July 24, 2012

Creating Miniature Worlds in Pixelmator 2.1 Cherry

Here’s one more of the wicked new features we’ve cherry-picked for you in Pixelmator 2.1.

Scale the world down into a tiny version of itself using the new Miniaturize effect in the upcoming release of Pixelmator 2.1 Cherry. The effect gives images the look of a toy-model world you can almost reach out and touch.

Comments

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  • PsykX

    I don’t understand why it’s called “Miniaturize”, because it doesn’t make anything smaller or make anything look smaller, but it’ll be a great replacement for one of those effects found in Instagram.

    Still looking forward to layer styles, interface improvements (contrast/colors), and unified-window-app. I can’t wait to see what else 2.1 has to offer, I love these frequent blog posts suddenly. However, more people would visit the site these days and post in the blog if it weren’t looking like we’ve entered in a crypt. It looks unappealing at the moment. The website has been too dark and hard on the eyes since Pixelmator 2.0

    12 years ago
  • alex_dlc

    Any chance i could get that miniaturized lagoon image??? i would LOVE it as my desktop wallpaper!!!

    12 years ago
  • hamsta

    The effect is actually called Tilt Shift.

    12 years ago
  • Nobody really

    @PsykX Your post shortened:

    Complain, complain, complain,…looking forward to it though,…complain, complain. 🙂

    At least there what some positivity somewhere in there!

    12 years ago
  • bberg

    i hope all these new fx don’t bloat the app
    @nobodyreally: lol!

    12 years ago
  • Drew

    AWESOME hopefully it’ll b released today after Mountain Lion!

    12 years ago
  • Pawel Kata

    People do this stuff in 10 sec with 1$ apps. What we really need is LAYER STYLES.

    12 years ago
  • Drew

    @Pawel Kata and they can keep doing so…as for me I’ll be doing it in Pixelmator without buying a separate app!!

    12 years ago
  • Pawel Kata

    @Drew: and you can keep doing so 😉 What I meant was we could use some more practical tools than bunch of standard photo effects. People – me included – have been whining for layers styles since, IDK, Pixelmator 1.5 and it still doesn’t have it. Don’t get me wrong, I like the app very much. I just think the Devs don’t listen to the community, which is disappointing. It’s not like people want some rocket-science-stuff — adding layer styles is simply combining typical, already available in the app effects and strapping them on a nice UI (and the Devs are doing a great job with that). Nothing more.

    12 years ago
  • Drew

    As said many times…. if it is not rocket science why not doing that yourself….grab a FREE copy of Xcode create your app..add what ever non rocket science stuff you want.

    Pixelmator is for the rest of us….who do not need such “advanced” stuff…see “”

    It’s not like whining will make a difference… if we were to listen to what people wants we would still be driving a faster horse!

    12 years ago
  • Pawel Kata

    Drew, there’s no need to be sarcastic and generalize. I’m merely suggesting a feature.

    12 years ago
  • Drew

    No sarcasm at all, they’ll add that feature when possibile, it you follow request you’ll never proceed as you planned!

    12 years ago
  • hamsta

    Whining from people who want layer styles? Shocking! ;P

    12 years ago
  • PsykX

    @Nobody really : Did I complain all that much, except saying that I don’t understand the confusing name of the effect ? I said I was happy with the changes coming up in Cherry so far. What I’m unhappy is those that I see won’t happen right now : unified window, and the halloween-black interface that hurts my eyes so much. I’ve said it over and over in the forums and I’ve seen others people do so and we heard no serious word on the part of the Pixelmator team, our posts were buried deep in the earth.

    Possibly Layer Styles will surprise us all in Pixelmator 2.1. I do have a lot of hope regarding this feature.

    @hamsta : It’s not *exactly* Tilt Shift because it creates a whole line and does not focus solely on an object, but yes, it’s greatly inspired from that. A similar name would make much more sense.

    12 years ago
  • hamsta

    Hi PsykX! Maybe use a mask with it to get the object focus? I’ll try it when it comes out. 🙂

    12 years ago
  • Jacob Bordieri

    @hamsta @PsykX – Looks like you can change from linear to elliptical on that particular blur effect.

    @Pawel Kata – Highly doubtful layers styles are coming in 2.1, Adobe didn’t have them for a long time and people got by. I think “if” and when the Pixelmator team implements Layer Styles they are not going to just simply throw something together. Acorns Layers Styles are mostly destructive quartz filters, it’s garbage. The Team can do far better then that and hopefully even improve on what PS has.

    I’m looking forward to Shape and Vector tools improvements myself, gradients on shapes, stroke types, better combining shapes, CMD clicking on Shape thumbnails for selections, turning selections into shapes, etc.

    12 years ago
  • Roberto Costa

    Being a long time PS professional, I’d love to see many PS features mimicked in Pixelmator. Layer styles would be a great addition (at least drop-shadows, overlays and stroke), but I would mainly like to see improvements in the shapes tool, like the already mentioned cmd+click to rapidly make a selection, a common task for PS users. Also the ability to create paths, or convert shapes into them, for fine cutting and treatment of images is a must-have feature. I can’t imagine switching to Pixelmator without this important tool. And don’t forget performance and stability as no crashy app can please people who make a living out of their well designed and treated images.
    Other than this, I think Pixelmator has come a long way. I bought one copy myself just because I believe they can get there. PS is irreplaceable now but it may not be in the future.

