The Pixelmator team today released a major new version of their award-winning image editor for macOS, Pixelmator Pro, which includes native support for the new M1-powered Mac computers and the latest macOS Big Sur software, along with many other enahncements.
Free for all existing users, the update enables a staggering 15x faster ML Super Resolution via the M1 chip’s dedicated Neural engine hardware. ML Super Resolution is Pixelmator’s machine learning-powered feature that enlarges image resolution with little loss of detail.
“The Pixelmator Pro editing engine is powered by high-performance Metal code, so we can take advantage of the unified memory architecture of the M1 chip to bring you much speedier and much more responsive image editing,” the team noted.
The reason we’re dropping the update early is that a workaround we were using to prevent people with incompatible Macs from buying Pixelmator Pro is also preventing people with M1 Macs from simply downloading the app.
The app is now compatible with macOS Big Sur and comes with a new unified toolbar along with a new fresh app icon that has been redrawn in Big Sur style. Other perks in this edition of Pixelmator Pro include the new effects and presets browsers, 200+ gorgeous new presets for the Color Adjustment, Effect, Style, Shape and Gradient tools, and much more.
And last but definitelly not least, Pixelmator Pro is now a universal app, meaning it ships with Intel and M1 code which lets it run natively on both M1 and Intel-based Mac computers.
Key highlights of Pixelmator Pro 2.0 include:
- All-new design
- Enjoy a new, more refined and more modern Mac-native design.
- Almost every part of the Pixelmator Pro interface has been meticulously fine-tuned and refreshed to make it even more intuitive.
- The gorgeous new Effects browser makes it easier than ever to find and apply effects, featuring live effect previews and instant search.
- Full interface customization lets you customize Pixelmator Pro in any way you like.
- Choose from four new workspace presets for photography, design, illustration and painting.
- The new, more compact presets browser makes it easier to browse and apply color adjustment, effect, layer style and shape presets.
- Thanks to preset collections, you can now group related presets and even share collections with others.
- Apple Silicon
- Native support for the incredible new M1 chip lets you take full advantage of the power of all the new Apple silicon devices.
- Thanks to its entirely Metal-powered editing engine, Pixelmator Pro can use the unified memory architecture of Apple Silicon to greatly speed up image editing.
- With a dedicated Neural Engine in the M1 chip, the Core ML-powered features of Pixelmator Pro will see huge performance boosts of up to a staggering 15 times.
- Pixelmator Pro 2.0 is a Universal app, so it runs natively on both M1 and Intel-based Mac computers.
- Big Sur
- Pixelmator Pro is now fully compatible with macOS Big Sur.
- A beautiful new app icon makes Pixelmator Pro feel right at home in your Dock.
- The new unified toolbar, new-look icons and all-new native controls make Pixelmator Pro a truly native macOS 11 app.
- Quickly zoom your images in and out using the new Zoom slider in the unified toolbar.
- Over 200 new presets
- With over 200 new color adjustment, effect, layer style, gradient and shape presets, it’s now even easier to make your photos look great and create gorgeous designs and illustrations.
- Find 7 new color adjustment preset collections, including Cinematic, Modern Films, Vintage and Urban.
- 8 new effect preset collections showcase the power of the effects in Pixelmator Pro.
- Speed up creating designs with beautiful new shape collections like Nature, Science, Education and more.
- A range of beautiful new layer style and gradient presets will make your text, shapes and illustrations look even better.
- Workspaces and app customization
- Full app customization gives you complete freedom to customize the position of the Pixelmator Pro Tools and Layers sidebars, the buttons in the new unified toolbar and the list of visible tools.
- Five workspace presets are included: Default, Photography, Illustration, Design and Painting.
- Change the position of the Tools sidebar, the Layers sidebar and the tool list, saving your favorite workspace layouts as presets.
- Customize the Pixelmator Pro toolbar, adding handy new controls like Document Info and the new zoom slider.
- Choose which tools you’d like to see in the tool list, keeping your favorites always at hand – find all the new customization options in the View menu.
Read the full changelog for other improvements and fixes.