Future of Pixelmator Pro

I have just finished my 7 day trial with Pixelmator Pro and overall I have been very impressed by it. I currently use LR/PS however my current pre-paid plan is set to expire later this year and I'm looking for potential alternatives to leave Adobe.

I'm not going to go on any sort of hyperbolic rant about subscription models etc as I have happily had my Adobe subscription for the past few years however I now think it is starting to outlive its usefulness (for me).
I still think LR/PS represent tremendous value - however if I was able to move over to software that offered a lifetime license (if such a thing truly exists in this day and age) then I probably would.

My only niggle with Pixelmator is do we have any idea of what Apple will do with it? I just know it would be my rotten luck that I would buy it and within a month it would be killed off.
I could probably live with it if all they did was stop updating it - the programme as it stands today seems to do everything I need it to - perhaps without the same ease as PS but it's not far off.

GMacF said:

I have just finished my 7 day trial with Pixelmator Pro and overall I have been very impressed by it. I currently use LR/PS however my current pre-paid plan is set to expire later this year and I'm looking for potential alternatives to leave Adobe.

I'm not going to go on any sort of hyperbolic rant about subscription models etc as I have happily had my Adobe subscription for the past few years however I now think it is starting to outlive its usefulness (for me).
I still think LR/PS represent tremendous value - however if I was able to move over to software that offered a lifetime license (if such a thing truly exists in this day and age) then I probably would.

My only niggle with Pixelmator is do we have any idea of what Apple will do with it? I just know it would be my rotten luck that I would buy it and within a month it would be killed off.
I could probably live with it if all they did was stop updating it - the programme as it stands today seems to do everything I need it to - perhaps without the same ease as PS but it's not far off.

Click to expand...

No one outside of Apple knows what they plan to do with it. Maybe no one on inside knows either. There is simply no way to know until they tell us.

GMacF said:

I have just finished my 7 day trial with Pixelmator Pro and overall I have been very impressed by it. I currently use LR/PS however my current pre-paid plan is set to expire later this year and I'm looking for potential alternatives to leave Adobe.

I'm not going to go on any sort of hyperbolic rant about subscription models etc as I have happily had my Adobe subscription for the past few years however I now think it is starting to outlive its usefulness (for me).
I still think LR/PS represent tremendous value - however if I was able to move over to software that offered a lifetime license (if such a thing truly exists in this day and age) then I probably would.

My only niggle with Pixelmator is do we have any idea of what Apple will do with it? I just know it would be my rotten luck that I would buy it and within a month it would be killed off.
I could probably live with it if all they did was stop updating it - the programme as it stands today seems to do everything I need it to - perhaps without the same ease as PS but it's not far off.

Click to expand...

As already stated, I don't think anyone really knows, and those closest to knowing almost certainly are not allowed to say publicly.

That said, remember the once-popular Apple Aperture? IMO the most important point is that cancellation of, or major disruption to, the Lightroom / Photoshop ecosystem is likely to cause Adobe a proportionally far greater problem with its customers than cancellation of, or major disruption to, the Pixelmator ecosystem is likely to cause Apple. Maybe more simply, IMO LR / PS is much more important to Adobe than Pixelmator is to Apple. So factor that, and your assessment of the overall health of the respective companies, into your assessment of the intermediate- to long-term prospects for each.

GMacF said:

I have just finished my 7 day trial with Pixelmator Pro and overall I have been very impressed by it. I currently use LR/PS however my current pre-paid plan is set to expire later this year and I'm looking for potential alternatives to leave Adobe.

I'm not going to go on any sort of hyperbolic rant about subscription models etc as I have happily had my Adobe subscription for the past few years however I now think it is starting to outlive its usefulness (for me).
I still think LR/PS represent tremendous value - however if I was able to move over to software that offered a lifetime license (if such a thing truly exists in this day and age) then I probably would.

Click to expand...

Lifetime license is open for debate. I don't know how Pixelmator Pro works but the other major brands like DXO, C1pro, ON1, etc are an annual upgrade plan. You don't have to upgrade every year or ever but if you want access to new bells and whistles released every year you have to pay the upgrade price

I purchased Affinity for a great price as a backup to PS in case I drop the plan. I'm pretty sure somewhere (maybe here) I read it was lifetime but I don't want to debate that because I don't really care. Then v2 came out and it won't open my camera RAW files. It is still usable but not for RAW files. I don't need v2 - yet.

I'm not saying you should leave Adobe. I'm just saying if you are used to/like getting updates and continuous RAW support I would check the company policies. If neither so important to you then you are good to go.

GMacF said:

My only niggle with Pixelmator is do we have any idea of what Apple will do with it? I just know it would be my rotten luck that I would buy it and within a month it would be killed off.

Click to expand...

I sorta went through the same thing. I was a die hard Canon DPP user but for event editing in conjunction with PS was just not efficient. It was OK for my hobby stuff. After about 4 trials I went with Adobe. Six months later Canon released Digital Lens Optimizer for DPP. I was enjoying LR too much when compared the sluggish DPP to go back. But my response was "it figures".

Like others said no one knows what a company will do. I'm not sure how much I'd worry about it. It's not that expensive. If I was dropping $200 to $300 then I'd take a hard look at it.

GMacF said:

I could probably live with it if all they did was stop updating it - the programme as it stands today seems to do everything I need it to - perhaps without the same ease as PS but it's not far off.

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Good luck in whatever you choose.

I think that with the first Apple-branded update: Pixelmator Pro 4.0 (Mac) ships with Apple Intelligence features such as Writing Tools and Image Playground integration, they are keeping promises made about the app.

Some rumors are that Apple may fold Pixelmator Pro into the “Pro Apps” bundle (alongside Final Cut & Logic).

Also, Apple has no Aperture-style Lightroom app replacement since 2014; Photomator’s non-destructive workflow can make this are real LR replacement with Pixelmator Pro being its Photoshop replacement. No one today, outside of Apple, can say for sure.

MacRumors said on June 30, 2025 that "Apple today updated Pixelmator Pro, the drawing and photo editing app that it acquired last year. The new version of Pixelmator Pro incorporates Apple Intelligence features like Writing Tools and Image Playground."

"Image Playground‌ integration allows Pixelmator Pro to generate original images based on a photo, description, or people from the Photos library. There's an Add to Playground feature to recreate image layers or drawings in animation, illustration, or sketch styles, plus created images can be inserted as separate layers. Apple says that when using Pixelmator Pro's templates or mockups, placeholder images can be replaced with ‌Image Playground‌ creations."

"Writing Tools integration lets users proofread, summarize, rewrite, and modify the tone of any text that is incorporated into a Pixelmator Pro creation. Compose with ChatGPT is an available option, and using the tools can be done by control clicking highlighted text and clicking Writing Tools.

Other improvements include support for RAW images from OM SYSTEM OM-1 Mark II cameras, improved VoiceOver support, and an option to hover over items in the Tools sidebar to display names in a larger size with Hover Text."

First thing: perpetual license is different from "perpetual with lifetime updates". Perpetual license means you can use the software "forever". That's what Capture One, Affinity, CCC and others offer. It generally means "the version you purchased", and that version usually works until something breaks it (usually macOS updates). The "version purchased" has been worked a bit. For example, Capture One used to have version upgrades approximately annually, but they changed it to 2 version upgrades/year several years ago. They've also massaged what they define as "major feature" to include things like new camera support.

Lifetime updates usually mean that your license includes version upgrades "forever". ChronoSync and VueScan are 2 examples. They've been providing updates to their apps for many years and include version upgrades. The number of vendors doing this is vanishingly small.

With that in mind, I expect that Pixelmator will continue to work, even if Apple discontinues it, until a macOS upgrade kills it. At that point you'll need to decide whether macOS or Pixelmator functionality is more important to you. I recall that at one point, macOS broke Aperture's ability to read newer camera Raw files (a year or 2 before Aperture was killed). I could imagine something like that happening with Pixelmator, as its camera/lens support is in the OS (as is Photos).

I also wouldn't be surprised to see some Pixelmator functionality get incorporated into Photos. I also hope that IF Apple decides to discontinue Pixelmator, that they learned from the Aperture fiasco and will provide a straightforward path to migrate Pixelmator work to Photos (or whatever)—including properly preserving all edits and other things.

At any rate, this whole thing doesn't seem any different to me than other computing ecosystem situations. You're dealing with an ecosystem consisting of computer + OS + application (+ camera + printer + other things perhaps), and any of them can break everything. Consider: PPC/Intel/M-series, 16/32/64 bit support, adding new cameras, printer manufacturers dropping printer support and so on. Subscriptions can help with some of this, but to keep subscription software current, you'll eventually need to decide between upgrading the OS (possibly breaking other software you need), and/or upgrading the computer ($$$, inconvenience, and possibly breaking other software you need). Or keep an old machine around that can run "that old, essential software" (example: I do this to run an older Epson printer and some still useful apps that won't run on current OSes).

This is tech: we're along for the ride, and our preferences guide what we do (IMO).