    12 years ago
  • Guntis

    I second LAYER STYLES / LAYER EFFECTS. For me these features would be way more practical. Drop Shadow, Emboss (In/Out), Highlight/Spotlight, Pattern Fill, Color Fill, Outline, etc.

    12 years ago
  • Guntis

    Yes, Roberto Costa has good points.

    12 years ago
  • PsykX

    @Jacob Bordieri : Oh !!! Yeah, you’re right ! Then it should definitely be called “Tilt shift”.

    Otherwise, someone cares to explain what becomes smaller with this effect ? Even the video says “it makes images looks like a miniature model”… say what ??? At least, it’s not wrong code in the app, it’s only just about changing a string of text in Xcode 😛

    12 years ago
  • Peter

    Please add a switch to let the user choose between your dark theme and a usual light theme. I can’t work with that black theme for a longer time. Thank you very very much!

    12 years ago
  • PsykX

    The main page is screwed up. Maybe it’s a hint they’re updating the website for Cherry or to a lighter version that won’t hurt my young eyes ? 😀

    12 years ago
  • PsykX

    Oh nevermind. It’s fixed.

    12 years ago
  • pwfletcher

    Get 2.1 out the door … Photohshop looks like absolute crap on my new Retina MacBook Pro and I’m ready to make the switch.

    12 years ago
  • Tanner Nelson

    Please release 2.1 ASAP. Photoshop looks hideous on my new MacBook.

    12 years ago
  • bberg

    @Peter @PsykX – a switch to change to a light theme would be welcome. in a macbook air display i just can’t see if some things are buttons or text inputs, or even where they begin or end. same thing with the website. glad i found this textarea ^^

    12 years ago
  • Marco

    Nice features! Now there’s only one thing left: Layers Styles.

    12 years ago
  • rkk1

    It’s great. I like these considered updates so much.

    12 years ago
  • Banditknight

    It would be great to have layer styles, stroke styles (e.g. dotted, dashed or simply stroke with a brush). Adjustment layers are great but I can live without them.

    And now the question of the year. Pixelmator team, how long are you going to keep us waiting?

    12 years ago
  • B.Azerty

    Thank you Pixelmator Team for these new effects !
    However, I must agree on the “Layer Style” feature. This would be a feature killer ! Also, unified-window would be extremely nice too =)

    12 years ago
  • Don Montalvo

    I’m more concerned at the lack of diligence on Pixelmator’s part in fixing a particularly known and widely reported bug. Recently (May 2012) a bug prevented us from saving documents…I would say that is VERY HIGH PRIORITY, no?

    Well it took two months for the bug to be fixed.

    Why?

    Perhaps now that Pixelmator is outsourcing their coding, the very nature of outsourcing (bring down costs, even if it impacts customers, so long as SLA is met and customers continue to pay), this is what we can expect going forward.

    I like Pixelmator. It’s a tool for folks who don’t need all the horse power of Photoshop. That said, aside from a very nice website (where critical posts are not removed as long as the poster isn’t being an idiot), I think the quality that made Pixelmator a great company is deterirorating. Where in the past a bug was reported, acknowledged and fixed…outsourcing has resulted in the Three Stooges effect. The coders being used are lazy, reactive (if they react at all) instead of proactive, and will, over time, bring down the quality of Pixelmator to the point that it isn’t the desirable solution it once was.

    When Pixelmator was a small company, we encouraged and supported them. We recommended and endorsed them. Now that they outsource their coding and kept us hanging for TWO MONTHS, unable to save files (?@#!), our opinion of their company (and to a certain extent their product), our opinion of them is changing.

    We recommended Pixelmator to several hundred users at a production company. When the bug hit everyone, they were dead in the water. Emails to Pixelmator over a two month period did not result in a fix…multiple posts to the Pixelmator forum did not result in a fix. It took two months for a fix to be released.

    I’m sorry to say that the two month delayed fix has redefined Pixelmator. Now that they are selling through the Apple App Store (profiting over $1M so far), they’ve become less concerned about their reputation as they are about making more money. Sad to see Pixelmator join McDonalds on the list of “Make money and don’t worry about the outcome” class of vendors.

    We stopped recommending Pixelmator. Maybe one day when the company decides to “fix” things, where we can see timely patch releases, we’ll be able to recommend them again. For now, nope, won’t recommend Pixelmator…in fact our position is “Not supported, not recommended” until we see a change.

    PS, if I’m off base and Pixelmator is NOT outsourcing their coding, then maybe the solution is to find another development lead or manager who is proactive and responsive.

    Don Montalvo, TX

    12 years ago
  • PsykX

    Problem is, they are not enough to keep up with how big Pixelmator became. If I’m not mistaken, they are only two brothers behind this app, no-one else. They need to hire at least a third person.

