Ayup! I’ve been using Photomator on and off for a while now. Since I returned to using my iPhone for photography, though, it’s become my most-used editing app.
Paired with shooting Apple ProRAW, it’s producing some really rather pleasing results. If you’re a) an Apple user and b) looking for a viable Lightroom alternative, this one’s for you!
Photomator is a powerful yet easy-to-use photo editor for Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Vision Pro. It includes an extensive collection of powerful color adjustments, support for over 750 RAW image formats, a magical Repair tool for removing unwanted objects, and much more.
iPhone + Photomator
There are two main appeals with this combo. Firstly, the flawless integration with Apple Photos and iCloud. Secondly, the ability to make your iPhone photos look a little less like iPhone photos.
Of course, you can do the latter in any decent editing app. To me, though, Photomator just works so well with syncing/handling ProRAW files. I like to shoot on the phone and edit on the laptop. If you have your photos synced to iCloud, they’ll be available in Photomator as soon as they’re in your Photos library. Happy days!
Photomator is far more capable than I expected. It supports full RAW editing, reliable masking, and a strong library of presets and LUTs, making it a clear step up from Apple’s basic Photos app in both control and output quality.
Color grading is particularly well done, with dedicated tools for refining highlights, midtones, and shadows, alongside curves and a solid HSL editor for more deliberate color work.
One-Click Edit
Similar to Lightroom, Photomator comes with a bunch of built-in presets. Granted, nowhere near as many, but more than enough for most folks. For any photos that simply need a quick touch-up, they’re ideal. Most collections have between 4 and 6 looks to choose from.
- BW (Black and White) – 4
- CN (Cinematic) – 5
- CF (Classic Films) – 5
- MF (Modern Films) – 6
- LS (Landscape) – 5
- VN (Vintage) – 5
- UR (Urban) – 5
- NX (Night) – 5
- PX (Pixelmator Pro) – 13
Often, these also provide a solid starting point. One thing I missed in Affinity is being able to flick through different presets just to get an idea of the direction you want to take.
Want even more options? You can create your own presets or even import LUTs. The possibilities are endless.
Photomator uses LUTs and Adjustment Presets. A LUT is basically a custom color adjustment setting for a photo that you can apply with a click. But Photmator also supports presets, which are in many forms similar to a LUT with one major difference: a LUT is a standard format for applying color correction. A LUT file with not only work in Photomator but also in other editing software from photo to video editing.
In-Depth Edits
Most of the time, of course, you’ll want to dive a little deeper with your edit. When that’s the case, Photomator delivers. Has it got everything you’d find in Lightroom? Absolutely not. But honestly, it’s not far off. For my own needs, it covers everything I ever use, and then some.
What I really love about all of the adjustment sliders is that you can’t go too mad. They’re visually effective, yet subtle. At least, in comparison to most editing apps.
Masks and selections (subject, background, etc.) all work as well as you’d hope. In fact, it often surprises me how accurate they are. Furthermore, you’ve got a super resolution option, and all of the usual bits and bobs you’d expect to find in a photo editing app:
- White Balance
- Basic (exposure, highlights, etc.)
- Selective Clarity
- Hue & Saturation
- Selective Colour
- Colour Balance
- Levels
- Curves
- Replace Colour
- Fade
- Black and White
- Colour Monochrome
- Channel Mixer
- LUT
- Vignette
- Sharpen
- Grain
File Management
I’ve started managing my files and folders inside Photomator; a completely different process to my Affinity workflow. It’s a lot more visual compared to browsing your images via Finder on a Mac.
You don’t need to rely on iCloud, either. Massive tick! Although I’m back on the 50 GB plan, this will soon fill up. Thankfully, as with Lightroom Classic, you can also switch it to Files. This then loads your photos from wherever they’re stored on your computer.
Photomator has some really cool functions and tools, and I strongly recommend if you have a Mac or an iPad you download a copy and try it out. (You can try it out for a number images before having to pay). After playing around with it now for a week or so, I can really see the potential here. I really hope Apple does right by them.
Wishlist
Colour balance – When a photo has black and white enabled, you can’t then add any colour grading. In Lightroom, this is how I’d have achieved a blue monochrome effect. You can use the colour monochrome panel instead, but it doesn’t give you as much control.
Bug – There’s an annoying bug (macOS version) that keeps sending you back to the top of the editing panel. Not something anyone would generally expect from an Apple product.
Clipping indicator – Although you’ve got a histogram, there’s no visual indicator to show you blown highlights or pure blacks. This seems like a really basic necessity.
What’s Next For Photomator?
At this stage, Photomator feels very much abandoned. It wasn’t included as part of Apple’s Creator Studio, thankfully. But it also hasn’t received any updates in forever.
Lots of folks think it’ll eventually be integrated with Apple Photos. Whatever happens, there’s a severe lack of communication and direction. Leaving users in the dark isn’t a good look.
With the announcement of the Apple Creator Studio subscription, we finally know the fate of Pixelmator Pro—it’s a core part of the bundle and is even coming to iPad.
However, Photomator (the Lightroom alternative) is completely missing from the subscription. This seems like a red flag. Apple now owns a powerful RAW editor but isn’t marketing it alongside its other “Pro” creative tools.
Does anyone else think this signals a “Dark Sky” situation? My theory is that Apple plans to kill the standalone app and slowly merge its features directly into the default Photo app on iOS and macOS.
The Perfect Match
For now, at least, Photomator has nestled into my workflow effortlessly. For iPhone photographers, especially those shooting Apple ProRAW, it’s a solid pairing.
As you’d expect, the app leans heavily into the Apple look. It’s clean, easy to navigate and a joy to use. Both the desktop and mobile versions have a rather handy HDR switch. This is another one of the main appeals, easily being able to toggle that off when needed.
You can try Photomator for free; then it’ll set you back a measly £30 per year. A lifetime licence is available, but with the current uncertainty, I doubt anyone’s treating themselves to that.
I’m a big fan, as are a lot of other users. Hopefully Apple will do something (anything?!) with the app soon…