Review: Filterstorm – Incredible iOS Photo Editing App

3 promo codes to give away – see end of post!

Filterstorm might just be the photo editing app I have been looking for, it is a powerful editing tool that allows you to perform a wide range of adjustments with an interface that doesn’t obscure the photo you are working on.

This app is available for the iPad, the iPhone and the iPod Touch and requires iOS 4.2, and there is a pro version available for iPad users. This review is for the iPhone version of the standard Filterstorm app, and was reviewed on an iPhone 3GS using photos taken with the phone.

Filters

In Filterstorm the adjustment tools are referred to as filters, if you’re looking for ready made filters (eg currently popular vintage filters) these are referred to as automations.

The main reason Filterstorm is fast becoming my  tool of choice is that it allows you save your own processes as automations, meaning you can essentially create your own filters and reuse them as often as you like.

There are also a number of automations available for download from the developer website, including some of the currently popular vintage trends such as a toy camera effect.

Interface

The interface may seem a little clunky at first – I found it confusing initially, but now that I have spent a little time with the app I realise how well thought out it is and how efficiently it uses the (limited) available space.

Automations

The automations area in particular took me some time to understand – if you have done a series of edits to the photo and are happy with the results you can tap the automations button and press “save automation”. All the edits you made will be saved so you can apply them to any photo in future. You can also email automations so you have a backup copy in case of phone loss or damage.

There are one or two ready made automations with the app, but more can be downloaded from within the app.

One feature I would love to see being introduced is the ability to edit automations – if one could load up an automation and remove steps in the history or edit the step it would add an additional level of amazingness to this app.

Features

Here is the full feature list from the official Filterstorm website:

  • Ability to apply adjustments to entire image, by brush, gradient, color range, vignette, or selecting opacity.
  • Send images via Email, FTP, Flickr, and Dropbox
  • Export images up to 22MP (iPad2) or 7.5MP (iPad/iPhone 4)
  • Save edits as automations to apply to other images
  • Curves: Luminance, RGB, Red, Green, Blue, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow
  • Adjust brush size, softness, and opacity
  • Brightness
  • Contrast
  • Color balance
  • White point picker
  • Temperature
  • Saturation
  • Text tool
  • Black and white fine-tuning
  • 30-step Visual History
  • Cropping, with the ability to specify aspect ratio
  • Scaling/Scale to Fit
  • Rotation & Image Straightening
  • Add Borders
  • Combine multiple exposures
  • Vignetting
  • Sharpen
  • Tone map (Simulated HDR)
  • Blur
  • Noise reduction
  • Add noise
  • Clone Tool
  • EXIF support for JPEG and some RAWs
  • IPTC support

Location Services

You will need to have location services turned on and available to this app to use it, this is because it retains your photos EXIF data when importing from your camera roll – Apple make it a requirement for any app doing this, presumably because of potential location data stored in EXIF.

The app will default to an older method of importing images without EXIF data if location services are off, but mt experience was that the app kept defaulting to requesting I turned them on which was annoying.

Developer Demo Video

Price

The app is priced at $3.99 which is an absolute steal for this level of functionality, It amazes me sometimes the software we are getting for crazy prices on our mobile devices.

Verdict

You will need to invest a little time in this app to get the maximum out of it, getting to know the features and developing your own automations, but if you are in any way serious about editing photos on the go I highly recommend this app. An incredibly well thought our feature set that gives you amazing results relatively quickly once you’re familiar with the interface.

Rating 4.5 out of 5

Pros

  • Fine grained control over your photo editing with a powerful feature list
  • Save automated processes for reuse

Cons

  • Requires location services – will import without but app seems to default back to requesting you turn them on
  • Slight learning curve, requires time to get the most out of the app (this isn’t even really a con, just a point to be aware of)

Buy Filterstorm from the app store for just $3.99

Snag Yourself A Free Promo Code

Filterstorm have very kindly given us 3 promo codes to give to our readers, to be in with a chance of getting one simply tweet the following:

I’m hoping to snag a promo code for @filterstorm photo editing app via @MacTrast by tweeting this! http://mctr.st/nPDyIw #mtfspc


Tweet it now »

Winners will be contacted via DM with their promo code, so you’ll need to be following @mactrast to be in with a chance.

Winners have been chosen and are being contacted by DM – hope you won! And if not, better luck next time, keep your eye out for more promo codes soon 🙂

Frank Prendergast

Frank loves using his iPhone as a camera & photo editor - if you have any tips on cool photo apps or processes, or just want to share your cool iPhoneography please drop Frank an email. Frank offers web design in Cork (Ireland) and also loves WordPress and the Rockford Files.