Software & Apps Design Editing Text in Pixelmator Use an image editor to edit images and a text editor to edit text by Ian Pullen Writer Ian Pullen is a former Lifewire writer and an experienced graphic designer and web developer with a strong interest in free and open-source graphics software. our editorial process LinkedIn Ian Pullen Updated on July 21, 2019 Tweet Share Email Design Graphic Design Photoshop Animation & Video 3D Design An age-old dilemma for graphic designers flows from tool choice. If you're working with an asset that's both image- and text-heavy, should you rely on an image editor or a text editor? Pixelmator for Mac rightfully enjoys its sterling reputation as an image editor, but its ability to fine-tune text elements isn't as robust as, say, Adobe InDesign. Editing Text in an Image Asset Consider a project like a full-page flyer for a community event. The flyer must include several photos and intricate design motifs, but also supply a considerable amount of textual information about the event. As a designer, you enjoy several different approaches to completing the work: Use a single application (e.g., Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Inkscape, Scribus, Pixelmator, GIMP) to complete the entire project — and accept the relative capabilities of each app Use best-of-breed applications for each component of the project, then assembling them in a tool like Adobe InDesign Working offline (e.g., with physical media) and capturing the result with high-resolution photography There's no one right way to approach the work. However, relying on a single application leaves you dependent on that app's relative mix of strengths and weaknesses. In general, apps that are optimized for image editing — like Pixelmator or Illustrator or Photoshop — offer robust features for adjusting the visual display of the media asset. But most image-editing apps offer "good enough" text-editing capabilities. For example, Pixelmator supports the placement of overlay text, with functions to adjust the typeface, point size, color, placement, and related data. But more sophisticated text-edit functions (kerning and leading, for example) aren't supported. Conversely, apps that handle text well, like Adobe InDesign, cannot effect the subtle tweaks to images that an app like Pixelmator can. Editing Text in Pixelmator Pixelmator Pro supports a wide range of text-editing features, including font customization, alignment adjustments, spacing and baseline adjustments, emoji, and advanced typographical features like ligatures and glyphs. To get started, click the Text icon (it looks like the letter T) from the Tools palette. Click View > Show Tools if you cannot see the palette. Inserting text actually inserts a new layer in the document, so if you're proficient with layers-based editing, you'll be right at home. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You're in! Thanks for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. Thank you for signing up. Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit