Along with the Nintendo seal of quality, one of the most reliable signs of software quality is that an app developer has been acquired by Apple. That’s what happened to the Pixelmator team in 2024, after they had spent 17 years developing the Pixelmator image editor for macOS. I bought Pixelmator Classic back in 2012, and used it as my main photo editor until I replaced it with Pixelmator Pro when that was released in 2017. I open it whenever I need to crop, retouch, mask or color correct an image. It has pretty much all of the features you could ask of a photo editor, all presented in a well-designed interface that takes full advantage of Apple’s hardware and feels right at home on Mac. Adobe Photoshop looks hideous in comparison.
Another key difference between Photoshop and Pixelmator used to be that while the former requires you to subscribe to Adobe Creative Cloud for a fortune, Pixelmator is a one-time purchase. That’s still the case, but Apple now also gives you the option to subscribe to Apple Creator Studio for 13 bucks per month, which includes Pixelmator Pro along with Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, and more. It’s a great value, but I hope you’ll still be able to purchase Pixelmator Pro separately a few years from now. I’m still going strong on my $49.99 one-time purchase from 2017. That’s a great value.
