Pixelmator Photo...
2022-05-05 19:51:12
I’ve been testing 3 apps: RAW Power, Darkroom and Pixelmator Photo.
RAW Power is very nice, it has a lot of controls, it also integrates very nicely with the Photos library. BUT… I really dislike the interface, and since I spend a lot of time editing, I don’t think it is my first choice. The interface is not as bad as Snapseed btw, but not even close as good as Pixelmator Photo in my opinion. Other than the interface, it is a very powerful app. No local editing though.
Darkroom… I haven’t bought this app for one reason: the interface is nice, but I’m left handed and I can’t move the controls panel to the left as I can with RAW Power or Pixelmator. So for me it is uncomfortable in the long run, my left hand gets in the way when I edit using the sliders that are always on the right and sometimes it blocks my view of the photo I’m editing.
The controls are good. One good thing that stands out, is that it has masks: local editing, you have to check that out. I really like it. They still don’t have some important masking types, like brush or gradient, but they have some A.I. masks that work great, and color and luminosity ranges that work ok but I think could be improved in the future. It is the only app of the three that has masks, for me it is a big step ahead. It is also the most expensive of the three: I think it’s $50 dlls if you want the app forever (they also offer subscription model but I hate it
). The $50 includes the mac version though.
Pixelmator Photo: Great controls, the interface is nice (although it could be polished a bit more, I have left some suggestions in the feature requests section of this forum). For me, this is the best interface of all three. I really enjoy the app. Batch processing is great too. The only big downside in my opinion: no local editing (masks), and it seems it will be a while before we see them unfortunately.
Pixelmator Photo in my opinion is the best, and for the price it is a steal.
The other two apps are very good too, but I definitely enjoy using Pixelmator Photo a lot more, I just wish we had local editing soon.
RAW Power is very nice, it has a lot of controls, it also integrates very nicely with the Photos library. BUT… I really dislike the interface, and since I spend a lot of time editing, I don’t think it is my first choice. The interface is not as bad as Snapseed btw, but not even close as good as Pixelmator Photo in my opinion. Other than the interface, it is a very powerful app. No local editing though.
Darkroom… I haven’t bought this app for one reason: the interface is nice, but I’m left handed and I can’t move the controls panel to the left as I can with RAW Power or Pixelmator. So for me it is uncomfortable in the long run, my left hand gets in the way when I edit using the sliders that are always on the right and sometimes it blocks my view of the photo I’m editing.
The controls are good. One good thing that stands out, is that it has masks: local editing, you have to check that out. I really like it. They still don’t have some important masking types, like brush or gradient, but they have some A.I. masks that work great, and color and luminosity ranges that work ok but I think could be improved in the future. It is the only app of the three that has masks, for me it is a big step ahead. It is also the most expensive of the three: I think it’s $50 dlls if you want the app forever (they also offer subscription model but I hate it
Pixelmator Photo: Great controls, the interface is nice (although it could be polished a bit more, I have left some suggestions in the feature requests section of this forum). For me, this is the best interface of all three. I really enjoy the app. Batch processing is great too. The only big downside in my opinion: no local editing (masks), and it seems it will be a while before we see them unfortunately.
Pixelmator Photo in my opinion is the best, and for the price it is a steal.
The other two apps are very good too, but I definitely enjoy using Pixelmator Photo a lot more, I just wish we had local editing soon.
2022-05-08 10:43:49
In general I think I agree with your summary there. Although I have different reasons for my own choosing of my preferred apps.
For me, the syncing within Apple Photos iCloud library has been my primary concern. So my current list is as follows:
Apple Photos. This is a very recent change to my choices, Raw Power has been my primary editor on the iPad for some time now, but recent bugs and issues have crept in (even the developer seems puzzled), so I've been trying to make more use of Apple Photos on the iPad. As it turns out, this has been a little bit of a revelation. Photos isn't actually that bad, if you only want to carry out basic adjustments (such as global exposure, colour and sharpening, a some cropping). Of all the 'AI' or 'Magic' automatic enhancement tools, this one actually seems to consistently deliver the best results. Quite often this does a good enough job, with just a few little tweaks down the adjustments list. It also maintains a proper non-destructive workflow across all devices.
Raw Power. Of all of them only Raw Power has managed to maintain a proper non-destructive workflow synced with Photos library across iCloud, so I can edit identically on any device. However, it is a little unstable and buggy, and as you say, the UI is a little 'industrial', and making fine adjustments on an iPad can be tricky (the curves tools is almost unusable for that reason). But it does have some features others don't, such as the Raw Development section and Lens Correction.
Pixelmator Photo. This is such a nice editor, only spoiled by the lack of proper non-destructive workflow when syncing to iCloud - the huge external sidecar files are just non sustainable, so I end up having to delete them all. A you say the UI is really nice, and adjustments are very easy to apply. Still a few UI quirks though (the filmstrip doesn't really work properly).
