Get a photo Phix for free
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 11:05PM | Glyn Evans Developer UIC Phoenxsoftware has made 2 of its black and white apps available for FREE.
The 1st one is MonoPhix [AppStore Link], which I reviewed here, and the 2nd app is GrayPhix [AppStore Link].
With MonoPhix you can create Monochrome images from your pictures with one touch. Even advanced image editing apps on your mac/pc require multiple filters and adjustments to create these high depth and high quality monochrome images.
GrayPhix is the most impressive grayscaling app available for iPhone and iPod Touch and is optimized to handle even the largest images directly on your iPhone.You will even be able to simulate camera flash for your grayscale images taken in a dark or twilight environment.
To be honest I am not a fan of either of these apps, but I would recommend grabbing a copy whilst free, as unlike me you may like the results they produce.
GrayPhix, MonoPhix in Price drop
Reader Comments (7)
Hi Glyn,
First of all, I appreciate that you are giving so much attention to the promo of my Phix apps.
But you mentioned there that you had issues with the results, I assume you're mostly talking about MonoPhix.What seems to be the problem there exactly? I'm building MonoPhix version 1.2 soon, so maybe I can resolve these in this version. GrayPhix will stay un-updated for a while as it does what it has to do atm. it grayscales images at full resolution.
If you and other people who download them for free now suggest some changes, I can apply these and include these in the next update.
Renzo
UIC Phoenxsoftware
@Phoenxsoftware. Thanks for the feedback and news about your planned update. My problem with not just these apps, but just about all of the current crop of B&W apps, is they offer nothing new or exciting to make them stand from the crowd. If you take an app like Spica, when released it offered something that was not available in another standalone app, and so won praise and grew in popularity because it stood out from the rest of the B&W apps in the AppStore. The problem with most of the other apps, is they all produce similar looking results, which for me are a little on the flat side, and for anyone who has apps from the Tiffen range, then they already have a much wider range of B&W effects, and for those that don't have either of the Tiffen apps, then these apps offer better value than a limited standalone B&W app.
If any of you do grab free copies of MonoPhix and/or GrayPhix, then please provide some feedback here.
GrayPhix's pricing will already be returned to normal, which is 0.99$ since the fact that it's free has made the App Store rating drop below 2/5. (Free apps tend to have lower ratings, because people are less careful in what they download)
MonoPhix will remain free until this weekend (Saturday) in this way the iphoneography visitors can still download it for free and provide feedback where necessary.
Hi, Renzo,
Thank you for the free versions of MonoPhix and GrayPhix.
I liked GrayPhix. I have *a ton* of camera and editing apps, so it didn't do anything new and unique for me. If I didn't have those apps, I'd definitely consider GrayPhix. The Light Grayscale and Grayscale settings produced good, pleasing results for me. I like the exposure enhancement capabilities of the Light Grayscale setting as well. However, the Dark Gray setting produced really murky images for me -- overexposure doesn't seem to be a problem on my 2G. For me, that filter is essentially useless.
I wasn't thrilled with MonoPhix. I've been spoiled by Spica -- Super Monochrome which I feel produces the look of a really fast film stock and yields exceptional monochrome results. For me, MonoPhix's Gray Mono filter produces similar results to the grayscale setting of GrayPhix. I haven't looked at the histograms in Photoshop, but visually that's how it looked to me.
The Deep Mono filter gives a nice, grainy, high contrast effect like an old photograph that's been photocopied, but I have similar filters in other apps I've purchased, most notably CameraBag which also has several other really good effects.
The Hard Mono filter's results were not smooth and had too much of an edge for my tastes. Gradients were either black or white. It's more like a 2-level black & white posterize effect. The result looked like an old newspaper photograph that had been photocopied too many times. If that's the look that one is trying to achieve, then it's a great filter. In contrast (no pun intended…), Spica produces results for me that are still extremely high contrast and grainy, but with a nice use of added noise (or found noise) while holding some detail in the gradients. It's a monochrome look that I prefer.
Suggestions for MonoPhix? I'd like an app with a filter or two that looks more like film -- perhaps ISO 1600 and 3200 with the noise and artifacts. An adjustable slider to customize the strength of the monochrome effect would definitely add a unique feature and set it apart from other monochrome apps.
For me, a good monochrome filter can really add power to an otherwise run-of-the-mill image. Currently, the filters in Spica and CameraBag do the job better for me.
Again, thank you for the freebies. I hope this feedback helps.
=M=
Thanks for the feedback!
The slider control is already on my list for MonoPhix, in fact it will even have 2 sliders in the future, one for the intensity of the light colors and one for the intensity of darker colors. In this way people can adjust the output themselves.
Another feature which might be added is a color selection tool for the monochrome effects, so MonoPhix will also be able to produce Sepia and Antique effects.
And indeed, the grayscale function is copied from grayphix.
Anyway, hold on to the Apps as you will be able to update for free with the current apps when I apply the suggested changes to the newest update.
GrayPhix will also get a slider btw. to control the intensity of the grayscales brightness.
Hi, Renzo,
Thank you for your reply! I think the new features you'd mentioned will definitely add value and uniqueness to MonoPhix. I look forward to the update!
=M=
The MonoPhix sale has ended as well, I've just changed the pricing info back to 0.99$.
I would like to thank everyone for trying MonoPhix & GrayPhix. Don't remove them just yet, you will be able to update for free to the newest versions. MonoPhix 2.0 will pop-out very soon and will bring changes suggested in these comments.
Renzo
UIC Phoenxsoftware