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I want to love it, I really do, but... 
Adobe Photoshop. A program that is as necessary in a webdesigners life as bread and milk (and some sleep once in a while), but can be painstakingly complicated and kind of a resource-hog in my opinion (and I'm not the only one who thinks so).
In the process of improving my workflow, I try to figure out if there are any alternatives that are better then the programs I'm using tight now. Using photoshop, I always realise (everytime...) that I probably use only 10% of photoshops features. As I still am limited to a CS3 version that works on PC only, upgrading is going to be a costly thing, and I'm not that much of a big-budget, high-earning webdesigner (it is more of a passtime that spun out of control). So, I'm looking for some alternatives. In a past far, far away I remember using Gimp in a linux-exploring-adventure, but that couldn't really hold my attention for a long time.
As I recently bought my first MacBook I now have a whole different range of applications to explore, which is quite interesting. During one of my quests for new software I stumbled upon pixelmator (http://www.pixelmator.com/). And darn, I loved it at first sight. Their website is absolutely beautiful, clear without corporate jibber jabber, and the software itself looks amazingly fresh.
Downloaded a trial, and the full version is only ¤44, which is not a lot, so it's worth giving a try. First impression: it is not 'windowed' (photoshop is), but hitting the F-key hides everything else and just shows your canvas and tools. Though not as handy as photoshop, this is not so much of a major problem, so I continued.
The pixelmator interface-screenshot (grabbed from their website) in the pixelmators full view (that's some recursion there).
All the features I need are available, but one... that is really missed. I can't make any shapes! No rectangles, circles, nothing, which seems quite strange to me, and is definitely a dealbreaker. Seriously, why not add these? It would make the program PERFECT for a webdesigner, but now it's more like a slightly extended Photoshop Elements.
Of course, we can't have it all for 44 euro's, but this program was so close to being perfect I almost feel sad it cant satisfy my needs. I love the program, the website, the price/functionality ratio, but it is just not usable in my workflow... a shame.
Pixelmator: I want to love you, I really do, but you let me down on just that one thing I miss in your featureset... the quest continues.
In the process of improving my workflow, I try to figure out if there are any alternatives that are better then the programs I'm using tight now. Using photoshop, I always realise (everytime...) that I probably use only 10% of photoshops features. As I still am limited to a CS3 version that works on PC only, upgrading is going to be a costly thing, and I'm not that much of a big-budget, high-earning webdesigner (it is more of a passtime that spun out of control). So, I'm looking for some alternatives. In a past far, far away I remember using Gimp in a linux-exploring-adventure, but that couldn't really hold my attention for a long time.
As I recently bought my first MacBook I now have a whole different range of applications to explore, which is quite interesting. During one of my quests for new software I stumbled upon pixelmator (http://www.pixelmator.com/). And darn, I loved it at first sight. Their website is absolutely beautiful, clear without corporate jibber jabber, and the software itself looks amazingly fresh.
Downloaded a trial, and the full version is only ¤44, which is not a lot, so it's worth giving a try. First impression: it is not 'windowed' (photoshop is), but hitting the F-key hides everything else and just shows your canvas and tools. Though not as handy as photoshop, this is not so much of a major problem, so I continued.
The pixelmator interface-screenshot (grabbed from their website) in the pixelmators full view (that's some recursion there).
All the features I need are available, but one... that is really missed. I can't make any shapes! No rectangles, circles, nothing, which seems quite strange to me, and is definitely a dealbreaker. Seriously, why not add these? It would make the program PERFECT for a webdesigner, but now it's more like a slightly extended Photoshop Elements.
Of course, we can't have it all for 44 euro's, but this program was so close to being perfect I almost feel sad it cant satisfy my needs. I love the program, the website, the price/functionality ratio, but it is just not usable in my workflow... a shame.
Pixelmator: I want to love you, I really do, but you let me down on just that one thing I miss in your featureset... the quest continues.