100% strenght. 3. lens corrections 4. some generative fill retouch tool 5. no panorama support???? what the hell :D Am I missing something?

[@eddu4361]

@@karelkasik Yes, like the mandatory use of the Apple pictures folder. Lack of own database, no keywords. Just to name a few.

[@karelkasik]

@ I think that you can have your own database, that is fixed

[@Dave-my1we]

@@eddu4361 I believe that Photomator on the Mac allows you to use images from local devices (not relying on the Apple “photos” architecture). I seem to recall reading that this enhancement was in a recent release.

[@eddu4361]

@ It stores the edited photos in the Pictures folder. Insane.

[@Dave-my1we]

@ I don’t think that is true unless you are “pointing” Photomator to the Apple photo library. On a Mac, I created a new folder in files. I added a few images to it for a test. I dragged the new folder into Photomator and it “imported” the folder and images (again, NOT into Apple photos). The images stayed where they were. I edited an image and the sidecar was put into the same folder as the original. Are you saying that something else is happening?

[@TimelyAdventure]

I switched to Resolve after FCP stopped updating and went subscription on iPad, and lately I've been doing some basic photo editing that I previously did in Pixelmator in Resolve's color page

[@peterknight9873]

Great video with insight... Interesting view... I moved away from Adobe soon after subscription came in and moved over to the Affinity suite and Capture One Pro. When doing research Pixelmator Pro in 2015 didn't exist. I'm watching now to see how good it will become... I'm not loyal to any manufacturer or software.. I just want to have the best tools to create the my best work for customers in the easiest way... One thing for sure.. I will not pay for subscription based or web browser software... I used Final Cut Pro and Motion... There is a gap between them or with them... That I use Affinity photo in fine detail correction that I can see will be useful for Final Cut Pro and Motion in linking the two softwares together..

[@garudasomanna]

I too had this feeling you expressed. Apple provides free apps such as iMovie, GarageBand to lure amateurs to buy their hardware and as their skills improve, draws them to purchase professional apps [FCPX/ FCP11]. The same would be here too: free photos app for all, and paid Pixelmator Pro for those who want more features. I also feel just as you do, that far from being ruined or killed, Pixelmator Pro will start getting more and more additional features, more integrated workflows with the other Apple apps [Motion and FCP]. Apple is doing a very commendable job of improving both it's hardware [intel to silicon] and software, constantly improving and innovating, and offering the public the best, at a premium cost understandably.

[@WendellS]

I persinally DID buy an iPad for ProCreate, and it efectively has made my work flourish.

[@eddu4361]

That an Adobe photoshop user moves to Pixelmator I can understand but Photomator is not a competitor to or replacement of Adobe Lightroom it lacks to much features, functionality and tools. It’s just a super charged Apple Photo app. The only serious competitors of Lightroom are ON1 Photo Raw 2025 and DXO Photo Lab 8. Apple Photomator and the 3 aforementioned apps are lightyears apart.

[@deejaybeephoto]

You missed out the main competitor - Capture One!

[@Dave-my1we]

While I agree that Photomator is NOT a direct LR competitor (YET), it is quite good. I think that the key word is “yet”. Since Apple seemingly wants back into creative software, I’m guessing that they will move quickly to bring Photomator in to “rough parity” with the bulk of the “most used” features of LR.

[@TylerMcCool]

& Capture One

[@SedthawitTangsumpant]

I do actually bought Ipad, Iphone, and Macs just because of Pixelmator and Photomator. I am a proud Android user, but they dont have any good raw photo editor app. If Pixelmator and Photomator are going away, my hatred toward Apple will probably triple the current state.

[@fmarinosfromafar9512]

I like your take - I hope that's what happens! I've been a long time casual user of Pixelmator but over the past 6 months have made a concerted effort to stop using PS - between the Affinity apps and Pixelmator I have everything (that I need) covered. I just need to ditch that PS Photog plan once and for all (client expectations may mean I need to keep it installed, at least, unfortunately).

[@wdashwor]

I was disappointed to see this news, as Pixelmator is one of my favorite apps, and I didn't want it messed with. 😟 I do hope that Apple will make it available as a stand alone, rather than taking pieces of it for this or that--or worse, it's just wholly disappearing.

[@yahzeeskellington]

Cool thoughts, but I hate clickbait titles like this. I thought Apple had done something to those apps. Removing from suggested channels

[@0xCUBE]

You must be fun at parties

[@yahzeeskellington]

@@0xCUBE I actually am, thanks. I’m a DJ

[@dericyu2700]

I recently switched to pixelmator from Photoshop, Im loving it so far, i just hope the improvements/updates come faster, like the warp tool in photoshop and to make text have more 3D effects

[@enricojakobsoriano]

I agree with you-I don’t think either of the apps is going anywhere. In fact, I believe they’ll continue improving rapidly with the vast resources Apple can provide. On a workflow note, do you have any tips for working with luminosity masks in either Photomator or Pixelmator?

