photo editing

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  • Photo Blur for iPhone lets you create cool wallpapers

    by 
    Mel Martin
    Mel Martin
    11.12.2013

    Photo Blur (free) is a clever app that uses your existing pictures to create nice-looking wallpaper on your iOS device. The app is simple to use. Select a photo from your library, or take a picture directly from the app using the iPhone's camera. You'll see a slider that lets you determine the amount of blur, and another one to shift the colors. You can also select a pattern to overlay your image. One pattern is provided, and more require an in-app purchase. The results depend on the photo you seed the app with. I found some of my landscape photos looked great after processing with Photo Blur. You also get the satisfaction of knowing the wallpaper is your creation, not something taken from the web. Of course, I also use some of my own unblurred photos as wallpaper, but the backgrounds can be a bit busy and can make text on the screen hard to read. Photo Blur solves that with a soft image and vibrant colors. I did just fine using the free version of the app, and did not feel the need to invest further. Photo Blur requires iOS 7 and is optimized for the iPhone 5. It is not a universal app, so the best results will be on iPhones and the iPod touch. For free, Photo Blur is worth a download, and my wallpaper has been nicely upgraded.

  • ProCamera 7 for iPhone offers some compelling new features

    by 
    Mel Martin
    Mel Martin
    11.09.2013

    Among a seemingly unending supply of camera apps, is there room for another? In the case of ProCamera 7 for iPhone, the answer is yes. This US$0.99 app has had a thorough update to make it iOS 7-friendly, and there are plenty of features onboard. The app can take you from shooting your photo all the way to editing and sharing. Many apps do that, but the number of features and the slick execution of those features make ProCamera 7 a standout. For taking photos and video there are anti-shake and smart triggers, a variety of aspect ratios, and a rapid fire mode that emulates a motor drive on a film camera, giving you up to 10 shots per second on an iPhone 5 series phone. There is a live histogram for viewing the photo dynamic range, and a video mode that supports up to 120 FPS on the iPhone 5S for slow motion. I think the best feature is night mode, which gives you longer exposure times of up to one second to capture those sparkling city lights. Processing/editing features are complete, with image adjustment and more than 50 filters to modify the look of your photos. The on-screen menus are very clear and redesigned to compliment iOS 7. Unlike so many other apps, ProCamera 7 provides a complete manual for the app in PDF format that is just a click away. I think the only thing missing in ProCamera 7 is any kind of HDR mode, which is a shame. I think any camera app should, as a base, offer and improve upon what Apple offers in its stock app. Some camera apps like Pro HDR have excellent HDR capabilities, and there are a variety of filters, cropping, and image adjustment tools. On the other hand, Pro HDR doesn't shoot videos. HDR is the only missing item for me. Otherwise, ProCamera 7 is a joy to use, and I think it far exceeds the iPhone built-in camera app. The feature set of ProCamera 7 meets or exceeds any other photo app out there. The developers say they are working on a high quality HDR feature, but no dates are offered. HDR features would make the app nearly perfect. ProCamera 7 requires iOS 7 and is optimized for the iPhone 5.

  • Snapseed updates with new HDR mode, shadows slider

    by 
    Mel Martin
    Mel Martin
    10.29.2013

    If you like to take photos on your iOS device, grab Snapseed. If you already have it, you'll see an update today that really adds some nice features. This latest release adds two very important features. One is called HDR scape, which gives your images an HDR look that can be as natural or as unnatural as you like. You also get a shadows slider that lets you increase shadow detail without ruining the overall look of the image. The app also offers auto enhancement, a selection of frames, black and white presets and tilt-shift effects. I found the new features impressive. If I didn't go over the top on the HDR settings, I could get a very much improved landscape image. The shadows slider also worked well, and kept the image looking natural rather than over-processed. Snapseed has been great since it was first released as a paid app. Happily, it's been kept up to date, and for many photographers it will be the only photo enhancer/editor they will ever need. Snapseed is a universal app and requires iOS 7 at the moment. There is a warning about using this latest version on iOS 5 or 6, and there will be a fix and an update soon. The issues involve sharing images to those older devices.

