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All four features, as well as the ability to snap to guids and grids, are among the most requested by users, and arguably among the most significant additions to the application since its first release last year. As a number of commentators on the Pixelmator blog have suggested, the application can now be considered as a serious alternative to Photoshop, certainly for non-professional users.

Pixelmator 1.2 also includes a Color Balance tool, while the Auto Enhance tool replaces Auto Levels, Auto Colors and Auto

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Contrast. The Lasso tool gets a polygonal option, while the Transform tools and Automator actions have been rewritten from scratch. Compability with Photoshop .psd files and Quick Look has been improved.

Pixelmator 1.2 is a free upgrade for registered users; the application costs $59.

Acorn

A year ago, image editing on the Mac was pretty-much Photoshop or nothing. But the likes of Pixelmator and Acorn have changed that, and with Iris to come, things can only get better (not to mention the powerful tools in iPhoto, Aperture and Lightroom.

Acorn 1.2 adds several new features, including an Offset filter, New Layer with Selection option, Overlay blend mode for layers, drag and drop of images to creare new layers, an intelligent "fancy" crop tool and JPEG 2000 support.