Tech Specs

Pixelmator Pro includes an astonishingly wide range of tools and features — powerful tools for creating, editing, and enhancing images, innovations that make the entire image editing workflow simpler and easier, and an incredibly modern, GPU-powered image editing engine powering everything under the hood.

Tools

Over 50 image editing tools for retouching, reshaping, painting, drawing, adding shapes, text, styles, and effects, adjusting colors, selecting image areas, moving and arranging elements

Basic

Arrange

Transform

Style

Crop

Slice

Zoom

Hand

Color Picker

Selecting

Rectangular Selection

Elliptical Selection

Free Selection

Polygonal Selection

Select Row

Select Column

Quick Selection

Magnetic Selection

Color Selection

Select Color Range

Select and Mask

Painting

Brush

Pixel

Eraser

Smart Eraser

Color Fill

Gradient Fill

Retouching

Repair

Clone

Lighten

Darken

Saturate

Desaturate

Sharpen

Soften

Smudge

Reshaping

Warp

Bump

Pinch

Twirl

Drawing and Vectors

Pen

Freeform Pen

Shape

Rectangle Shape

Rounded Rectangle Shape

Ellipse Shape

Polygon Shape

Star Shape

Line Shape

Type

Type

Circular Type

Path Type

Freeform Type

Interface

Unified, single-window interface designed for working with images

Modern interface design puts the focus on your content

Dark and light appearances

Native macOS look and feel

Welcome screen designed to make it easy to open recent images, create new ones, and open photos and videos from your library

An efficient design means the interface looks good on small and large displays

Fully customizable interface

Toolbar color well with primary and secondary colors and ability to quickly swap them

Crop tool designed for photographers with perspective correction and crop overlays based on common composition techniques, such as rule of thirds and golden ratio

Workspace presets for photography, illustration, design, and painting

Resizable layer thumbnails

Informative layer descriptions showing layer properties, such as layer size, video duration, and more

See an interactive split-screen view of any layer with and without edits applied to it

Freely rotate the canvas to any angle and use every editing tool with a rotated canvas

Hidden interface mode for quickly viewing a design without the distractions of the UI

Set of alignment tools, including guides, rulers, and image grid

Navigate around images with the Zoom tool and its responsive navigator

Perform calculations directly in text fields

Use handy, on-canvas controls to pause, play, mute, or edit video layers

Templates and Mockups

Over 200 easy-to-use templates for social media, print, video, logo, resume, and more

13 beautiful template collections for building a unified visual identity for a personal brand or business

35 stunning, fully-customizable mockups

Built-in alternative elements: lighting, shadows, shapes, effects, and illustrations

Designer-made color presets for quickly changing the look of a template or mockup

AI-powered template editing with Smart Replace

Layers

Layer-based image editing

Easily drag to select multiple layers on the canvas

Automatically remove the background from any image using an AI-powered algorithm

Use color adjustments and effects layers to nondestructively change the look of entire layered compositions

Add RAW layers and enhance them using all the additional data stored in your original RAW images

Create new, duplicate, delete, and rename layers

Lock, hide, group, and merge layers

Tag, filter, and search layers

Create editable text and shape layers

Drag and drop colors directly onto layers to fill them with color or change existing fills

Add layers from images and videos saved on your Mac, from your Photos library, or using your FaceTime camera

Layers inserted with the FaceTime camera include automatically generated portrait masks so you can quickly create portrait effects

See a live preview of each blend mode before applying

Replace image layers in designs while preserving all their nondestructive formatting

See the most important information about a layer at a glance with informative subtitles

Drag and drop layers onto your macOS Desktop to instantly export as PNG

Drag and drop images into Pixelmator Pro to add them as new layers

Drag and drop layered files (SVG, PXD, PXM, PSD, PDF) directly into documents

Add and customize bitmap and vector layer masks

Work with clipping masks

Preserve layer transparency

Define layers as placeholder elements or alternative element groups to create custom template and mockup designs

Use the Document Colors feature in the toolbar to change colors of multiple text, shape, style, and effect fill layers at a time

