The folks at MacPhun kindly sent us the iPad version of its popular FX Photo Studio app (available on iTunes App Store for $1.99). We had reviewed the Mac version earlier and was impressed with its ease of use and features. It’s good to know that the iPad version does not take away any of that and maintained its simplicity and fun.
Upon opening the app the user sees a beautiful welcome screen with three options: Take Photo, Photo Album, or Import. Take Photo allows the user to pick the iPad’s rear- or front-facing camera to snap a picture. Photo Album lets the user pick a photo from the existing albums on the iPad. What’s interesting is the Import feature which allows the user to connect to his/her Facebook account and pick photos from there, or use iTunes (after connecting the iPad via USB, of course) to transfer photos between the PC and the iPad.
Welcome to FX Photo Studio HD (iPad)
The app has basic image manipulation functions: Crop, Rotate, Resize, and Adjust (brightness/contrast, Gamma, hue/saturation). Accessing these functions is intuitive and the developer has definitely designed the UI to fit the iPad’s multi-touch paradigm.
For $1.99 this app will deliver 190 image effect right out of the App Store, viewable by category, all, or favorites, and in each view the user can re-order the list at will. With nearly 200 effects being able to tag favorite effects is a welcomed feature for sure. Additional effects such as Art Frames, Color Lenses, Color Strokes, Hollywood FX, and Classic Frames are available as in-app purchases for $0.99 each.
The other impressive feat is the app’s Share feature. Obviously, the app allows the user to save the creation back to the Photo Album, Documents, or Clipboard (which can be pasted to another iPad app). After creating a masterpiece, who wouldn’t want to share it with family and friends — or even strangers, right? No problem at all because the app can handle sharing via Flickr, email, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and printing. That just about covers it all these days?
Sharing is caring
Our overall experience has bee positive in using FX Photo Studio HD for the iPad. For the price of $1.99 the app offers many solid features and effects as well as a great user experience. It is a pleasure to use and can definitely be a productive tool for some creative professionals looking for a simple image editing iPad app.
Below are some promotional images from the developer:
