FX Photo Studio HD is a big update to MacPhun’s already capable iPad photo-editing application. There are roughly one gazillion photo-processing apps in the store, but FX stands out for two reasons. First, it is very easy to use, and second, it comes packed with great effects.
The app works like many others: You choose an image from your photo album and then flip through menus to enhance or destroy it. FX wins here, as it is fast, both in loading and in previewing the effects.
About those effects: There are 181 separate things you can do. Some effects are variations (there are a few different vignettes, for example, and some filters are simply color variations on a theme). And some are plain tacky.
But nearly all of these filters are worth trying, from “Stencil Poster Red” seen in my screen-grab above, through various lo-fi Lomoesque color shifts to blurs, tilt-shifts and even underlying paper textures. If I had had this back when I was a graphic designer, it would have let me get a lot more work done from the bar.
There are also basic editing tools: Hidden within the filters you will find brightness, contrast and other adjustments. Effects can be tried one-by-one, and they replace each other. Press “Apply” and the change is baked in (you can still undo). Then any new effect is overlaid, making the possibilities endless.
The usual sharing options are here: Facebook, Flickr, Tumbler and Twitter, plus e-mail and save to photo album. There is also an in-app “documents” folder to keep things you don’t need elsewhere.
The level of polish is high. Not only can you reorder the effects lists, you can make a list of favorites, and all the UI transitions are smooth, fast fades.
One very neat feature is the ability to share a preset. First, you save your multi-effect preset, and then you opt to share it. Hit the share button and the preset settings are uploaded. You can then share the code by Twitter, Facebook, e-mail or the clipboard. And if somebody else sends you a code, you can enter it, and apply the effect to your own photos.
For all-out image tweaking, Photogene is still my favorite, but the range and quality of effects in FX Photo Studio makes it well worth the $3 price tag. And it has one killer feature that, as far as I know, no other app contains: Amazing Facts. When you export an image, it takes a few seconds to render. The app throws up an Amazing Fact to read while you wait. For instance, did you know that in Australia, kids can’t buy cigarettes, but they are allowed to smoke them?
FX Photo Studio HD [iTunes]
FX Photo Studio HD [MacPhun. Thanks, Tyler!]
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