You may wonder how I come across the photo related apps that I review here every week. I get ideas on which ones to review from several sources, including the “New” and “What’s Hot” sections of the App Store. Sometimes though, I get the best leads from other iPhone and iPad users. A recent app was recommended to me by my oldest son. This week, we review Pixlr-o-matic, which was recommended to me by my youngest son, Lane. I say “we” since Lane wanted to make sure that he got due credit for his input in the process. Thus I have a co-writer this week.
Lane uses the app on his iPad and I use it on my iPhone. The process is quite simple. You simply select a photo to begin, either from your camera or camera roll. Once a photo is selected, you can select a filter from a selection of twenty-five color and black and white options. The filters are named for people, which is kind of neat. My only suggestion is that they be placed in alphabetical order so that it would be easier to find. It would be helpful to know that “Agatha” is always before “Bob” and not the other way around. You then select a lighting effect that includes anything from a simple vignette to Kryptonite. Then select from 31 frames to finish your photo.
At this point you may export to your camera roll, Facebook, or Imm.io.
You know how much I love filters and effects like these, so I really enjoy the app, which is brought to us for free from the good folks at Autodesk. I am especially impressed with the “Rain” lighting effect, which looks more like real rain than any other effect I have seen.
I have experienced no problems with the app on my iPhone, but it has crashed a few times on Lane’s iPad. Another suggestion I would make to Autodesk is that they include a crop tool and provide options to export to other apps, like Instagram. However, that’s not a big deal since you can save to the camera roll and export to Instagram that way.
So check it out! It’s approved by a 40-something and a teenager. And not many things are…
All the best… Mike (and Lane)
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A college administrator by profession, Mike Kennamer enjoys the opportunity to take photos and improve his skills by shooting events at work, church, and for friends. He enjoys landscape photography, portraiture and is starting to dabble in HDR. His current photography project involves learning to control flash manually. “My goal”, according to Kennamer, “is to be the best photographer I can be.”
Kennamer is also the President of Kennamer Media Group, Inc., a provider of traditional and online media, specializing in the healthcare industry. On CurrentPhotographer.com he writes about iPhone and iPad applications for photographers.