Image: Erik Eckel/TechRepublic Most business professionals at least occasionally require the assistance of a capable image- or photo-editing application. Frequently (and I lump myself into this group), it's tempting to use a low-grade free program.

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For simple tasks — cropping, resizing, converting file format, scaling, etc. — that strategy often works.

For more complex needs — retouching, adding text, applying effects, correcting color, publishing edited images to social media sites, etc. — a more capable tool is required.

That's where, an Apple Essentials app, comes into play. Many users are familiar with, which runs $149.99 in the Apple Store, with Adobe Premier included. At just $29.99, Pixelmator offers an easy-to-learn alternative for performing the basic tasks previously described. (Note: At the time of this article's publication, Pixelmator is being offered for $14.99.) And, at just 93 MB, Pixelmator enjoys a smaller footprint (which is convenient for business professionals possessing smaller SSD drives in their Macs) than the 2.3 GB Elements/Premier combination. Simple image rotation commands are available from the Edit menu, as are fill, stroke, transform, and flip commands. Users administer color adjustments, canvas trimming, canvas rotation, canvas sizing, image sizing, color depth, and color profile adjustments and settings using the Image menu. The Layer menu option enables adding or duplicating layers, adding layer masks, locking layers, and otherwise manipulating images using traditional layers.

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The View menu permits adjusting zoom, revealing rulers and grids, showing styles, hiding layers, and performing similar actions. One quick test of an image-editing program's capabilities and approachability is the application's ability to easily adjust image and canvas size. Pixelmator's makes it easy to access straightforward menus for trimming and specifying canvas size, down to specific pixel width, height, and resolution. Adjusting images within Pixelmator feels as powerful and easy as performing the same process using — a free tool widely used to perform image-editing functions on Windows machines within non-commercial environments (a $12 license payment is requested of commercial firms) — which is a compliment. The bottom line Business professionals on the hunt for a capable image-editing platform possessing a small footprint that doesn't break the bank should check out Pixelmator.

With a available, it's hard to go wrong. Work with just a few images and you'll quickly know whether the app can meet your specific needs.

Give it a shot, and you'll likely quickly understand why it's the number one paid Apple Graphics and Design app. Also see.

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Pixelmator Pro is an incredibly powerful, beautiful, and easy to use image editor designed exclusively for Mac. With a wide range of professional-grade, nondestructive image editing tools, Pixelmator Pro lets you bring out the best in your photos, create gorgeous compositions and designs, draw, paint, apply stunning effects, design beautiful text, and edit images in just about any way you can imagine. And thanks to its intuitive and accessible design, Pixelmator Pro is delightfully easy to use - whether you’re just starting out with image editing or you’re a seasoned pro. The modern, single-window What's New in Pixelmator Pro. Pixelmator Pro is an incredibly powerful, beautiful, and easy to use image editor designed exclusively for Mac.

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With a wide range of professional-grade, nondestructive image editing tools, Pixelmator Pro lets you bring out the best in your photos, create gorgeous compositions and designs, draw, paint, apply stunning effects, design beautiful text, and edit images in just about any way you can imagine. And thanks to its intuitive and accessible design, Pixelmator Pro is delightfully easy to use - whether you’re just starting out with image editing or you’re a seasoned pro. The modern, single-window interface is designed exclusively for working with images on a Mac. An intuitive and accessible design makes it easy for anyone to edit images - from complete beginners to design professionals. I tested the trial a bit with some Nikon D800 RAW files.

Opening of these files was really slow. The editing tools for RAW files are very limited compared to Adobe Lightroom.

It's also not possible to use gradient selections and a lot of other features without first converting the RAW file to the proprietary bitmap format of Pixelmator. Almost all tools I saw in the Pro version are already part of the regular Pixelmator version, including the same limitations.

They are only presented in nicer one window view. So I get the feeling this new app is extremely overhyped and not really a replacement for Adobe Lightroom or Adobe Photoshop. And that's really pity, because I don't like Adobe subscription model and how they mess up app installations on the Mac. I would like to believe Pixelmator Pro is a competent professional editor, but that's unfortunately totally not the case in my opinion.