Raw photo workflow with lens corrections -- first time Pixelmator Pro user

Talk about Pixelmator Pro, share tips & tricks, tutorials, and other resources.
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2020-06-05 21:05:03

Hi, I am trialing Pixelmator Pro. I am an experienced raw photo processing software user, but have always had trouble wrapping my mind around PS and similar software, so usually have bad experiences trying them, and then I move back to my raw processor software options.

So far (Day 1) I like what I see.

I see there are no lens corrections. I shoot raw, and like to have my lens distortion and fringing/CA corrections applied.

What is an efficient way for me to shoot raw photos, use Pixelmator Pro, and have lens corrections in my final result? For example, can I somehow use Pixelmator Pro in conjunction with Apple Photos to get this result?

(The thought crossed my mind that Pixelmator Pro uses the Apple Core engine and maybe that engine also applies lens corrections?? Or can be set to do so?)

Thanks
Arg
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2020-06-08 07:17:38

Hi Arg, Pixelmator Pro does use the Apple RAW engine and as long as the particular lenses are supported by that engine, at least the geometric distortion and vignetting should be corrected when opening RAW photos in Pixelmator Pro. Fringing/chromatic aberration is a different matter but we know that for more advanced photography work, it's necessary and it's something we're considering adding in the future.

The only tricky thing is that there doesn't seem to be a public list of supported lenses so we don't know exactly which ones are supported, though most popular ones do seem to be supported.
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2020-06-12 20:59:40

Thanks Andrius, that is certainly good news about distortion and vignetting corrections.

For fringing/CA corrections, what do you think is an efficient way for me to shoot raw photos, use Pixelmator Pro, and have those corrections in my final result?
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2020-06-16 10:18:41

by TN Args 2020-06-12 20:59:40 For fringing/CA corrections, what do you think is an efficient way for me to shoot raw photos, use Pixelmator Pro, and have those corrections in my final result?
If you really need to correct fringing/CA and it isn't corrected automatically by the Apple RAW engine, then there isn't really a way to correct the fringing somewhere else and still edit the RAW in Pixelmator Pro. Of course, if you export a 16-bit image with the basic edits done (like exposure/white balance/etc) in a format such as TIFF from another RAW editor, you can apply the final edits in Pixelmator Pro. But again, for now, you'd probably need another app for things like this, so it's not the most efficient workflow. Still, as I said, we are looking into adding this to Pixelmator Pro! It's just that it's currently more of a potential plan and not yet in development, so it will likely take a little while, even if the plans materialize.
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2020-12-31 07:48:36

any update on correcting chromatic aberrations?

its the only thing that I really miss in this superlative software :smile:
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2021-01-04 17:37:47

by TinyWorkshop 2020-12-31 05:48:36 any update on correcting chromatic aberrations?

its the only thing that I really miss in this superlative software :smile:
This is still more of a "feature for the future" – it's not on our roadmap for the first half of the year, at least. But there are some other great photography-oriented features coming, which I hope is some consolation!
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2021-01-13 18:56:14

@TN and TinyWorkshop.

There is a fully integrated app for RAW editing with Apple Photo's called RawPower. You may want to have a look at it. It's an advanced RAW editor, also using the Raw engine from Apple, However it has advanced controls for Raw-adjustments. (no local adjustments though), Has a.o. Chromatic aberration adjustments, a crop and straighten tool, perspective correction function and LUT-support. All functions, except for the specific RAW-Prosessing features, can also be used for jpeg's tiff's for that matter. I use this one in combination with Pixelmator Pro.
And I must say I use it less since the ML-enhance functions of PP. :wink:
P.S.: Be aware though that you can only edit a RAW in one external editor keeping the edits available when you re-open from Poto's in that editor, the moment you save back to Photo's and open in another editor you will get a jpeg.
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2021-06-05 12:10:46

I would love to have perspective correction!
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2023-12-23 07:46:49

Any news about lens correction? :)
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2024-02-27 19:44:21

Amazing this is still going on. Many threads exist on lens correction and Photomator/pixelmator. The Pixelmator team seems to think that Apple RAW engine does lens correction. I have many canon RF mount lens and I can assure Apple RAW does no lens correction on raw files from my EOS R5 or EOS R7 in conjunction with those RF lenses. With ultra-wide lens this is a huge problem. Namely for me the RF-S 10-18mm and the RF 14-35mm L F4 lens are design assuming lens correction is applied. Apple RAW is not doing anything about it. The Pixelmator team find nothing better to do than pointing to Apple. But Apple RAW is not correction Canon RF lenses. I am looking into dropping Photomator for that reason, it is not a viable RAW editing app. It is an iPhone camera editing app.