Apple News, Analysis and Podcasts

Most professionals in the print industry use Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. Each application servers a different purpose. Pixelmator was not designed to compete with them, but that does not mean it can’t be used for print use.

Print work takes on many different forms and Pixelmator can easily fit into many workflows. Does Pixelmator have all the tools required for print work? Let’s look and see.

Printed artwork uses the same tools as all the other forms of image creation. As we have seen in the other articles, Pixelmator has a great set of core tools. All the advantages and disadvantages of graphics artwork also apply to print.

The one area where print differs is the output. Here, the graphics programs need to send accurate color data to the printer to produce the results the user expects and needs. In the past, the main way to do this was to use the same color space as printers, which is called CMYK. By using CMYK and a calibrated monitor, print professionals could get accurate results from their printer. Unfortunately, Pixelmator does not have a CMYK color mode, while Photoshop does. It also does not look like Pixelmator developers will be adding this features any time soon, at least according to comments they have made.

There are work arounds and other methods to get an accurate look. Photographers don’t use CMYK to get accurate results anymore. Instead, they use ICC Profiles to match the printer, application and monitor. These color profiles can be used with Pixelmator. Most new printers and all photo printers use them.

Yet, there are big print houses that still require files to be in the CMYK color space. For those times, there are two other methods. The Apple utility Color Sync can convert files to other color spaces, but one needs to get the right CMYK color profile to match the printer one is using. There is also an automator action that can be used to convert to CMYK. While both of these methods are not ideal, they do allow Pixelmator users to print their artwork in CMYK.

The only main hurdle that Pixelmator users need to overcome is the lack of built-in CMYK support. Pixelmator developers seem to believe that CMYK is going away in favor of ICC Profiles. Beyond CMYK, Pixelmator, combined with some other tools like iWork provide a great alternative for non-professionals who still want to do print work.

Related Articles

• Examining Pixelmator vs Photoshop Part III: Photography
• Examining Pixelmator vs Photoshop Part II: Graphics
• Examining Pixelmator vs Photoshop Part I
• From Photoshop to Pixelmator

0 Comments

Leave your reply