PicTools Is A Simple And Intuitive Way To Edit Your Photos
PicTools ($0.99) by ActiveDevelopment is another powerful little photo editing app for your iPhone.
This category of apps continues to grow every day. And here we have another potentially great little tool, PicTools.
You'll find all of the basics in PicTools. The interface is fairly simple and intuitive. Along the top will be the option to import an image, along with the Save button after you make some changes. The bottom toolbar features the following options: Crop, Transform, Overlays, Effects, Quick, and Borders.
With PicTools, I was surprised to see that there isn't an option to snap a new picture from within the app. This is an import-only option.
Once you get a photo imported though, there are plenty of options waiting for you. The Crop option gives you several choices, from freeform to 1:1 (square) to 2:3, and more. You can even resize the crop by dragging along the bottom corner handle.
Transform is where you go to flip or rotate an image. Overlays will give you several options of overlays, which will adjust the overall appearance of the image. PicTools even allows for custom overlays, where you can pull in another image and blend it to form a unique image.
Effects are categorized in two categories: Antique or Color. Antique effects will apply retro filters on your photos, and with the right filter, your images can pop. Color effects are more like tints on the image, but you can also adjust curve levels, which is nice.
Are you the indecisive type? Or just like to see how your photo looks with random effects applied? That's what the Quick function does -- it applies a random look to your image. When you find one you like, tap on Done to keep the change.
The last option in PicTools is Borders. There's quite a few to pick from, and you can see a preview of them when you are looking through them.
No matter what you're changing, you can quickly cancel the operation or save it via the two buttons at the top of the app.
When you save the image, a pop up will appear with Save Options. You can pick the resolution (612, 800, 1200, or Full), or toggle Squared (square format with white or black background). There is an option to post the image to Facebook, otherwise, you end up saving to the Camera Roll.
PicTools is a nice little app, but I did notice some speed issues while using the app. Whenever I want to save changes, the app seems to lag a bit before allowing me to do anything else. Some of the animations when going through menu options is a bit choppy.
It may just be me, but I would like to see the developer work on fixing some performance issues in the next update. This is my only gripe with the app.
It's currently only $0.99, which I think is a good price for the current version of the app. However, unless the performance issues are addressed, I don't think I could recommend it at a higher price. Plus, I already have so many photography apps that can do the same thing.
If you love photography apps on the iPhone though, then I recommend checking this out before the price goes up.