Abbott Schindler said:

First thing: perpetual license is different from "perpetual with lifetime updates". Perpetual license means you can use the software "forever". That's what Capture One, Affinity, CCC and others offer. It generally means "the version you purchased", and that version usually works until something breaks it (usually macOS updates). The "version purchased" has been worked a bit. For example, Capture One used to have version upgrades approximately annually, but they changed it to 2 version upgrades/year several years ago. They've also massaged what they define as "major feature" to include things like new camera support.

Click to expand...

Why can’t load RAW files into Affinity v1 with my newer bodies?

Member said:

Lifetime updates usually mean that your license includes version upgrades "forever". ChronoSync and VueScan are 2 examples. They've been providing updates to their apps for many years and include version upgrades. The number of vendors doing this is vanishingly small.

With that in mind, I expect that Pixelmator will continue to work, even if Apple discontinues it, until a macOS upgrade kills it. At that point you'll need to decide whether macOS or Pixelmator functionality is more important to you. I recall that at one point, macOS broke Aperture's ability to read newer camera Raw files (a year or 2 before Aperture was killed). I could imagine something like that happening with Pixelmator, as its camera/lens support is in the OS (as is Photos).

I also wouldn't be surprised to see some Pixelmator functionality get incorporated into Photos. I also hope that IF Apple decides to discontinue Pixelmator, that they learned from the Aperture fiasco and will provide a straightforward path to migrate Pixelmator work to Photos (or whatever)—including properly preserving all edits and other things.

At any rate, this whole thing doesn't seem any different to me than other computing ecosystem situations. You're dealing with an ecosystem consisting of computer + OS + application (+ camera + printer + other things perhaps), and any of them can break everything. Consider: PPC/Intel/M-series, 16/32/64 bit support, adding new cameras, printer manufacturers dropping printer support and so on. Subscriptions can help with some of this, but to keep subscription software current, you'll eventually need to decide between upgrading the OS (possibly breaking other software you need), and/or upgrading the computer ($$$, inconvenience, and possibly breaking other software you need). Or keep an old machine around that can run "that old, essential software" (example: I do this to run an older Epson printer and some still useful apps that won't run on current OSes).

This is tech: we're along for the ride, and our preferences guide what we do (IMO).

Click to expand...

Zeee said:

Abbott Schindler said:

First thing: perpetual license is different from "perpetual with lifetime updates". Perpetual license means you can use the software "forever". That's what Capture One, Affinity, CCC and others offer. It generally means "the version you purchased", and that version usually works until something breaks it (usually macOS updates). The "version purchased" has been worked a bit. For example, Capture One used to have version upgrades approximately annually, but they changed it to 2 version upgrades/year several years ago. They've also massaged what they define as "major feature" to include things like new camera support.

Click to expand...

Why can’t load RAW files into Affinity v1 with my newer bodies?

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Are you asking "why can't I", or saying that "I can't load"?

I'm pretty sure (not positive) that (like some other apps) Affinity Photo gets its camera algorithms from the OS. It might be that the last OS AP1 supported didn't support your "newer bodies". Reasonable assumption, since Apple's been known to change camera support formats in ways that "older" software can't use (see my comment about Aperture).

Have you tried Affinity Photo 2 on your newer cameras? If so, did it work? If not, give their demo a try and post the results.

Abbott Schindler said:

Zeee said:

Abbott Schindler said:

First thing: perpetual license is different from "perpetual with lifetime updates". Perpetual license means you can use the software "forever". That's what Capture One, Affinity, CCC and others offer. It generally means "the version you purchased", and that version usually works until something breaks it (usually macOS updates). The "version purchased" has been worked a bit. For example, Capture One used to have version upgrades approximately annually, but they changed it to 2 version upgrades/year several years ago. They've also massaged what they define as "major feature" to include things like new camera support.

Click to expand...

Why can’t load RAW files into Affinity v1 with my newer bodies?

Click to expand...

Are you asking "why can't I", or saying that "I can't load"?

Click to expand...

It won't open my RAW files from my Canon R6II.

Member said:

I'm pretty sure (not positive) that (like some other apps) Affinity Photo gets its camera algorithms from the OS. It might be that the last OS AP1 supported didn't support your "newer bodies". Reasonable assumption, since Apple's been known to change camera support formats in ways that "older" software can't use (see my comment about Aperture).

Have you tried Affinity Photo 2 on your newer cameras? If so, did it work? If not, give their demo a try and post the results.

Click to expand...

No I have not tried it. I don't need it as I explained I got v1 for as a backup in case I dropped the Adobe Photo plan and lost PS. I guess purchased software does not last for life.

