Less than a month after Pixelmator Pro 2.2 was released, Pixelmator Pro 2.3 is now available on the Mac App Store. The latest update, codenamed Abracadabra ‘because it’s totally magic,’ adds a ton of new features to the app including automatic background removal, automatic subject selection, and more.
Pixelmator Pro 2.3 now available on the Mac App Store
In a blog post announcing the update, the app’s developers say that users can now “magically” remove the background from any image with just a click. The new feature uses a convolutional neural network to find the subject in an image and automatically remove its background. The Remove Background feature is also available in the Finder app as a Quick Action.
In addition to the Magic Background Eraser, there is a new AI-powered Decontaminate Colors feature that can remove traces of previous backgrounds around the edges of objects allowing them to blend seamlessly with any new background. Decontaminate Colors is usually applied automatically but users can also apply it manually to any layer, even to ones that have been cut out in other apps.
Another new feature is Automatic Subject Selection which allows users to make a selection of the subject of any image with just a click. If users would like to refine that selection down, the new update also features a Select and Mask tool which makes it possible to select objects with very complex edges like hair and fur.
The Smart Refine feature has also been redesigned in this update allowing users to go from a rough outline to a perfect selection with just a single click. A new Refine Edge Brush can be used to go over tricky edge areas to perfect every single area in an image.
These new features are powered by a set of machine learning algorithms the Pixelmator team spent the last 12 months developing which makes them work more efficiently on the latest M1-powered Macs. The update also includes a few smaller changes like the ability to specify custom export sizes and scales in the Export dialog, updated actions in the Shortcuts app, and more.
Version 2.3 is available as a free update for existing Pixelmator Pro users. New users can take advantage of a 50% discount off the app’s $39.99 price tag in the Mac App Store right now.
