Archive for the ‘News’ Category

At last, I am happy to announce that we just shipped the latest update of Pixelmator, version 1.2.2. This version is not a huge update, but we are working on two versions of Pixelmator these days, so shipping the application was a bit harder than usual.

The two versions I mentioned above include (1) the currently released 1.2.2 update and (2) the soon to be released 1.3 Tempo, which, by the way, will be the best major (and free) update we have ever done. But let us not talk about the Tempo yet.

For the most part, the changes in Pixelmator 1.2.2 involve the Gradient tool and bug fixes. The Gradient tool now works live, which means you see the result while dragging the mouse. Expanding the Gradient tool’s function in this way might appear to have been an easy task, but it was not - we had to convert all the gradient types from simple Cocoa to Core Image kernels for performance. Fortunately, the conversion was successful, and I believe Pixelmator now has the most fun Gradient tool to work with. Try it and let us know what you think.

Of course, Pixelmator 1.2.2 includes many more enhancements and bug fixes that you may check by clicking here or by simply downloading it and putting it through its paces.

That’s it for now. Going back to work on 1.3 Tempo, which is what I believe we are all waiting for…

Version 1.2 Draftsman Delivers Rulers, Guides, Grid, Snap, Curves, Color Balance, Auto Enhance, and Polygonal Lasso Tools and Much More.

The Pixelmator Team today released Pixelmator 1.2 Draftsman, a second significant update to the revolutionary GPU-powered image editing tool, furnishing users with everything they need to create, edit, and enhance still images. Available today as a free software update, Pixelmator 1.2 Draftsman features rulers, guides, grid, snap, color balance, auto enhance, curves, and polygonal lasso tools and much more.

“Pixelmator opened the door for all users to explore their imaginative side through image creation, editing, and enhancement,” said Saulius Dailide of the Pixelmator Team. “Now with powerful, but easy-to-use rulers, guides, curves, auto enhance, color balance, and polygonal lasso tools, Pixelmator provides users with an even wider range of creative opportunities.”

Pixelmator 1.2 introduces a powerful rulers tool, which is helpful for the exact positioning of images or elements. Additionally, users can adjust the rulers origin to measure from a specific point on an image and change the units of measurement to pixels, inches, centimeters, millimeters, points, picas, or percent. Guides appear as nonprinting lines that float over the image, which users can add, move, remove, and lock. They can also utilize the grid to lay out elements symmetrically and the snap feature to position selection edges precisely.

Powerful, yet user-friendly new adjustment options in Pixelmator 1.2 include a sophisticated curves tool for adjusting the entire tonal range or making precise adjustments to individual color channels in an image and a new color balance tool essential for controlling the overall color mixture in an image for color correction work. Pixelmator 1.2 also furnishes users with a new auto enhance tool, which can dramatically improve less-than-perfect images with one click, and a new polygonal lasso tool, useful for drawing straight-edged segments of a selection border.

In addition to a free transform tool, Pixelmator 1.2 Draftsman features new and updated help documentation, enhanced Automator actions and transform tools, minor user interface and compatibility improvements, as well as bug fixes.

Pixelmator 1.2 is a free update to current Pixelmator customers.

Pixelmator is probably the most feature-packed image editor for Mac OS X this side of Adobe’s campus. Just in time for Apple’s design award deadline on Monday, a significant new Pixelmator release will continue the app’s march onto Photoshop’s turf with the addition of powerful new tools for controlling color, aligning objects, making selections, and manipulating layers.

David Chartier, Ars Technica

Read more…

We are very happy to let you know about the release of Pixelmator 1.1.4 since it features fixes for one of the most important functions of Pixelmator - color issues - some of which have been a big headache for us.

But not anymore. Working on version 1.1.4, our main task was to repair color shifting issues, improve the Eyedropper tool, and enhance the precision of adjustment tools in Pixelmator, and we accomplished our goals. Oh, and thanks to your feedback, we also replaced the cursors, making them much more visible but still in the Mac OS X style.

