Where Apple is in it, Adobe can not wait very long: the Photoshop Express and Photoshop Touch sends two competitors to the app stores, which are most closely related to the most famous name for image retouching and mounting.
Adobe Photoshop Express: Magerkost
A substantive kinship of the apps for mobile devices is rather difficult to justify for several reasons: user expectations and also the requirements of the users of apps for the pleasantly light digital companion are very different.
Adobe Photoshop Touch: powerful but somewhat complicated
For example, if you are working with Windows or Mac OS images, it often prepares to print - whether it is for the domestic inkjet or for professional depth, flat or high printing. Therefore, conventional image processing programs must also be able to process large amounts of data in a liquid manner and should, among other things, support the CMYK color mode and import RAW files.
Apple iPhoto: Sensitive features
Such high demands do not have image retouchers to their apps. They expect that they can use it to motivate photos, which can be, among other things, in surprisingly high quality, for example, even with the iPad Mini. The aim of the troubles is typically a social network like Facebook or the desire to email the latest vacation photos to relatives or joy. PC Magazine has reviewed five particularly interesting apps.
Camera +: Good photo shooter, but offers hardly any retouching tools
The free retouching program from Adobe convinces with its particularly intuitive operation. The range of functions is also accessible without a manual study - just as good is only Apple iPhoto.
The ease of use is, however, no miracle: the app offers, apart from some sliders for global brightness and sharpness settings as well as effect filters, no significant tools for postprocessing. The features provided do not go beyond some basic tools: Photos can also be cut or rotated using Photoshop Express. Not possible, however, are many of the daily tasks: To lighten dark eye parts? Remove a disturbing image element? With Express: error message
Nevertheless, the freeware still performs better than the almost one euro "expensive" purchase apps. This is not least due to the much more comprehensive support offered by Adobe. Express is easy to share photos - it has its own feature for Express, but also for Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.
The Adobe developer Photoshop Touch carved from entirely different wood. This nine-euro app does not even reach the limit of the functionality of desktop programs for consumers - but App is a claim to be a "premium app for all image processing tasks". The surface is also comparatively complex. Therefore it is a smart move of the market leader to offer numerous videos to the program functions free of charge.
The features of Photoshop Touch include, in contrast to almost all competitors, tools that have been so common to desktop image-editing programs for many generations that they do not appear in the test sheets any more: these include the layers included since Photoshop 3 included The main level modes. Or the elementary gradation curves - Photoshop Touch makes it possible to make curve corrections, even channel-specific and therefore more precise, unlike most other apps.
However, there are still many wishes left at Touch arg. For example, we missed a magnetic lasso or an extracting filter to release objects - which would be very useful in the case of integrated planes. For the filters, we want a pro mode, which can also be adjusted for the radius of the blurred mask, not just the strength of the effect.
The working surface can not be converted to portrait format by rotating the mobile device. An incomprehensible limitation is that Touch will enlarge photos, but will import photos with a maximum size of 1,600 x 1,600 pixels. Even with multiple layers, Touch quickly reaches limits: With the error message "Maximum number of layers", the app recommends to reduce the existing layers or reduce the image size.
With iPhoto, the image retouch on the iPad makes pleasure. The operation via the programmable help of the program is a dream - a manual is not necessary. The integrated programminfo, which can be activated via the "?" Button, is completely sufficient. In addition, Apple also provides video tutorials.
The functional scope of the app, which is unusually large with 144 MBytes, which is provided for the actual image processing, is however highly expandable. The range of "classic" image processing tools is not enough for Photoshop Touch: there are no tools like lasso, more professional release tools such as extracting filters, magnetic lasso, or similar tools, nothing can be seen in iPhoto Code>
Photo Editor +: nice effect filters, hardly any retouching tools
Included in the daily retouch are some of the most powerful and useful tools in comparison: Touch provides for lightening and post-exposure particularly sensitive and regionally adjustable post-processors and dummies. The repair brushes, which can also be adjusted in size, as well as the automatic color and brightness corrections, are also very useful. Fortunately, the cleaning brush is not limited to the soft area of the marked area, even if the areas are difficult to detect To not at all.