Blend layers using 27 blend modes

Normal

Darken

Multiply

Color Burn

Linear Burn

Darker

Color

Lighten

Screen

Color Dodge

Linear Dodge

Lighter Color

Overlay

Soft Light

Hard Light

Vivid Light

Linear Light

Pin Light

Hard Mix

Difference

Exclusion

Subtract

Divide

Hue

Saturation

Color

Luminosity

Arrange and align layers

Nondestructively transform layers

Measure layer size using percent, pixels, inches, centimeters, or millimeters

Change layer position using pixels, inches, centimeters, or millimeters

Rotate and flip layers

Align top, bottom, left, or right edges of selected layers

Align vertical or horizontal centers of selected layers

Evenly distribute top, bottom, left, or right edges of selected layers

Evenly distribute vertical or horizontal centers of selected layers

Use smart alignment and spacing guides, rulers, and image grid

Transform layers

Freely resize, skew, distort, or adjust the perspective of any type of layer

Nondestructively transform text and shape layers

Choose from four different transform modes: Resize, Skew, Distort, and Perspective

Resample transformed layers using the machine learning-powered Super Resolution

Resize and transform objects using specialized resizing algorithms — Bilinear, Lanczos, Nearest Neighbor, and Super Resolution

Adjust perspective using sliders

View transform grid

View warning and reset transformation when it is mathematically impossible

Color Adjustments

GPU-powered, nondestructive color adjustments

Advanced image processing techniques reduce posterization artifacts and improve color quality

Save color adjustment combinations and share them with others

Adjustments work directly and nondestructively with RAW images

Set of RAW adjustments tailored for RAW processing

Support for over 750 different RAW formats, including compressed Fujifilm RAWs and High Efficiency Nikon RAWs.

Support for editing Apple ProRAW photos

Live histogram with RGB, Luminance, and Colors modes

Machine learning-powered Auto Enhance feature trained on millions of professional photos

Use Match Colors to intelligently match the colors and styles of different photos

Automatically remove camera noise and image compression artifacts using Denoise

Extended Dynamic Range Mode for Pro Display XDR and other displays that support it

Custom LUT adjustment to apply LUTs to images

Convert LUTs into Pixelmator Pro color adjustments using machine learning

Export adjustments as LUTs to use in other image editing, video, and even 3D graphics apps

Enjoy a built-in collection of 48 LUTs in 5 categories

Automatic White Balance, Shadows, Highlights, Brightness, Exposure, Hue & Saturation, Color Balance, Selective Color adjustments, powered by machine learning

Powerful Levels and Curves adjustments

Set Levels/Curves adjustments automatically by picking black/grey/white points of an image

Wheel-based Color Balance adjustment inspired by pro video editing tools

Enhance images automatically with Auto Color and Auto Contrast in the Levels and Curves adjustments

Adjust Levels/Curves in Luminance, RGB, and Red, Green, Blue channels

Texture-aware algorithm-powered Shadows, Highlights, Brightness, Exposure, Texture, Clarity, Selective Clarity, and Remove Color adjustments

Selective Clarity adjustment for selectively adjusting texture in shadows, midtones, and highlights of an image or video

Intuitive and photo-realistic Replace Color and Remove Color adjustments for easily removing and replacing colors in images and videos

Adjustments

White Balance

Hue & Saturation

Basic

Selective Clarity

Color Balance

Selective Color

Levels

Curves

Replace Color

Remove Color

Black & White

Color Monochrome

Sepia

Fade

Channel Mixer

Invert

Custom LUT

Vignette

Sharpen

Grain

Selecting

Use 14 selection tools to make accurate selections of image areas and isolate your edits

Automatically select the main subject of an image with the AI-powered Select Subject feature

Quickly make accurate selections using the Quick Selection tool

Use the Select and Mask tool to easily make advanced selections of challenging image areas like hair or fur

Output refined selections to masks, new layers, or new layers with masks

Draw selections that snap to object edges with the Magnetic Selection tool

Select specific color ranges in images with the Color Selection and Select Color Range tools

Make geometric selections with the Rectangular, Elliptical, Row, and Column Selection tools

Draw freehand selections with Free Selection tool

Machine Learning

ML Enhance: Automatically enhance images using an algorithm trained on millions of pro photos

