Pixelmator Pro gets Motion file format support

Discuss the latest Pixelmator news.
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2021-12-22 15:05:51

We’ve been spoiling you with updates recently – and we love doing it – so we’re very excited to say that, today, we’ve got a cherry on top of the 2021 cake for Pixelmator Pro. Today’s update brings the ability to export files to Apple’s motion graphics tool, the aptly-named Motion. Now, if you don’t use Motion, that might not sound like such a big deal to you, but hiding behind the headline is another equally big improvement for all Pixelmator Pro users: completely reengineered support for SVG files. Intrigued? Read on for all the details.
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Read the full blog post here.
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2021-12-22 15:30:47

So cool. I was an early cheerer of Pixelmator Pro's SVG support, and I've been a Motion enthusiast since before the original Pixelmator. So, again, thank you to the team. 🍍
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2021-12-22 15:50:28

Boom! Thank you for another great update, Pixelmator team!
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2021-12-22 15:56:50

Any video tutorial that would show example?
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2021-12-22 15:58:51

by Starfia 2021-12-22 12:31:24 So cool. I was an early cheerer of Pixelmator Pro's SVG support, and I've been a Motion enthusiast since before the original Pixelmator. So, again, thank you to the team. 🍍
Thank you, I'll pass on your appreciation to the rest of the team!

P.S. Hopefully next year we can improve the vector tools themselves to be able to support even more of the SVG format.
by Harris 2021-12-22 12:51:28 Boom! Thank you for another great update, Pixelmator team!
Cheers, Harris!
by Noise 2021-12-21 21:00:00 Any video tutorial that would show example?
With the Pixelmator Photo for iPhone release, we didn't have much time to create any tutorials ourselves, but there's an in-depth video from the fantastic Ripple Training: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AthuaAQqzk (I'll add a link to this in the blog post in just a second).
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2021-12-22 17:24:19

The evolution of Pixelmator Pro in this last year was amazing! The integration with Motion surprised me a lot, congratulations!
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2021-12-22 19:36:49

Outstanding! Thank you!
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2021-12-23 10:23:37

Pixelmator Team You are incredible! :heart_eyes:

Just last week I was looking for a way to import vector graphics into Motion. And this is where it is :party_face:


P.S. With this update, the ability to format a stroke in to a shape is gone :(.
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2021-12-24 01:34:09

Oh yes!!!!!! This is amazing! I saw this demoed by apple at the FCP summit last month, it looked really exciting, and now it's finally here 🥳🥳🥳 this is awesome and I can't wait to use it in a project! I think this is the best update yet... Thanks and Merry Christmas guys, you worked hard this year!
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2021-12-28 12:22:46

I was very interested when I heard about the Apple Motion support in Pixelmator Pro. But I soon got very disappointed as it does not work in all cases. I made a quick image in Pixelmator Pro with layers and effects such as stroke. I then exported it to Motion and I do say, what a surprise. When I opened it in Motion: Fiasco, is the word. When I exported the image as a PSD file and made a new Motion document, imported it there, it worked brilliantly. So it seems your work was a waste of time. Exporting a PSD file and then importing it into a new Motion document with the layers intact (Motion asks you if you want to merge layers, import them all or individual layers) has worked for a long time together with Adobe Photoshop, Affinity Photo, Affinity Designer. As in Pixelmator Pro, but NOT as an exported Motion file to be opened in Motion. It seems as if your new technique erases a lot of effects created in Pixelmator Pro. Why this? Now I enclose three photos, one is the original document from Pixelmator Pro, one is the result after using Pixelmator Pro's new technique to export a Motion format and one showing the result when exporting the file as a PSD file and then starting a new Motion document and importing the document with all layers.

Image

Image

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How about that?

PS/ When I open an SVG file in Pixelmator Pro, it makes my healthy iMac EXTREMELY slow. EXTREMELY! In Photoshop it is VERY fast.

Here are some nuts to be cracked in the coming year! I love Pixelmator Pro, but not 100% as you understand.

Happy New Weaving in 2022!
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2021-12-30 09:03:53

I bought Pixelmator Pro for the sole purpose of getting vector graphics into Apple Motion. And I must say I am super happy with what you have accomplished so far.

I currently have a lot of my designs in the Affinity Designer file format, so I think my work flow will be something like this:

- Prepare the graphics in Affinity before exporting to SVG (making sure that the exported file does not contain anything that becomes rasterised).