Just a few more notes about other improvements for the many people out there who are interested:
• When opening PDF documents, you will see the Cover Flow window, which will let you choose the exact pages. (If we get some requests for a feature to specify the resolution when opening a page,we will add it.)
• A contextual menu for Eyedropper is now available and includes Copy (color) as HEX.
• When using painting tools, you can temporarily switch to Eyedropper by pressing the Option key on your keyboard.
• And use your shift key to paint a straight line with any of the painting tools. (You just said, “Finally!” Right?)

All the other changes are bug fixes (over 40) focusing mainly on color improvements and stability.

Download version 1.1.4, and have fun immediately.

Welcome to another wave of bug fixes and improvements to your favorite image editor. With v1.1.3, we mostly worked on Move, Zoom, Hand and Crop tools, performance, and (again) stability improvements. Check the release notes for more info.

Download now…

Finally, a German version of Pixelmator is available! Many thanks to our buddies at Danholt.de who bought you not only the German language but also bring Pixelmator support for German-speaking users. Go ahead and check their Pixelmator website for more info.

But there is more in Pixelmator 1.1.1 Release Notes:

• German language added.
• Ability to select anchors and more measurement units added to Canvas Size.
• It is now possible to scroll the window when using selection tools.
• Quartz Composer Generator and Transition filters now function correctly.
• Full Screen mode improvements.
• Type Tool improvements.
• GIF bug when saving fixed.
• Canvas Size bug with undo fixed.
• Other minor improvements and bug fixes.

Have fun!

Version 1.1 Kitten Delivers Improved Leopard Compatibility, over 100 New Filters, Third-Party Filter Support (Core Image Units & Quartz Composer Compositions), Graphics Tablet Support, and More.

The Pixelmator Team today released Pixelmator 1.1 Kitten, a significant update to the revolutionary GPU-powered image editing tool that provides everything needed to create, edit, and enhance still images. Pixelmator 1.1 Kitten features improved Leopard support, a built-in Quick Look plug-in, and tablet pen sensitivity support. Pixelmator 1.1 Kitten also features Core Image units and Quartz Composer composition support as filters.

“Since Pixelmator launched just over two months ago, we’ve been incredibly focused on harnessing the full power of Mac OS X,” said Saulius Dailide of the Pixelmator Team. “And now with Core Image units, Quartz Composer compositions support, and the Quick Look plug-in, Pixelmator proves once again that it is one of the most innovative real-Mac OS X applications.”

Pixelmator significantly outshines other applications with its powerful Mac OS X standards-based plug-in architecture, which not only takes advantage of Core Image units, but is also the first product to bring Quartz Composer compositions to image editing. Every version of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard comes with a free Quartz Composer application that can be used to create almost any possible filter for use with Pixelmator and any other application that supports Quartz Composer compositions.

Pixelmator’s new built-in Quick Look plug-in makes it possible to view almost any of more than 100 image file formats supported by Pixelmator, without having to launch the application itself. The Pixelmator’s Quick Look plug-in is a significant enhancement not only for Pixelmator, but also for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, because there are some exotic file formats supported by Pixelmator’s Quick Look plug-in that were not previously supported by Mac OS X.

In addition to graphics tablet support, Pixelmator 1.1 Kitten also features over 80 new filters, improved Leopard compatibility, and bug fixes.

Pixelmator 1.1 is a free update to current Pixelmator customers.

A small update for Pixelmator is available for download. 1.0.2 includes Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard compatibility, major bug fixes, and minor improvements. This update does not include new features, but I highly recommend downloading it.

As I mentioned before, the real-Leopard version of Pixelmator, called Pixelmator 1.1 Kitten, will be out later this month. You can follow the Kitten development on Twitter.

Pixelmator Team today released Pixelmator 1.0, GPU-powered image editing tool that provides everything needed to create, edit, and enhance still images.

