Review: Pixelmator 2.2

Whether you're an illustrator, art director or web designer, every creative has their favourite photo editing software. But as technology excels, so does software and it's capabilities. And Pixelmator 2.2 is no exception – it is, quite frankly, a joy to use.

Pixelmater 2.2 is marketed as a powerful photo-editing tool for mobile apps, which it absolutely succeeds in (it includes level and curves adjustments, colour corrections, blurs, cloning, filters and suchlike). But Pixelmator is also a fantastic painting app.

It's a triumph in user interface design. Anyone who's ever used
an iPad will intuitively know where everything is and how to use it. The sign of a great mobile painting app is not how satisfying it is with something fancy like the Apple Pencil (which is fully supported, alongside the iPad Pro by the way), but how well it works with just your finger.

And Pixelmator delivers wonderfully. The pressure sensitivity is great and there's no noticeable lag. Brushes are gathered up into collections, each one represented by an accurate thumbnail, so despite there being over 100 of them to choose from, it never feels excessive.

Pixelmator enables you to import, edit and export Photoshop files, so you can work on your iPhone or iPad and switch back to your Mac or PC whenever you're ready.

Words: David Cousens