First up on the Pixelmator tour is the tools palette. To me, one of Pixelmator’s strengths is its beautiful user interface. The first place that is evidenced is in the tools palette. The tools are colorful and set on a dark gray background which helps them really pop.
One of the first things you will notice when a tool is selected is a size increase in that tool. This is a great indicator for which tool you are working with and is an example of the nice touches in this program. Another palette that is used in conjunction with the tool palette is contextual palette that changes options depending on the tool. This is something that users of Apple’s pro products will be familiar with. In fact, my only criticism of the tools palette is that the Move tool, Crop tool, and Type tool are a little hard to see on the dark background and could use some contrast.
There are no big surprises about the collection of tools. For the most part, you see the usual suspects here that you see in Photoshop or Fireworks. One noticeable difference is the separation of the rectangular and elliptical marquee. Also, there is a lack of a true airbrush tool though the same effect can be achieved by adjusting the opacity of the Brush tool along with the softness of the brush edge.
All in all, this is a great implementation of a tools palette and the developers have done a good job of adding some thoughtful design touches that are actually useful.
Pixelmator is available now for $59 and there is also a 30-day demo so you can try before you buy.
JM