Zeee said:

Abbott Schindler said:

Zeee said:

Abbott Schindler said:

First thing: perpetual license is different from "perpetual with lifetime updates". Perpetual license means you can use the software "forever". That's what Capture One, Affinity, CCC and others offer. It generally means "the version you purchased", and that version usually works until something breaks it (usually macOS updates). The "version purchased" has been worked a bit. For example, Capture One used to have version upgrades approximately annually, but they changed it to 2 version upgrades/year several years ago. They've also massaged what they define as "major feature" to include things like new camera support.

Click to expand...

Why can’t load RAW files into Affinity v1 with my newer bodies?

Click to expand...

Are you asking "why can't I", or saying that "I can't load"?

Click to expand...

It won't open my RAW files from my Canon R6II.

Zeee said:

I'm pretty sure (not positive) that (like some other apps) Affinity Photo gets its camera algorithms from the OS. It might be that the last OS AP1 supported didn't support your "newer bodies". Reasonable assumption, since Apple's been known to change camera support formats in ways that "older" software can't use (see my comment about Aperture).

Have you tried Affinity Photo 2 on your newer cameras? If so, did it work? If not, give their demo a try and post the results.

Click to expand...

No I have not tried it. I don't need it as I explained I got v1 for as a backup in case I dropped the Adobe Photo plan and lost PS. I guess purchased software does not last for life.

Click to expand...

Sounds like you've just experienced an example of exactly what I was talking about. It's unfortunate, but that's the way things seem to be. Contrary to your comment, your purchased software does "last for life", but that's different from saying "lasts for life and includes needed updates for things like cameras, OS support, etc.".

Abbott Schindler said:

Zeee said:

Abbott Schindler said:

Zeee said:

Abbott Schindler said:

First thing: perpetual license is different from "perpetual with lifetime updates". Perpetual license means you can use the software "forever". That's what Capture One, Affinity, CCC and others offer. It generally means "the version you purchased", and that version usually works until something breaks it (usually macOS updates). The "version purchased" has been worked a bit. For example, Capture One used to have version upgrades approximately annually, but they changed it to 2 version upgrades/year several years ago. They've also massaged what they define as "major feature" to include things like new camera support.

Click to expand...

Why can’t load RAW files into Affinity v1 with my newer bodies?

Click to expand...

Are you asking "why can't I", or saying that "I can't load"?

Click to expand...

It won't open my RAW files from my Canon R6II.

Member said:

I'm pretty sure (not positive) that (like some other apps) Affinity Photo gets its camera algorithms from the OS. It might be that the last OS AP1 supported didn't support your "newer bodies". Reasonable assumption, since Apple's been known to change camera support formats in ways that "older" software can't use (see my comment about Aperture).

Have you tried Affinity Photo 2 on your newer cameras? If so, did it work? If not, give their demo a try and post the results.

Click to expand...

No I have not tried it. I don't need it as I explained I got v1 for as a backup in case I dropped the Adobe Photo plan and lost PS. I guess purchased software does not last for life.

Click to expand...

Sounds like you've just experienced an example of exactly what I was talking about. It's unfortunate, but that's the way things seem to be. Contrary to your comment, your purchased software does "last for life", but that's different from saying "lasts for life and includes needed updates for things like cameras, OS support, etc.".

Click to expand...

Exactly. Any time I read blanket statements about purchased software lasting for life I say something. It's usually a comparison to subscription. I'm not saying you said a blanket statement. From someone who has experienced this with a few apps people should have all the facts. Good and band for both purchased and subscription.

Useful insights all and thanks for your input. I didn't intentionally ignore the thread, I have just been pretty busy this past couple of weeks.
With regards to licensing, I am under no illusion that a "lifetime" license is really only lifetime for whatever version is out when it is purchased. At this stage most, if not all, software packages have more than I need so having no future updates isn't too much of an issue. The biggest progress for me over the past few years is AI masking - if I can have that in any shape or form then I'll be happy.

I have been slowly returning to Capture One for my editing (I currently have C1 Pro 22) and am quite enjoying it. I do think between it and Pixelmator Pro I would have all my bases covered if I decided to leave Adobe.

I have also realised that I had been letting Adobe's AI do a lot of the work for me and by returning to C1 it has been an enjoyable process. As mentioned, the one thing I will miss is the AI masking but the other AI tools I can honestly take or leave at this stage.

At the minute my plan will be to run C1 and pick up Pixelmator Pro when my Adobe plan expires. I will probably look to get a newer version of C1 this year if it ever goes on sale. I appreciate that even on sale it's a fairly hefty investment but, given that '22 can still do a job for me almost 4 years on, I think even a cost of ~£200 would be worth it in the long run if I get another 4-5 years.