The Mac App Store Transition FAQ

The Mac App Store is an absolute hit. What’s even more, Pixelmator is an absolute hit on the Mac App Store. We couldn’t be happier about it. I’ll tell you more about that a bit later.

For now, since the Mac App Store is a new and a very big thing, there is some confusion about it. Let me try to clarify things by answering some questions about the recently launched Pixelmator transition to the Mac App Store:

If you own a non-Mac App Store Pixelmator license:

1. What is the Mac App Store transition?

It is a great, limited time offer to purchase Pixelmator at the Mac App Store for the reduced price of $29 and get the Pixelmator 2.0 upgrade for free later this year.

2. Why did you do the transition?

We think it is not fair that our existing customers would be charged the full $59 price again in order for them to use Pixelmator with the Mac App Store. Instead, we decided to help our existing customers to transition to the Mac App Store by lowering the price to $29 for a limited time and sweeten the transition with a free Pixelmator 2.0 upgrade.

We had to post the offer for everyone, not just our existing customers, because there is no way to distinguish between new and existing customers on the Mac App Store.

In addition, we think that the Mac App Store is the future of software sales and distribution, and we think it’s great.

3. Do I have to buy Pixelmator from the Mac App Store again to continue using it?

No. You can continue using Pixelmator without having to purchase it again from the Mac App Store.

4. Do I have to buy Pixelmator from the Mac App Store again to get free 1.X updates?

No. You will be getting free updates until Pixelmator 2.0 becomes available.

5. I want to switch to the Mac App Store. Do I have to buy Pixelmator from the Mac App Store again?

Yes, but only if you want to enjoy the benefits of the Mac App Store and get a Pixelmator 2.0 upgrade for free as an extra for transitioning to the Mac App Store.

6. Why can’t I just convert my Pixelmator license to the Mac App Store for free?

Unfortunately, there is no way to convert our existing customers to the Mac App Store.

7. The Mac App Store shows some software apps from other Mac developer companies as “Installed” while Pixelmator doesn’t show as “Installed.” Why?

The “Installed” app state, unless you purchase from the Mac App Store, doesn’t count as a Mac App Store purchase and, because of that, you won’t be able to enjoy the Mac App Store benefits. You will not get application updates through the Mac App Store, for example. This is how the Mac App Store works, and we can’t do anything about it.

The folks at Bare Bones Software have an in-depth explanation of the same issue.

8. Why would I want to purchase Pixelmator again from the Mac App Store?

You will be able to enjoy all the Mac App Store benefits and get a free Pixelmator 2.0 upgrade when it comes out later this year at the Mac App Store.

9. Will Pixelmator 2.0 be a Mac App Store-only purchase?

Yes.

10. Why will Pixelmator 2.0 be a Mac App Store-only purchase?

We think it is the best way to purchase and install software on a Mac. Also, instead of worrying about how to reach our customers or manage a web store, we will finally be able to focus completely on Pixelmator improvements, quality, and new features.

Other benefits of being in the Mac App Store include the fact that we won’t need to spend time and energy developing our own update systems, web store shelves, licensing systems, anti-piracy measures, and other things like that.

We are good at creating the best Mac apps – and should do only that.

11. Will Pixelmator 2.0 cost more than $29 once it is out?

Yes. It will definitely cost more than it does now.

12. The Mac App Store Pixelmator listing shows version 1.6.4 as current with some new features, whereas your website version lists 1.6.2. Does that mean that, even if I already own a non-Mac App Store Pixelmator, I have to purchase it on the Mac App Store to get the 1.6.4 update?

No. You will be getting all future 1.X updates simultaneously from both our website and the Mac App Store.

As for the 1.6.4 update on our website, we’ve been extremely busy working on the transition because the Mac App Store was released earlier than we expected. Pixelmator 1.6.4 is scheduled for a public, non-Mac App Store release next week.

13. I own more than one Mac – Do I have to purchase additional copies of Pixelmator at the Mac App Store to use it on my other Macs?

After you purchase Pixelmator at the Mac App Store, you can install it free of charge on every Mac you use.