  • Turning mugshots into models: We have some fun with Facetune

    by 
    Mike Wehner
    Mike Wehner
    10.07.2013

    Facetune is currently one of the most popular purchases on the App Store, due in no small part to its ability to drastically alter your selfies. You can tweak just about every aspect of your portraits, from smoothing skin textures to tweaking tones; you can even go as far as altering the shape of your face. In short, it's a rather powerful tool. Today, I decided to have some fun with a few photos of people at their worst. Where do people look their worst, you ask? In mugshots, of course! I snagged a few shots off of Muggn (which obtains the photos via public records) and loaded them into Facetune. Some required more work than others, and I'm not claiming to be a digital wizard when it comes to photo manipulation, but I think we can all agree that the app did a rather respectable job cleaning up many of the scars, teary eyes, tattoos and wrinkles that marred the original photos. Fabulous, aren't they?

  • Diptic PDQ is a fast way to make attractive collages with iOS

    by 
    Mel Martin
    Mel Martin
    09.19.2013

    I've reviewed Diptic in the past. It's a great iPhone app for creating photo collages on the fly. Now, Diptic PDQ (US$0.99, universal) gives you many of the same features with a new look and a quicker workflow. The developers call it a "stripped down" version of Diptic, but don't let that fool you. Diptic PDQ has the same wide feature set, but far fewer design templates. While Diptic has 200, Diptic PDQ offers just 35 templates. It's easy to manipulate your image within the frames for the best composition, and you can adjust the size of each frame. Images can be zoomed and rotated, and reversed for a mirror image. Borders can be customized by color and size. There are 14 filters you can apply to your images. I made some impressive collages with very little trouble. Your collage can be saved to your camera roll, sent via email or uploaded directly to Instagram, Twitter or Facebook. Although the output is advertised as high-resolution, my creations were just over 1.4 MB, so it's clear they are being compressed when mailed. I'd like to see a higher-resolution option. Filters apply to all images. I think it would have been better to have the ability to apply them individually. Collages are limited to four photos. I didn't find the reduced number of templates a limitation. There were plenty of options to suit my needs. Diptic PDQ is perfect for quickly creating vacation photos, or pictures from a social occasion like a party or meeting. People you send them to will appreciate how nice they look. Diptic PDQ requires iOS 7 and is optimized for the iPhone 5, and presumably the iPhone 5s, which has the same screen specifications.

  • Beautune is a capable OS X editor for making portraits

    by 
    Mel Martin
    Mel Martin
    08.30.2013

    The digital era has given us a bountiful selection of apps to improve portraits we take. Photoshop, long the favorite for improving and retouching, is being challenged by a variety of apps that complete a single task -- improve portraits. Beautune, released today in the Mac App Store, is a US$49.99 Mac app for correcting flaws in portraits. It's good for executing the kind of "repairs" we see on magazine covers. The work starts when you import a photo. Closeup view work the best, as you want as much resolution as possible. You go through a series of steps to adjust the face, eyes and mouth. An advanced menu is available for cropping, sharpening, defocusing and adding effects and frames. You can share your work with others via email and several popular social networks. It's easy to get carried away with Beautune, as it is with many image-editing tools. Overdo it and you'll leave your subject's skin pasty and unrealistic. Used with care, you can clean up an image so it looks great for a staff photo, Facebook or just sending to family and friends. In terms of pricing, Beautune sits about in the middle of portrait apps. Perfect 365 is $39.99 and is mostly automatic in operation, but offers less control. At the other extreme is Portrait Professional, which is normally $79.90, but is currently on sale for $39.95. That's a terrific bargain for such a powerful portrait editor. At the sale price, Portrait Professional would be my first choice. I have used all three programs, and they're all quite capable. However, Perfect 365 and Beautune suffer from feature limitations when compared to Portrait Professional. Yet all the programs can improve a photo if used with care. You can check some sample photos out at the Mac App Store. Beautune requires OS 10.6 or later. It is available in the Mac App Store, or directly from the Beautune website. Beautune can certainly do the job, but at the sale price, Portrait Professional would have my vote as the best portrait editor currently being offered.

