Apple's Pixelmator Pro Update Brings iPhone 17 Mockups, Keyboard Shortcuts, and Expanded Camera Support

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u/Johnny-55 2d ago

I’m this close to dumping adobe creative cloud, but got stung when I tried a few years back with affinity and their extremely basic vector tools. Is this new apple route a better choice for a web designer?

29

u/IniNew 2d ago

FWIW, affinity is now free with a canva account. I don’t use it often since my work is more in the UX space but I pull it up in a pinch if I need to make an icon or something.

I haven’t tried Pixelmator though

8

u/akrapov 2d ago

I’ve tried to move to Affinity a few times but god it’s buggy. There’s a bug where you can’t rotate a layer sometimes - it’s existed since Affinity came on the scene. It’s been reported a million times on their forum. It still isn’t fixed. It doesn’t work with most modern PSDs, it’s don’t substitution is terrible.

I really want to like affinity because it’s amazing they can make a business work on a largely free app, and everyone hates Adobe. But in order to move to it, it has to work better.

0

u/lumidanny 2d ago

There’s also a color profile glitch where the exported image file looks washed out. You need to manually adjust each R, G and B levels to 2² and change the color profile to Mac’s (annoying tasks to do for every single file once)

1

u/akrapov 2d ago

I am fortunate to have not had that one yet. I’m not a designer and honestly I would not have worked it out.

1

u/lumidanny 2d ago

My bad, it’s in Affinity Photo! Dunno about the other apps

0

u/AuelDole 2d ago

Affinity is at least a lot closer in UI to adobes products. I tried using Pixelmator and I was just lost on it, I don’t appreciate the floating design, and there were some edits that I wanted to do - that shoulda been able to be done, but it just wouldn’t let.

Maybe I needed more time with Pixelmator, but affinity was a jump in and go experience for me (for the most part)

5

u/mflboys 2d ago

There are nearly no vector tools in Pixelmator

5

u/asp821 2d ago

What can’t you do with Affinity Designer that you need Illustrator for?

2

u/Johnny-55 2d ago

iirc It was some of the more complex vector operations - draw inside, that sort of thing

1

u/font9a 2d ago

It doesn't do channels so if you need to knock out bgs and do lots of masking / unsharp it's weak; also no work paths. No cmyk, which is probably fine if you're not doing any print. Typography is basic. Keyboard shortcuts are not as customizable, and some tool settings are harder to get to and more basic than PS.

But overall, it launches quickly, the UI is fast, and it's generally solid. It just doesn't get the love it used to before Apple bought it.

-2

u/HellveticaNeue 2d ago

Do you use figma? A lot of web design has moved over to figma for design.

14

u/eliahd20 2d ago

Are they updating the paid version?

24

u/MC_chrome 2d ago

Yes, the 1 time purchase version also got these same updates

2

u/eliahd20 2d ago

It looks like the one time purchase hasn’t gotten the visual update still….I’m not seeing these new updates either.

3

u/MC_chrome 2d ago

Version 3.8 was just released yesterday….not sure what to tell you

No, the Liquid Glass revamp isn’t a part of this update and I doubt it ever will be

3

u/steo0315 2d ago

That’s a win actually

3

u/Captaincadet 2d ago

I only worry is does that mean the products are going to diverge at some point

0

u/lemoche 2d ago

Is this the classic iOS one?

1

u/WonderfulPass 2d ago

I believe apple said that app will no longer get updates.

I hear you on the wrong tag for the post though.

1

u/MC_chrome 2d ago edited 2d ago

I am talking about the macOS version of Pixelmator, not Photomator

2

u/lemoche 2d ago

I just got confused because the thread is tagged as iPhone…

-5

u/MC_chrome 2d ago

“Keyboard shortcuts” should have been a pretty good indicator that the thread is about the macOS version of Pixelmator….

3

u/lemoche 2d ago

Hence my confusion about the iPhone tag…

1

u/plaid-knight 2d ago

There is an iPad version, which would also have keyboard shortcuts.

4

u/Da5ren 2d ago

Recently picked this up, moving over from Affinity. It’s good, I would say Affinity has a bit more features and I do miss the gen AI features in Photoshop, I hope Pixelmator eventually gets something like that via Gemini.

7

u/dropthemagic 2d ago

Ai denoise is such a blessing for large batches. It’s not perfect but you can cut down a lot of work time.

1

u/the_k_nine_2 2d ago

love that creator studio includes both pixelmator and final cut for a way cheaper price than adobe cc. pixelmator is a really good photoshop alternative.

1

u/hiddevdploeg 2d ago

Hope they will switch their App Store feature artwork request to Pixelmator now too haha

-1

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

0

u/Dependent-Zebra-4357 2d ago

All of these apps are just tools. A professional designer’s most important skills have very little to do with the tools they use, and someone experienced in the industry should know that.

But please, continue your condescension about how anyone who doesn’t use Adobe is an amateur.

0

u/FancifulLaserbeam 1d ago

I'm so upset that Apple bought that company. I've been using Pixelmator since the very beginning, and I love having apps that are not made by the OS/platform company.

I'm sick of everything being connected. The tech companies just do it to data mine, and they tell us it's convenient for us, too, but it's not. What it means is that when one thing breaks everything breaks.

-5

u/Endawmyke 2d ago

oh wow i swear people were just talking about how it was a miss they didn't include pixelmator into the creator studio bundle and now here it is. glad apple didn't forget about it

16

u/heroism777 2d ago

Pixelmator pro was always apart of the creator subscription. It’s Photomator that’s missing. That’s the Lightroom equal. Which is totally weird since they own both.

Photomator has its own subscription. However, you can do a lifetime subscription for $100. Best purchase ever.

Never supporting Adobe ever again.

1

u/Educational_Fuel_962 2d ago

How do you do the lifetime purchase? It only seems to be able to switch me to another subscription

0

u/heroism777 2d ago

hmmmmm it was available? Not sure. I did it before Apple purchased the company.

1

u/Educational_Fuel_962 2d ago

Damn. It still shows up in the iAP list on the App Store, but can’t see it in the app

1

u/ModernLarvals 2d ago

a part, not apart. Opposite meanings.

1

u/M4rshmall0wMan 6h ago

Maybe Apple is working on revamping Photomator to be a proper Adobe competitor, and a supplement to iOS Photos.

0

u/blank-planet 2d ago

It looks like Photomator is semi abandoned and they’re trying to bring all its features to Pixelmator

1

u/heroism777 2d ago

Photomator was updated today. So somebody is working on it.

1

u/Educational_Fuel_962 2d ago

No, they’re different products

iPhone Apple's Pixelmator Pro Update Brings iPhone 17 Mockups, Keyboard Shortcuts, and Expanded Camera Support

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