If you’re interested in finding a reliable tool for enhancing your images, then setting Pixemator vs Lightroom as rivals will help you determine the better option for your specific needs.
Pixelmator was primarily developed as an image editing and basic retouching solution. That said, this software also offers several features designed for vector drawing, painting, graphic design, and achieving various beautiful effects.
Meanwhile, Lightroom is the industry-leading photo editing software for detailed color correction, image management, and RAW editing. Other than providing a professional-grade selection of features, this software can also be used for saving edited photos in a broad range of formats including such options as Blurb photo books and HTML slideshows.
Image editing features. The set of included non-destructive tools for adjusting the brightness, contrast, and exposure as well as other color parameters are perfect for enhancing your images and videos. This software also lets you work with RAW images while offering an array of editing presets that resemble the ones included in Lightroom.
Automated photo enhancement. Being an automatic photo editor, Pixelmator relies on machine learning technologies that were trained on over 20 million images. As such, this software is capable of performing most essential enhancements automatically.
Layer-based workflow. Pixelmator allows you to employ building elements like text, clips, and image layers to produce different compositions and designs, making it a versatile free Lightroom alternative. Moreover, it lets you adjust the appearance of each layer in a project by leveraging fills, strokes, shadows, or a mix of several techniques.
Selection of vector tools. It is equipped with a wide range of features for producing resolution-adaptable designs. This vector graphic software comes with conveniently adjustable smart shapes, a broad library of premade shapes, and SVG format support.
Useful smart guides. The Arrange tool significantly streamlines the design creation process. It allows users to automatically switch to different layers by clicking on them in the workspace, smartly place layers into position while relocating them and then have all layers be aligned and distributed automatically.
Impressive AI-based features. The aforementioned machine learning tech enables this solution to raise the resolution of your images without losing any sharpness or detail. Additionally, Pixelmator lets you automatically select subjects or can be employed as background removal software.
Stunning realistic brushes. Pixelmator Pro comes with an impressive toolset of more than 100 handmade, dual-texture brushes, allowing you to pick from beautiful paintbrushes, watercolors, markers, pencils, crayons, standard brushes, and an array of other options according to your needs.
Small number of video guides. Compared to Lightroom, which offers a huge amount of tutorials of all kinds, there is only a small number of official tutorials provided by Pixelmator developers.
Restricted compatibility. This solution isn’t always convenient to use when paired with other software and its formatting is often lost in other programs. Moreover, in contrast to Lightroom, Pixelmator is only available on MacOS and iOS.
Clean and minimalistic UI. Lightroom lets you work with 5 modules. The first section is dedicated to importing and managing photos. Other modules let you enhance the images and their colors, design eye-catching slideshows, and print out your images according to user-defined parameters. The software also offers a section designed for conveniently adding webpages for posting your images on the web.
Handy keyboard shortcuts. The broad range of Lightroom keyboard shortcuts lets you significantly streamline the image editing process. While this software offers hundreds of useful hotkey combinations, Pixelmator offers a similar feature.
Single-click actions. You can employ this software to select an individual, animal, or object with just one click. Afterward, you can conveniently enhance the selected area to achieve the desired look a lot faster. Whether you're a seasoned professional or an aspiring enthusiast, Lightroom's single-click actions provide a gateway to polished results without the complexities of manual adjustments. This dynamic feature not only accelerates the editing process but also encourages exploration and experimentation, allowing photographers to focus on their creative vision rather than intricate technicalities.
Full control over the tiniest details. The provided cutting-edge tools enable users to edit photos in Lightroom like a pro. They allow you to smoothen or emphasize textures, get rid of or strengthen haze, mist, and smoke, soften and sharpen specific areas, and much more. Meanwhile, the texture, dehaze, and clarity sliders allow you to quickly enhance the look of your image with minimum effort.
Professional image management. The implemented Adobe Sensei AI technology turns Lightroom into the ultimate solution for storing and managing your photos. It has to be mentioned that Pixelmator isn’t supplied with comparable image management functionality.
Perfectly optimized mobile application. The Lightroom mobile app lets you easily locate and select all the provided tools. The inclusion of HDR effects and curves further increases the usefulness of this application while the ability to enhance RAW photos and apply presets and the fact that it's available on Android makes it the far superior choice compared to Pixelmator.
Pro-grade presets. Lightroom lets you conveniently access an endless array of professional-level, adjustable presets. Thanks to the ability to fine-tune each individual setting, you can always get the exact look and feel you want. Even though Pixelmator also offers presets, they aren’t as realistic.
Doesn’t support layer-based retouching. In contrast to Pixelmator, Lightroom doesn’t support layers, meaning it’s impossible to combine images, design compositions, add text overlays, and so on.
Non-customizable UI. While Lightroom’s UI is set up beautifully and is loved by a lot of people, some users might be disappointed to hear they can’t move around different sections and menus to personalize the interface to their liking.
Pixelmator offers a free trial that allows you to try out all the provided tools without any limitations for 7 days. Once that period ends, Pixelmator Pro is available for a single-time payment of $49.99.
Adobe Lightroom invites you to choose from 3 plans. The Lightroom Plan includes this solution as a dedicated app along with Lightroom for mobile and web, Adobe Portfolio, and 1TB of cloud storage – all for a monthly fee of $9.99.
The Photography Plan expands the previous plan by also including Photoshop and an additional 1TB of cloud storage. This option will send you back $19.99 a month.
Finally, the All-Apps Plan contains all Adobe products as well as 100GB of cloud storage and useful step-by-step guides, while being available for $54.99 per month.
Pixelmator is beginner-friendly with convenient and efficient functionality. After you have successfully mastered all the necessary photo editing skills, you can leverage the provided advanced tools to further streamline your workflow.
Lightroom is a full-fledged RAW photo editor that will take you through all the stages of a photographer’s workflow from capturing a photo to editing it and exporting the result.
In contrast to Pixelmator, this solution was developed for professional photographers who regularly deal with hundreds of images and need to enhance all of them without lowering their quality.
