Optimal workflow for raw image review and edit?

Talk about Pixelmator Pro, share tips & tricks, tutorials, and other resources.
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2021-07-09 19:34:54

Hello all, new Pixelmator user here. I am an photo enthusiast using an Olympus M43 setup currently. In my collection are many raw files from several cameras including full frame Canon's. Most recently I have been using Lightroom which enabled me to review a folder of raw files and select which ones to process, apply the required edits for those files and then batch process them to create my jpg's or other format.

I am very interested to learn how to get more efficient with Pixelmator since right now I am NOT making good head way. Struggling to get an efficient process.

I see your instructions on how to use automator which might be okay just to create the jpg's but image review and edit has to be specific to each image and NOT so generic. Am I missing something?
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2021-07-12 07:26:27

Hey Richard. So you're essentially looking for a file manager? Pixelmator Pro doesn't really offer one at the moment, so the next best thing would be taking advantage of the macOS Photos app. You can use Photos to browse and preview your photos, then edit them using the Pixelmator Pro extension — all of that without leaving the Photos app.
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2021-07-12 10:40:19

I didn't really think that was what I was looking for... but maybe that is... I never used the Photos app much on my Mac before. I had imported my photos into the library so they are visible there. Are you suggesting I use that Photos app to select which photos to edit and then right click and choose "Edit with" to get to Pixelmator Pro? Is there a way to hold the edited files and process them with the selected edits in a batch? Or is the process:
1. Select a Photo
2. Open in PP
3. Apply edits to the RAW file
4. Export that single file with selected options

Thanks for your input.
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2021-07-14 13:45:14

Are you suggesting I use that Photos app to select which photos to edit and then right click and choose "Edit with" to get to Pixelmator Pro?
That's another option you can open images in Pixelmator Pro but due to certain limitations, it won't work with RAW files. RAW files will be automatically converted to TIFFs. What I had in mind was the Pixelmator Pro Photos extension. You can access it in Photos here:

Image

You can copy and paste your custom color adjustments from one Photo to another both in the standalone app and the extension but processing multiple images at a time would have to be done outside Pixelmator Pro. Using Automator or more advanced AppleScript are the two batch processig methods you can go for.