Inpaint Pro allows for easy photo retouching
About a year ago I took a look at Inpaint, an interesting Mac OS X app that is similar to the content aware fill feature of Photoshop, but a fraction of the cost. My only real gripe back then was that the app could not open raw files.
In its latest incarnation, Inpaint Pro can now open raw files, and the app has added a few additional tricks to the feature list.
Inpaint Pro can load an image, and with some brush strokes, it can eliminate unwanted elements from the picture. It could be an errant tourist who wandered into your shot, or a sign that might detract from your image. If the offending elements are fairly small and don't dominate the image, Inpaint Pro can seamlessly erase the unwanted person or object, and smartly fill it in.
Another lets you load multiple images at once and if a person, for example, moved, you can eliminate the person by brushing in pixels from a second photo that doesn't contain the person. That feature is called Multi View.
The app can also easily remove time and date stamps from photos, remove blemishes from a face, or repair old scanned photos to get rid of tears or other defects.
I've tested the app and found that it does what it claims to do. There is a help file with some video examples, so getting the hang of the app won't be a mysterious process.
I noticed a few times that the app seemed to stall, but it quickly recovered. It never crashed, but I suspect it may require some further optimization.
The app isn't a substitute for the considerable power of Photoshop, but what the app does, it does well.
Inpaint Pro is on sale for US $4.99, which is a considerable savings over the $14.99 list.
If you have the need for what it does, Inpaint Pro is worth serious consideration. The app is an 8.8 MB download and requires OS X 10.6.6 or greater.
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