Pixelmator 2.2 got its public release on Tuesday. The latest major update to the popular image editing app includes support for macOS Monterey and Shortcuts, as well as a new Split Comparison View, a new Bokeh effect, and more.
With Monterey bringing Shortcuts to the Mac for the first time, Pixelmator is adding 28 dedicated actions, including all ML-based tools (Super Resolution, Enhance, Denoise, Match Colors, and Crop) and some Shortcuts-exclusive features, like automatic background removal for photos of people. For more information, Pixelmator has provided a tutorial on using Shortcuts with the app.
This update also brings a new split-screen comparison view, allowing users to see all their edits more closely. Split comparison view can be turned on by Option-clicking the Show Original button or force clicking the canvas when using the Color Adjustments and Effects tools. Users can also press the Control + C keyboard shortcut or add the new compare button to the Pixelmator Pro toolbar by clicking View > Customize Toolbar.
In addition, there's an all-new Bokeh blur effect, while users can now open Pixelmator Photo files in Pixelmator Pro, and the maximum brush spacing has been increased from 100% to 1000%. Elsewhere, new FaceTime Portrait Masks mean whenever users insert photos of themselves with the FaceTime camera, they'll get an automatically created portrait mask applied to that layer. Some other more minor changes are listed in the full release notes.
Lastly, Pixelmator Pro's developers say users can expect features like ML Super Resolution to be up to 15 times faster on the latest MacBook Pro models when compared to the most recent Intel-powered Mac devices, thanks to Apple's new M1 Pro and M1 Max chips.
The latest Pixelmator Pro update is free for all existing users of Pixelmator Pro, which costs $39.99 in the Mac App Store.
