[Video Tutorial] How to create translucency & vibrancy in Pixelmator Pro

[Andrius]

Translucency and vibrancy – also referred to as "glassmorphism" – are often used in macOS and iOS user interfaces to evoke a sense of depth. In this tutorial, we'll show you how you can create that effect in Pixelmator Pro!



Click here to download the project files for this tutorial.

[Ramiro]

Thanks for the video. I wish the blur effect can have an independent layer, and be applied to everything below. This way the effect is dynamic to any changes I may add.
In the example of the video, since I have to duplicate the image I want to blur, it doesn't give the flexibility needed for further changes, etc.

[EllenM]

You can apply Effects to groups. Just saying.

[Andrius]

You can apply Effects to groups. Just saying.

That's true, but Ramiro does make a good point that we could have effects layers that affect every layer below, which would indeed make this particular technique much simpler. Applying them to a group would not have quite the same effect because the BG layer needs to be blurred only in those areas where the rounded rectangle covers it. We have actually been considering this recently, so you might see it added at some point down the line!

[Soybean652]

It'd be fantastic if translucency were an effect you could apply easily to a shape, rather than doing it manually and with so many layers. Sketch has had this feature for a long time but I strongly prefer using Pixelmator.

[Andrius]

It'd be fantastic if translucency were an effect you could apply easily to a shape, rather than doing it manually and with so many layers. Sketch has had this feature for a long time but I strongly prefer using Pixelmator.

Hi there, just noticed your comment and wanted to add that this is something that should become possible in the future once we add effect and adjustment layers. We'll have to redo the tutorial, but I guess that's a small price to pay.