[@StuartHetzler]

I think it's worth considering that though apple has rolled out FCP and Logic updates in the past year, for all intents and purposes they're pretty lackluster. Logic 11 unveiled a shitty AI 'jam band' that nobody uses and FCP revealed magnetic mask, which basically catches final cut up to a place where Resolve was 4 years ago. Even if Apple's intention is to acquire Pixelmator and turn it into a genuine Photoshop competitor, they've shown they're just not interested or capable of producing apps on that high of a level. I also think the changing of FCP and Logic for iPad to subscription models is a sign of things to come as more and more companies turn to saas at the expensive of consumers. I love pixelmator, but if it goes subscription, I'm out.

[@ShumonM]

the clickbait titles are getting tedious

[@TheOjnop]

I really don't think a rational discussion by someone who is very involved with these apps is clickbait.

[@danielring8060]

Maybe you should look up what clickbait means. This title is simply a question a lot of users of pixelmator have, me included. And the video itself talks about that.

[@tronam]

@@danielring8060 But how can anyone answer this question so soon after the acquisition? It's just a nothing burger, which is why it feels clickbaity.

[@turkeyleg72]

Yes, you really can't judge it but this video just talks about the possibilities that can happen

[@MattMungan]

@@TheOjnopThe title suggests that his point is the opposite his conclusion so you’ll be more likely to click. I was relieved at the end, but I’m new here.

[@SergNikiforovGordeev]

What are the alternatives for photogrphs? I'm looking but ON1 and DxO.

[@R0BTH3PR0DUCER]

yeah so I went with ON1, Liminar Neo, and the entire Affinity suite instead.

[@alexgranados8719]

We need Pixelmator Pro on the iPad and by that having a great Photoshop alternative.

[@mishakmusic]

i JUST started using Photomator and got 1 year subscription, hopefully they dont get rid of it...

[@steve-ey4ol]

Far to many issues with Apple these days not buying into Apple anymore apples just seems to fucking everything up these days as they say what goes up must come down and I think it’s gonna be rather bumpy

[@lifegettingintheway2710]

Apple has killed off all of my apple products by dropping support. I have the skeletal remains of most of them dating back to a pre-Intel laptop. I'm not able to install Photomator for this reason, and support for my Apple Imac and MacBook Pro systems will probably not run the next Pixelmator upgrade. I'm done with Apple. In 2008 I built a state of the art PC from components and installed Linux on it. It is almost 2025 and it is still running, and except for the occasional power failure it has been running non-stop all those years.

[@goobfilmcast4239]

My $.02: The issue for Apple is by completely owning both the Hardware and Software/OS, Apple has to balance between their ability to "cheat" and use inside baseball to "over-optimize" their Apps or allow independent developer's to "dominate" in certain categories. No question that Apple has made (or commissioned) an unbelievably fast App library on Apple Silicon...a real State-of-The-Art marriage of HD and SW. But's it's used strictly for benchmark/diagnostics, etc. Anyway, they won't release Pixelmator products as PRO level Apps....but they will be fast and feature-rich and fully Ecosystem & AI-capable. Stand-alone versions will be sold at the App Store for the same current pricing.

[@WinrichNaujoks]

Reminds me of Rockefeller buying all those railway companies, only to shut them down to force people on the roads and use his petrol.

[@garudasomanna]

😃really! Didn't know this.

[@jimtincher7357]

Apple nearly lost me over Aperture.... Photo's app is awful....

[@jayjones8650]

Background music is very distracting.

[@sonycemedia]

Pixelmator President has spoken!

[@orangeinkstudios4474]

I would buy a mac again just to use Pixelmator

[@Krlos5605]

What will happen to those of us who paid for a lifetime?

[@Dave-my1we]

My opinion is probably nothing. You will still be able to use that software until you or it dies. At some point in the future, you will be told that a “new version” of the software will contain “new features” that will not be included in the version that you have. You can upgrade (at a cost) or not just like always. The real question is “Will Apple continue that model alongside an almost assured subscription model?” I think that the answer is yes. Why? Because Apple is indeed selling Final Cut Pro as both a perpetual license or a subscription right now.

[@totoff929]

Whatever the rationale behind this acquisition is, it’s no good news for the user. Especially after Affinity being acquired by Canva once again we’re facing an oligopolistic market structure with a few large size vendors dominating the market. Pixelmator was an agile, young and creative software manufacturer with high ambitions. I doubt it will continue to be like so in future, no matter it will develop stand-alone apps or being integrated into Apple Photos or whatever. It’s a shame.

[@Dave-my1we]

@@totoff929 pixelmator was (is) a 17 year old company. It was far from “young”

[@yupino5]

I think is good.

[@ultralife73]

Ragebait.

[@wiriadinata]

i don't its wise to make these comment right now. I have seen youtuber making this kind of content after canva acquire affinity...simply because he worried about the continuation of his youtube channel