  • Daily iPhone App: ProCamera is a best of breed photo app for iPhone

    by 
    Mel Martin
    Mel Martin
    08.22.2013

    It takes some work for a photo app to stand out from the crowd, but I think ProCamera does just that. The US$4.99 app has assembled a very strong feature set that will give you the best chance of getting excellent photos out of your iPhone. The app includes some anti-shake software, a self-timer, rapid fire shooting, both still and video modes with auto and manual exposure, focus lock, alignment guides, full HD recording in movie mode (1080p at 30fps), geotagging with an extension for the direction your were facing when you took the picture and much more. Not all features will work on every iPhone due to hardware limitations. Obviously full-resolution video recording needs an iPhone 4s or 5. There are some other hardware-based limitations, and the company provides a helpful chart showing which features work on which iPhone. With all the camera features, I was surprised and happy to see full editing features as well. The editing tools are divided into several groups: ProFX with a variety of filters that can be applied; ProLab for brightness, saturation and contrast settings; and auto-adjustment options that are quick and easy. Finally, ProCut lets you crop, change aspect ratio and straighten photos. The app also features a unique Exhibition Mode. It lets you submit your prized photos in the IPA Quarterly Gallery Exhibition. Using the app was a pleasure. Screen controls are easy to figure out without a manual, although instructions are included with the app. The control labels rotate in for portrait and landscape mode, a nice feature many camera apps forget. You can display a live histogram of your image, which pro shooters will like, and there is a night ISO setting for dark environments. The only thing missing is an HDR function, and I'll bet the software wizards who created ProCamera could do that well. When your image is done, it can be easily shared to Facebook, Twitter, Dropbox and Flickr (Flickr coming in iOS 7 update), and of course to the camera roll. Images can be shared one at a time, or in groups. ProCamera is optimized for the iPhone 5 and will run on any iPhone that can run iOS 6. This is an impressive camera app for those who want to go beyond the usual point-and-shoot routine.

  • Daily iPhone App: PhotoMagic is a very capable iOS photo editor and effects generator

    by 
    Mel Martin
    Mel Martin
    07.10.2013

    I have seen and reviewed many photo filter apps, but after awhile they tend to blend together in my memory. That's not the case with PhotoMagic, a US$0.99 app for the iPhone that goes beyond the mundane color filters we usually see in these apps, and gives you some professional effects to make your images unique. There are more than 30 filters that change color, add sharpening, give an oil paint effect, apply B&W transformations and many more. There are also some very nice lighting effects, with sparkles, lens flares, glows, textures, etc. Some are not subtle; others are laid back, and yet they can enhance a photo of a person or a landscape. %Gallery-193525% The app also has more than 30 frames in mono and color -- some with mattes, while some are plain. I found them tasteful and usable, and none were outrageous, which I have seen in similar apps. Of course the usual tools are included for crop and rotate. There is also a flexible text tool, that allows you to add titles or captions to your photos. Your finished images can be shared via the usual social networks, and of course email. My only complaint is one that I have with many similar apps. Images are not saved at full resolution. The largest size is 1,600 x 1,054 pixels. The iPhone 5 supports resolutions up to 3,264 x 2,448 pixels. It's always best not to throw away data, but fine to offer saving in reduced resolution, as long as there is still an option for a full-resolution save. I found PhotoMagic to be an easy-to-use app. No help file was needed. The app is for iPhone or iPod touch only. There is a version for the iPad which sells for $1.99. PhotoMagic requires iOS 5 or later and is optimized for the iPhone 5.

