Pixelmator has been an editor’s favorite when it comes to photo editing for years. With Pixelmator Photo there is now an excellent way for the iPad to edit your photos quickly and well. We have extensively tested the app.
Pixelmator Photo makes photo editing accessible
The team behind Pixelmator took a hard look at the features in Pixelmator Pro and only ported the essentials to Photo. Important to know in advance: this is not a Pixelmator Pro for the iPad, but a stripped-down version that is especially intended for photographers or people who work a lot with photo editing. For example, you cannot combine multiple photos by overlaying different layers.
If you know Pixelmator, you can immediately start using Pixelmator Photo. The same icons are used and the layout of the app is also structured in a similar way. New users are helped with a nice introduction, they can also open the user manual at any time in the settings.
Fortunately, you don’t have to put your nose in a digital book to make a photo more beautiful. Pixelmator Photo is extremely accessible and that starts with importing your images. You can import any photo (including RAW photos) into Pixelmator Photo. You can do this from your camera roll, but also from iCloud or if you connect a camera directly to your iPad Pro with the USB-C connection.
The two main features of Pixelmator Photo
Actually, Pixelmator Photo consists of two main functions: editing the colors in your photo and buffing out imperfections. By tapping the plaster icon, you can remove objects or people from a photo. That works great if you want to brush away a small detail, such as a lamp hanging above a stage or a person walking on the beach.
But don’t expect this feature to credibly make large objects and people disappear altogether. As soon as something in a photo takes up too much of it, the app does all kinds of weird tricks to fill the cropped image. That quickly leads to crazy unnatural edits.
When you’re done removing unwanted objects or people, it’s time to refurbish the photo some more. For example, you can crop or mirror the image first with the built-in options.
ML-fix is ​​the lifesaver
Pixelmator Photo is especially accessible because of its ML fix feature. Use this button machine learning to independently optimize the settings of a photo. You can adjust the exposure and colors exactly to your preference with dozens of bars. Handy if you know a lot about photo editing, but for everyone else the ML-fix button is an ideal tool.
This ML button can be found in all kinds of places in the app, so that you can, for example, only optimize the shadows or adjust the colors. Dozens of filters are also available at the bottom of the screen, all of which are optimized for specific situations. There are some filters that make landscapes look extra beautiful, and effects that make photos in the evenings even more beautiful.
An excellent photo app for all iPad owners
This makes Pixelmator Photo an excellent addition for any photographer with an iPad. The app was developed exclusively for the iPad and is therefore not available on the iPhone. The advantage of this is that the app is optimized for the tablet and everything works very quickly and smoothly.
As long as you don’t see Pixelmator Photo as an alternative to Pixelmator or Pixelmator Pro on the Mac, this is an excellent app that makes optimizing your photos accessible to everyone, regardless of your experience or knowledge of the subject.
Download Pixelmator Photo
Pixelmator Photo can now be downloaded in the App Store for 5.49 euros. We tested the app on an iPad Pro 2018 with a promo code provided by the developer.