We've not mentioned Pixelmator before, but our colleagues over at The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) have. Pixelmator is arguably one of the intriguing looking Mac applications in a while, and whilst the user interface looks great, so does the feature list.

Layer-based editing, an array of selection, painting and editing tools, real-time filters and a metric ton of file formats with which it's compatible (thanks to its under-lying ImageMagick base) make this a very attractive addition to those of us unable to afford, or unwilling to budget for, Photoshop. Unfortunately, that is as much as we know at the moment, as the program has been kept strictly under wraps until today. The good news is that a closed beta test is now going on to fix any bugs that are in what would appear to be a complex piece of software so hopefully it won't be too long before everyone can enjoy the features this baby-Photoshop-esque application has to offer.

Pixelmator, once available will cost $59.