Using PNG or JPEG format instead of TIFF when copying to clipboard?

Talk about Pixelmator Pro, share tips & tricks, tutorials, and other resources.
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2021-07-30 15:40:58

Hi!

As a new Mac user, I'm testing out Pixelmator Pro to see if it's suitable for me.

It's looking great so far, but I've noticed something that's bothering me quite a bit:

In my workflow, I often open pictures, do some quick, simple edits on them, and then just copy the result to the clipboard (sometimes part of the image, sometimes all of it) so I can paste it to a different application.

Previous editing software that I've used will typically copy the image as a PNG or JPEG file, which means you can easily paste it pretty much anywhere and it will always be recognised and digested by the destination app without any issues.

However, when you copy a selection in Pixelmator Pro, it seems the content is stored as a TIFF image in the clipboard? Unfortunately, the TIFF format is not widely used in most non-professional apps, which means they just see a random file and won't treat it as a picture.

Is there any way to change this so that CMD+C will actually copy the selection as a PNG or JPEG image?

Alternatively, is there any way to do an export straight to the clipboard?

It seems the 'Export' option can only save the contents to a file, not to the clipboard. In my case this wouldn't be a suitable option as I have to produce lots of quick crops and edits through the day that won't ever be used again... so I don't want to store them anywhere. Not only would it take more time, but I would also fill my desktop with junk that I'd have to cleanup every couple of hours.

Any tips would be appreciated!
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2021-08-09 06:22:49

• To use Copy Merged, press the Option-Shift-Command-C keyboard shortcut or reveal the command in the Edit menu by pressing and holding the Option and Shift keys.
Same, because of that I can't copy selected to the web.
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2021-08-19 11:44:55

This topic has been previously discussed in this thread here. Perhaps it'll be of help. Generally, the suggestion would be to take screenshots that are saved as PNG by default and can be changed to other formats using the Terminal flag as suggested by mccoytest in the thread.
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2021-09-01 09:00:24

Thanks Aurelija.

Yes, I can use Mac's native screenshot tool to capture part of the picture to the clipboard. But as you can guess this is finicky, and it often comes with a quality loss, especially if the image needs to be zoomed out at the moment of the capture because it doesn't fit in the screen at 100% size.

I think it'd be better if we didn't have to resort to third-party tools for something like this.
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2021-09-13 12:09:18

I totally get that but it's not really something we can easily change. When copying to Clipboard, we can only use one file format. If we choose PNG or JPEG as the default format, it may sort out certain issues for some users but create new ones for the users relying on TIFFs for other workflows. So in this particular case, I'm afraid there won't be a way to offer an ideal Pixelmator Pro behavior for everyone. Still, to me, it seems that it's better to start with the highest-quality image first, and then be able to work your way down than vice versa?
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2021-09-23 14:19:54

by Aurelija 2021-09-13 11:09:18 I totally get that but it's not really something we can easily change. When copying to Clipboard, we can only use one file format. If we choose PNG or JPEG as the default format, it may sort out certain issues for some users but create new ones for the users relying on TIFFs for other workflows. So in this particular case, I'm afraid there won't be a way to offer an ideal Pixelmator Pro behavior for everyone. Still, to me, it seems that it's better to start with the highest-quality image first, and then be able to work your way down than vice versa?
I disagree. Look at your competition. Affinity has a simple solution to choose the format in the settings and THAT'S IT. It's not Affinity Photo, it's Designer but still you can choose to copy as SVG. It's buggy, but they give you A CHOICE.

I'm sure there are many different type ofr Pixelmator users, but I'm definitely not in minority. I'm a Product Designer, working in Figma. I need to be able to quickly copy a transparent layer from Pixelmator to Figma. A .tiff format is not accepted and neither it makes sense for it to be. Honestly, this is SO basic, going over through "export" and then importing is ridiculous, this is 2021.

Just let me and many others choose. You don't have to do a global change, just a setting in Preferences.

Thank you
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2021-09-23 14:45:34

Yeah, I understand your point Aurelija, but I agree with Pablo.

I think Pixelmator is a great, beautiful piece of software. But if you're going to make such an odd choice for a default setting (e.g.: TIFF as the copy format), I think it's only sensible to at least offer an option to change it in the settings. Again, it's very weird to pick TIFF out of of all possible formats to copy things to the clipboard.

I'm not necessarily asking Pixelmator to change that default, as this may indeed break the workflow of some existing Pixelmator users. But I would encourage you to consider adding this as a feature in the settings, so we can at least change that default.

It's one of the main reasons why I haven't decided to buy this piece of software yet. I loved using it during the free trial, but this issue kept getting in the way of my workflow and I ended up switching to a less-capable, but free software that copies things as PNG by default... like every other software I've used so far. I have to work a little more to get other things done, but it's still more efficient than exporting everything as PNG files only to copy them over.