Super Resolution: Increase the resolution of images (including RAW images) while keeping them completely sharp and detailed

Deband: Automatically improve image quality by removing color banding and compression artifacts

Denoise: Easily remove camera noise and image compression artifacts

Match Colors: Instantly match the look of one image to another

Crop: Get suggestions for eye-catching ways to crop your photos

Remove Background: Remove the background from any image with just a click

Select Subject: Automatically select the subjects of images with ease

Select and Mask Tool: Easily make advanced selections of challenging image areas like hair or fur

Decontaminate colors at the edges of object that have been cut out from other images

Automatically refine selections using the Smart Refine feature

Smart Replace: Automatically upscale, resize, position, and remove background from images when replacing placeholder content in mockups and templates

Auto Fill: Easily replace placeholder images in mockups and templates by automatically choosing the most optimal position and placement

Automatically improve specific aspects of photos using the Core ML-powered automatic White Balance, Hue & Saturation, Lightness, Color Balance, and Selective Color adjustments

Convert LUT files into Pixelmator Pro color adjustments using machine learning

The incredibly intelligent Repair and Quick Selection tools have also been enhanced using machine learning techniques

Use each ML-powered tool to create advanced automation workflows in Shortcuts and using AppleScript

Layer Naming: Automatically name layers according to their contents

Painting

16-bit, GPU-based painting engine, engineered using Metal and Core Image

Full support for graphics tablets, including support for pressure-sensitive brush opacity and size

Over 100 handcrafted dual-texture brushes with Wetness Technology

Advanced brush dynamics controls like shape, grain, speed, and scatter

Adjustable brush stroke smoothing that reduces unintended shake when painting

Automatically paint brush strokes along paths, shapes, selections, and image layers using Stroke with Brush

Simulate tablet pressure when painting brush strokes automatically

Modify and create new brushes

Create brushes up to 5000 pixels in size

Convenient brush browser with search and brush collections

New brush cursor design indicating softness

Easily share custom brush presets with others

Import Adobe Photoshop (ABR) brushes

Create pixel art with the Pixel Tool

Use the eyedropper to pick colors from your image while painting

Blend brushstrokes using over 20 blend modes

Colors

Select and manage colors using a beautifully-designed and easy-to-use Color Picker

Quickly choose colors using RGB or HEX color codes

See closest color name when sampling image colors using the Pixelmator Pro eyedropper

View the RGB color code of the pixel you're hovering over in the Info bar

Save and share Pixelmator Pro color palettes

Sample colors using 1 pixel sample, 3 by 3, or 5 by 5 averages

Select colors using the Apple Colors window

Soft proof images using CMYK colors when preparing them for print

Manage color profiles using ColorSync

Easily recolor entire compositions using Document Colors

Change a color in the document color palette to quickly recolor all elements of that color in a composition

Copy and paste the document color palettes between documents to try out different looks

Shapes and Vectors

Draw shapes using Pen and Freeform Pen tools

Choose from over 200 stylish predesigned shapes in 10 categories to create designs more quickly

Import and export vectors in SVG

Add and quickly customize pre-made Smart Shapes

Convert selections into shapes

Automatically align vector points to the pixel grid

Merge shape components

View, edit, and remove individual shape paths in Layers sidebar

Save shape presets and share shapes with others

Apply effects and color adjustments to shapes nondestructively

Easily replace shapes with different shapes in a composition

Create rounded rectangles with especially smooth corners using a smooth corner style

Easily adjust the roundness of rounded rectangles with handy on-canvas controls, or set the radius of each corner individually

Text

Add and customize text using a full set of typography tools

Easily create curved and circular text using the Path and Circular type tools

Type text along the outlines of any vector shape

Automatically identify and replace missing fonts in Pixelmator Pro documents as well designs created in the original Pixelmator and Adobe Photoshop

Preview text formatting changes live on the canvas as you scroll through font families, weights, and sizes

