EffectsLab

T.J. Brumfield | Jul 19, 2009 Photo & Video

User rating:

(5 votes, average: 4.40 out of 5)

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This review is also due to a request. My wife wanted me to find her a good photo app for adjusting images on her phone. This site has reviewed apps like LOMO Camera and ToyCamera, which are designed for a very specific purpose. I’ve also come across a few designed more for entertainment purposes, transposing part of your picture with another image. What she wanted was something practical. The iPhone doesn’t have a flash. If she is taking pictures with her phone, she wants the pictures to turn out well.

Christopher Comair’s EffectsLab comes to the rescue. EffectsLab adjusts images. There are no toys or gadgets. There are no extraneous bells or whistles. There isn’t even a splash screen. You open the app, open your image and adjust it. Perhaps the app won’t wow you over with splashy graphics or polish, but this swiss-army knife of image filters gets the job done when it counts.

With a simplistic menu and no splash screen, I’m editing my photos almost instantly. Since I’m not a fantastic photographer, I have very few photos on my iPhone at the moment. I pull up an image of my daughter from a recent 4th of July parade. Yes, she is gorgeous. She gets her looks from her father. If I ever meet the guy, I’ll kill him. I digress. The lighting wasn’t fantastic and it shows in the photo.

Not a problem. I open a series of filters to adjust gamma, contrast, darkness, and luminance. At each step, I see immediate live previews of how the filter will adjust my photo. Each filter has a slider, allowing me to toy with the levels. If I’m not happy with the adjustment, or feel I can’t improve the image with this particular filter, I can hit the “Cancel” button.

In about a minute, I’m pretty happy with the final result. If I’m a real hurry, there is an “Auto Photo Correction” feature at the very top of the filter list. However I’m a perfectionist tweaker. Several of the filters also adjust multiple color levels. By clicking on the graph, I can rotate between channels I want to adjust.

At the bottom of the filter list are a series of preset effects I really enjoy such as Noir, Lomograph, Polarize, and Summer ’69. There are 11 presets here and all of them have a nice, distinct appearance. Christopher arguably could have included more, but it would have resulted in a cumbersome menu. I feel he did well in selecting a good variety without crowding the list.

A Stack button keeps track of the filters you’ve applied so far, and with what settings. You can save that stack and reuse it later. This is especially useful if you’re trying to get a group of images to come out with similar results, or you want to create complex effects. I can also go back to a previous step in the stack and change the slider value if I want.

If I hit the “Edit” button in the Stack screen, I can delete specific filters from the stack, effectively undoing those steps. I don’t have to undo everything to get back to a previous step. I can simply delete one filter from the middle of the stack.

One feature I found myself wanting was a crop tool. Then again, the iPhone isn’t taking very high resolution shots, so perhaps cropping and resizing wouldn’t have great results. But the feature may be worth examining in future versions. Finally, I think the ability to email the photo from the app would be icing on the cake.

One could argue these features would take away from the simple, direct approach this app takes. It does what it does, and it does it well.

: This app doesn't need a fancy splash. It is serious business.

: Recursive screenshots.

: This is the image I loaded to start with.

: Lots of filters.

: I could likely fill 3-4 screens of filters.

: You can see the graph on the bottom left. Clicking it rotates between gamma channels.

: Daddies don't let your girls grow up to be Orion slave girls.

: Vintage filter.

: Summer of 69 filter.

: Slowly saving.

: The image I started with.

: Final image.

Tags: $1.99, Photo & Video, photo editing, T. J. Brumfield

http://www.iphoneappreviews.net T.J. Brumfield

Did I just a free app, and four other apps with free promo codes in a row? Yes, yes I did.

I do it all for you. And remember, the more traffic this site has, the more developers will want to give this site promo codes. So if you want free apps, check back frequently, and spread the word!

When you link here, it makes me a happy panda.

Enough of my rambling. You want the promo codes.

FHNE7AETANMN
A39W3FPXT79A
JRHJTPKFLWX9
XR74JLWHE7MA
BryceD

Took FHNE7AETANMN
http://www.alchemistmuffin.com alchemistmuffin

Got the code JRHJTPKFLWX9

Thanks.

and remember, folks, IF YOU REDEEM THE CODES, YOU ARE REQUIRED TO REPLY, IT’S NOT OPTIONAL, IT’S REQUIRED.
Michael

Thanks, got the second one (A39W3FPXT79A).

First already gone (FHNE7AETANMN)
http://mikelightman.com mikelite

all four are taken.
jkc

Thanks, took XR74JLWHE7MA
Michael (Admin)

Yeah Muffin, you tell em!! :)
Paul

Great site guys. Just one thing. Either I’m dense or there isn’t an iTunes link that goes directly to the app you are reviewing. That would be MUCH appreciated :-)
http://www.iphoneappreviews.net T.J. Brumfield

The site used to post direct iTunes links in the reviews as part of the affiliate program. Apple won’t let this site be an affiliate because “iPhone” is in the site title. They’re paranoid that the site infringes on their trademark.

First off, this site isn’t selling a competing product and trying to usurp the trademark. What most people don’t know is that Apple actually did this themselves. Cicso already had iPhone trademarked for one of their products. I digress.

Apple has a history of going after fan blogs and websites rather than supporting them. Like in the early days of the internet (mid 90′s) when Lucas threatened to sue Star Wars fan sites for abusing his trademark. Little did he realize that all these sites did was promote visibility and hype for his products.

These days most companies realize that the internet is a powerful grassroots marketing tool. They support and enable fan sites which in turn generates free advertising for them. Hollywood studios bend over backwards to give interviews for amateur movie sites.

Apple’s decision is unfortunate here.

However, I will discuss with Michael the possibility of adding iTunes links to reviews, even though he can’t receive affiliate credit for those links.

And while I don’t agree with the very positive spin this article has, praising Apple for poor business practices, this is a very informative article none-the-less.

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/16-04/bz_apple
Paul

Thanks T.J. for the clarification. As you stated in your reply, you could add direct iTunes links, just not as part of the affiliate program. Since your site is not receiving affiliate credit now, if you added the links, nothing would be different except perhaps a better user experience for you readers, no?
Either way, I really appreciate the time you take to answer your readers!

PS. Thanks for the link to the article. It was a good read.
Michael (Admin)

Thanks T.J. you’re awesome! Yeah, Apple kicking IAR out of the affiliate program kind of made me mad but I’m over it!!

Once I get a chance to lay out a very slightly updated review format for all the writers we’ll start putting iTunes links in.
gianry

is it possible to have a promo code for italian store as I’ve an account on it ??

thanks
T. J. Brumfield

Apparently Apple only issues US iTunes promo codes. I’m sorry.
gianry

no, there are the promo codes on the italian store. I think only the italian citizen could issue a promo code for the italian store
Aine

I dunno how to get the new theme on me iPhone? :(((( x
http://www.dvdripper.org/ dvdripper

It’s a great photo app for iPhone. Great post!