Saving A Preset

Chat about the original Pixelmator.
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2019-11-18 20:04:17

Hi there - I'm wondering if there is a way to save a set of commands executed on one image to use in other images so that all edits are the same?

Not 100% sure if Pixelmator calls this sort of thing a preset or whatever.

As an example - I used the curves facility to tweak an image and I want to use the same settings for another photo.

I can't see how this can be done.

Anyone help a luddite?

Ben
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2019-11-19 08:34:49

If you're using the original Pixelmator, you can press the Shift-Command-F keyboard shortcut to reapply the last used effect with the same settings — this works across any open documents.

P.S. In Pixelmator Pro, as the adjustments are nondestructive, you can create and save presets of multiple different adjustments to apply them across different images and also use those presets when batch processing images. Just in case you'd like to check this out, the free trial is available here.
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2019-11-19 08:47:59

Thanks, Andrius. Yes, it's the 'original' Pixelmator I'm using, latest version/update.

OK, I'll have a go at the suggestion you have made.
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2019-11-19 16:54:00

Cool, hope it works for you!
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2019-11-19 17:41:54

Hi Andrius

Ach, unfortunately, your fix didn't work.

I applied a curve change to an image, opened up another, used the shift-command-F command and all that happened was that the curves box opened on the new image but didn't apply the edit.

Am I doing something wrong?
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2019-11-20 09:13:40

I think there may be a bug here — I didn't actually check the Curves effect but tried it with Gaussian blur and everything worked correctly, so I assumed it would work for Curves too. That was very silly of me! Interestingly enough, when I tried it with Curves (and Levels), the Curves dialog didn't appear for me, the "Last Filter" action tooltip appeared but the image didn't change. I've reported this to the devs now so we'll look into it.

With Curves, it doesn't seem to work correctly across documents, so a workaround would be to add the images to the same document on separate layers. That way, the Shift-Command-F thing should work correctly (and I made sure to actually check with Curves this time). If it doesn't, could you let me know the version of Pixelmator that you're using as well as your version of macOS?
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2019-11-22 17:24:38

Hi Andrius

Apologies for late reply.

Pixelmator version is 3.9 Classic and High Sierra macOS.

I'm not sure how to implement your second fix.

Can you walk me through it?
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2019-11-24 19:52:00

Sure! Ther steps:

1. Open an image and apply your Curves adjustment to it
2. Choose Layer > New Layer > Choose Picture (or add the other image into the same document by dragging and dropping it in)
3. Press the Shift-Command-F keyboard shortcut (making sure the new image is selected)

To save your changes, you could follow these steps:

1. Choose Edit > Cut (or press the Command-X keyboard shortcut)
2. Control-click the Pixelmator icon in the Dock and choose New From Clipboard
3. Choose File > Save

Hope that helps!