Pixelmator Updated to 1.3.1

The Pixelmator team today updated Pixelmator to version 1.3.1. The updated brings a new Color Management Sheet and a new Refine Selection tool. With the new Color Management Sheet Pixelmator seeks to simplify the process of color management which is often one of the hardest things to grasp for beginning digital photographers and artists. The Color Management Sheet brings all the color management tools into one place for easy selection.

The Refine Selection tool offers users the ability to dramatically improve selections made with selection tools. The tool features Smooth, Feather and size settings and of course works in real-time so you can see the results instantaneously.

Other improvements included in the update are improved Type tool stability, user interface tweaks and compatibility improvements, as well as some bug fixes. The update is free to all existing Pixelmator owners and new users can get the full Pixelmator 1.3.1 for $59.

Pixelmater 1.3 Released

Yesterday the brothers Dailide (Saulius and Aidas Dialide are the creators of Pixelmator) announced the immediate availability of Pixelmator 1.3, code named Tempo. The update provides more than a few bug fixes, major performance improvements, click-and-drag Magic Wand, Paint Bucket and Eraser tools, improved Hue and Saturation, Replace Color and Colorized tools, a Smart Palette hiding feature and more.

Pixelmator 1.3 Tempo delivers performance gains in almost every function of the application. It takes even more advantage than before of Core Image, OpenGL, and the power of other Mac-only technologies so that dramatic performance improvements are easily seen when one is working with large images—opening and saving, using filters and adjustments, and more.

We haven't had any time to play with the new version but it sounds like a great update. We use Pixelmator on a regular basis here at AYAAW so we're pretty excited about taking Tempo for a test drive. Do you use Pixelmator? What do you think about the latest version? Post your comments in the comment section.

For more info on the update check out the official Pixelmator Press Release.

You can download the latest version here (if you're a new customer) or just use the built in auto updater.

Mudbug Software Releases Webify Beta

Mudbug Software announced on Wednesday the immediate availability of Webify beta. Webify is a basic image editor aimed at simplifying the process of producing quality, web-ready images for use on the web.

Webify's Effects panel includes options to:

• Flip images horizontally or vertically
• Rotate an image on its X or Y axis (this is very cool)
• Apply a Sepia Effect
• Adjust Exposure, Gamma, Saturation, Sharpness, Contrast and Brightness

Webify also includes a crop tool and you can save your image as a GIF, JPEG, JPEG 2000, PNG, PhotoShop, PDF or Tiff formated image.

I've been playing with Webify for a couple of days and find it to be a very capable little image editor that's lightweight and easy to use. It launches immediately and I find myself launching PhotoShop Elements 6 less and less for images I'm using on the web. It really is a great little app and the developer has stated that the final 1.0 full version will also include a reflection option as well as additional batch processing features. Developers will also appreciate a public SDK included in with the final version that will allow the creation of plug-ins that add functionality to Webify.

To experience all this image editing goodness you'll need to fork over $10. Mudbug is only offering the beta as a paid beta but in return you get the app for $10 rather than $20 when the final version is released. Webify is a nice app and does exactly what it's intended to do. Gary Byrd, Webify's developer and RapidWeaver theme developer extraordinaire, is good people so don't hesitate to jump on this deal. If launching PhotoShop just to do a couple minor edits on a web-bound image has got you down give Webify a try. You'll be glad you did.

Joe Henry