It's a pity that iPhoto does not support many useful and proven image processing features, such as layers or even layer effects, for difficult-to-edit subjects. The desired histogram correction or gradation curves - both should be precisely adjustable channel-by-channel - does not deliver iPhoto as much as the other competitors.
Effect apps: Well-filled magic boxes
With Service & Support, iPhoto is the only program in the test to reach the maximum score: Apple offers 90 days of even more rarely expected installation problems beyond telephone support - ideal for a 4.49 Euro "expensive" mini application.
The App Camera + is mainly for shooting photos with the iPad app. In addition, the provider also offers it as an image processing tool. In the Lightbox, select all the images you want to edit. This pre-selection is also necessary if you have just taken the photo with Camera +.
All in all, Camera + offers the smallest functionality of all apps compared. And even the few included retouching tools such as the correction brush are not always convincing: this has always caused a visible blur of the edited image area - no comparison to the corresponding, mature and really useful tools from Adobe and Apple.
Manage images: Photosmith 2.2.2
Conclusion
The adjustment of brightness and contrast succeeded in the test properly. The filters against color strokes also performed well, especially if a suitable presetting was available. However, we missed more accurate intervention options, such as gradation curves or a histogram correction.
A strength of the app are some appealing effect filters and some picture frames. A more precise adjustment of the effects would be desirable. The operation of Camera + is intuitive, but this also applies to the small range of functions.
The service and support of Camera + is limited to the possibility of sending an e-mail to the manufacturer - obviously saved here.
A very similar picture as with Camera + is shown in Photo Editor +: With this app, Service & Support are limited to the possibility of sending an e-mail. For the image riot, the Photo Editor + provides more versatile tools. The app provides good red-eye correction and individual controls for brightness, contrast, saturation and sharpness.
In part, corrections can not only be applied to the entire image - although there are neither good release tools nor a level function. For example, there is the possibility to brighten areas through a brush. The correction tool resembles Camera +'s counterpart, but it worked mainly as a blur in the test.
With the simple-knit drawing tool, markers or drawings can also be applied to the images. Text input is possible. A special feature of Photo Editor + is its own option to send photos to a printer.
It does not always have to be the "big" image processing: Fantastic effects (almost) to the zero tariff - the apps presented here. They are mainly fun and are worth their money alone.
Instagram 3.2.0 (iOS)
The snapshot is supposed to be a bit brighter and look more like a sunset? With the free-to-use classic Instagram, simple image adjustments can be done in the palm of your hand.
The edited photos can then be immediately published in social networks like Facebook. The 13-Mbyte program requires iOS 4.3 and is even available in Chinese.
AlienAvatar 2.01 (Android)
Make your boss an alien: The Android app AlienAvatar by MotionPortrait transforms portrait photos into aliens. What's special about this is that the app automatically creates a 3D view of the original two-dimensional image.
The 19 MByte powerful app can take pictures and videos. It costs 1.05 Euro for Google play and requires Android 2.2.
Paper 1.2.5 (iOS)
FiftyThree offers a great painting program: The comprehensive app (48.7 MByte) offers an impressive basic functionality, including a fountain pen and good templates, free of charge.
Other functions like a mixer are available as an extension package for 1.79 euros, the optional basic package contains good painting tools and costs 5.99 euros. The app is programmed for iOS 5.0 or later.
At Photoshop Lightroom, the image management program Photosmith (from C Squared Enterprises, 19.99 Euro in the AppStore) reminds you.
Beautiful move
The Photosmith app has good image management features. The clearly structured program even includes a synchronization option for Photoshop Lightroom and uploads individual photos or catalogs to the Dropbox, Facebook or Flickr, where different sizes can be set. Lightroom is missing the editing features.
Two apps are clearly ahead: Adobe Photoshop Touch delivers the broadest range of features in the test field. Apple iPhoto, on the other hand, is the program of choice for convenient retouching for the fast photo between.
The two most compelling apps for image retouching do not even reach the functionality of the free Gimp desktop program.
The other tested apps compared are free or very cheap - but they are not recommended.
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