  • Facetune is a powerful portrait editor for iOS

    by 
    Mel Martin
    Mel Martin
    07.05.2013

    It's amazing how many editing tools that used to require Photoshop are migrating to inexpensive iOS apps. Facetune, a US$2.99 app for the iPhone can take any portrait and retouch complexion, eyes (even changing eye color), remove stray hair, add hair where it is missing, change hair color and whiten teeth. Blemishes can be removed, and complexion can be smoothed. Once you are done, you can add some built-in filters, then share the photo via your favorite social network or email. The app starts up the first time with some on-screen help, but most of the functions are pretty obvious. It was easy to improve a photo taken with the iPhone, especially since close-ups with the iPhone camera suffer from a bit of barrel distortion, leaving faces looking heavier than real life. Of course Facetune can fix that, or exaggerate it, so like any photo editor, you can leave reality behind or just make subtle improvements. I especially like the patch tool. Click on a mole or blemish and the app takes some pixels from an adjacent part of the face to replace it. If you don't like the area you selected, you can change where the pixels are being sampled. The final edit looks natural. Facetune has a competitor called Perfect365 (free). It performs the same functions, but in a different way. Perfect365 analyzes the image and lets you apply a number of templates to clean up the portrait. It also has some manual tools. Both apps are very effective at what they do. Perfect365 is a bit more automated, while Facetune gives you more hands-on editing tools. I think the only caution I would add about any of these programs is that it is easy to overdo. Faces can become pasty or ghost-like. Having a face too perfect just looks fake and is not usually flattering. Facetune is great for cleaning up photos you might use on Facebook, or on any photo you want to share. You'll also likely find many friends will be sending you their photos for you to enhance. The app is a clever and powerful tool that does what it advertises and really can improve portraits. If you have a need to do some retouching right on your iPhone, Facetune is an excellent choice. Facetune is designed for the iPhone and iPod touch. An iPad version is on the horizon with some additional features. The app is optimized for the iPhone 5 and requires iOS 5 or greater. Check the gallery for some sample photos. %Gallery-193200%

  • Yahoo! acquires GhostBird Software, apps pulled from App Store

    by 
    Kelly Hodgkins
    Kelly Hodgkins
    06.13.2013

    GhostBird Software is known for its KitCam camera app and PhotoForge, an image editing app that first hit the App Store in 2009. Late Wednesday afternoon, the Canadian company announced that it is closing its doors and joining the Flickr team at Yahoo! GhostBird's website is now just a placeholder with only the acquisition announcement gracing its front page. The company also pulled its two apps from the App Store. Customers with the apps installed on their iOS device will be able to keep using the current versions, while those who purchased the apps can redownload them through iCloud. The apps are no longer available to download through the App Store and will not be updated beyond their current versions.

  • Twitter adds inline profile editing, drag-and-drop photo uploads

    by 
    Brad Molen
    Brad Molen
    05.31.2013

    Twitter has made it just a tad easier to tweak your profile information by offering the option of changing them inline. The feature, which is available through both the website and its official mobile apps, enables faster changes to your account bio, as well as drag-and-drop upload capability for your header and profile photos. It's a small change, but ultimately it's meant to encourage users to keep their accounts fresh and relevant. Check out the video below the break to see exactly how it works.

