Those of us that like photography know that we always need a good photo editor at our side in order to add the best effects to our images. Since Photoshop is still quite expensive for the average user, looking for an online alternative is indeed recommended, and the best one until now is definitely Pixlr. Available at https://pixlr.com, this unique, web based solution provided us with a great, free way to edit our images quickly and with complete efficiency. However, many people wanted to access the functionality of this application on a desktop computer and Autodesk listened to them, since they recently launched Pixlr Desktop for both Windows and Mac.
The desktop version of Pixlr is quite similar to the mobile version of the web app since it brings most of the amazing tools that made it such a hit. From great filters to impressive effects, all of these can be used to spruce up your photos. We like the fact that any person with enough computer usage can modify the images with ease, so there’s no need for any previous training or experiences. There are also some new features that are brought into the mix by the desktop version, such as the double exposure option for example. In addition to that, you can now also access a unique influences mask that makes it easy to correct your images, edit them in advanced mode or create beautiful artworks without any hassle.
The application is available free of charge, but the download is mainly a starter edition. It does bring most of the features included in the web applications, and in order to access them you just need to open a Pixlr account which is free of charge. However, if you need to access the advanced masking tools as well as other features for professionals then you will have to pay a Pro membership.
Thanks to the benefits of desktop platforms, the app can now output at higher resolutions and use much clearer fonts. The result is an even more impressive image output. From our experience the desktop app runs as great as the mobile and web applications. All commands are received instantly and you can immediately see the changes of the filter, effect or mask that you placed.
Autodesk has also announced that they have planned to release a new set of effects for all versions of Pixlr, so the web, desktop and mobile apps will soon make it easy for you to spruce up your images and make them even more impressive.
The Pro subscription is quite cheap, since it costs only $1.99 per month, and it’s more than worth it for professionals or even people that want to modify images professionally. For the Mac version you do need the latest operating system, which is a letdown, but if you have a Windows based workstation you will need at least Windows 7 or later.
The release of Pixlr Desktop took us by surprise since it wasn’t announced, yet many fans of the web app have been waiting its release for years now. We found the app as being very easy to use, professional and with a cheap subscription, so this might very well become a competitor of Photoshop, especially aided by the numerous extensions it will receive in the future.
If you want to download the app, you can go to https://pixlr.com/desktop or to https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/autodesk-pixlr/id880663569?mt=12 for the Mac version.
Photo credit: Autodesk / Cubmundo
