photo editor
Latest
Adobe's next mobile photo editor could be revealed in October
When Adobe announced it was discontinuing its mobile Photoshop Touch app earlier this year, it hinted at greater things to come in a mysterious project code-named "Project Rigel." While it listed a vague "late 2015" availability at the time, a recent CNET report suggests we'll be formally introduced to Adobe's new offering this October. The company's latest pro-level mobile effort will reportedly come in the form of a free iOS editing app that looks to offer much of the desktop software's capability wrapped in a touch-friendly UI that won't scare away novices.
DarkLight is a very likable free image editor for iOS
One gets jaded after years of looking at iOS image editors that are endless variations on a theme, or that have most of the tools you want but lack others. However, every so often an editing tool comes along that is well thought-out, a good performer, and free. That brings me to DarkLight. This free app will likely become my default editor for a lot of my iPhone photos. It starts with Auto Enhance, a one-click way to quickly make a photo better. There are three levels of Auto Enhance, which is far better than the usual option found in the Apple Photos app to either enhance an image or not. "Scenes" is another very nice feature. There are 13 different options to apply different enhancement parameters to a photo depending on where and when it was taken. There are scenes for cloudy days, landscapes, even photos of food. They all work well, and none goes so far as to wreck the original picture with too much enhancement. Of course there are the usual saturation, vignette and tint tools, but we also get curves -- something you usually don't see in iOS photo apps and that can make a big difference to the look of your final photo. The app also has frames, stickers, text tools, and a tilt-shift option to selectively blur parts of your photos. I think the only tool I found missing was a High Dynamic Range (HDR) type tool like the excellent one provided in Snapseed. DarkLight is a really first class editing tool. It's free, and there are no aggravating in-app purchases to make. I also appreciate it contains a sample photo that lets you adjust settings to see how the various effects interact. I've added DarkLight to my main photo editing folder, and I think you should too. Author Russell Lindmark tells me there is a big update imminent, with some redesign and a few small bug fixes, but I found the current app stable and very user friendly. DarkLight is a universal app (another bonus) and it requires iOS 6 or later. It is optimized for the iPhone 5.
Review: Maskify for iOS is a nice photo app for adding frames and text
Maskify (US$0.99) is a capable app for adding text, frames and masks to your photos. The app features 18 fonts in 20 colors, 18 frames in 20 colors, and elements for creating masks on your photos. When you're done working you can save your creation to the camera roll, or share it via email, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. I gave the app a try and found it easy to use and it gave me very nice results. There are plenty of apps that include frame and fonts, but I thought the options presented by Maskify were unusually creative and attractive. Instructions really aren't needed. You just select what you want to do, and apply the text or effects. The size and position of effects can be changed with finger swipes and pinches. One place where I thought there could be a slight improvement was going back to change an effect you applied. Rather than a back arrow, you click on a checkmark with nothing selected. That could be a bit more intuitive. With all the hundreds of photo apps out there I thought Maskify stands out for the elegance of its fonts and masks. At under a dollar it's not a big purchase, and happily there are no in-app purchases. Maskify is not universal, and it requires iOS 7.0 or later. It's optimized for the iPhone 5.
inStatus is a photo editor that concentrates on text
inStatus (free for a limited time) has all the usual photo-editing bells and whistles like saturation, sharpness, cropping and almost everything you need to fix up or modify a photo. That includes an array of filters and frames. But inStatus specializes in text. The app contains templates for designer text layouts, more than a hundred fonts, various design icons, shapes, quotes and stickers to make your photos really unique. As a result, your photos are more like attractive presentations with moody visual elements. I would liken some of the results to a really nice album cover or poster. You can use different layers, and once your text is inserted, you can change the size, color, font and rotation. An autosave function means you won't lose anything. The app includes extensive multi-page help, which is good as the app isn't always intuitive. There is also a complete undo feature. Your finished image can be saved to your camera roll, or shared via Facebook, Twiiter, Instagram or email. The free app leaves a rather prominent watermark on your image, which I found obtrusive. Of course that's an encouragement to buy the Pro version at US$0.99. There are also some background sets that go beyond what's included, although the included effects, frames, fonts and icons are generous in quality and quantity. I like inStatus because it concentrates on typography, something most photo editors offer only basic controls for. If you think this is the app for you, try the free version, then part with the $0.99 to remove the watermark. If you can live with the watermark, the free version is well-equipped and will certainly enhance your photos in ways other apps can't. You can browse many example photos here. inStatus is not a universal app. It requires iOS 5.1 or later, and it is optimized for the iPhone 5.
Fragment lets you get creative with photo prism effects
Fragment is a new photo editor from Pixite, the makers of LoryStripes and Tangent. Like the developer's other apps, Fragment is a tool that is best in the hands of an artist who wants to take a plain photo and make it beautiful. We're not talking about regular contrast adjustments here. Fragment lets you apply a prismatic effect to photos that produces wonderful and unexpected results. Similar to Tangent, Fragment allows you to apply a layer on top of a photo that contains a basic geometric shape. Depending on which shape you add, you can grab a chunk of the underlying photo, creating very interesting effects. This layer can be rotated, pinched or expanded to adjust its size and changed using a series of effects like blur, contrast, additive, brightness and more. You can apply these effects to the underlying photo layer as well. It sounds boring on paper, but it's not, especially in the hands of a creative person. To understand how Fragment works, you really have to use it, but you can browse through Instagram and look for the #fragmentapp for examples like this one above from Junel Herrera. The effect is impressive in the hands of someone who has an eye for the surreal. Fragment is available from the iOS App Store for US$0.99.
GIMP now (finally) available as a native Mac app
This is something that's been a long time coming, and it's finally here. GIMP is an excellent Photoshop-esque open source photo editor. While it's been available on Mac for a long time, it has required the X11 Window environment, which itself needs a separate (and somewhat messy) installation. For a long time, the programmers working on GIMP have been promising to eventually take it native, but it hasn't happened until just recently. As of version 2.8.2, you can now simply go grab the GIMP .dmg file from the main website, and then install and run on your Mac as needed. That's good news for those of us who appreciate a powerful photo editor like this but don't necessarily have the cash for big-name apps like Photoshop or Pixelmator. Congrats to everyone who's worked on GIMP in the past. If you like the app and want to support great open sourced work, they could probably use a donation or two. [via LifeHacker]
Aviary launches photo editing application on iOS, turns Android plugin into an app
Last we heard, Aviary was being chosen to replace the deceased Picnik as the main photo editor on Flickr, and now the startup is getting ready to launch its first iOS app and give its previous Android offering a major boost. The Jeff Bezos-backed company has just announced its entry into the application game, giving iOS and Android folks access to an array of its image editing tools -- much like Apple's iPhoto on Cupertino devices or Photoshop Express on ones powered by Google's OS. Naturally, you'll be able to do run-of-the-mill tidbits such as cropping, rotating, sharpening and blurring, which are bundled alongside others like cosmetic tools, one-tap auto enhance and "gorgeous effects." It's also worth noting Aviary was once present on Google Play as a plugin, but has now made the change to a full-on, feature-packed application. Those interested in taking the fresh app for a spin can hit either of the source links below, where a mighty free download awaits you. %Gallery-158194%
Flickr adopting Aviary for photo edits, waves goodbye to Picnik
With Google set to close the Picnik shop on April 19th, it was obvious that Flickr had to go out and seek a fresh replacement. Today, the Yahoo-owned service is announcing Aviary (a Jeff Bezos-backed startup) as the new photo editing tool on its site. Along with promising to be simpler and speedier than its soon-to-be deceased predecessor, Aviary brings expected features like cropping, rotating, sharpening, red-eye reduction and cosmetic whitening, just to mention a few. Of note, Aviary is written in HTML5, opening the doors to become useful on a handful of slates and handsets. Flickr is set to commence the rollout later today, though it may take a few days until you can check out the changes.