Convert text layers into vector shapes or pixels

Adjust paragraph spacing and indents

Enjoy support for SVG fonts

Automatically reduce the size of text when it's too big for its text box or path

Effects

Choose from over 60 GPU-powered, nondestructive effects

Browse and apply effects in the easy-to-use Effects Browser

Apply multiple effects to a single layer, adjusting each one simultaneously

Nondestructively apply effects to text and shape layers

Arrange the order in which effects are applied by simply dragging and dropping

Customize effects using handy effect ropes indicating effect position

Save effect combinations and share them with others

View the original object at any time, even after applying effects

Blur

Gaussian

Box

Disc

Motion

Zoom

Spin

Bokeh

Tilt-Shift

Focus

Distortion

Bump

Pinch

Displacement Map

Circle Splash

Hole

Light Tunnel

Twirl

Vortex

Sharpen

Sharpen

Sharpen Luminance

Color Adjustments

Color Controls

Hue Adjust

Exposure Adjust

Color Monochrome

Threshold

False Color

Gradient Map

Sepia Tone

Invert

Tile

Kaleidoscope

Triangle Kaleidoscope

Snowflake

Tessera

Pinwheel

Shutters

Brickwork

Op

Funhouse

Lattice

Windmill

Triangle

Hexagon

Affine Tile

Perspective Tile

Stylize

Light Leak

Bokeh

Vignette

Grain

Pixelate

Pointillize

Crystallize

Spot Light

Bloom

Gloom

Posterize

Noise

Comics

Halftone

Circular Screen

CMYK Halftone

Dot Screen

Hatched Screen

Line Screen

Generator

Checkerboard

Stripes

Halo

Star

Sunbeams

Clouds

Fill

Color

Gradient

Pattern

Image

Other

Perspective Transform

Mask to Alpha

High Pass

Layer Styles

Add strokes, fills, shadows and inner shadows to objects

Fill layers with solid colors, gradients, and customizable patterns

Apply solid color or gradient strokes, adjust their style, position, and width

Apply shadows and inner shadows, customize shadow color, distance, angle, blur, and opacity

Apply layer styles to all layer types, including text and shape layers

Create custom layer style presets

Easily share layer style presets with others

Apply solid color, gradient, or pattern strokes, adjust their style, color, position, and width

Customize strokes by applying different caps and corners, choosing from variety of endpoint styles, changing endpoint scaling, creating dashed strokes, and more in Stroke Options

Create custom stroke style presets and share your stroke presets library with others

Video Editing

Work with videos just like you work with image layers — mask or crop them, add effects, change colors, and more

Enjoy blazingly fast video playback and a smooth, real-time video editing experience, powered by AVFoundation

Open videos in popular video formats, including MP4 and QuickTime Movie, and even animated image formats such as GIF and PNG

Import Live Photos from the Photos browser and edit them as photos or videos

Use on-canvas controls to quickly play and pause videos, mute, or access more video editing options

Edit videos by changing their duration, scrubbing through individual frames, or selecting poster frames

Work with multi-video compositions by controlling start and end behavior of each video

Optimize videos for export with options for adjusting video size, quality, and frame rate

When exporting to QuickTime Movie format, choose from a range of different compression formats

Export videos or video compositions with transparency using HEVC or Apple ProRes compression formats

Automate video import, editing, and export with AppleScript or Shortcuts

Supported File Formats

You can open and work with the following image, video, and HDR formats in Pixelmator Pro:

Image & RAW

Open

JPEG, HEIC, TIFF, PNG, WebP, AVIF, GIF, BMP, JPEG-2000, PDF (bitmap and vector), TGA, PBM, ICNS, macOS-supported RAW formats, compressed Fujifilm RAW

Export

JPEG, HEIC, TIFF, PNG, WebP, AVIF, GIF, BMP, JPEG-2000, PDF (bitmap and vector)

Video & Animated Image

Open

Video formats: Apple ProRes (all versions), H.264, HEVC, Animated GIF, Animated PNG, and other AVFoundation formats

Container formats:
MP4, AVI, 3GP, M4V, QuickTime Movie

Export

Video formats: HEVC, HEVC with Alpha, H.264, Apple ProRes (all versions), Animated GIF, Animated PNG

Container formats:
MP4, QuickTime Movie

App & Vector

Open

Pixelmator Pro Document, Photomator Document, Adobe Photoshop Document, TIFFs with embedded PSD, PSB, SVG, Vector PDF, Adobe Illustrator (.AI), Illustrator EPS

