Apple taking aim at Adobe?

Just discovered that Apple bought Pixelmator, a software company that is a "direct" challenge to Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator. They make the Pixelmator and Pixelmator Pro apps for Mac and iPhone/iPad, as well as the Photomator app.

I've been anti-Adobe ever since their subscription model took effect, and I refuse to sign up. Have been using Photoshop Elements, but find it really is limited. One of the main features I've missed is Curves Adjustment, which Elements "simulates", but it's wholly ineffective. Photomator has Curves, like Photoshop.

I've just started exploring the program but so far I like what I see. Wondering if others here have tried it. You can buy it outright for $79, so no subscription necessary (although I do see options for paying monthly, so that buying outright option may not be long lived).

I'm glad to see someone challenging Adobe, and with Apple's financial clout, maybe they can make something of it. I am also aware that Apple can be kind of fickle, and may bail on the whole project like they did on Aperture.

Time will tell.

So anyway, anyone else here using Photomator? If so, would love to hear what you think.

Best,
-Tim

I haven't used Photomator, but don't be surprised if Apple goes to a subscription model just like Adobe at some point. Phone sales aren't increasing like they were 10 years ago so the revenue has to come from somewhere.

Interesting. I tried these some time ago, probably so long ago not to be relevant.

I did purchase Affinity to replace Adobe, which I like a lot.

I use Photomator on my iPad as one of my primary editing tools. I am a simpleton when it comes to photo editing but I find it quite good. I particularly like the perspective correction and uprezzing tools. I also like that it works directly on photos in my iCloud photo library, rather than having to import and export like many other apps I use. I bought Photomator as a one-time purchase several years ago when it was on sale; I don't remember what I paid but it was quite reasonable. Don't know what their current pricing structure is, but if they move to a subscription model, I would most likely not subscribe on general principle.

Cascadilla said:

I haven't used Photomator, but don't be surprised if Apple goes to a subscription model just like Adobe at some point. Phone sales aren't increasing like they were 10 years ago so the revenue has to come from somewhere.

Click to expand...

Apple hasn't done anything like that . IOS/MacOS updates free. Apple software I purchased *many* years ago (Remote Desktop, Final Cut Pro....etc..etc) and I'm still getting upgrades to the latest versions at no cost.

If looking for a Photoshop replacement Affinity Photo is very good. No subscription model and they are clearly going after Adobe with their software products as they have replacements for several tools.

It's $49 for Pixelmator, and $29 yearly for Photometer. Imagine where we would be if they hadn't dumped Aperture. I didn't try either after I saw the prices. I"m very happy with the subscription version of Lightroom/Photoshop. Seems cheap to me for what you get.

I used Adobe products for decades, mainly in my work. 5hough I used Photoshop from time to time, Illustrator was actually my primary tool. After Adobe switched to a subscription model I continued to use older versions of their software programs that I owned for as long as I could. But eventually I gave up and began using software from Affinity instead. Sadly I was far more capable/comfortable when using Adobe's software. But I do believe that this is down to my shortcomings rather than the Affinity products themselves. I just haven't taken it upon myself to invest the sort of time needed to grow as familiar with the Affinity programs as I was with the Adobe programs. I don't doubt that others would find Affinity's programs to be quite good and very reasonably priced (they seem to offer sales pricing multiple times each year).

Just paid $79 for a perpetual license for Photomator, which I can load on all my Macs and my iPad. Seems like a good deal, especially when compared to Adobe Photoshop/Lightroom.

Best,
-Tim

Pixelmator is mostly great, but it is unable to store layers in a tif file, which is big problem when used from Lightroom. Photomator is mostly a toy at this stage, they have a very long way to go before being a credible alternative to Lightroom. No keywords, for a start.

Mac OS Photos app (that comes with the OS) has curves adjustments along with many more.

For what it’s worth I shoot exclusively b&w film in 120 and 35mm. I’ve been using Lightroom for the past 5 years, mostly so I could take advantage of Negative Lab Pro for my scanned images. I have very simple post-processing needs, mostly cropping and tone adjustments. Lightroom/Photoshop is highly overkill for me. Photomator provides a sufficient toolset for everything I need to do including negative inversion for a lot less money. I also find the tools more intuitive than the alternatives, more Mac-like (whatever that means).

