One of my favorite applications will see a major revision next week, as the Pixelmator Team updates it image editor, Pixelmator. I’ve made no secret of how much I like Pixelmator, so I thought I’d put the new version through its paces and see how it works. I’ve been using the beta version of Pixelmator 1.5 for a little while now on Mac OS X Leopard and Snow Leopard with no issues whatsoever. In fact, like most applications, I’ve found that Pixelmator is a bit snappier on Snow Leopard.

Even though the version I’ve been using is a beta, I haven’t had a single crash on Snow Leopard. That’s important considering a lot of people are wondering about compatibility issues with Snow Leopard’s recent release.

I’m not what you would call a professional graphic designer. Actually, I’m pretty far away from that. However, I have an image editor open all day, everyday.

Working on the Web, I often have to do simple tasks like resize images for stories, add layers to make an image look the way I want, or trim pieces of a picture that I want to use. While not the tasks of pros, it’s still important to get it done right.

Pixelmator does that and more. At 88MB, the application takes up almost no room on the hard drive, but it offers a lot of power. It also offers a very modern look and feel, and an interface that immediately seems familiar.

The tools palette on the lefthand side features common tools that you would expect to find in a high-end image editor like Marquee, Move, Lasso, Clone Stamp, Paint Bucket and Color Picker, among many others.

There are also palette’s for Tool Options, Brushes, Swatches and Layers, Masks and others that you can show and hide, depending on your workflow. Basically everything you need is a click away.

Version 1.5 adds many new features like Trim, a Slice Tool, the ability to send an image directly to Mail or iPhoto and a Save for Web option, among many others.

Pixelmator is most definitely a consumer-friendly app. Having said that, don’t think it doesn’t have a lot of power because it does. You can do masks and multiple layers, as well as over 100 filters.

What this application does well is offer a little bit for everyone. For instance, you can manually adjust the levels and contrast of an image if you’re used to those types of tools. However, if you’re not, Pixelmator offers an Auto Enhance option that will use its own algorithms to help you fix the image.

Now, you may be wondering what the difference is between Pixelmator and Photoshop. Well, there’s a lot of differences.

If there were one change I could make to Pixelmator, I would add the option to have a single window interface. Some people don’t like it, but I’m a big fan of it.

I don’t think the Pixelmator Team is positioning the app as a replacement for Photoshop, but it is a worthy alternative. Photoshop is still the king for the high-end crowd and always will be, but it’s nice to see an app built for Mac OS X that can handle simple and complex tasks.

I’ve been using Pixelmator since it was first released and it is still one of my favortie apps.