Pixelmator Pro adds the ability to export complex graphics to Motion including vectors and image masks.
This year at the Pixelmator Team, we've made a point of improving support for Apple pro apps. We started with Final Cut Pro and support for LUTs, then we added the ability to export PSDs specifically optimized for FCP.
We had some great feedback about these features and that inspired us to keep looking for more ways to make Pixelmator Pro an even bigger part of the Apple pro app ecosystem. And this time, it's Motion's turn – with today's update, Pixelmator Pro can now export files in Motion format, opening up all-new possibilities and workflows for Final Cut Pro and Motion users.
Naturally, you can now use Pixelmator Pro to create illustrations and export those for use in Motion to create titles, templates, or other motion graphics. Or, you can take graphics you've already made in Pixelmator Pro and animate them without having to recreate the graphics again in Motion.
And that's certainly very cool! But maybe the coolest thing about all of this is the fact that Pixelmator Pro has great support for SVG files. So, say a designer sends you an illustration that you need to animate in Motion, all you need to do now is open that illustration up in Pixelmator Pro and export it in Motion format, saving you tons of time.
We've also gone pretty deep with how much of the Motion format we support. We've got support for:
1. Motion text and shape
This one's the most obvious thing to have and it was priority number one – it's how this whole journey began.
2. Complex shapes with holes
The term "complex shapes" here means shapes with other shapes subtracted from them. Motion doesn't have this variety of shapes but they are a basic vector feature, so to make the experience truly great, we had to find a way to work around this. So, we added support for complex shapes using vector masks! This one's super important for displaying more complex illustrations, so we're very happy we were able to do it.
3. Image layers
We were planning to only add support for vectors in Motion but, at the beta testing stage, we had quite a few request for image layers too.
4. Image masks
Again, as we weren't planning to add support for image layers, image masks weren't in our plans. However, as we added support for image layers, we decided we could do this too. Image masks on all layer types are supported!
5. Drop shadows
Drop shadows applied to layers using the Style tool will be converted to drop shadows in Motion.
6. Nondestructive Gaussian blur
If you apply a Gaussian blur using the Effects tool in Pixelmator Pro, it will be preserved when you export it to Motion.
7. Shortcuts action to export to Motion
Pixelmator Pro features a huge number of Shortcuts actions, including a Convert Image action that lets you convert between different image formats. And you can now use that action to convert files to Motion format!
8. Smart SVG conversion
We know the kinds of features Motion has and how they're used, so when converting an SVG file to Motion format, we worked hard to make sure to preserve as much of it visually as we can.
9. Text on a path
We've got text on a path, Motion has text on a path, so it seemed like a no-brainer. Super happy we were able to add this too.
If you're a Final Cut Pro or Motion user who's going to be checking out Pixelmator Pro for the first time because of this update, welcome! We're glad to have you on board. We hope you'll love the update and, if you have any feedback or suggestions, we'd love to hear them. And stay tuned for more great updates in the future!