If Apple's involvement can convince businesses that they don't need to use Adobe as the industry standard, simply because they've been around for a long time, then I'm all for it. Ditched Adobe years ago, but a lot of companies still use it because they always have.

(Note: I was working at Apple through the years between 1991 and 2004, and again for the years between 2010 and 2016. I knew/know most of the folks involved in design and iimplementation of Apple operating systems and photographic applications through that entire time.)

Apple had an excellent following in the Aperture application in years past, and it was a highly lauded image processing solution at the professional level. Aperture was cancelled as a consequence of cost-savings needed in that time frame, and because it only ran on macOS. They used the development money to expand the Photos app for all three platforms (macOS, iOS, iPadOS).

In the meanwhile, the Pixelmator/Pixelmator Pro app has grown to be an excellent alternative to Adobe photo editing suite at a lower price for those who don't need the extensive services of the entire Adobe creative suite, is a more full-featured editing tool than Photos, and has been implemented across all three Apple OS offerings ...

So it only makes sense that Apple would have an interest in it. Whether you consider it subscription-ware or not, the new Photomator app is offered at $79.95 per year, $7.99 per month, or $119.99 Lifetime license on macOS (not sure on iOS and iPadOS just yet).

I haven't spent any time with it yet, but as its roots are in the Pixelmator app which I did use pretty extensively for a time, I expect it is a very good offering.

(Note 2: I have no issues with using/paying for Adobe products either. I have been using Lightroom/Lightroom Classic now for 20 years, and it's been a reasonably priced, reliable and well supported app with which I've gotten lots of photography done. I have not found the $10/month subscription price for recent years to be all that burdensome.)

G

I saw last month that Apple announced that they were bundling Pixelmator Pro, Final Cut Pro, and Logic Pro into a bundle called Apple Creator Studio and it will be a subscription model only, so monthly payments.

I dumped Adobe because of this and have been getting by with Adobe Photoshop Elements (very limited) and RAW Power (Apple's Aperture renamed, basically), but did miss certain Photoshop tools. So last month I quickly bought Pixelmator Pro from the App Store, while it was still available as a stand alone, perpetual license.

Been using it the last few days to process B&W scans from a Nikon Coolscan and have been very pleasantly surprised. I can do many things that are not possible in PS Elements, and I can even get B&W results to rival what I used to get with Silver Efex Pro 2.

So just a heads up, if you're an Apple computer user, and you want a non-Adobe, non-subscription model, I think you can still grab Pixelmator Pro from the App Store as a stand alone, perpetual license, before it gets bundled and goes subscription.

Best,
-Tim

Thanks for the heads up-- I still pay rent to Adobe with mixed feelings because I'm used to Photoshop and would hate to have to learn keyboard shortcuts, etc. for different software. Your plan to buy Pixelmator Pro will only work until you get a new computer with an updated operating system that won't work with it, something that Microsoft and Adobe already do. If Apple is going to a subscription model for this it will only be a matter of time before they make it unusable. I lost Microsoft Word years ago for this reason but I don't miss it since Apple's Pages does what I need and allows me to export Word documents when I have to. I bought a newer (but used) iMac last fall so that I could finally get more recent versions of Photoshop installed with some of the new bells and whistles that are very useful for me for some of the commercial work that I do.

I gave up a few years ago and just kept on with Adobe. I can live without Photoshop for the most part but not without Lightroom. I also have Capture One which I use for digtial images. I don't see any reason to switch to Apple for these things. For the little video I do I just use DaVinci Resolve. I haven't used Pixelmator for a long time but didn't find it all that great compared to Photoshop but maybe things have changed. Aperture was a great program but I think they lost a lot of people when they canned it. Looking back that was a real dumb, short sighted move regardless of cost.

I always remind people in threads like this that Hasselblad's Phocus is available for free and can handle just about any file type. Not a substitute for Photoshop but the price is right.

If you are unhappy about subscription pricing, I don’t think it makes sense to move to different proprietary software. All proprietary software is moving to subscription pricing, so look towards free/open source software instead.

I installed elementary OS (a Linux distribution) on my MacBook Air (Intel) about a year and a half ago and have been very happy with it. I am using ART as my primary photo editing app. I have to admit I am not very knowledgeable about digital editing but ART does the job well enough for my needs.