Pixelmator

Pixelmator is clearly a serious tool. It also is not weighed down with a lot of bombastic tools and procedures.

However, for it to be accepted in the Print world, Pixelmator must support CMYK natively.

True, it is possible to convert RGB images to CMYK using other software, but...then why use Pixelmator? Also, there are times when you need to actually WORK in CMYK color space.

Despite the intertoobs, print is alive and well. Just look in your mailbox, or go to a magazine or book store.

Those aren't pixels sitting on the shelves! :wink:

I believe that we are using or interested in Pixelmator precisely because it's not..ahem...that other app, but also because it offers great tools, speedy operation, is lightweight and doesn't cost a kidney.

Native CMYK support is key to that great toolset.

thank you!

rc

Adding my name to the list of those who would be buying Pixelmator if it had CMYK support. I would be buying multiple copies, actually—one for each of the designers at my workplace.

We design custom apparel and we have to design our artwork using very specific CMYK color values otherwise the jerseys will print unexpectedly. Not having native CMYK support means it is impossible for me to use Pixelmator for production work.

Add CMYK support and I bet you sell a thousand copies of Pixelmator immediately. People want a viable alternative to PS but until there is another tool that offers CMYK support you won’t have anyone buying it aside from web designers. Signed up for this forum just to post this…

markdillon wrote:Add CMYK support and I bet you sell a thousand copies of Pixelmator immediately. People want a viable alternative to PS but until there is another tool that offers CMYK support you won’t have anyone buying it aside from web designers. Signed up for this forum just to post this…

good call, mark..I think it's a slam-dunk..there are several alternatives to the Dark Star out there which also lack CMYK support and I think that's the only thing preventing a huge flood of new users/purchasers.

An Image or drawing tool without CMYK is like a pizza with no toppings.

rc

Print is far from dead! Just look around you. Adding CMYK support should be a high priority!

I was about to buy PM. I'am since 1988 with PS. Then I saw that PM does'nt support CMYK. I stopped the process … I'am coming back when a proper CMYK support incl. profiles is integrated.

CMYK support would make this a must-buy app. As it is I'm still weighing it up, I'm very keen to avoid coughing up all that cash for PS!

Another vote for CMYK support.

Reading the comments here, I can only agree that professional support for CMYK output will lift PM to an new level in the graphics community. I haven't bought it yet, at least until it has this since my world is print. But more to the point is the desire of many of us wanting to move beyond the Creative Suite as the only choice of design, graphics, and illustration. PS has a serious contender if PM continues to evolve and bring in more pro-support like cmyk.
The 6000 member organization of designers I belong to are challenging Adobe and Illustrator by lobbying for FreeHand MX's release back to pro-Mac development. It would be a dream for us to be Adobe-free and Pixelmator could be essential in that dream.

CMYK is definitely needed. "Print" does not mean magazines only: flyers, posters, promotional brochures, even theater tickets... Not everything is web only, far from it.
Thanks!

Pixelmator does support CMYK, but achieving it is really fiddly and time consuming. What is really needed in Pixelmator is far better attention and support of scripting, so users can create their own CMYK conversion scripts.

I believe that Pixelmator has already made well over $1m since the Mac AppStore opened, so I'm confident that we will see these issues corrected and improved by the time v2 is released? That and perhaps support for scratch discs, because Pixelmator is forever crashing on me at the moment, due to what seems are memory leaks and stuff- not good chaps :(

CMYK For The Win:

If you all want to be the contender for Photoshop you'll need to compete on the level of what basic things we professionals need, the first, and the utterly most basic is CMYK, which by looking at this thread, has been beaten in to you like the proverbial horse and, or, certain folks of the ginger persuasion.
:-)
I guess you folks get that we all want this, and most of us really want to dump Adobe - since they've gone all lazy and pompous.

Our Graphic firm has been strained by the ridiculous price of Photoshop (CS5 = $659.99). It's become a real millstone around our necks, what our company needs is a serious contender, are you all up to this - or do we just keep moving along until we find someone with these same aforementioned wants comes along and throws down the gauntlet?

How about someone at the Pixelmator Team answer my post here and tell us what you're going to do? Most of us have been searching for years.
God knows we’ll make you rich beyond your wildest dreams, not to mention famous - and Adobe’s instant nemisis.
What-da-ya-say, you game?

Agree that for Pixelmator to really challenge PS, CMYK is crucial.

Check out the submission guidelines for people like Vistaprint - massive supplier of cheap and cheerful business cards and letterhead etc. All artwork to be be created and supplied in.....CMYK....!

'Nuff said....?

Folks,

As I said, all a CMYK function is, is a script that is run, turning an RGB image into a CMYK one. Once Pixelmator fix scripting/automation, then Pixelmator will get a whole load better!

For now, The Pixelmator tutors from Pixelmatortutorials.net have released some very good tutorials (one being CMY(K) conversion). You can find that here;

http://www.pixelmatortutorials.net/Pixe ... nnels.html

(and no, I don't work for Pixelmator!)

regards,

Tom

Seriously, Pixelmator doesn't have native CMYK support?

I'm beginning to think this product should solely be aimed at the hobbyist market.