14. Why is there so much confusion about the transition then?

Some other applications were recognized as “Installed” apps (see the answer to this question above) on the Mac App Store, and our customers thought that we are the only ones who are charging for the application again even if they purchased the app before the Mac App Store launched, but that is not true: we not only lowered our Mac App Store price for our existing customers but we’ve also practically given away the 2.0 upgrade. The majority of other developers do not offer any transition at all – you have to re-purchase applications for the full or a slightly lower price.

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If you’ve just purchased Pixelmator from the Mac App Store:

Will I be getting the Pixelmator 2.0 upgrade (including 1.X and 2.X updates) for free once 2.0 is out on the Mac App Store later this year?

Yes.

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Other:

If I have some more questions about the transition, what should I do?

Feel free to simply drop us an e-mail message at info@pixelmator.com.

If you have any concerns regarding the Mac App Store, please visit the Mac App Store support website for more information at www.apple.com/support/mac/app-store/.

Saturday, 8 January 2011. Posted by Saulius.

167 Comments

Pixelmator Sprinkle in Action

Check out the way our buddy Kyle Lambert took advantage of Pixelmator’s latest painting engine.
Impressive, huh?!

Sunday, 8 March 2009. Posted by Saulius.

24 Comments

Sneak Preview

Pixelmator 1.2 Draftsman coming soon…

Wednesday, 30 April 2008. Posted by Saulius.

46 Comments

Pixelmator: Image Editing for Mere Mortals and Dumb Blondes

What sets Pixelmator apart from all other apps in its class is a brilliant interface. Pants down, it is the most stunningly beautiful creative software I have ever used on any platform, and represents state of the art in Mac software design. The team behind this product are clearly at the head of the herd and raise a new bar for software developers to strive for. If there is any higher praise than that, tell me and I’ll bestow it.

Kent Pribbernow, elitist snob

Pixelmator 1.1.2 is out now

The update mainly focuses on selection tools enhancements and stability improvements. Click here for more in-depth release notes…

…or download now.

Tuesday, 22 January 2008. Posted by Saulius.

32 Comments

Macworld: Pixelmator shines as low-cost editor

Pixelmator, developed by brothers Saulius and Aidas Dailide, is a fantastic layers-based image editor that uses Apple’s Core Image to work much of its magic.

James Dempsey, Macworld

Learn Pixelmator

Now that Pixelmator is on almost every Mac on the planet (if you don’t have it yet, go and get it), I am sure we need some gasoline to start using it.

I am very happy to announce that thanks to the Solid Publishing crew, the first Pixelmator manual is ready and waiting for you to download. Even more, you can get a printed version of manual for just $23.60.

Also, our buddy Don McAllister from ScreenCastsOnline has prepared a wonderful introductory Pixelmator screencast for you. Click here to view it.

We are working with our partners to bring even more learning resources for Pixelmator. If you have created any screencasts, tips and tricks, tutorials, or anything else that looks fun and useful, let us know and we’ll make sure everyone knows.

Tuesday, 25 September 2007. Posted by Saulius.

33 Comments

Pixelmator Flight Plan

From the start of Pixelmator, I’ve been and still am receiving many questions about what the roadmap of Pixelmator is going to be like. What features are we going to add? Where are we heading with it, and what is our plan? Altough I can’t get into specifics, and micro features, I’ll try to answer these questions now.

If you think of Pixelmator and look at what we already have done, I think you would understand that one of our main strengths is the extraordinary support of Mac OS X. We would never be able to create something like Pixelmator in such a short time on other operating systems. Also, we would not have such exciting features as Core Image, Automator, iSight, ColorSync, Photo Browser, and many others without Mac OS X. So believe me, we totally understand that our biggest strength here is taking advantage of Mac OS X features and technologies. We will continue to do so and it is the first and most important part of the Pixelmator flight plan.