Pixelmator. Yes, I've just purchased this too, as I recently found that it also works as an internal Photos extension on an iPad. It's not as useful as Photos, but does add another bunch of tools for a very reasonable price.
Darkroom (and others perhaps). It's nice and powerful, for editing, but like too many external editors on the iPad, the iCloud library browser is pretty useless. It only shows as a random order flat list of albums, and doesn't recognise my carefully curated folder and album layout - this is quite common to others too, such as Affinity and Snapseed. And as you say, it's quite pricey for the lifetime purchase, or choose the subscription model - which like you I dislike.
Affinity Photo. Such a powerful app, but not really in the same category as the above. It only really works as a standalone editor, and does not provide any non-destructive workflow within Photos on an iPad (although it does on a desktop Mac).
HashPhotos. This is a bit of a dark horse for me. It's as well featured as anything else out there, but for some reason I just don't find myself trusting it as much for everyday use. However, it is excellent as a complement to Photos DAM capabilities. It's worth getting just for viewing your collection in more powerful ways, and can also find a lot of EXIF data too.
So overall, yes, I would agree that Pixelmator Photo, and perhaps add Pixelmator too for the cost, are an excellent value set of apps, that punch very much above their price point. But all said, if you ended up buying all of that lot, you'd still pay less than one year's subscription to the cheapest Lightroom plan (which doesn't have anything like the capabilities or flexibility of choice of that lot in combination).
But, don't overlook the capability of Photo itself, for more basic editing needs (my preference is for a simple workflow, with minimal adjustments, to recover a scene I saw in the real world), you might not need to spend any more money, or add any more complexity if that fulfils your photo needs. Sometimes it's easy to be a bit of a kid in a sweetshop, and try to use all those tools, simply because you have them - quite often you might find you don't actually need much, or any of it.
cheers.
For me, the syncing within Apple Photos iCloud library has been my primary concern. So my current list is as follows:
Apple Photos. This is a very recent change to my choices, Raw Power has been my primary editor on the iPad for some time now, but recent bugs and issues have crept in (even the developer seems puzzled), so I've been trying to make more use of Apple Photos on the iPad. As it turns out, this has been a little bit of a revelation. Photos isn't actually that bad, if you only want to carry out basic adjustments (such as global exposure, colour and sharpening, a some cropping). Of all the 'AI' or 'Magic' automatic enhancement tools, this one actually seems to consistently deliver the best results. Quite often this does a good enough job, with just a few little tweaks down the adjustments list. It also maintains a proper non-destructive workflow across all devices.
Raw Power. Of all of them only Raw Power has managed to maintain a proper non-destructive workflow synced with Photos library across iCloud, so I can edit identically on any device. However, it is a little unstable and buggy, and as you say, the UI is a little 'industrial', and making fine adjustments on an iPad can be tricky (the curves tools is almost unusable for that reason). But it does have some features others don't, such as the Raw Development section and Lens Correction.
Pixelmator Photo. This is such a nice editor, only spoiled by the lack of proper non-destructive workflow when syncing to iCloud - the huge external sidecar files are just non sustainable, so I end up having to delete them all. A you say the UI is really nice, and adjustments are very easy to apply. Still a few UI quirks though (the filmstrip doesn't really work properly).
Pixelmator. Yes, I've just purchased this too, as I recently found that it also works as an internal Photos extension on an iPad. It's not as useful as Photos, but does add another bunch of tools for a very reasonable price.
Darkroom (and others perhaps). It's nice and powerful, for editing, but like too many external editors on the iPad, the iCloud library browser is pretty useless. It only shows as a random order flat list of albums, and doesn't recognise my carefully curated folder and album layout - this is quite common to others too, such as Affinity and Snapseed. And as you say, it's quite pricey for the lifetime purchase, or choose the subscription model - which like you I dislike.
Affinity Photo. Such a powerful app, but not really in the same category as the above. It only really works as a standalone editor, and does not provide any non-destructive workflow within Photos on an iPad (although it does on a desktop Mac).
HashPhotos. This is a bit of a dark horse for me. It's as well featured as anything else out there, but for some reason I just don't find myself trusting it as much for everyday use. However, it is excellent as a complement to Photos DAM capabilities. It's worth getting just for viewing your collection in more powerful ways, and can also find a lot of EXIF data too.
So overall, yes, I would agree that Pixelmator Photo, and perhaps add Pixelmator too for the cost, are an excellent value set of apps, that punch very much above their price point. But all said, if you ended up buying all of that lot, you'd still pay less than one year's subscription to the cheapest Lightroom plan (which doesn't have anything like the capabilities or flexibility of choice of that lot in combination).
But, don't overlook the capability of Photo itself, for more basic editing needs (my preference is for a simple workflow, with minimal adjustments, to recover a scene I saw in the real world), you might not need to spend any more money, or add any more complexity if that fulfils your photo needs. Sometimes it's easy to be a bit of a kid in a sweetshop, and try to use all those tools, simply because you have them - quite often you might find you don't actually need much, or any of it.
cheers.