Pixelmator Pro lets you automate simple, repetitive tasks or execute complex workflows to improve productivity, save time, and reduce the chance of mistakes. There are two automation options you can go for — using the macOS Automator app, or writing commands with AppleScript. The below article discusses both of these methods and their possible uses.
Automator is a great tool even for complete beginners as it offers a quick and easy approach to automation. It doesn't require any actual coding — you simply pick one or more of the pre-made Pixelmator Pro actions, add them to a workflow, and run it. You can also create Quick Actions, folder actions, or save individual workflows to use in the future.
There are currently 9 different Pixelmator Pro actions you can find in Automator:
See our tutorial on batch processing images with Pixelmator Pro to learn more about working with Automator.
AppleScript is an Apple-created programming language that lets you automate different tasks in Pixelmator Pro by giving it explicit commands in code form. Tasks from other scriptable apps can also be combined into a workflow, making the automation options virtually unlimited. AppleScript uses an English-like language to tell apps what specific actions need to be performed, so it's pretty easy to write and edit scripts with very little or no programming experience whatsoever — often, you can understand what a particular script does by simply reading it.
The key things you need to write a script for Pixelmator Pro are:
When learning any new programming language, the traditional project to start with is displaying a simple "Hello, world!" message. In Pixelmator Pro, this would include creating a new document, then adding a text layer containing this message.
To write your first "Hello, world!" script:
Enter the following script:
tell application “Pixelmator Pro”
activate
set helloWorldDocument to make new document
with properties {width:5120, height:2880}
tell helloWorldDocument
set helloWorldText to make new text layer at the beginning of
layers with properties {text content:“Hello, world!“}
end tell
end tell
In the Script Editor toolbar, click Run the Script ▶︎.
Note: The script above applies the text formatting last used in Pixelmator Pro but you can further customize it by adding additional statements, such as defining the property values of the text size, font, or color.
You can go as simple or as complex as you want with your scripts, adding different new layers, shapes, and effects. For instance, you can download this example script here to transform the simple "Hello, world!" script into an eye-catching graphic below:
If you'd like to learn more about scripting, check out our tutorial on Advanced automation and scripting with AppleScript.