The second task with Pixelmator development is the improvement of all the tools that are already available. You can expect surprises with tools we have planned for Pixelmator. Of course, we could add many improvements now, but then we would not be able to ship Pixelmator anytime this decade. Anyhow, you will see important improvements/features to Pixelmator tools soon after the release. I am not talking about new features here; I am talking about the evolution of existing things – and there still is some work that needs to be done.

The third thing with Pixelmator that we are concentrating on is the foundation. The Pixelmator foundation is very important when you want to have the best application for image editing. For that, we have some incredible technology, which I hope you will see a few months from now. Aidas did a few experiments with it and told me that to implement that “top secret” thing, we would need a month or two. Sorry about the secrecy, but I promise – you’ll love it.

The last but not least task with Pixelmator is to carefully add new features. We know what features you guys need and we know what features we will add, but we promised ourselves to do so very wisely because we want to make those features stable and useful; we don’t need to just sound good – we need to make it good. Therefore, if you look at Pixelmator and what I’ve already told you, you may be able to guess some of those cool things we are going to add.

Additionally, regarding the new features or improvements, please take some time to drop us a message about what you really would like to see in Pixelmator because we listen, and we listen very carefully. Aidas and I read every e-mail and keep a development list in our heads. Your voice is very important to the future of Pixelmator.

To sum up everything I’ve mentioned here: We are just beginning! And our beginning is good enough to create the best image editor for Mac OS X that anyone can use.

Wednesday, 19 September 2007. Posted by Saulius.

36 Comments

Pixelmator the Unbelievable

It’s been four days since we announced Pixelmator. And you know what? I would never, never, oh never believe that something as insanely wonderful as last week could ever happen to our little company. It’s impossible to explain all the feelings that both of us—my brother and myself—have. We live in a fantastic dream these days. We can’t talk, we can’t sleep, we can’t even work normally. It’s so hard to wake up from Pixelmator euphoria.

I can’t tell you the exact stats, but believe me, we had an unbelievable number of visitors to our website. The traffic was so huge, there were times when our server was down (and we use one of the most reliable web service providers in the world!).

Also, I would like to thank all of you for writing us! We are receiving hundreds of e-mails from people all the around the world telling us they can’t wait for Pixelmator and how much they love what we have done. Usually we reply to messages the same day we get them, but this time, please forgive us if it takes us two or three days to answer—we are still trying to catch up!

And what can I say about your messages? I love the Mac community and its culture, I really do! It is so supportive of what we are doing, so creative with ideas, and so intelligent that I am really excited about being a little part of it.

Thank you all for your inspiring words!

I would quote all the e-mails here, but it would fill more than 20 pages of our weblog. So here are just a few of them:

“I could not wait to have your new app to play with…I will buy it right at the moment it is out.”

“Dear Aidas and Saulius,
The power that it sounds like Pixelmator will be able to have is unbelievable. I am personally a video editor and Mac application blogger, and from the video side, I know the power of GPU.”

“I’ve heard about your great Pixelmator project and what I’m reading about looks fantastic.”

“Hi! Pixelmator seems to be the “How come no one has done that yet!” app that I and many of my Mac using friends have been wanting for so long.”

“Just saw the Pixelmator video on Tuaw, and I’m stunned at the elegance and professionalism of your application.”

“Pixelmator is exactly what I’m looking for.”

“I think this is going to be huge! All i can say is wow! Amazing…beautiful UI I can’t wait to buy this! Hurry up! ;)…no seriously hurry I’m dying to buy this!”

“This tool looks extremely exciting and (dare I say it) FUN!”

Monday, 4 June 2007. Posted by Saulius.

23 Comments

TUAW Exclusive: Video of Pixelmator in action

While Pixelmator may technically be vaporware according to Gruber, I managed to snag an exclusive demonstration video of the app in action from its developers, brothers Aidas and Saulius Dailide (who you might be interested to know also founded Jumsoft). The demo showcases some impressive Pixelmator features, including working with multiple layers and objects, opening Photoshop files and moving layers from one image to another, taking a picture with an iSight camera and embedding it into the current working image, and even some impressive blending modes.

David Chartier, TUAW

Pixelmator 2.0 Chameleon

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