Pixelmator has announced that it is being acquired by Apple. The Pixelmator Pro and Photomator image editors will join Apple’s collection of premium creative apps, pending regulatory approval.

From its inception, Pixelmator has been praised for its Apple-inspired design language and deep integration with Apple Photos. The company’s creative apps feel like they were made by Apple. So, in that sense, the acquisition isn’t much of a surprise—we saw something similar when the company absorbed Workflow in 2017.

But we did not expect Apple to gobble up one of Adobe’s competitors. Yes, Apple and Adobe have had a rocky decades-long relationship, but they are generally perceived as allies. Photoshop and Lightroom are partially responsible for Apple’s dominance in the creative industry, and visual artists often cite Adobe app performance as their primary reason for buying a Mac or iPad.

“Pixelmator has signed an agreement to be acquired by Apple, subject to regulatory approval. There will be no material changes to the Pixelmator Pro, Pixelmator for iOS, and Photomator apps at this time … We’ve been inspired by Apple since day one, crafting our products with the same razor-sharp focus on design, ease of use, and performance … Now, we’ll have the ability to reach an even wider audience and make an even bigger impact on the lives of creative people around the world.”

Pixelmator Pro and Photomator are fairly powerful apps for raster and vector editing. They could easily replace Photoshop, Lightroom, or Illustrator in a creative’s workflow, so long as that creative is willing to sacrifice some advanced functionality and familiarize themselves with a new interface. Now that these apps are backed by Apple, graphic designers and photographers may be more inclined to take the leap, especially as new functionality and OS integrations come around. It’s an interesting situation, to say the least.

This isn’t to say that Apple is about to put Adobe out of business—we’re just getting some much-needed competition. And I don’t expect Apple to give away these apps for free. Instead, Pixelmator Pro and Photomator will probably follow in the footsteps of the Logic Pro, an Apple-owned digital audio workstation that’s competitively priced, not free.

Let’s just hope that Pixelmator gets the Logic Pro or Final Cut Pro treatment. Apple’s last professional photo editing app, called Aperture, was neglected and died a sad death.

The acquisition was announced by the Pixelmator team in a short blog post on November 1st. Apple is yet to comment on the deal, though the Pixelmator team promises that there will be no immediate “material changes” to its apps.

Source: Pixelmator