Export

Pixelmator Pro Document, Adobe Photoshop Document, Motion Project, SVG, Vector PDF

HDR Image & Video

Open

HDR photos and videos captured with iPhone, RAW and Apple ProRAW, HEIC (10-bit), AVIF (10-bit), JPEG XL (10-bit), PNG (16-bit), TIFF (32-bit from Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom), Photomator Document, Pixelmator Pro Document, HDR Still Image Video, OpenEXR, Radiance HDR

Video formats:
HEVC, Apple ProRes (all formats), and other AVFoundation formats

Container formats:
MP4, QuickTime Movie

Export

HDR HEIC, HDR JPEG, HDR PNG, HDR Still Image Video (for uploading HDR photos on the web), OpenEXR, HDR AVIF, Pixelmator Pro Document

Video formats:
HEVC, Apple ProRes (all formats)

Container formats:
MP4, QuickTime Movie

Advanced Options for Export, Sharing, and Print

Export images in their original size or scale them to a specific size or percentage

Choose the export quality of lossy file formats like JPEG and turn compression on or off for formats like TIFF

Export files as Motion projects with options for selecting a project frame rate and duration to easily create motion graphics from your Pixelmator Pro designs

Apply CMYK or custom color profiles to images when exporting

Export images with a bit depth of 8Bits/Channel or 16Bits/Channel

Export PSDs optimized for Apple pro apps like Final Cut Pro and Motion

Easily share images and videos to your Photos library

Save images opened from Photos back to the Photos library with all nondestructive edits and layers using sidecar

Prepare images for print by soft proofing with CMYK color profiles and exporting to CMYK colors

Export for Web

Export images and videos optimized for the web in popular web formats, including PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP, SVG, and MP4

Export images with different settings, or different file formats all at once

Divide images into sections using the Slice tool and export them as separate images

Export individual layers as separate images or videos using the Add for Export feature

Reduce the size of the lossy image or video formats by adjusting their quality

Reduce the size of PNG images by turning on advanced compression or using 256-color palette

Scale images at different scale factors — 0.5x, 1x, 2x, or 3x

Create your own export presets

Use Quick Export to quickly export images optimized with your favorite settings

macOS Integration

Full, native support for all Mac devices powered by M-series Apple-designed chips

As a Universal app, Pixelmator Pro runs natively on both Apple silicon-powered and Intel-based Macs

Built for the Retina display

Touch Bar support

Photos extension with entire, full-featured Pixelmator Pro app

Sidecar and Apple Pencil support

Open Portrait photos with masks

Support for macOS Continuity features like Handoff, Universal Clipboard, and AirDrop

Tabs

Full support for the Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad, including gestures and Force Touch

Default macOS menus and shortcuts and over 200 keyboard shortcuts in total

Versions

Autosave

Full Screen mode

Split View

Use your FaceTime camera to add pictures to your compositions

28 actions for the Shortcuts app, including all the machine learning-powered features from Pixelmator Pro, automatic portrait mask detection, background removal, text replacement, layer replacement, and much more

Extensive AppleScript support with over 60 dedicated scripting commands

Spotlight support

Quick Look support

Import images from your camera or scanner with Image Capture

Drag and drop support

Extensive online user guide with in-app live search

The Pixelmator Pro Photo Browser offers quick and easy access to your Photos library

Apple Fonts and Apple Colors windows

Share images using the native Share interface to Mail, Messages, AirDrop, Notes, and Photos

Use a built-in Quick Action to automatically remove backgrounds in the Finder without opening Pixelmator Pro

Technologies

Pixelmator Pro is built using Swift

Image processing is powered by Metal, Core Image, and Grand Central Dispatch

Machine learning is integrated via Core ML

ML features are accelerated using the Apple Neural Engine for up to 15x faster processing speed

High-performance animations are powered by SwiftUI

64-bit architecture

ColorSync color management

Core Animation

Video processing powered by AVFoundation

Languages

English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean

System Requirements

Pixelmator Pro requires macOS 12 Monterey or later and is fully optimized for Macs with Apple silicon.