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I looking for some image editing software for Mac OS X, particularly a package that's good for creating all the small images you need when doing web and application development, rather than for editing photos.

On Windows I've got Paint.NET, which is free, but rather limited. However, it would be great if there was something similar on the Mac. I am aware of GIMP, but I'm discounting that as it's still an X11 application even on Mac OS X.

If there's nothing good that's free, I'd like to hear people's opinions on Pixelmator, Acorn, and any other low-cost packages, particularly with regard to the uses I mentioned.

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Pixelmator and Acorn are pretty cheap compared to the alternative beast of Photoshop. – jamuraa Jul 22 '09 at 22:35
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Just thought I'd point out that this is question 11111. – jtbandes Jul 22 '09 at 23:19
See also "What is the best Paint-like program for Mac OS X?" at superuser.com/questions/13354/… – Arjan Sep 23 '09 at 22:36
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6 Answers

up vote 8 down vote accepted

Seashore is a Mac application based on GIMP but is a Cocoa application that has an Aqua interface (no X11).

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I think Seashore is the app for a lot of people who like the idea of GIMP but not the implementation. It cuts out a lot of the more advanced functionality but massively improves the interface. Big thumbs up. – Jon Hopkins Jul 28 '09 at 15:58
I didn't actually try Seashore (ended up using GIMP on my PC) but I'm going to accept this as the answer because I tried most of the others and they're all far too simplistic for my stated requirement of editing web site graphics (don't have good enough facilities for editing alpha and masking). – U62 Nov 30 '09 at 18:07
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up vote 18 down vote

I absolutely love Pixelmator for image editing on the mac. It supports most of the features that I need for the type of image editing I do most often. It fits in that low price category at $59.00. I believe there is a 30 day evaluation period so you can try it out before putting up the cash.

My typical uses are more for icon creation, and manipulation of images for use on my website or in one of the apps I'm working on.

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+1 for Pixelmator here too - I find it more than adequate for most image creation/editing tasks. I've used it to create and tweak graphics for my web sites, as well as for my Windows apps. – robsoft Jul 24 '09 at 9:33
I don't know about you but for me, 59 bucks aint exactly cheap.... – RCIX Jul 27 '09 at 5:06
59 dollars is pretty cheap. But Pixelmator isn't the app for me. It falls into the trap, like a lot of image editors, of having a layers palette but missing the channels (which are at least as important) and not offering a good way to edit alpha. I know people love the idea of small/cheap apps that cut out the 'bloat', but if you need features, you need them and no amount of being small/cheap helps with that. – U62 Nov 30 '09 at 18:05
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up vote 5 down vote

I've been really impressed with Acorn.

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Acorn is the only bitmap-based editor I have on my system now. I'm not a graphics person, but for most tasks this has been more than sufficient. – Matthew Schinckel Jul 23 '09 at 5:24
Got it in the MacHeist bundle and don't like it, I'm afraid. – Isaac Waller Jul 23 '09 at 19:54
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Acorn offers a free version - flyingmeat.com/acorn/acornfree.html. That page discusses what is missing from the free version. The free version is still very usable. – Doug Harris Jul 28 '10 at 14:24
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up vote 3 down vote

Is Inkscape an option for you?

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up vote 2 down vote

For really small graphics you might want to try Pixen; for quick cropping, resizing and annotating Skitch. They're both not even in the same ballpark as Photoshop/Pixelmator/Acorn, but often just good enough. And free.

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Skitch probably won't be free after the beta: plasq.com/component/option,com%5Fjoomlaboard/Itemid,55/… – Arjan Jul 27 '09 at 21:35
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up vote 1 down vote

http://www.lemkesoft.com/content/193/key-features.html

What about GraphicConverter? I have used this for years and loved it for the exact work you are mentioning. I think it is $35 bucks to register and there is a demo you can try. Apple even advertises it on their site I believe.

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