Apple Mac HQ

If you’re looking for an alternative to Adobe Photoshop, give Pixelmator a try. I received Pixelmator as part of the MacHeist bundle and for the few times I’ve used it I’ve been pleased. Pixelmator has been easy to use and performed what I needed with minimal effort. I’m certainly no expert with graphics programs, but the point is that when I’ve needed to do something it hasn’t been hard with Pixelmator.

Pixelmator is currently on sale via the MacUpdate Promo. Pixelmator retails for $60 but you can get it today only for $30. Pixelmator works on both Tiger and Leopard but some features are Leopard only.

According to TUAW, the Core Image based graphic editor Pixelmator will be part of the upcoming MacHeist software bundle. This is pretty significant since the price of Pixelmator alone is $59. On January 9th, the remainder of the applications included in the bundle will be revealed. The bundle price will be the same as last year ($49).

If you’re unfamiliar with Pixelmator, it’s a graphic editor based on the Core Image technology built into OS X. Pixelmator is a layer based image editor that includes over 100 filters, graphics tablet support, and more. If you can’t afford Photoshop or don’t want to take the time to learn it, Pixelmator might be the alternative you are looking for.

MacHeist is a little more difficult to explain. MacHeist is like a multi-day internet scavenger hunt. Every week or so for the past month, MacHeist has posted various “missions” for you to solve. The missions often involve some real world sleuthing (Chicago was one city involved) in addition to some clever puzzles that need solving in order to complete the mission. At the end of the mission you receive a code to unlock the “loot”. The loot is in the form of a discount on the software bundle and some nice shareware applications. Among the free shareware applications so far included in the loot, Podcast Maker, Wallet, Mousepose, Runic, and more.

I’ve gone through some of the MacHeist missions and they are pretty creative. If you want to solve them by yourself, you’re going to have to set aside some time. I have gone through some of the steps, but usually get help from the forum to solve the mission. If the recent announcement that Pixelmator will be included in the bundle is true, I’ll be lining up to buy the bundle when it’s released. I hope MacHeist 2 is a success for both the developers and the MacHeist folks.

If your holiday shopping involves a Mac user, you might want to check out the Give Good Food To Your Mac promotion put on by a group of European Mac developers. While at WWDC this year, a group of developers came together and hatched the idea of a “great Mac feast with Mac apps made by the top European developers”. Give Good Food To Your Mac is the result of the idea seeded at WWDC this year.

The idea of Give Good Food To Your Mac is fairly simple. Choose any combination of the 28 applications available and receive a discount when you purchase three or more. As you add more applications to your shopping cart, the discount grows. Purchase three applications and you’ll trigger the 30% discount. Purchase 10 applications and you’ll receive a 70% discount. Discounts range from 30-70 percent.

The following applications are part of the promotion:

-Unity Indie
-Tables
-Pixelmator
-Together
-Feeder
-FotoMagico Express
-Art Text
-Money
-FreeWay 4 Express
-FreeWay 4 Pro
-RapidWeaver
-Merlin
-Geophoto
-Contactizer Express
-Contactizer Pro
-CSSEdit
-PulpMotion
-VideoPier
-BannerZest
-Cheetah3D
-iStopMotion Home
-Expert Wine Cellar
-iDive
-Morphage
-Magnet
-CoverScout
-Personal Trader
-Remote Buddy

I don’t own any of the applications in the promotion, but I’ve been testing CSSEdit for a while now and I’m likely to buy it. With this promotion offer, I’m going to give RapidWeaver and Pixelmator a try too.