You sound just like my Wife when she's got the $h!ts up with me for some reason
But yeah, whatever works for you.
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Pixelmator purchased by Apple
- Thread starter CharlesH
- Start date
But yeah, whatever works for you.
pdk42
Moderator
She has my sympathiesYou sound just like my Wife when she's got the $h!ts up with me for some reason
CharlesH
LMF-Patron Gold
I started this thread to ask if anyone has experience with Pixelmator. So far it seems like not very much.
I did end up buying it from the Mac App Store. My initial view is that it is pretty capable, but is another interface to learn. Apple has their own RAW converters for most every camera, and Pixelmator generally uses these. But Apple does not have a RAW converter yet for the S9, so Pixelmator has their own. I tried this, as well as working in HDR, and it functioned okay. I doubt I'll do a more comprehensive review unless it gets to the point I use it a lot more. Or if Apple has new innovations with Pixelmator.
In the mean time Adobe continues to innovate, and have just introduced Adobe Adaptive Profile. So far this is only available with Camera Raw for Photoshop, but I expect it will move over to Lightroom. It is an AI method to look at a photo and make changes to exposure, shadows, highlights, color mixer, and curves - as a starting point before editing a photo (you use it in place of Adobe Color Profile). I've been looking at it for wide dynamic range photos, and this has taken any available time I have to explore alternate photo editing approaches.
I did end up buying it from the Mac App Store. My initial view is that it is pretty capable, but is another interface to learn. Apple has their own RAW converters for most every camera, and Pixelmator generally uses these. But Apple does not have a RAW converter yet for the S9, so Pixelmator has their own. I tried this, as well as working in HDR, and it functioned okay. I doubt I'll do a more comprehensive review unless it gets to the point I use it a lot more. Or if Apple has new innovations with Pixelmator.
In the mean time Adobe continues to innovate, and have just introduced Adobe Adaptive Profile. So far this is only available with Camera Raw for Photoshop, but I expect it will move over to Lightroom. It is an AI method to look at a photo and make changes to exposure, shadows, highlights, color mixer, and curves - as a starting point before editing a photo (you use it in place of Adobe Color Profile). I've been looking at it for wide dynamic range photos, and this has taken any available time I have to explore alternate photo editing approaches.
pdk42
Moderator
Sorry to have turned it into an Adobe subscription argument!
Charles, you had me researching and I discovered there also is a separate Photomator app more akin to Lightroom whereas Pixelmator is more akin to Photoshop with layer editing etc.
It's weird there isn't much clarity (excuse the pun) surrounding the capability of these other software. Even the Photomator pricing is missing from the Mac store only stating in-app purchases. There is a 7 day trial so I may try it as YouTube reviews etc. are largely uninformative with just 20 mins of extreme boredom or even worse tutorials.
In general the Photomator interface looks good, it now has a full file browser..
Wow wee hurrah but it general it probably isn't as fully featured as LR, no S5 camera listed and no idea of the lens database.
I can understand why Paul and others don't want to change, it's a mud pit of mirk looking for an alternative and possible good time wasted.
I'd like to use something different, I only got the LR cloud based app this time around which is crap on Mac, mobile app is OK, even though it's only £3.50/month I hardly use it and in general live by a zero subscription ethos. Before I got LR classic for £4 for an entire year using VPN trickery.
I also do not like the bloatware or privacy and security concerns surrounding Adobe and have zero need for their cloud as I'm anti-cloud
Judging by videos Photomator looks very efficient on M1, the typical zero-lag performance, NR looks good as does the super resolution all seemingly instantaneous.
I'm thinking now that Apple have it they could definitely make it a killer photo app, they have the skills to better Adobe LR and no better opportunity to do it promoting their hardware, neural engine and AI hype.
I'll do a trial of Photomator (not Pixelmator) and update my thoughts compared to LR classic. Trust me the LR cloud app is sh1t but regardless at least LR mobile is on Android, Pixelmator won't be but that's how they draw you into accompanying iPhone ownership when they make the iPhone app excellent also.
Maybe Adobe will have to change tactics if it loses it's somewhat monopoly.
LumixLab implementation of RAW editing could also go a long way, isn't this in the pipeline? That would be a boon for buying Lumix. Basic RAW editing goes a long way, I'm not a hugely manipulative photo editor.
