In the third installment of our iPhone Travel Snapper Apps series, Contributing Editor and Photographer Paul Sullivan takes a look at photo filter and effect apps.
AS WELL AS using editing tools, applying filters and effects to your photos can enhance them, or at least make them more fun to share and play with.
CameraBag
One of the leading programs in this respect is CameraBag (v1.6) . With a tap of the finger you can immediately transform your photo into one of ten different camera styles, including Helga, Magazine, 1974, Lolo, Cinema, Mono and Fisheye.
You can even skip through each ‘look’ by swiping the screen, saving as many different versions as you like. There are other features too like Enlarge and Crop and this latest version has the new Colorcross (i.e. cross-processed) filter. Rumor has it that full resolution soon come…
Price: $0.99
FX Photo Studio
FX Photo Studio has a veritable embarrassment of riches in terms of effects.
Over 100 of them in fact, placed in “imaginative” categories like Image Correction (Contrast, Brightness, Saturation etc.), Color Fantasy (Invert Image, Reduce Colors, Grayscale, Rainbows), Texturize (Leather Canvas, Crumpled Paper, Rusted Metal), Overlay (Water Circles, Sparkles, Frost, Fire)…and others like Art, Vintage, Hue, Glow and Symmetry (sic).
This program seems to lie more at the novelty end of the filter market, a theory underlined by the Fun Facts that pop up as you wait for the effect to be applied.
But while it’s true that a lot of the filters here will transform your photo into a garish nightmare, there are a few subtler, more useful effects too. You just need some patience to wade through and discover the best ones.
Also, the main screen offers simple edit options like Crop, Rotate and Brightness (Gamma) adjustments.
Price: $1.99
Read full article on MatadorU →
Other Articles in Series
iPhone Travel Snapper Apps Part 1: Replacement Cameras
iPhone Travel Snapper Apps Part 2: Image Editing
Disclaimer – All apps above have been reviewed on the new iPhone 3GS. Please double-check compatibility of your phone if you have an older model.
Do you know of other iPhone Apps that provide image editing? Please share in the comments below.
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Paul Sullivan
Paul Sullivan has been a freelance writer and photographer since 2000. Operating primarily in the realm of music, travel, lifestyle, and culture, his work has taken him around the world. His work has appeared in/on the BBC, Dazed and Confused, DrownedInSound, Electronic Beats, The Face, The Guardian, DJ, Intelligent Life, iDJ, fRoots, The Independent, Observer Music Monthly, National Geographic Music, Time Out, Wax Poetics, The Wire, and others. He currently lives in Berlin.
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