I must tell you that 2007 was the best year for us so far. We created Pixelmator, which is one of the best applications that was created last year. In addition, we met a lot of amazing people. We rented a new office and most importantly, we had so much fun doing the stuff that we like to do. Oh, because we made a lot of money in 2007, we can continue having fun working with Pixelmator in 2008.

But what’s next? What’s going to happen in 2008? I believe this will be an even better year for Pixelmator — the app will reach teenager status. No doubt it will become even more popular, more stable, and much faster as we add many new and incredible things to it.

In fact, we started improving Pixelmator the same day we shipped version 1.1.1 (December 18th). Version 1.1.2 will be out in a few days (or tomorrow), and I know you’ll love it. Recently, we have been focusing on selection tools and stability, as well as a few minor performance improvements.

We still have planned a couple more minor updates for Kitten era, but are already working on some major Draftsman (version 1.2 of Pixelmator) improvements and features. I can’t wait to show you the Draftsman stuff that is in the works.

Also, there are many more major updates planned for 2008. If you were to ask me whether there will be a 2.0 this year, my answer would be, “I am not sure.” But, I must say that we plan to start working on version 2.0 once we are sure this version is perfect in terms of stability, performance, and usability.

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.

We just finished putting the final touches on Pixelmator 1.1 Kitten. It has some pretty neat features and a bunch of bug fixes. Well, this is the bright side. The dark side of the current situation is that, unfortunately, because of Core Image memory leak, we can’t release it yet.

Some Pixelmator users have encountered a not so tiny memory leak that dramatically slows down the application, but this is not the worst thing. The really bad thing is what we found after we spent a lot of time trying to find and fix it. At first we thought this was a Pixelmator problem, but sadly this problem is not in Pixelmator; it is hiding deep in Core Image itself and probably affects not only Pixelmator, but also other apps that take advantage of Core Image. Currently there is no workaround available for this leak, and I believe this thing has to be fixed before I can give Kitten to you.

Anyway, the good news is that we are working closely with Apple (yup, mothership takes good care of its developers) to fix this bug in Core Image as soon as possible. I just hope Apple won’t take forever to take care of it—keep your fingers crossed.

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.

I am so sorry if I am late with this article. I know you’ve missed us a lot and we missed you too. Anyway, let me explain what is going on here.

First of all, Pixelmator is doing amazingly well. We are growing very fast in all respects, and this not only brings us happiness, excitement and motivation, it also brings more problems that we have to solve.

October was a very interesting, but difficult month for us. We’ve been traveling around the world for a few weeks now and have been working out of hotels and fast food restaurants. This is not a vacation, however. Not even close! We had about 20 meetings with some huge companies, distributors and others that want Pixelmator to become even more popular. I would love to tell you more details about what we are up to, but I think it would be better if you see the results for yourself.

The big problem for us is that we’ve tried to do everything by ourselves: fix bugs in Pixelmator, meet with people who want to help us, and keep our support alive. It seems to me that we haven’t been very successful at some of these things, as Pixelmator development and support was not good enough in October.

In any case, there is no reason to be sad. Everything is going to be better starting tomorrow. We are finally releasing the Leopard-friendly version of Pixelmator. It is not that major update (1.1 Kitten); it is just a pack of bug fixes (it’s 1.0.2) and small improvements that have mostly to do with Leopard.

The real-Leopard version of Pixelmator will be available later this month, and we are on track to ship it on time. I am sure you’ll love it.

Other news from the Pixelmator Team is that we are looking for a friendly person to help us handle all the Pixelmator support details. We have some ideas to dramatically improve Pixelmator’s help and support engine. I am doing my best to make sure that no one is left without help.

We have also moved to our new office, which is very cool. I promise to add some photos to Flickr as soon as I am done with the release.

For now, if you would like to get a detailed update of Pixelmator’s development, Aidas has set-up a Twitter account. To check out Pixelmator’s current status, just click here.

As we mentioned last week, one of the most anticipated OS X applications in a long while finally hit the street when Pixelmator shipped version 1.0. We were fortunate enough to get the two brothers behind the application, Saulius and Aidas Dailide, to contribute our latest TUAW Interview. In terms of their relative contribution to Pixelmator, Saulius is more focused on the UI, while Aidas provides most the heavy lifting on the back end. In this interview they discuss some of the thinking behind Pixelmator, where it came from, and what they are trying to accomplish.

Mat Lu, TUAW

Read more…

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

Read more…

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.

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/