    12 years ago
  • Peter

    I mean the dark theme in app, not the webpage. Please add a light theme in Pixelmator app. Thank you!

    12 years ago
  • Yusuf de Bruijn

    I updated my Mac to the new Mountain Lion -10.8 and Pixelmator refusing to run. I have uninstalled it and reinstall Pixelmator to no avail.

    -Yusuf

    12 years ago
  • Onur

    Effects, again. OK, nice. But please, LAYER STYLES!

    12 years ago
  • Soren Ladegaard

    To truly make Pixelmator “the tool for the rest of us” please make an outline-tool and a drow shadow-tool.

    I know this can be made by hand too. But it’s sooo much easier to just press a button and whup….there’s the drop shadow.

    Please! 🙂

    12 years ago
  • Kevin

    I’ll be the millionth person to beg for layer styles – the only reason I still use Photoshop for some things.

    12 years ago
  • Anon Cowherd

    @Drew, @hamsta:

    So like, are you two paid shill-whores or just the team in disguise?

    Layer Styles was needed at version 1.0, and it’s needed at 2.1.

    But hey now there are more gimmicks available for people who like to use Pixelmator for enhancing their photographs! I wonder if the color-shifting bug from almost a year ago was fixed.. Ha! Just kidding, I don’t actually wonder. I bet it’s still there.

    12 years ago
  • Pixelmator 2.1 : Retina, iCloud et sortie le 9 août

    […] de voir ce que cela donne, sachez que vous trouverez un exemple concret de cette fonctionnalité sur le blog de Pixelmator. Notons également qu'un nouvel effet a été intégré au logiciel, un effet qui va vous permettre […]

    12 years ago
  • Drew

    @Anon Cowherd
    I wish I was part of the team….it would mean i had made a s. load of money!! or even being paid from them ….getting money for saying what i think would be great…

    Unfortunately for you I happen to be just a fan, someone who really likes what Pixelmator is!

    Do I need layer styles?? No …would it be great to have them?? Yes will we get them?? probably when the Pix team thinks it’s a good thing to have.

    12 years ago
  • hamsta

    Anon Cowhead is on drugs. Where did I shill for Pixelmator? I simply agreed with someones comment. Anon Cowhead needs to pull his head from his udder.

    12 years ago
  • gsgs

    I’m wondering whether Obama’s birth certificate here:
    http://whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/rss_viewer/birth-certificate.pdf
    was maybe compressed with pixelmator to a .webP and then
    converted to a .pdf with preview on a Mac ?
    And maybe that confuses the “birthers” since they are not familiar
    with this. I.e. the 9 layers in the .pdf, can they be explained this way ?

    12 years ago
  • Junko

    I not an expert in graphic image editing but I do use Acorn a lot because of its layer styles make it so easy to do basic stuff. If Layers styles is implemented property in Pixelmator I’m making the switch.

    12 years ago
  • Variant

    Please, please, please add a “Paste into Selection” feature!!

    12 years ago
  • PsykX

    So this is coming out August 9 ? I read that in the french article posted August 4th, 2012 at 8:01 am. But I never read it officially on the Pixelmator website. How did they get this information ?

    12 years ago
  • Jon Tarbuck

    Yep, the absence of Layer Styles is the one of the big thing keeping me from using Pixelmator more on a daily basis. That and Mountain Lion support.

    12 years ago
  • Anon Cowherd

    @Drew, hamsta

    > Do I need layer styles?? No …would it be great to have them?? Yes will we get them?? probably when the Pix team thinks it’s a good thing to have.

    — Yeah, you think people asking for Layer Styles in every single goddamn blog post might clue the team in on the fact that it’s a needed and wanted feature?

    Apparently not. Maybe they’re waiting for _you two_ to ask for them? :p

    But really, if you’re _not_ paid shills, and not the team in disguise, then I’m going to have to go with “Mindless Sycophants”. Yes, that’s pretty much all that’s left. You see, ever since I first came across this blog, you’ve been here, arguing against common sense and legitimate complaints, and breathlessly praising whatever the team does.

    In the beginning, you were arguing that a professional doesn’t really need Layer Styles because he knows how to produce all the effects by hand, nevermind that it’s just pointless work that could be avoided by clicking on a Layer Style, and nevermind that whenever you make a significant change, you probably end up having to re-make all your effects by hand again.

    You know, an actual professional who’s using software to Get Shit Done would, in fact, prefer to just apply Layer Styles and to de-apply and adjust them as necessary, whilst happily getting closer and closer to getting paid for his work. Every single unnecessary thing he has to do means lost productivity, which means lost income.

    Now that pretty much all of these blog posts are basically full of people asking for Layer Styles, you’ve assumed a somewhat lower profile. Probably because arguing against the feature would look just way too silly, even for you two.

    All in all, I just don’t get it.. Why hasn’t the feature been implemented yet? Why is Pixelmator just a toy for fiddling with your photographs, especially in a world that has Lightroom in it?

    12 years ago