Most iPad owners own iPhones. So, it stands to reason that they also have photos that need work—and 10.7 inches of screen on which to do it. But why get elbows deep in photo editing to develop a cool effect? Here are 7 iPhone and iPad apps that can quickly add cool effects to your photos.
Fancy photo edges, slimming image makeovers, or artistic color selections, use these photo apps for a quick infusion of fun. Check out our article from last week if you’re looking to do more powerful photo editing on your iPad.
CameraBag for iPad ($2.99, Nevercenter Ltd. Co) Camerabag won’t appeal to everyone, but will instantly hook those who “get” the addiction of playing with camera styles from bygone eras. The iPad version introduces the “Vary” button, applying the same filter somewhat differently. It’s not a thrill-a-minute gee-whiz ride; it’s an endless stroll through the annals of photography. If that’s where you want to go, you may find yourself there for hours with CameraBag. Read our original CameraBag app review. You can also download CameraBag for iPhone.
FotoEdges HD ($2.99, App Ventures LLC) The toughest thing to accept about photos in the digital age may be that you can’t get away from the digital part. Your photos are in your screen, so nothing’s torn, distressed, or blurred – unless you have FotoEdges. You make the aesthetic decisions about edges, cropping, color, and backgrounds, and FotoEdges add a little artistic flair, freeing your photos from their rectangular prisons. Same pictures, but—ahem—edgier. You can also download FotoEdges for iPhone.
TiltShift Generator for iPad – Fake DSLR ($2.99, Art & Mobile) A collection of depth-of-field effects. Star effect: You know how they keep re-making Godzilla, so the city he destroys looks progressively less like a bunch of two-foot-tall model buildings? Tiltshift lets you take a photo of a real monster destroying real buildings, and make them look like two-foot-tall models. Snap, import, and miniaturize—and suddenly that oil slick in the Gulf doesn’t look so threatening. Warning: has no effect on actual phenomenon photographed. You can also download TiltShift Generator for iPhone.
FX Photo Studio HD ($2.99, Macphun.com, LLC) Take your favorite full-featured photo editing program, pull out the “artistic” filters, and you get FX Photo Studio HD. 128 effects in 14 categories and counting. You can combine any effect with any other, in case you want a shot through a steamy window… in Amsterdam. Easy to use, and includes more pedestrian controls such as brightness/contrast, and multiple undo/redo support, so you can get the effect just right. Then export to Twitter, Facebook, e-mail, or your photo library. You can also download Fx Photo Studio for iPhone.
Photo Makeover ($0.99, Reallusion Inc) A photo of a face: one single moment in time, one subject’s mood, captured forever. Not anymore. Photo Makeover gives you intuitive multi-touch controls that make faces smile, kiss, or simply look like supermodels. “It’s you, but better” —or in a different mood. The app owes its downright Orwellian awesomeness to a deep knowledge of how your face is made in the first place, before you make it over. Set four control points to tell it which parts of the face are which—or let it guess. Photo Makeover does the rest, reconstructing facial muscles and rearranging them at your whim. Even turn your friends’ faces into animal faces. A classic “how could it know” app to light up a bar or a party. You can also download Photo Makeover for iPhone.
OutColor for iPad ($1.99, Tony Smith) The best photos are said to pop off the page. Tony Smith’s not happy until the subjects pop out of the photo. OutColor applies convincing 3-D effects and perspective to the subject of the photo, and lifts it out of the photo’s constraints, giving your blah pics an out-of-bounds treatment. OutColor’s unlimited undo/redo, inverting, and deleting, let you keep at it until even you’re convinced. You can also download OutColor for iPhone.
Color Splash for iPad ($1.99, Pocket Pixels, Inc) Remember the scenes in 300 and Sin City, where one bit is rendered in color, and the rest is black-and-white? Color Splash lets you define each color region and “paint” other regions black and white, or “paint” the color back into a region. One very cool effect – a desaturation brush you can shift into reverse – with a quick-and-easy interface. If you like this look, you’ll love the app! Read our original Color Splash app review. You can also download Color Splash for iPhone.
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app category: Art, Entertainment, Photo Effects, Photography, Round-Up