OSXcellence – Grungetastic Review

The charm of grain and of other imperfections adding to an image’s character is but a distant memory. At least it was until the arrival of the iPhone. Now, grain, dirt, burnt-out whites and blacks, and an inaccurate white balance seem to be a staple part of the photographic experience of most iPhone users. In certain circumstances, this can add a new artistic factor to an otherwise average image.

Many apps that allow the addition of such effects, however, don’t have particularly realistic or pleasing effects, especially in the case of grunge or distress filters, and most importantly, these filters are only available for images from iPhone users’ cameras.

Grungetastic for Mac ($7.99/£5.49) from JixiPix Software aims for cater to those who like this type of stylising in particular, and who either don’t have an iPhone or don’t want their iPhone to be part of the process.

Out of the box (or rather, the download) Grungetastic isn’t equipped with the hundreds of filters which many other apps flaunt. But that doesn’t matter, because each grungifiying effect is adjustable, from its smoothness, to the tone threshold, to the colours used for “defacing” the image. Then, you can pick from a very large selection of overlays – patterns of scratches, or damage, for artistic effect. The colour of these overlays can be modified, and two different overlays can be added to one image.

Finally, you can add a border to your mangled, distressed and grunged-up image. Again, there are many styles to chose from, and the colour of each is adjustable.

I was quite sceptical about an app focused just on grunging images, and if the thought of defacing an image for artistic effect (even digitally) makes you shiver, steer clear of Grungetastic – although, you knew that by now, didn’t you?

For people who love to destroy their pictures to make them better (so to speak…) Grungetastic is a very well-made app, with a massive range of possible grunging outcomes, most of which are actually printable, unlike with most filter apps.

I would recommend downloading the Grungetastic Demo and seeing for yourself the possibilities this app offers.

Grungetastic by JixiPix (also available in iPad and iPhone flavours) is available from JixiPix’s Website, or from the Mac App Store.

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