I hope you can consider this as a new feature for the future ;)
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2021-09-29 10:44:16

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and use cases, guys. :pray: I can see this issue came up a few times in the forums, so it's probably worth reconsidering it. While I can't promise anything, I've let the rest of the team know about this and we'll see what our options are here.
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2021-09-29 11:26:07

Thanks so much Aurelija! Really appreciate it ;)
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2021-10-22 00:35:45

Came here to upvote!
It's crucial thing to some multi-software workflow, now I can not copy-paste into Figma, I never use Tiff, i'd rather go with PNG or JPG.

I understand that there must be someone relying on Tiff, but non me. Please add this as an option in settings. 💜

Offtopic highly anticipating merged copy functionality as we have Cmd+Shift+C in Photoshop.
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2021-10-22 05:46:36

Offtopic highly anticipating merged copy functionality as we have Cmd+Shift+C in Photoshop.
Copy Merged Option ⌥ + Shift ⇧ + Command ⌘ + C
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2021-10-23 22:12:48

Hello! this has been bothering me too for a long time. it would be great if you could change the format to png or JPEG. of course, we all know it's not easy, but think how much easier you make it for others to use the app. otherwise, i'm happy with the program. thank you.

Image
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2021-10-23 22:21:45

Well - jpeg will kill your alpha channel. Just saying. :wink:
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2021-10-25 09:45:27

The question about Copy Merged just gave me an idea. It might help those looking for PNG support — if you're working with apps that support drag and drop input, you can drag layers from Pixelmator Pro there. Layers will use PNG format instead of TIFF. So essentially, you'd need to Copy Merged and paste the copied image to your document. Then, drag the merged layer to the app or location you need.
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2021-10-25 09:52:38

by EllenM 2021-10-23 20:21:45 Well - jpeg will kill your alpha channel. Just saying. :wink:
Which is why most apps copy the contents to the clipboard as a PNG :wink:
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2021-10-25 10:03:29

Then, drag the merged layer to the app or location you need.
Works fine with finder, but still doesn't work with webpages' inputs (+ 1 extra step to drag the .png from finder to the web).

Video: https://youtu.be/LVnLHNPo1Mw
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2021-12-22 07:31:46

Google brought me here because I also was trying to simply copy from Pixelmator and paste into Figma, but couldn't because:

1. Pixelmator doesn't have an option to copy as PNG
2. Figma doesn't support TIFF

Instead of giving users either an apple or an orange, give users both the apple and the orange, and let them decide which one to eat. :wink:
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2022-05-07 17:11:43

Any update on this? Could we add an option in the Settings to set the clipboard format (png or jpg). Not being able to paste the clipboard image into any of my IDEs / document editors because they are TIFFs is definitely impacting my work.
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2022-05-08 07:58:51

by VMX 2021-09-01 13:00:24 Thanks Aurelija.

Yes, I can use Mac's native screenshot tool to capture part of the picture to the clipboard. But as you can guess this is finicky, and it often comes with a quality loss, especially if the image needs to be zoomed out at the moment of the capture because it doesn't fit in the screen at 100% size.

I think it'd be better if we didn't have to resort to third-party tools for something like this.
A more robust screenshot tool: Snagit from Techsmith Software. As a technical writer for many years that has been my go-to tool.
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2022-07-08 10:01:58

by Lysander
A more robust screenshot tool: Snagit from Techsmith Software. As a technical writer for many years that has been my go-to tool.
The only thing is it would not preserve alpha channel / transparency, as copying as PNG from Pixelmator should
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2022-07-14 08:01:39

Came here to vote up!

I would love to see copy-paste as PNG format... should make my workflow much easier!
Switched from PSD to Pixelmator, but this is really annoying!
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2022-07-19 08:15:19

by Pablo POst
The only thing is it would not preserve alpha channel / transparency, as copying as PNG from Pixelmator should
Would this help:



https://www.techsmith.com/blog/tutorial ... ackground/

Remove a Background

Replace the background of an image with transparency to show the page background or any other colors or objects the image is placed over.

To maintain transparency, save the image to a file format that supports transparency: CUR, GIF, ICO, PNG, TIF, or SNAGX.
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2022-08-26 09:15:17

[REMOVED]
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2022-08-27 07:14:28

... and just another spammer.
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2022-10-14 03:49:48

signed up to cosign on this.

I use figma and discord regularly in my workflow. Neither support tiff paste-in.
I would really appreciate copy as png. It seems like that would be extremely doable as either an option to change the copy format.

I love everything about Pixelmator Pro except this one thing is a huge hassle in my workflow every day. I would be so happy if you added this feature.