techmatesaidthis

This is very cool, So easy to use I will find myself using in in cases where I might not usually use it just because it takes such little effort to do so.

Absolutely fantastic (and gorgeous) application. Bravo!

Since I installed Leopard I haven't really used the stationery all that much. There wasn't a lot of options. You get a ton of stationery with this. It makes it kinda fun to send to friends and family once in awhile. Nice addition to mail stationery.

Purchased it as soon as it was released. Very pleased, easy to use and has the features I think most users want. A viable option for people who dont need everything photoshop has to offer and dont need the hefty price tag

Bought it. It still has a few features missing, but the design is superb, it's much more intuitive than PS (which I will now be able to avoid for 90% of my image jobs) and I suspect the stuff people are missing will be coming in with the next releases.

This is the most overhyped underdelivering app in quite a while. The usability is abhorrent, the GUI is flashy but has no substance and the functionality isn't much better than any other editor in the same price range.

It's basically trying to clone the Photoshop UI 1:1 (that old beast), but leaves out the few essential parts where it would really make sense (keybaord shortcuts, selection tools, type tools). It touts itself as using all the OS X buzzword technology, but how come that it cannot apply all the nice effects in a non-destructive way. Many free editors can do that favourably.

It completely useless for image creation it lacks shape/vector tools. So this is an editor fro brushing up images applying effects distructively and apart from the eye candy that looks somewhat "leopardy" I still don't see where this application makes really great use of all the cool OS X core technology it is supposedly using as the developer touts.

Coming from Photoshop, it felt a bit clunky. GUI is nice and all, and my girlfriend freaked out when she first saw it, but other than that it might be better to charge something like $40. I don't see how basically GIMP with a pretty border could be $59.

What can I say. Looks pretty. Bought it as part of the Mac Food offer. I use Photoshop for the bulk of my bitmap work and ChocoFlop for the simple quick launch stuff (need a screengrab as a png?). I was expecting Pixelmator to sit somewhere between the two.

I've tried to use it for two tasks. Task 1: Take a screen grab from swf and output a gif. What, no optimization controls? This file has a max size limit specified by the Media Buyer. Task 2: Take a bunch of logos trim them off their backgrounds. What, no access to channels? This would be quicker (and cleaner) in Photoshop even with the hassle of waiting for it to open. On both occasions I had to return to Photoshop. Both of these tasks are also doable in Gimp.

This image editor should have a great future if more attention is placed on the basics, it's already got heaps going on in the special effect department.

Really like it. As a complete photo editing noob, I found it really easy to use. The controls are all really intuitive (in my opinion) and the UI is gorgeous. I'll be buying it in the upcoming MacHeist bundle.

Beautiful? You bet! Useful? Sort of. It definitely has a ton of potential... but for now, it's all hype that's leading this app in the popularity ratings. Remember, this is JUST MY OPINION!

vector tools or now buy

Not bad. Performance is bad on large images.

It's what photoshop elements for the mac SHOULD be.

The interface sucks. This massive misuse of HUD-style windows (a.k.a. "transparent panels") totally kills usability.

If anyone can discover a way to simply align layers, you're my hero -- but I have the sinking suspicion that Pixelmator doesn't actually support basic functionality like that. A lot of potential in this app, but the basics desperately need work.

i'm not proud to have paid for this one. i appreciate the effort, but it's got a long way to go before i could be happy with it as a useful tool.

After Adobe tried to force me to "activate" Photoshop Elements online and send watever data I gave it back. I tried Pixelmator and have to say after using it for a while it's better than I thought the first time.

Still many features to come, but other than PSE it can handle CMYK!

@tice

Actually, Pixelmator phones home with update checking turned off. I e-mailed the developers and asked them about it but never received a response. They won't get any money from me and I'm sticking to Acorn.

One thing this application need:

A Unified interface: one window for everything. (At the very least, an effort to consolidate as many windows as possible, to a maximum of 2-3 windows.) Plus, utilizing folding tabs and perhaps some window border snapping on top of that.

Appearingly, Pixelmator shows the ambition of being trendy, "delicious", as well as staying current with the latest and greatest. My impression is that recent usability trends are leaning more towards UIs providing single-window operation. Which makes me wonder why the Pixelmator developers seems to spend too much time perfecting unimportant cosmetics (interface icons and likewise), when the whole shebang has been wrapped in a very ineffective, unglorifying, spread out interface, with windows of different sizes all over. No matter how georgeous the blackish, semi transparent HUD windows and the stylish buttons may be, I've always felt disturbed having to toss around the many windows when they keep in the way of things. Plus, it makes me involved in something that really doesn't have anything with the creative process to do; where do I want this window to be? Oops, I moved it a bit, now I have to drag it back to the very pixel I once had it arranged at. And so forth.

Point of thought:

Think of a painting. It has a frame. Within it, you create your picture. For obvious reasons, you don't want any obstructing objects to stay in the way between you and your picture when creating. Not in reality, nor in a virtual computer environment.

Whereas the digital domain facilitates some unimaginable, almost surreal opportunities to surpass and alter the restrictions of its real life equivalents in many respects - empowering the creator with unlimited undos to begin with, plus all kinds of operations you simply can't do in reality - it falls natural that you can just as easily make the creative experience a lot more restrictive than standing in front of a real, physical canvas.

One example of this, is the role of the canvas in Pixelmator, where I think it's been demoted to a subordinate role in the whole application, in which it often gets covered by interface objects.

Ponder this potential UI design rule: no interface element will be able to cover (any substantial part of) the canvas.

Think of it for a moment. Quite simple, but pretty intriguing UI design goal. Granted, a few exceptions may have to be overlooked. (As they say, there's always room for exceptions.) But I definitely mean to suggest, taking a serious consideration of the current UI situation in Pixelmator. At least, decide upon some kind of UI design motto, instead of right now, where I get the feeling no substantial thoughts were really dedicated to the foundation of the interface itself.

Why not make a digital equivalent of a painting's frame resemble the actual interface? I.e. tools, options, parameter settings, layers - anything - goes onto a surrounding frame on the sides of the canvas. (Of course, styled in a fashion appropriate to the demands of the "delicious generation".)

By and large, I think simplicity-geared programs will generate more food for thought and more creative stimulance, than feature-packed monster apps larded up with gorgeousness galore. Well, to be fair, the latter might not necessarily apply to Pixelmator in its entirety, but in essence, that's towards which tendencies lean.

Just to name one of the more successful apps incorporating something in the vein of what I'm trying to describe, is Skitch. Imagine how that app would feel, if it had just one more tiny window thrown in there, somewhere...

To wrap this excessively long comment up, here's my honest thought:

Pixelmator is still very likable and I think many people (with me) are still crossing their fingers for its success. But... There's a definite need to get its UI clutterness sorted.

All this ranting aside: Pixelmator is a very positive addition to the Mac-soft market, showing great potential. And, I wish to pay reverence to the efforts of the developers. I only think it would mean such a pity if they rely on users being pleased with the current interface, as is.

Overhaul time!

Henrik Cederblad, M.F.A.

I really wanted to like this app... but it's buggy and slow. And EVERY single time I try to use the eraser tool, it crashes.