“After two months of bug squashing we are very excited to finally release Pixelmator,” said Saulius Dailide of the Pixelmator Team. “With its use of latest Mac OS X technologies, breakthrough ease-of-use, innovation and low $59 price tag we think all Mac users will find Pixelmator very useful and fun.”

Built from the ground up on a combination of open source and Mac OS X technologies, Pixelmator features powerful selection, painting, retouching, navigation, and color correction tools, and layers-based image editing, GPU-powered image processing, color management, automation, and transparent HUD user interface for work with images.

Mac iSight users will enjoy Pixelmator’s New Layer from iSight feature that allows taking a snapshot with Mac’s built-in video camera and adding the snapshot as a layer in composition. The Photo Browser palette in Pixelmator offers quick access to iPhoto Library, events, albums, Smart Albums, and pictures in the user’s Pictures folder. Best of all, the user can just drag-and-drop any of those images as layers in Pixelmator composition.

Pixelmator is based on Core Image and OpenGL technologies that use Mac’s video card for image processing. Core Image and OpenGL utilize the graphics card for image processing operations, freeing the CPU for other tasks. And if a high-performance card with increased video memory (VRAM) is present, the user will find real-time responsiveness across a wide variety of Pixelmator operations, including editing tools, color correction tools, and filters. Pixelmator is lightning-fast on the latest PowerPC and all Intel-based Macs.

Other notable features: Pixelmator supports more than 100 different file formats, including Photoshop images with layers, and it comes with more than 15 color correction tools and 50 Core Image-powered filters, transform tools, fill and stroke, Gradients, QuickMask mode, full-screen editing mode, Automator support, ColorSync support, Spotlight support, and much more.

Pricing & Availability
Pixelmator 1.0 is available to order for $59 (US) at www.pixelmator.com/buy.
The Pixelmator demo version is available as a free download at www.pixelmator.com/download/

Founded by brothers Saulius and Aidas Dailide in 2007, the Pixelmator Team today introduced Pixelmator, the world’s first GPU-powered image editing tool that provides everything needed to create, edit, and enhance still images.

“Finally, an innovative, fast, and easy-to-use image editor for Mac OS X that brings the power of todays expensive image production tools to every Mac user at a very affordable price,” said Saulius Dailide, Pixelmator Team. “We think all Mac people—home users as well as professionals—will find Pixelmator very usefull and fun”.

Built from the ground up on a combination of open source and Mac OS X technologies, Pixelmator features powerful selection, painting, retouching, navigation, and color correction tools, and layers-based image editing, GPU-powered image processing, color management, automation, and transparent HUD user interface for work with images.

Mac iSight users will enjoy Pixelmator’s New Layer from iSight feature that allows taking a snapshot with Mac’s built-in video camera and adding the snapshot as a layer in composition. The Photo Browser palette in Pixelmator offers quick access to iPhoto Library, albums, Smart Albums, and pictures in user’s Pictures folder. Best of all, the user can just drag-and-drop any of those images as layers in Pixelmator composition.

Another very important feature of Pixelmator is Automator support. Very powerful Pixelmator actions in Automator allow the user to quickly enhance, resize, or transform images, add any special effects, and even export images to more than 100 different file formats.

Pixelmator is based on Core Image and OpenGL technologies that use Mac’s video card for image processing. Core Image and OpenGL utilize the graphics card for image processing operations, freeing the CPU for other tasks. And if a high-performance card with increased video memory (VRAM) is present, one will find real-time responsiveness across a wide variety of Pixelmator operations, including editing tools, color correction tools, filters, and more. Pixelmator is lightening-fast on the latest PowerPC and all Intel-based Macs.

Other notable features: Pixelmator supports more than 100 different file formats, including Photoshop images with layers, and it comes with more than 16 color correction tools and 50 Core Image-powered filters, transform tools, fill and stroke, QuickMask mode, full-screen editing mode, Dashboard support, .Mac support, ColorSync support, Spotlight support, and much more.

Pricing & Availability
Pixelmator 1.0 will be available in late July for $59 (US). Full system requirements and more information on Pixelmator can be found at www.pixelmator.com