To address instances where Apple's adoption of new formats is lagging, Photomator includes enhanced Raw support. This allows the software to piggyback on Apple's built-in Raw format compatibility without having to develop their own system, however it also puts Photomator at the mercy of Apple’s format update schedule and limitations. Its uses Apple’s system-level camera compatibility built into macOS, iOS, and iPadOS. That’s not the only way Photomator relies on Apple Photos.

This ensures you can discard Photomator edits and revert back to the original image at any time. Another benefit, Apple Photos uses a mechanism for making non-destructive edits that bind two versions of an image together: the untouched original and the edited version, which includes any app-specific data such as the adjustment controls you've manipulated and masks you've applied. One upside, if you use Apple’s iCloud Photos service, is automatic synchronization between all of your devices. 'A big difference between Lightroom and Photomator is that Photomater leans on the Apple Photos app infrastructure for managing your photo library.' In the iOS and iPadOS versions, you can import photos from the Files app as well as the Apple Photos library. The Pixelmator Team says that 'Full macOS file system support is under development and will be available in future updates.' That also means any images you add to Photomator from the Finder (such as by dragging from a Finder window to the Photomator app) end up in your Apple Photos library you can’t just open a file the way you would in Photoshop or Pixelmator Pro. Photomator uses the Apple Photos library as its image source, reading existing albums and categories such as Favorites. Any image in your Apple Photos library automatically appears in Photomater’s photo grid, as do iCloud Shared Albums and albums you’ve created, but not smart albums. The Apple Photos app is already built in to Apple’s operating systems, and although the rating and metadata features are not as robust as Lightroom’s, this arrangement works fine for Photomator. Apple Photos library integrationĪ big difference between Lightroom and Photomator is that Photomater leans on the Apple Photos app infrastructure for managing your photo library. This review primarily covers Photomator 3.1 for macOS, but the similarities among the apps on each platform mean what I cover applies to them all. Photomator 3.1 runs on macOS 13 Ventura or later on a Mac, and on iOS 14 or iPadOS 14 or later on iPhone and iPad. If you need more evaluation time, signing up for a yearly subscription extends the free trial for 7 days. To try Photomator, you can download the app and get 3 free edits, or 10 if you’re an existing Pixelmator Pro user.

Photomator 3.1 is available now as a $4.99 monthly subscription, a $29.99 yearly subscription or as a $99.99 lifetime option. Requires Apple Photos as the media manager and for Raw support the company has announced future support for opening images from the Finder.You can sync edits with Pixelmator Pro for more advanced layer-based editing.Selective Clarity affects local contrast in shadows, mid tones, and highlights.ML-based features like Denoise, Smart Deband, and subject and background selection address common image editing challenges.Machine learning (ML) technologies are woven into almost every main area of the app, such as tonal edits, white balance, color, hue and saturation, and color balance.Although Photomator still leans on the Apple Photos app for managing your library, its editing tools (many based on machine learning technologies) and overall approach as a dedicated photo editor make it an appealing choice. In spirit and practice, Photomator, from the Pixelmator Team, is both a worthy successor to Apple Aperture and an inexpensive editing alternative to Adobe Lightroom on the Mac (there is no Windows version).

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