  • Wrapframe for iOS will give new life to your photos

    by 
    Mel Martin
    Mel Martin
    04.12.2013

    I've taken a look at several collage apps for iOS, and have been pleased with them. Having said that, Wrapframe (US$1.99) comes with some fresh ideas and more than a hundred templates to allow you to combine multiple photos into a single presentation. You can warp and wrap your photos to give them a fresh look, and apply any of 27 filters and/or text to finish off your masterpiece. Then you can save to your photo roll, or share them via Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and email. Using the app is simple, and there is built-in help. Select a template, containing room for two or more photos in a style you like. Then select photos from your camera roll, or snap some with the iPhone or iPad camera. Once the photos are in place, you can apply filters or add text. One thing I don't like is that if you select a portrait orientation for a photo, the app scrunches up the image in landscape mode to make it fit, distorting the photo. As a result, you have to be careful about what kind of photo you put in to a particular template. There are plenty of filters, but I'm getting to the point where most filters detract from a good image, and don't add to it. Text may or may not be needed to finish your collage. I think most photos won't require text, but it's nice to have if you need it. %Gallery-185390% Most collage apps are fairly simple with basic layouts. Wrapframe goes for the more ornate templates, many are based on scrolls. There is a lot of variety in this app, within the basic themes. I think many photographers will find some interesting ways to enhance and share their photos that aren't just me-too creations. Wrapframe is a universal app and works on all phones from the 3GS forward, and iPad and the third- and fourth-generation iPod touch. Wrapframe requires iOS 4.3 or later and is optimized for the iPhone 5.

  • Watermark FX for Mac can help you protect your images

    by 
    Mel Martin
    Mel Martin
    04.08.2013

    If you're a photographer who posts images on the web, check out the Mac app Watermark FX (US$4.99). It lets you add copyright symbols, logos or any text to your photos, one at a time or in batches. In addition to watermarks, the app also supports waterlines, which will keep your pictures from being used by others. You can also use Watermark FX to batch rename, change size and file type to a group of photos. You can import PNG, JPEG, GOF, TIFF, PSD and ICNS formats, while outputting PNG, JPEG, GIF and TIFF. If you deal with a lot of photos, this app can be a timesaver. I tried it on several batches of photos and the app worked as expected, and quickly. The way the app works is very clear, and I don't think users will need a help file. One thing I did notice is that the image file sizes changed when they were output. A 2.5 MB JPEG became 2 MB JPEG when I added some text. Even more curious, some files increased in size. I could not see any visual change when comparing the two versions, other than the added text, of course. It should also be noted that the camera throws away EXIF data. To some, that will be a feature. Others will want it preserved. By the way, if you want to add a © symbol to your photos, it's 'Option-G' on the Mac keyboard. %Gallery-185014% Watermark FX is a helpful app. It requires OS X 10.6 or later and a 64-bit processor. I'd also suggest interested photographers take a look at Watermarker for $7.99. It has similar features but does preserve the EXIF data in output files.

  • NIK Software creates bundle of Mac Plugins, drops price 70%

    by 
    Mel Martin
    Mel Martin
    03.25.2013

    NIK has announced all 6 of its high-end photo editing tools for Mac and Windows are available as a US$150 bundle. The new bundle is a set of plugins that previously cost $750.00, and includes tools to help you create black-and-white photos, selective color adjustment, sharpening, and of course HDR and color enhancements. These plugins are designed for Photoshop, Aperture and Lightroom. NIK is offering a 15-day trial. Even better, current owners of any part of the latest versions of the NIK bundle can upgrade to the entire collection for free. Some registered users are getting emails about the free upgrade. NIK Software fans have been on an uncertain road since Google acquired the company last September. Google turned its Snapseed photo enhancer into a free app and halted development on the Mac and Windows versions. The future of the NIK professional tools, like HDR Efex Pro and Color Efex Pro has been in limbo, although Google had said the pro tools would stay around. It's nice to have gotten some clarity. NIK has been well-regarded for 17 years. I'm not sure if these applications will continue on a rapid development schedule, but I think this offer represents a real bargain. [via The Next Web]

  • Aviary launches photo-editing SDK for Windows 8 developers

    by 
    Sarah Silbert
    Sarah Silbert
    03.18.2013

    Thanks to a partnership with AMD and Microsoft, Aviary's Photo Editor SDK will be available to Windows 8 developers starting today. While in the long run this could mean Windows 8 will gain more photo-centric apps, this new SDK will bring the the photo service to apps running on Windows 8 notebooks and tablets immediately, and those devices running AMD processors should benefit from "higher, optimized performance," according to the company. The Aviary app has been available on iOS and Android since last summer, though its customizable SDK is also used by services such as Flickr and Twitter, which integrate the photo-editing features into their respective apps. To kick off its launch on Microsoft's most current OS, Aviary announced partnerships with Rowi, Memorylage and several other apps available for download in the Windows Store.

  • Pixelmator's Shapes interface coming soon

    by 
    Mike Schramm
    Mike Schramm
    02.02.2013

    Pixelmator is one of my favorite apps on the Mac -- I've been following it for a long time, and whenever I want to do any photo editing beyond a quick resize (and sometimes even when I want to do that), I click the Pixelmator icon in my Dock. This week at Macworld/iWorld 2013, Pixelmator's Ausra Meskauskaite kindly stopped by the media room to visit with the TUAW team, and chat about what Pixelmator's Lithuania-based developers have been up to recently. It turns out they've been busy: The company is just about to introduce the long-awaited Shapes feature, allowing designers and artists to drag pre-created (or custom-made) shapes onto a digital canvas, and then edit various attributes of those shapes, like painting them with a color gradient, growing or shrinking them, and masking or layering them as needed. Pixelmator has planned to implement a shape element for a long time, and Photoshop users will know how useful dealing with shapes can be. But Meskauskaite told me that Pixelmator took its time working with the new feature, because they thought they could implement it better than Adobe did with Photoshop. The final interface certainly does seem simple -- you can just drag a shape out, and then drag a gradient onto it as needed. Clicking on the placed shape brings up a series of control points, and those can be dragged around to get the shape exactly where you need it. You can even convert text over to a shape, and then interact with it in the same way. I'm not a design expert, but the whole interface seemed very fluid and easy to use. Pixelmator is also working on an interface for layer styles, although I didn't get a chance to see that one in action just yet. Meskauskaite said that the company spent much of 2012 just making sure the app was running well and correctly, and now that 2013 has arrived, the focus will move to start putting new features in, like the shapes and upcoming layer styles interfaces. Unfortunately, not everything has gone smoothly with Pixelmator in the last year or so. Meskauskaite told me that whenever Apple offers a cool new feature in OS X, "we take it and place it in the app." Pixelmator saw Apple's Auto Save feature, and immediately decided to add it into the app, but that change ended up rubbing a lot of users the wrong way. The problem is that Auto Save automatically wrote over any changes users made to images, which means that "Save As..." no longer worked (since the original image was replaced by the image being worked on, rather than being separate from it). Instead of "Save As...", Pixelmator has implemented an "Export" screen, but the change in workflow has caused a lot of problems for users, admits Meskauskaite. She told me that "we had debates day and night" about how to deal with the Auto Save problem, and in the end, "we had to choose Auto Save." Users who understand how Auto Save works have dealt with the change better, she says, but Pixelmator also understands why users still attached to the old workflow would be frustrated, and the team is working on finding a solution that makes as many people happy as possible. Pixelmator famously moved exclusively on to the Mac App Store a little while ago, and Meskauskaite says they're very happy to be selling apps (a lot of apps) via Apple's platform. I asked what the company might want out of the App Store in the future, and Meskauskaite said the number one thing they're looking for is volume purchasing. That's a feature that came to the iOS store a while ago, but hasn't yet shown up on the Mac App Store yet, and Pixelmator believes they would do well with it. As for the future, Pixelmator certainly has plans, but couldn't share any of them just yet. Getting the 2.2 Blueberry "Shapes" update out is the current focus, and it should be available soon, and definitely in a beta form later on this month. As for the other updates, we'll just have to wait and see.

  • Adobe announces Photoshop and Premiere Elements 11 with new filters, more beginner-friendly UI

    by 
    Dana Wollman
    Dana Wollman
    09.25.2012

    Earlier this year Adobe announced Photoshop CS6 with a new user interface, and now Elements, its line of beginner-level products, is getting a facelift too. The company just introduced Photoshop and Premiere Elements 11, and while the two apps include a handful of new photo- and video-editing features, the bigger story is that they're designed to be less intimidating to newbies. Both have a more readable UI, for instance, as opposed to the old theme with the dark background and low-contrast icons. Things like preview thumbnails have been brought to the forefront so that they're easier to find. Also, both pieces of software ship with a re-tooled image organizer that puts commonly used functions front and center, with lesser-used features like keyword tagging hidden in the menus. The organizer also now has Google Maps integration, so you can view your shots on a map. You can also for the first time view by event, or by the names of people tagged in photos. As for new features, Photoshop Elements is getting a series of new comic-inspired filters, including "Pen and Ink," "Graphic Novel" and, yes, "Comic." Photoshop Elements now allows European customers to upload photos to Cewe, while Premiere Elements supports Vimeo uploads. (Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Shutterfly and SmugMug sharing were already built in.) Amateur videographers will also enjoy a series of new Hollywood-inspired filters, including Red Noir, a "Sin City"-esque effect with red accents, and "Pandora," which is meant to evoke "Avatar." Finally, you can use Time Remapping and Reverse Time to speed up footage or slow it down, respectively. Fans of the software will notice the pricing hasn't changed: the two apps cost $100 each, or $150 as a bundle. Folks who are upgrading will pay $80 a pop, or $120 for both. Look for both on Adobe's site today, with the old-fashioned boxed software hitting retailers soon.

  • Google acquires iOS photo app Snapseed

    by 
    Mike Schramm
    Mike Schramm
    09.17.2012

    Snapseed is a popular iOS photography app around here at TUAW -- not only have we spotlighted it a few different times, but the app also won a coveted Apple Design Award back in 2011. And now here's news that Google appreciates the app as well: The ad and search giant has acquired the developer of Snapseed, Nik Software, and reportedly plans to use the company and its technology to update its own photo editing and sharing tools. Nik also provides a number of excellent and popular plugins for other popular photo editing tools like Aperture, and for now, those plugins remain available for sale on the website. Presumably, that won't change, but we'll see what happens in the future. It sounds like Nik is still figuring things out post-acquisition, so any changes to Snapseed or those plugins are still yet to be determined. [via The Verge]

  • Adobe Revel 1.5 released with new UI, text captions and auto-syncing albums

    by 
    Jamie Rigg
    Jamie Rigg
    08.24.2012

    Adobe's cloud-based photo storage and editing app has been enjoying its new name since it hopped off the Carousel, and now it's appreciating a feature bump too. Version 1.5 has just hit the virtual shelves of the Mac and iTunes stores, complete with a new UI and the option to log in using Facebook or Google accounts. Functionality wise, the update adds text captioning for your snaps and the ability to create albums which auto-sync across your devices and can be shared with others via the web. Alright, so the update isn't revolutionizing the service, but we're sure those that currently subscribe are reveling in it.

  • PIxelmator 2.1 offers Retina and iCloud support, more

    by 
    Mel Martin
    Mel Martin
    08.09.2012

    Pixelmator has always been popular for the not-quite-ready-for-the-expense-of-Photoshop crowd. The image manipulation/retouching app for Mac is powerful, works well, and is good competition for applications like Photoshop Elements. Pixelmator 2.1 has just been released, and at a very attractive price through the Mac App Store at a very attractive US $14.99. The app is now Retina-ready, supports iCloud for syncing, and has added new effects including miniaturize, rain and snow and new filters. The app also supports Mountain Lion. Effects previews have been improved, and with this release, Pixelmator continues to enhance its reputation as a powerful and inexpensive photo editor. I'll have a detailed look at the app soon, and see how it compares to the competition. The app is a 27.8 MB download, and requires OS X 10.6.8 or later. Graphic artists and photographers who aren't in the Photoshop camp will want to take a look for certain. We've got some sample screenshots in the gallery. %Gallery-162110%