General settings

In the General tab, you can control different features of Pixelmator Pro — from the way the application and its elements look, to how it displays documents. You can also turn things like action tooltips, information labels, and HDR content loading on or off.

To open General settings:

• Choose Pixelmator Pro > Settings from the menu bar and choose General.

Change the Pixelmator Pro appearance

You can work with Pixelmator Pro in light or dark mode. Pixelmator Pro can also adapt to your macOS appearance automatically.

To switch between light and dark appearances:

• Click the thumbnail of your preferred appearance to select it.

• Select "Set appearance automatically" to set Pixelmator Pro appearance according to the current macOS appearance.

Change background color

Make it easier to work with documents that might have the same background color as the window background.

To change the background color:

• Click the Window Background pop-up menu and choose Higher Contrast.

• Click the color well next to the Window Background pop-up menu to pick a custom background color.

• To reset the background color to default, click the Window Background pop-up menu and choose Default.

Customize the transparency grid

The checkerboard grid indicates areas with no pixels in an image. Click the Transparency color well to choose a checkerboard color and opacity, or deselect "Checkerboard" to display transparency as a solid color.

To customize the transparency grid:

• Click the Transparency color well and pick a color.

• Deselect "Checkerboard" to view transparency in an image as a solid color.

• To reset the transparency to default, click Reset Transparency.

Choose the default contents of a new, empty image

When you create a new image in Pixelmator Pro, a background layer is automatically added for you. You can choose it to be black, white, or transparent.

Hide or show tooltips

When you hover a pointer over a tool in the tools sidebar, you can see illustrated tool descriptions along with the links to the dedicated User Guide articles. Tooltips can also accompany actions such as Undo, Redo, Cut, or Paste. Such tooltips show up directly on the canvas as you perform an action

• Select or deselect "Show tool description tooltips" to show or hide the tool descriptions.

• Select or deselect "Show action tooltips on the canvas" to show or hide the information labels.

Turn HDR content loading on and off

HDR makes your photos and videos look more vivid and life-like by showing more colors and details, especially in bright and dark areas. To work with HDR content in Pixelmator Pro, you need an HDR-compatible display and a device running macOS 14 Sonoma or later.

• Select "Load HDR Content" to always load HDR content when opening HDR photos or videos.

In the HDR settings, you will also see if your display has full, limited, or no HDR support. For a list of all compatible displays and troubleshooting tips, check out the article Working with HDR content in Pixelmator Pro.