No vector tools and no CMYK support?

So whether you;re designing for the screen, or editing for print, this product is crippled.

ajophoto wrote:Agree that for Pixelmator to really challenge PS, CMYK is crucial.

Check out the submission guidelines for people like Vistaprint - massive supplier of cheap and cheerful business cards and letterhead etc. All artwork to be be created and supplied in.....CMYK....!

'Nuff said....?

FYI, I agree with the sentiment; but I urge everyone to avoid Vistaprint like the plague. Unless you like crappy printing at average prices.

Like I said in my previous post, CMYK does exist in Pixelmator, just follow the link above. But yes it's fiddly, and it would be good to have an easy and quick CMYK conversion button. But also remember that you loose a lot of your filters and tools after you have converted (just like you do in Photoshop). Perhaps this is why the developers of PM left it out?

I wouldn't call PM a hobbyists application either- it's more designed for web use, or it seems that it is. Vector tools would be a really nice addition, but in the mean time you can achieve vectors by using alternative software such as EazyDraw or Intaglio, and importing into Pixelmator

I'd really like to get the CMYK-Support. It's definitely ok to loose some of the filters, after activating CMYK for a picture...
So please add these feature soon... :-)

many things are missing but CMYK is the big one.

First of all: great job guys!

But don't stop in a so good way.
C'mon, we all need CMYK support in order to make the difference (and the F... price) with the "other app"...
C'mon guys, let's just do it right.

CMYK and vector would bring you in front of everybody in the graphic design world! C'mon guys you're not so far.

I just bought the v.1.6.5 and I can't wait the v. 2.0!!!

Hope having good news from you very soon!

Regards

iheartpie wrote:Seriously, Pixelmator doesn't have native CMYK support?

I'm beginning to think this product should solely be aimed at the hobbyist market.

No vector tools and no CMYK support?

So whether you;re designing for the screen, or editing for print, this product is crippled.

definitely basic features that are really need, while CMYK is basic, vectors is really what holds this program back for me. how is this to be a photoshop alternative if there is nothing to take illustrators place when vectors are needed? for many of us, PS and AI work hand in hand. Vectormator will be more than welcome :)

tomfenndesign wrote:Folks,

As I said, all a CMYK function is, is a script that is run, turning an RGB image into a CMYK one. Once Pixelmator fix scripting/automation, then Pixelmator will get a whole load better!

For now, The Pixelmator tutors from Pixelmatortutorials.net have released some very good tutorials (one being CMY(K) conversion). You can find that here;

http://www.pixelmatortutorials.net/Pixe ... nnels.html

(and no, I don't work for Pixelmator!)

regards,

Tom

I've gone ahead and bought Pixelmator v1.5.
My Wife is a Graphic Designer of 30 plus years and I sat her down with this release.
The verdict was good, she said it was on par with Photoshop 5.5, or 6.


Here is Tom's link, updated, because I think this is important.
CMYK is the test, it seems, to see if you want the Pro business, looks like the Pixelmator Team is ready to get to the beach head and dig in, with perhaps a Whisky and Coke and wicked fast private VLAN.

My compliments, it's looking up.



http://web.me.com/sebvdv/PixelmatorTuto ... nnels.html

What most people don't realise is that changing levels in an CMYK image is a real killer. You can go out of the profiles' gamut etc. Just an option to convert to a given CMYK profile when exporting an image would suffice. Most of us use an RGB or LAB based workflow anyway.

CMYK is essential in the professional field. It is a MUST HAVE feature if you are in the graphics business. It is unthinkable I deliver my images in any other color space than CMYK. RGB is a no-no.

Another urgent must have feature.

Another vote.

I'll add another vote for CMYK support.... especially the ability to WORK IN CMYK mode. But, just a convert and output would be a nice addition. Most printers require CMYK (or, they convert it anyway if they don't). Sure, one can use Apple's ColorSync Utility, as I just did on a project... but it is another external process... extra files, etc. I'd rather just have my Pixelmator file and the REAL output file, and to be able to use Pixelmators export file formats. Being able to work in that mode, after conversion, to touch anything up before export would be really awesome!

CMYK please!

Working in RGB and having a layout application convert it to CMYK is not an acceptable solution in professional graphic design.

I'm given a CMYK colour breakdown to work with and I may not change it. If I take that CMYK colour, convert it to RGB, convert it back to CMYK, the mix WILL be different. It will look the same and probably print the same, but the Corporate image will start to break down if someone else takes a colour reading, rounds off the the little numbers & percentages and uses that as a starting point.

No, if I'm given a CMYK logo, it has to stay CMYK from start to finish.

I really want Pixelmator to be my "go to app", but without CMYK support, it will always just be my photo editor, not a design tool.

I`m working in a lokal newspaper in Norway, and also "moonlightning" after work as a designer, with mostly design who ending up in a printshop. Love Pixelmator, but missing a simple way to convert pictures into cmyk mode inside Pixelmator. My question to any who has anything to say in Pixelmator Team Ltd. is; will Pixelmator ever support cmyk? Maybe as a plug-in / extension option?

On the bandwagon. I would buy five copies if you would support CMYK .psd files.
~:-)