It's weird there isn't much clarity (excuse the pun) surrounding the capability of these other software. Even the Photomator pricing is missing from the Mac store only stating in-app purchases. There is a 7 day trial so I may try it as YouTube reviews etc. are largely uninformative with just 20 mins of extreme boredom or even worse tutorials.
In general the Photomator interface looks good, it now has a full file browser..
Wow wee hurrah but it general it probably isn't as fully featured as LR, no S5 camera listed and no idea of the lens database.
I can understand why Paul and others don't want to change, it's a mud pit of mirk looking for an alternative and possible good time wasted.
I'd like to use something different, I only got the LR cloud based app this time around which is crap on Mac, mobile app is OK, even though it's only £3.50/month I hardly use it and in general live by a zero subscription ethos. Before I got LR classic for £4 for an entire year using VPN trickery.
I also do not like the bloatware or privacy and security concerns surrounding Adobe and have zero need for their cloud as I'm anti-cloud
Judging by videos Photomator looks very efficient on M1, the typical zero-lag performance, NR looks good as does the super resolution all seemingly instantaneous.
I'm thinking now that Apple have it they could definitely make it a killer photo app, they have the skills to better Adobe LR and no better opportunity to do it promoting their hardware, neural engine and AI hype.
I'll do a trial of Photomator (not Pixelmator) and update my thoughts compared to LR classic. Trust me the LR cloud app is sh1t but regardless at least LR mobile is on Android, Pixelmator won't be but that's how they draw you into accompanying iPhone ownership when they make the iPhone app excellent also.
Maybe Adobe will have to change tactics if it loses it's somewhat monopoly.
LumixLab implementation of RAW editing could also go a long way, isn't this in the pipeline? That would be a boon for buying Lumix. Basic RAW editing goes a long way, I'm not a hugely manipulative photo editor.
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Not really, we have different uses and views. Some people accept subscription, others don't like them. It does need more competition and as I said above hopefully it is coming soon.
The privacy and security issues are important, I'm no Apple fanboy but they are good (or much better) this way.
inspiredtimothy
Active Member
I'm curious what prompted the switch from Capture One to Iridient? How are you liking it in comparison?
I was using Fujifilm cameras at the time and found that Iridient Developer produced results that I liked better than Capture One, plus it has a more comprehensive set of controls for modifying shadows, highlights and colour which I find useful. I kept on using Iridient when I switched to the S5 and then found that it produced far better results than anything else I've tried for the fp L: Apple's default profile for that camera is awful.
Exactly what I was saying before, it's all a big mess and if people are happy with LR or others it's a cesspool of unknown.
Most including myself can't be bothered just want to do the photography and not worry about such issues. That's why Adobe have their monopoly as they have the best product. Usually the reaction to alternatives is mehhhh no. It's weird how this has happened without s real competitor.
I'd try Pixelmator, but as far as I can see it's Apple only. And I own no Apple hardware.
At the risk of getting sidetracked, again, I'm at a loss to understand why there's not more higher quality Android/Chrome editing apps. Adobe seems to be about the only one making any sort of effort that I can see. And I don't want to go down that road. I reckon it's a huge lost opportunity to get people in at the ground level, tonnes of schools use Chromebooks as their default computer system, Android is the worlds most used operating system, why no one has really done anything much in that arena is a mystery to me.
At the risk of getting sidetracked, again, I'm at a loss to understand why there's not more higher quality Android/Chrome editing apps. Adobe seems to be about the only one making any sort of effort that I can see. And I don't want to go down that road. I reckon it's a huge lost opportunity to get people in at the ground level, tonnes of schools use Chromebooks as their default computer system, Android is the worlds most used operating system, why no one has really done anything much in that arena is a mystery to me.
pdk42
Moderator
What monopoly? There are at least a half dozen serious competitors, with DxO, Capture One, Affinity, and Luminar being very serious. It’s about as far from a monopoly as I can imagine!
You can get free trial versions of all the competition and try them out to see which you like.
The whole point of RAW for me is to get the best results I possibly can, so taking the time to find a RAW processor that I get on with and that produces results I like is a necessary evil.
Adobe have been there right from the start and became the default choice for professional work. That's no longer true since, as Paul has said, there are plenty of alternatives and some of them are very good indeed. Last time I was looking at the various alternatives the only thing that stopped me from switching to DxO was their lack of support for Fujifilm's x-trans sensors, but that's been solved now, plus I've seen plenty of Sigma fp L owners using DxO and producing great results. But right now I'm perfectly happy with Iridient Developer and see no reason to change.