6

I've always been a photoshop user, i know the ins and outs and know my way around all the tools i need for my webdesign work. But now i'm faced with a dilemma, for my new job i haven't got the budget for a full photoshop license so i'm wondering, is pixelmator a good alternative?

I use Photoshop mainly to slice a design into separate images so enable/disable layers is a must, PSD compatibility too, ...

Anyone has experience with Pixelmator?

Improve this question
3
  • I would look into purchasing a used license for an older version of Photoshop (CS2 is still very adequate for web design), or get Photoshop Elements. You should be able to get Elements 10 for $70 (or get Elements 9 for just $40) or free with a tablet. And a second-hand CS2 license is around $130. Many colleges also get huge discounts for the full creative suite--typically for less than a normal Photoshop license. You could potentially buy one of those from/through a student or just enroll in a design class.
    – Lèse majesté
    Commented Feb 20, 2012 at 16:12
  • Near duplicate of: graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/631/…
    – e100
    Commented Feb 21, 2012 at 14:21
  • I have used Pixelmator in the past (version 2) and was a nice alternative, but had problems rendering PSDs correctly. Now that version 3 is out, I'm curious if many of my issues have been resolved.
    – Andrew
    Commented Aug 15, 2014 at 19:46

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
3

No.

Pixelmator is quite nice--especially for the price. And I've been using it for a while for my own personal side projects. 2.0 came out and added some nice features.

Alas, it has issues. The big ones:

  • it's buggy. I think it's a bit premature to call it '2.0' IMHO. Still feels a little beta.
  • doesn't support full range of PSD layer information. It can open PSD files, but since it can't bring over all the layer effects and styles, it's really not practical.
  • very limited export abilities. The big one is PNG files. If you let it compress them, you get big color shifts. If you export it as a non-web PNG, it's huge, and then you have to use 3rd party tools to further compress.

I think it has a lot of potential, and eventually will be a great runner-up, but it still won't be PhotoShop.

As for slicing, it does do that (aside from the PNG issues). (I'd suggest not using a 'slice n dice' workflow anymore, but that's a different discussion...)

Improve this answer
3
  • Do you know if Pixelmator 3 has corrected the PSD rendering issues?
    – Andrew
    Commented Aug 15, 2014 at 19:48
  • @Andrew I don't know for sure. But v.3 does now include it's own layer styles, so it may do a better job at it now.
    – DA01
    Commented Aug 17, 2014 at 17:24
  • @Andrew as of September 2018 I still get incorrect rendering of layer shadows when opening PSD files in Pixelmator 3.7.3. Also some text layers get displaced. It's also generally very slow.
    – Oleg
    Commented Sep 26, 2018 at 8:52
2

If your job isn't too long you could rent PS:
http://www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/cssubscription.html

I tried Pixelmator for about an hour, then i switched back to PS.
For me it was too confusing because very much is a little different there.

Improve this answer
1
  • Thanks! i've seen the subscription models Adobe offers, they certainly are an option. My question isn't really answered though, is Pixelmator up for the job when i'll need slicing tools?
    – ChrisR
    Commented Nov 18, 2011 at 12:31

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.