How to batch process images with Pixelmator

Pixelmator is an image editor for the Mac that provides a lot of the same functionality as Photoshop for the spectacularly low, one-time fee of $29.99. I’ve been using it more and more for things like retouching and resizing images.

One Photoshop feature I miss, however was batch processing. I especially miss not being able to record actions for batch processing. All is not lost, though. Today I had to crop a bunch of images and discovered that Pixelmator allows for some batch processing with the use of Automator:

For you lazy folks out there:

Some of you don’t care to learn how to do this, so here is my Automator workflow. Just download it and start cropping!

For those of you that like to learn new things…

Lemme show ya how it’s done, son!

Open up Automator

Choose “Workflow”

Put an “Ask for finder items” task into the workflow

Make sure of these two things:

• Type is set to “Files”
• Allow Multiple Selection is checked

Put a “Copy Finder Items” task into the workflow [optional, but keeps you from making an irreversible mistake]

Put a “Crop Images” task into the workflow

Hit the “Run” button!

Here is a screenshot of the workflow in its entirety

Conclusion

It’s a little more tedious than doing a batch process in Photoshop, but it gets the job done. Also, you can save your workflow, or use mine, so the next time you need to crop some images, you don’t have to start from scratch. That’ll save you a bit of time.

• Pixelmator for Mac
• Automator's wikipedia page

• Software