Adobe Lightroom 4 is a 'substantial upgrade' with a 50-percent price drop
Still content with Lightroom 3.5? Check out Version 4, which has just emerged from public beta, and you may decide it's time for an upgrade. The revision brings a long list of new features, including improved highlight and shadow processing, better video support, geo-tagging and a Book Module for self-publishing photo books via the Blurb online service. Then there's the clement pricing: $79 as an upgrade or $149 new. Still not sure? DPReview has a detailed assessment at the link below, so don't be jumping to conclusions til you've read it.
Ice Cream Sandwich revamps Android camera and gallery features
It's been a long time coming, but with the introduction of Ice Cream Sandwich, Android finally takes a significant leap forward in terms of camera and gallery features. The camera interface is completely new -- it's faster and easier to use with instant access from the lock screen. Shots are taken immediately thanks to zero shutter lag and continuous autofocus with automatic face detection. Touch-to-focus with exposure lock is now supported, and the UI adds a proper digital zoom slider. The camera app also includes a new sweep panorama feature. The gallery app is also significantly improved, with Instagram-like "hipster filters" and a built-in photo editor that lets you crop and rotate pictures at arbitrary angles. Any tweaks you make are saved in a separate file, keeping the original shot intact. Images can now be sorted by location (using geotagging), and by person (if manually tagged). Video also receives a serious boost in functionality with 1080p capture, continuous autofocus, and the ability to zoom while recording. Additionally, it's now possible to create time lapse videos right from your phone. It's too early to tell if all these features will trickle down to legacy devices or remain exclusive to the Galaxy Nexus, but we'll find out soon enough.
Ice Cream Sandwich may have a built-in photo editor to help your pictures turn out halfway decent
If you envision Ice Cream Sandwich -- the latest iteration of Android -- as a revolutionary update that satisfies every single one of your geeky lusts, we sure hope you've been aching for a photo editor. It appears that AndroidPolice has hunted down a variety of icons and logos presumed to be associated with the feature, but it's not certain if these will actually appear in the final build. The icons hint at a smattering of image editing tools: crop, sharpen, flip, rotate and a selection of 19 possible photo effects are among the options. Again, this is highly speculative, and rumors such as these will likely ramp up as we approach the official announcement. 'Course, we won't scoff at the idea of a native photo editor in Ice Cream Sandwich, but we're sincerely hoping this won't be the coolest thing about the new OS at Tuesday's announcement in Hong Kong. [Thanks, Paul]
SWYP concept printer combines good looks with touchscreen editing
A concept printer from Seattle-based designers Artefact wants to bring those touchscreen editing skills learnt from smartphones and tablets to the not-so-electrifying world of printers. The streamlined SWYP (See What You Print) has a pretty striking design -- for a printer. The paper tray even folds away flush on top of the touchscreen in a very (very!) familar way. That contraption shown above would be able to connect directly to your camera or phone, foregoing the PC step with editing and collating all done on-screen; there's even an augmented reality interface that visualizes ink levels and those inevitable printer woes. At present, these guys aren't gunning to take out the only thing HP hasn't flubbed lately, but hopefully the glossy concept vid after the break will tide you over till commercialization (prayerfully) hits. [Thanks, Gene]
Apple iOS 5 adds instant camera access from lock screen and shutter release to volume-up button
Apple's just announced that iOS 5-enabled iPhones (and likely iPads and iPods, too) are getting a camera shortcut on the lock screen and a shutter button in the form of the volume up key -- a feature that got Camera+ temporarily banned from the App Store last year on the grounds that it used unauthorized APIs. Also new to iOS: the ability to tap and hold to lock focus and exposure on a subject. Rounding out the list, Apple also added an optional grid to help frame photos, and a new photo editor with a basic feature set that includes cropping, rotating, red-eye reduction, auto-enhance features, and the ability to create albums on the device. %Gallery-125437%
