Apps Lists March 12, 2012

App List: Photo apps for a better sight

by Irina Craciun

Photos are motionless stored moments of our life that will never get back to us. Such unique moments are worth treasuring, especially when treasured in a good quality picture. And when a picture comes out harshly there’s no way to leave it ruin your beautiful memory. The App Store integrates a bunch of interesting photo editing apps, as well as photo organizers and this list gives a quick overview of some of the popular apps that we found useful for any iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch user.

• If you only need some quick and basic improvements for your photos then Adobe Photoshop Express (the free edition) is the handy tool in your pocket. You can apply effects with one single touch as well as color enhancements and add an artistic touch to a picture, such as Soft Focus or Sketch. It offers unlimited undo, so you can adjust your photo till you consider it a small piece of art.
• The new and improved iPhoto is able of completely changing the photo editing process. The multi-touch gestures make it easy for everyone to select a specific photo margin to edit, to apply quality effects, to repair defects or to easy browse through the gallery. Just play with your fingers on pictures and completely change them.
• Instagram adds a new air to your photos. Is not as advanced as iPhoto, but is capable enough to stand right next to it. It can make your photos look like lovely art works by applying custom designed filters and borders and blur effects and by adjusting the field depth. With Instagram one can also share photos on social media and follow other people’s works.

A competitive alternative to this app is Pudding Camera. Besides the various custom-designed effects and the social media sharing it also features three resolution sizes and exposure settings. Pudding Camera adds masterpiece flair to any photo you take or have in your library.

• If you find Instagram to be too much for your needs you can try Photo Editor +, a full featured and easy to use photo editor for lovely picture adjustments. It offers various ways of picture enhancements, such as a good deal of effects, blemish and red eye removal, filters, colors and saturation adjustments and it enables one to draw, paint and add text on photos.

Though it does not enable drawing and painting on photos, Photo Effect Studio can surely be used as a simpler alternative to Photo Editor +. One can apply fine tuning too and combine effects and frames in multiple ways; it all depends on a strong imagination.

• Let’s switch from photo editors to amusing photo editing. Color Splash ads stains of color on black and white pictures. It is not a photo editor because it offers o effect to apply and no adjustments but it can add a bit of drama to your picture by stressing an element from it in any color. Color + does the same thing but it offers a little more color nuances than Color Splash.

• All in all, there is a small but annoying defect that no photo editor can truly adjust, not even with the highest level of noise reduction and that’s the blurry aspect of a picture caused by an accidental motion. Darkroom will erase the blurry aspect from your mind. It automatically takes a shot at the right time. The app is in its steady position and when no movement is detected it fires a picture by itself. It can be successful also when used by night.

• Pixlr-o-matic also uses stability as its best feature but it also offers few accurate photo editing options. Once your photo is perfectly shot you can breathe your feelings into it by applying shades or by amplifying tones; it all depends on your mood.

• Pixable HD keeps you organized and always up to date by ranking and sorting photos of your friends. All photos and videos are automatically discovered and organized into various feeds, such as New Profile Pics, Popular of the Week, Mobile Uploads, Latest Added and many others. It also sends you notifications when you get tagged or when some of your closest connection shares a photo or a video. The first step is following people, and then things will follow you back.