Pixelmator Pro - Photos Extension

Talk about Pixelmator Pro, share tips & tricks, tutorials, and other resources.
User avatar

2020-05-19 01:13:09

I came across an article at the following link https://tidbits.com/2019/06/14/the-ins- ... discussion which describes how OS Photos interacts with third party applications used for image editing. I found it very informative and it had me wondering how Pixelmator Pro handled the interaction process with Photos when using the Edit With feature in Photos to launch Pixelmator Pro And edit RAW images ingested directly into Photos before editing. I am assuming that as described in the article Pixelmator Pro is handed a tiff version of the image upon which when editing with Pixelmator Pro the edit instructions would stored in the relevant Pixelmator Document if the user chose to save the file after editing and that the edited tiff file is passed back to OS Photos without any edit instructions. I ask this question as I am trying to determine the best workflow when using Pixelmator Pro. Currently I have been ingesting the RAW images into Photos then using the Edit With functionality to launch Pixelmator Pro to undertake the edits. Reading this article would indicate that this workflow would be ok for images where all the editing is to be completed in one session on an image but would not be the best workflow where multiple editing sessions may be undertaken on an image. Some clarification round the process would be appreciated.
User avatar

2020-05-19 16:02:59

Hi there!
I found it very informative and it had me wondering how Pixelmator Pro handled the interaction process with Photos when using the Edit With feature in Photos to launch Pixelmator Pro And edit RAW images ingested directly into Photos before editing.
To put it simply, Pixelmator Pro works within the limitations of the Photos app with both the Edit With feature and the extension just like the article describes. When using Edit With, we don't get passed the RAW image — we get a 16-bit TIFF, so you don't have all your RAW data. We also can't save changes nondestructively in a 'sidecar' file so you can later fine-tune those changes. However, when editing with the Pixelmator Pro extension, you get the RAW photo and you can choose to save edits nondestructively, so you have the full data in the photo each time you open it. Of course, if you open the same photo with another extension, things go sideways, as the article explains.

So, my advice, if you're after the best possible quality and flexibility, would be to use the Pixelmator Pro extension in Photos rather than the Edit With feature.

Hope that helps!
User avatar

2020-05-19 23:37:25

by Andrius 2020-05-19 16:02:59 Hi there!



To put it simply, Pixelmator Pro works within the limitations of the Photos app with both the Edit With feature and the extension just like the article describes. When using Edit With, we don't get passed the RAW image — we get a 16-bit TIFF, so you don't have all your RAW data. We also can't save changes nondestructively in a 'sidecar' file so you can later fine-tune those changes. However, when editing with the Pixelmator Pro extension, you get the RAW photo and you can choose to save edits nondestructively, so you have the full data in the photo each time you open it. Of course, if you open the same photo with another extension, things go sideways, as the article explains.

So, my advice, if you're after the best possible quality and flexibility, would be to use the Pixelmator Pro extension in Photos rather than the Edit With feature.

Hope that helps!
Thanks for your response and explanation Andrius. That helps me to determine what workflow best suites the image(s) I am editing at any given time. There appears to be three options, edit the RAWs directly from a storage device using PP then add the edited image to Photos in one of the available file formats (png, jpg, tiff etc), ingest the RAW into Photos and then edit from within Photos using the extension and ingest the RAW into Photos and PP by launching it with the “Edit With“ command in Photos.
User avatar

2020-05-20 05:35:58

by JohneChambers
Thanks for your response and explanation Andrius. That helps me to determine what workflow best suites the image(s) I am editing at any given time. There appears to be three options, edit the RAWs directly from a storage device using PP then add the edited image to Photos in one of the available file formats (png, jpg, tiff etc), ingest the RAW into Photos and then edit from within Photos using the extension and ingest the RAW into Photos and PP by launching it with the “Edit With“ command in Photos.
Just when I thought I had nailed what I wanted to be able to achieve I noticed that if you use the Photos PP extension to edit the image the ability to crop and straighten is not available through the PP extension. Is this correct or am I missing something? As straightening and cropping is usually my first step in post processing it is important to be able to do this in PP rather than using the Photos app editing feature. The reason I say this is if I am correct, that would be an edit in Photos so the edited image passed to PP using the Photos extension after the crop/straightening process would most likely be a high res jpeg not the RAW image. Am I correct? If so, is it possible to add a crop/straightening feature to the PP Photos extension so that the crop/straightening is done on the RAW image file? Also is it possible to add a save to pxd file from within the Photos extension? The last to wishes may be too complex from a coding perspective.
User avatar

2020-05-20 11:39:31

by JohneChambers 2020-05-20 05:35:58 If so, is it possible to add a crop/straightening feature to the PP Photos extension so that the crop/straightening is done on the RAW image file?
This feature is already there but, unfortunately, it's hidden because we cannot display our toolbar in the Photos extension. However, you can choose the Crop tool by pressing the C key on your keyboard while using the extension.
Also is it possible to add a save to pxd file from within the Photos extension?
We could probably add this, though this isn't currently possible. And, although it isn't possible, for now, if you want to find those PXD files to open/edit/share them, you can open either the Photos Extension Documents folder inside the Pixelmator folder in iCloud (if you chose to save files in iCloud) or Pixelmator Pro Extension Documents folders in the Pictures folder (if you chose to save edits to Pictures) and you'll find all the associated Pixelmator Pro files there. In fact, if you open and edit those files with the standalone Pixelmator Pro app, you can even save changes to them and those changes will be reflected in the file in Photos — though an important caveat is the changes will only be visible once you open the photos with the extension again and resave them. It's also important that you don't rename the file.
User avatar

2020-05-20 21:54:28

Thanks once again for your response Andrius. The customer support you provide makes the Pixelmator products that much better to use. Pixelmator may not have every feature a user would like but it is a well rounded product constantly evolving with fantastic customer support.
User avatar

2020-05-21 15:14:48

That's very kind of you to say! I'm always happy when I can help out. :wink:
User avatar

2021-03-26 01:26:01

by Andrius 2020-05-19 23:02:59
So, my advice, if you're after the best possible quality and flexibility, would be to use the Pixelmator Pro extension in Photos rather than the Edit With feature.
How can I find, enable, and use the extension in Photos? I don't see it anywhere.

Also I just wanted to make sure that 'Edit with' > Pixelmator - there is no way for the app to get the raw file? Would this be on Apple or Pixelmator?
User avatar

2021-03-26 11:54:29

by Nate Gallagher 2021-03-25 23:26:01
How can I find, enable, and use the extension in Photos? I don't see it anywhere.

Also I just wanted to make sure that 'Edit with' > Pixelmator - there is no way for the app to get the raw file? Would this be on Apple or Pixelmator?
There's an article you can check out here to learn how to set up and use the Pixelmator Pro Photos extension. As for the Edit With functionality, Andrius's post above pretty much sums it up. However, I do remember this functionality being available at some point (with unedited RAW files) but I could be mistaken.