Pixelmator released Photometer 3.0 a couple of weeks ago. This is an extension that works ONL with Apple’s Photos for Mac app, It isn’t a stand-alone app. That’s an important thing to keep in mind before you buy. If you haven’t heard of extensions, it’s similar to a plug-in.

Photometer adds better image editing capabilities – many that remind me of Apple’s Aperture 3 app (yeah – I still miss Aperture). Highlight and shadow recovery is better than what Photos natively produces. The Repair tool is actually VERY good (better than LrC iMHO). Selective masking is good, but not to the current level of LrC. Where Photometer shines is cross-platform integration. Import and start editing on your Mac, continue on the iPad or iPhone (personal opinion – the iPhone is not the ideal platform for editing), and everything syncs.

If you need to do any Photoshop-like editing, Pixelmator provides full integration.

So who’s Photometer for? Someone that uses Photos as their main DAM (Digital Asset Manager) or primarily uses an iPhone as their main camera, and wants to take their images further….or someone looking for an Aperture-like editing experience who doesn’t need/use all of the features of LrC/Photoshop.

Photometer’s roadmap inches adding video editing capabilities.

The jury’s still out as to whether I’m going to plunk down the $69.99 for their lifetime license. Adobe continues to add new capabilities (and oft times irritating bugs), ON1 is set to release a med-term update to ON1 Photo RAW 2023 that adds masking and editing features that look to rival Adobe. …..and who knows hat Skylum will add next to Luminar Neo.

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