“The Pixelmator Team on Friday announced they have signed an agreement to be acquired by Apple, subject to regulatory approval.”
Makes sense, with image manipulation being the most prominent gap in Apple’s repertoire. I’m not a Pixelmator user, but I’m curious how they intend to move forward with it (e.g. offering of a free basic and paid pro app like GarageBand / Logic Pro, iMovie / Final Cut Pro?).
I use Pixelmator Pro - great app and their machine learning Super resolution works a treat for bringing screenshots up to 300DPI for print books.
Tried the beta Photomator but wasn’t fussed on that.
Maybe add functions to the Photos app? It already has some basic editing capabilities. Perhaps strengthen those.
Or, as this article theorizes, Apple should bring back Aperture.
“Apple acquires Pixelmator, a popular image editing software company, raising hopes for the return of Aperture, a professional photo editing software previously discontinued by Apple. The author expresses concern about the potential integration of Pixelmator’s features into the Photos app and hopes for a dedicated Aperture-like app.” (Article summary courtesy of Safari 
)
This article covers a whole range of worries and possibilities.
Damn! I love Pixelmator Pro, it is fast, super UI, and does everything I need.
:gnashes-teeth:
Since Affinity was sold to Canva, I’ve been using Pixelmator Pro a lot, which is fantastic software.
I see two possibilities: either Apple intends to integrate the functions of Pixelmator into the Photos app, in which case the Pixelmator app will probably be phased out over time, or Apple intends to close the gap in its professional software series and develop a new app that will cover the graphics segment alongside video editing (Final Cut), music (Logic Pro) and clips (Motion). After Apple discontinued ‘Aperture’ years ago - which, in my opinion, was a mistake - there is currently no app that could challenge Adobe’s market dominance.
Same, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Apple has world class software in FCP, Logic Pro, (and Filemaker if you count Claris), so let’s fingers crossed this is the rebirth/follow up to Aperture.
I continue to use my Affinity software, nothing has changed, just the company ownership, and there’s no sign of any change to the Affinity model in the immediate future.
Apple has good DTP functionality in Pages, one could imagine (wish for) some integration between it and Pixlemator Pro to expand its capabilities.
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I continue to use the Affinity Suite, especially the Publisher, which I think is fantastic. I don’t think there will be any changes for users in version 2.x either. However, there are rumors that Canva is planning to introduce a subscription system with the next major version 3.x. For this reason, I am already preparing a possible plan B with Pixelmator Pro, because I fundamentally reject subscription models.
I share this concern and stance on subscriptions (big no-no), but that would be a crazy move after publicly ruling it out:
"… a fairly priced perpetual license model. We know this model has been a key part of the Affinity offering and we are committed to continue to offer perpetual licenses in the future.
If we do offer a subscription, it will only ever be as an option alongside the perpetual model, for those who prefer it." Source
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Out of curiosity, I downloaded the 7-day free trial of PixelmatorPro. I am loving it. Easier to use than the Affinity Suite, which isn’t all that hard once you apply yourself to the copious tutorials on YouTube. It probably fits most of my needs in creating social media images for marketing and promoting my books and blog posts (and general meme tomfoolery.) It can’t do bookcovers, but I used Apple Pages the last time which seems fine.
(My Affinity 6 month trial ends in 5 or 6 weeks. I can’t afford either at the moment, but should be able to buy one of them in the Spring.)
Question: does anyone know of Apple’s track record regarding what it does with the pricing of software from companies it purchased? Any theories and rumors about what Apple might do with Pixelmator Pro and Photomator’s pricing?
Apple’s track record is mixed.
Some companies they acquire and just merge the tech into their own products, others they keep the product and continue development. One of the concerns being expressed is they might just merge the photomator tech into their photo’s app.
Others are hopeful this could end up in a replacement for Aperture (good photo editing software Apple cancelled)
As for pricing, your guess is as good as anyones.
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Well, we know what some of them cost.
Logic Pro: macOS $199.99, iPadOS $4.99/month or $49/year
Final Cut Pro: macOS $299.99, iPadOS $4.99/month or $49/year
(but, of course, iMovie and Garage Band also still exist, for free)
I’m picking Pixelmator Pro would not be considered to be in the same ‘professional’ level as either of those (I hope).
That’s about where Aperture (RIP) landed, though. And Adobe Lightroom, probably the closest equivalent to Aperture, is $9.99/month.
So the question, again, is whether Pixelmator Pro is used to enhance Photos, or whether it becomes an Aperture replacement.
Photos is Apple’s Aperture replacement. Pixelmator is a Photoshop competitor, not a Lightroom / Aperture one.
They might use the tech to beef up Photos a bit and maybe create a new pro-focused photography catalogue but it’ll take more than just rebadging Pixelmator to do so.
(Note, I’m not suggesting that anyone here is suggesting otherwise)
My guess is they’ll keep it as a standalone Photoshop type app, and have Photos as the catalogue that can send individual pictures for more detailed editing in Pixelmator if you have it (much like Lightroom does for Photoshop).
(Again for clarity, this isn’t what I’d do in their position, nor what I’d like them to do — just what I think will happen)
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John Gruber of Daring Fireball on Apple Tends to Do Right by Apps It Acquires (Sunday, 24 November 2024)
He seems optimistic that Apple will keep Pixelmator as a separate, ongoing software, at least. Some of its functions and much of/all of Photomator winding up in Photos.
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Photos doesn’t come close to being an Aperture replacement.
Photomator melded with Photos has the potential.
I just hope they keep developing Pixelmator Pro - it’s a great app, though I confess to jumping back and forth between it and Affinity Photo.