The Good
- Tremendous number of filters and effects combinations
- Very fine-grain control
- Multiple levels of undo
- Works with hi-res images
The Bad
- Complex - there's a lot to master here
- No red eye reduction
The Price
US$1.99
While it's not as powerful or comprehensive as Adobe Photoshop, the standard for image editing on the desktop, Photoshop is the first thing that came to mind when I began using the FX Photo Studio app for the iPhone. That's because FX Photo Studio offers an impressive array of ways to edit and enhance your photos.
Nearly 200 Filters
Like many photo apps for the iPhone, the core feature of FX Photo Studio is applying a series of stylized filters to your photos. The app offers 194 pre-loaded filters that can transform photos (either those already on your iPhone, imported from Facebook, or taken using the app) in all sorts of ways. The included filters allow you to transform your photos into vintage documents, pencil sketches, x-rays images, water-damaged prints, and many more. Some of the filters are pretty silly--adding a ghost to the background of the image or flames to the foreground--but overall, it's a good collection of filters.
Almost Endless Options
Filters are pretty common in photo apps, but what makes FX Photo Studio really stand out is the wide range of other settings and tweaks you can apply to your photos--and it's this depth of features that reminded me of Photoshop. Besides applying a filter, you can control the amount of the filter applied to your photo, zoom, pan, and crop the image; draw on it; change its brightness, color saturation and hue; rotate it, and much more.
The app also offers multiple levels of undo, which is important when it comes to a tool that will require so much trial and error to create just the right image (which isn't a criticism of the app; that's just the nature of this kind of work). I don't think I've seen many apps with such an extensive undo feature.
Once you've created and saved your new photo, the app allows you to post it to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Instagram, and Tumblr, or print it.
Comprehensive--or Overwhelming?
While the powerful tools and extensive options offered by FX Photo Studio are great if you're looking to really dig into editing your photos on your iPhone, that same comprehensiveness may be a problem for some people; it makes the app complex and, in some cases, a bit overwhelming.
This probably isn't an app for beginners or for people who just want to apply a filter to an image and call it a day. Those people may find the number of options and features not just overwhelming, but intimidating and off-putting. Luckily, and unlike Photoshop, if you buy the app and have that experience, you're only out a couple of dollars, not over $1,000.
The Bottom Line
With its complexity and power, FX Photo Studio is an impressive app--and one that signals the increasing power and capability of iOS apps. It's not for beginners or people who don't want much besides filters, but if you're interested in digging into the nitty-gritty of image editing on your iPhone, it's a great option.
What You'll Need
An iPhone, 4th generation iPod touch or higher, or iPad 2 or higher, running iOS 3.0 or later
