Photoshop is arguably one of the most powerful pieces of software ever made. Rife with features for the photographer, video editor, multimedia designer and other creatives, it's the go-to choice for image creators everywhere.

However, sometimes you need a lighter tool, something that's able to just quickly crop an image or do a fast bit of editing without bringing Photoshop's resources to bear. (For, as my seafaring grandpappy would say, while Photoshop be a powerful tool, she also be a memory-and-drive-hungry one as well.)

For the times when I don't need Photoshop's full-on editing prowess, I've picked up Pixelmator  a smart, cheap little application that takes advantage of some of the newer Mac OS X interface elements in order to recreate much of Photoshop's power without the $649 overhead. Instead, for $60, you get an attractive little program decked out in shades of grey, with an eerily-similar toolbar to Photoshop and many menu items that will be very comfortable to users of Adobe's editing king. In other words, imitation was the sincerest form of flattery here, yet Pixelmator managed to imitate Photoshop without duplicating the interface that even Adobe folks admit is getting a bit overly-complex.

Founded in 2007, Pixelmator seemed to come from nowhere. Its initial release was buggy, the result of many years of combined open-source efforts to create a light ,but powerful tool. Since then, the company has produced a steady stream of updates that have both stabilized the program and increased the number of tools available. Yesterday's update, for example, enhanced the crop tool, providing the ability to crop layers, rotate during crop, and more—all at the same time—as the developers added bug and interface fixes.

Pixelmator's not the tool for every job, of course. There's no good way to make animations. There aren't actions like in Photoshop, nor any support for filters. But for $60 it's a heck of a lot of tool from a company's that's been really aggressive with updates and enhancements. And for a 1.x of a tool, it's a great little find, especially for users that are out in the field with a Macbook or Macbook Air, which lack the horsepower to really make Phototshop fly.

Fore more information, go to www.pixelmator.com