Skip to main content

Photomator gets Pixelmator’s ‘Smart Deband’ feature to enhance JPEG images

Pixelmator Pro last year introduced a new feature called “Smart Deband,” which basically enhances images compressed as JPEG photos by removing artifacts known as color banding. This feature is now coming to Photomator, Pixelmator’s dedicated photo editing app.

Enhance your JPEG images with Photomator

As detailed by the Pixelmator team in a blog post, Photomator 3.1 adds Smart Deband, bringing the same advanced tool that was already available in Pixelmator Pro. “This incredible new feature lets you seamlessly enhance your JPEGs or other photos shot in lossy formats to near-RAW quality,” the developers explain.

Image formats such as JPEG compress the image to reduce its file size. As a result, images lose some detail. In some scenarios, this causes a color banding effect, where you can clearly see the colors transitioning from one shade to another. Smart Deband uses machine learning to transform these color bands into smooth gradients, making compressed images look much better.

“Smart Deband intelligently removes color artifacts and increases the color depth of your photos to 16 bits per channel – this is equivalent to the color depth of a RAW image. While merely increasing color depth doesn’t have a significant impact on its own, it makes a difference when paired with color banding removal.”

It’s worth noting that Photomator also provides other machine learning-based features such as Auto Enhance and Super Resolution, which can also improve the look of low-resolution images.

Photomator gets Pixelmator's 'Smart Deband' feature to enhance JPEG images

More about Pixelmator apps

In addition to the new feature, Pixelmator is currently offering a 30% discount for both Pixelmator Pro and Photomator as part of a Back to School campaign.

When it comes to Photomator, the app is available on the App Store – and you can try it out for free. Users can opt for a subscription model or buy a lifetime license, which typically costs $99.99. The app is compatible with iPhone, iPad and Mac.

Read also:

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Comments

Author

Avatar for Filipe Espósito Filipe Espósito

Filipe Espósito is a Brazilian tech Journalist who started covering Apple news on iHelp BR with some exclusive scoops — including the reveal of the new Apple Watch Series 5 models in titanium and ceramic. He joined 9to5Mac to share even more tech news around the world.

Manage push notifications

notification icon
We would like to show you notifications for the latest news and updates.
notification icon
You are subscribed to notifications
notification icon
We would like to show you notifications for the latest news and updates.
notification icon
You are subscribed to notifications