Apple Acquires Pixelmator, a Competitor of Adobe Photoshop

Software News

by Heath McKnightToday

The team behind Pixelmator, the popular, Mac-only imaging editor, made a surprise announcement that Apple had acquired the company. Their apps, Pixelmator, Pixelmator Pro, and Photomator, and the developers will be heading to Apple, pending approval by regulatory agencies. 

Pixelmator’s apps have been considered an affordable alternative to Adobe Photoshop for the Mac and iOS. There are one-time purchase or subscription options that are very low cost. Apple gains a professional image editor, which could help it better position their pro software offerings against the competition.

Pixelmator Pro brings powerful, non-destructive image editing to Apple

While Pixelmator Pro was like a Photoshop alternative initially, it has become a well-rounded professional and non-destructive image editor. It has many of the features needed to compete with Photoshop but without the higher costs. Adobe’s famous image editor is still considered the best, but Pixelmator provides that affordable alternative.

While Apple’s Photos app for Mac and iOS has basic image editing tools, it lacks the features to do more heavy-duty image editing. Pixelmator’s family of apps solves that problem. The team wrote on their blog that Apple allows them to “reach an even wider audience and make an even bigger impact on the lives of creative people around the world.”

Additionally, the team promised, “There will be no material changes to the Pixelmator Pro, Pixelmator for iOS, and Photomator apps at this time. Stay tuned for exciting updates to come.” 

This gives hope that we won’t see the apps EOL’d (end of life) in favor of the technology appearing in Apple’s own software (for example, Color, which was once part of Final Cut Studio, or the Dark Sky weather app). Apple could also have plans to greatly expand the features of Pixelmator to be an even greater alternative to Photoshop. It lacks options for layers, custom ratio cropping, nudging, layer blending, AI, and more. (It’s a reason why I continue to use Photoshop despite owning a Pixelmator Pro license).

Could Apple’s plans include bundling Pixelmator Pro with Final Cut Pro?

Based on what the team wrote, it is likely safe to assume the apps will continue to be offered as a standalone. For the time being, Apple may not ‘fold’ the technology into the Photos app. At least initially.

Pixelmator Pro gives Apple a pro-level imaging app to complement their professional offerings like Final Cut Pro, Motion, and Compressor.

There is a Pixelmator app available for the iPad Pro, but its features are limited. Apple could release the Pro version for iPadOS, which would be a great complement to the iPad version of Final Cut Pro. Since the latter is subscription-only, Apple could also make an iPadOS version of Pixelmator Pro available only as a subscription.

Meanwhile, for the desktop, Apple could continue selling Pixelmator Pro individually but perhaps lower the price. Their pro video apps are still sold separately and as one-time purchases. It’s easy to buy Final Cut Pro for $299.99 and quickly add Motion and Compressor for $49.99 each. Apple could also offer something like Final Cut Studio as a suite to better compete with Adobe Creative Cloud and turn all of the apps into subscription-based pay models. 

Forgive the speculation, but it is easy to see why Apple is so interested in a pro-level image editing app. They developed and released Aperture, their non-destructive image editor, from 2005 to 2015, which was their professional alternative to iPhoto. It was similar to Adobe Lightroom, which launched in 2007. Apple discontinued Aperture and iPhoto in favor of Photos. However, Pixelmator Pro has even more features that make it an attractive choice over Photoshop for some photographers, editors, and filmmakers.

So what will happen next?

I’ve already speculated what Apple could do with Pixelmator’s apps in the long term, but as of right now, things will remain at the status quo. We might first see an iPad version of Pixelmator Pro and possibly Apple positioning or outright bundling the desktop version with Final Cut Pro.

Do you use one of Pixelmator’s apps in your daily work? What are your thoughts on Apple’s acquisition? Let us know in the comments below!