- Open (and adjust) the file in Pixelmator Pro and export to Motion format.

- Open the exported file in Motion and copy the graphics into my working project.

- Images and layered PSD files I will probably handle separately at first. Maybe that will change when I am more experienced using Pixelmator Pro.
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2022-01-03 09:12:28

by Republiken 2021-12-28 10:22:46 I was very interested when I heard about the Apple Motion support in Pixelmator Pro. But I soon got very disappointed as it does not work in all cases. I made a quick image in Pixelmator Pro with layers and effects such as stroke. I then exported it to Motion and I do say, what a surprise. When I opened it in Motion: Fiasco, is the word. When I exported the image as a PSD file and made a new Motion document, imported it there, it worked brilliantly. So it seems your work was a waste of time. Exporting a PSD file and then importing it into a new Motion document with the layers intact (Motion asks you if you want to merge layers, import them all or individual layers) has worked for a long time together with Adobe Photoshop, Affinity Photo, Affinity Designer. As in Pixelmator Pro, but NOT as an exported Motion file to be opened in Motion. It seems as if your new technique erases a lot of effects created in Pixelmator Pro. Why this? Now I enclose three photos, one is the original document from Pixelmator Pro, one is the result after using Pixelmator Pro's new technique to export a Motion format and one showing the result when exporting the file as a PSD file and then starting a new Motion document and importing the document with all layers.

How about that?

PS/ When I open an SVG file in Pixelmator Pro, it makes my healthy iMac EXTREMELY slow. EXTREMELY! In Photoshop it is VERY fast.

Here are some nuts to be cracked in the coming year! I love Pixelmator Pro, but not 100% as you understand.

Happy New Weaving in 2022!
Hi there! The reason for the difference you're seeing is that, when exporting to Motion, we try to preserve vector shapes at all costs as we feel that's the main thing users would want to keep. However, Motion does not have all of the same effects and features that Pixelmator Pro does, so when these are applied, instead of turning the layers into pixels, we simply remove those effects and preserve vectors. In hindsight, it would make sense to include a warning that this is about to happen and maybe give you an option to turn such vector layers into pixels if you want to. We'll keep this in mind.

As for the slow SVG files – could you click View > Show Document Info and let me know how many layers your SVG files have?
by tgr 2021-12-30 07:03:53 I bought Pixelmator Pro for the sole purpose of getting vector graphics into Apple Motion. And I must say I am super happy with what you have accomplished so far.

I currently have a lot of my designs in the Affinity Designer file format, so I think my work flow will be something like this:

- Prepare the graphics in Affinity before exporting to SVG (making sure that the exported file does not contain anything that becomes rasterised).

- Open (and adjust) the file in Pixelmator Pro and export to Motion format.

- Open the exported file in Motion and copy the graphics into my working project.

- Images and layered PSD files I will probably handle separately at first. Maybe that will change when I am more experienced using Pixelmator Pro.
Sweet, let us know how it goes!
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2022-01-04 12:30:33

Hi there, Andrius!

Thank you for your kind answer! And your good explanation of why I got into trouble when testing the Export to Motion option. I now understand very well.

Maybe it could be a good idea to let users decide if they want to export only SVG contents or designs containing pixels.

It is possible to make some very fine designs using pixels in Pixelmator Pro...

When it comes to SVG and they being very slow, I do not remember which file I used. I promise to get back on that!

Until then, cheers!

Helge.
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2022-01-04 14:47:50

Andrius, I am back now. You asked about the SVG file, how many layers it had. Well, I got it from a place where there are various free images. Wanted to test it in Pixelmator Pro. I never thought about layers, thought all SVG were lightweight. The image had some 360 layers (!), so there was a considerable amount of stuff to carry around in the rucksack. I would personally never make such an SVG. But the question of course might be asked that because Adobe Photoshop did not open the file with individual layers, may have made the file easier (quicker) to move there. Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer did open the file and with layers but made a complete mess of it all. The details in the image had been moved around. All other SVG files are easy to move in Pixelmator Pro.

Is there a limit as to how many layers there can be in an SVG file in Pixelmator Pro?
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2022-02-15 06:18:27

Robust SVG support is the main reason I switched over to Pro. I'm glad to see that you're continuing to add enhancements. Great work! :)