iPhone App Review: EffectsLab

Note from editor: If you missed out promo code giveaway for EffectsLab, then fear not as iPhoneography writer Matt Burrows has it covered for you.

Though some iPhone users subscribe to the “you get what you get” mantra of iPhone photography, as a longtime user of Photoshop I am not quite there. Enter Christopher Comair’s impressive EffectsLab iPhone app, which provides users with a wide variety of post-processing options for their iPhone photographs.

Application Description (from App Store):

“EffectsLab is the photographer’s pocket knife, giving you a powerful image filtering suite, putting the highest end photo editing techniques into your pocket. With EffectsLab, you will be able to apply and layer a multitude of the most popular photo color adjustments. You can stack multiple photo adjustments in layers, modify and rearrange the already applied layers, then compile them into a custom filter which can be saved and applied to other photos later on. EffectsLab does not reduce the resolution of photos. No need to worry about losing resolution or color! EffectsLab also gives you a precompiled set of filters.”

EffectsLab Adjustments:

• Hue
• Saturation
• Saturation (RGB specific)
• Luminance
• Brightness
• Darkness
• Color Balance (RGB specific)
• Contrast
• Grayscale
• Grayscale (RGB specific)
• Invert
• Rotate
• Histogram Input
• Histogram Input (RGB specific)
• Histogram Output
• Histogram Output (RGB specific)
• Gamma Correction
• Tint

Impressions:

In my previous review of Takayuki Fukatsu’s OldCamera app, I mentioned that I spent the past weekend at the cottage evaluating photo apps. And though my father-in-law, with his new 14 MP Canon DSLR, was somewhat baffled by an app that would intentionally make pictures look old, he was very intrigued by what he referred to as a “pocket PhotoShop.” Now, I don’t know if I’d go that far, but I will readily admit that I am a fan of EffectsLab.

The app itself is very simple to use. When opened, you are prompted to select a photo from the Camera Roll. Once loaded, you can select the “Filters” tab to make a wide variety of adjustments or apply various preset filters. When selected, each of the adjustments (listed above) presents a picture of the photo and a slider bar (three bars are present in the RGB adjustments). When the slider is moved, the given changes are immediately seen in the photograph.

Another nice feature is the graph that can be seen in near the lower left corner of the above picture. When pressed, it allows users to switch between the various channels they would like to alter. However, if I’m not happy with the adjustments I’ve made to the photo, I can simply press “Cancel” and return to the main menu, thereby erasing any changes I made to the photo in that adjustment window.

One other nice feature in the “Filters” menu is the “Auto Photo Correction” option. The changes it made to the photos I tested were improvements. For an example, I’ve included the original....

....and the “Auto Photo Corrected” photo.

Finally, 11 preset filters are included at the bottom of the “Filters” page. These include:

• Cinema
• Nostalgia
• Belltown
• Lomograph
• Polarize
• Tweed
• Hong Kong 1976
• Red Flare
• Noir
• Summer ‘69
• Fantasy

I’ve also included a series of test shots with each filter to provide some additional comparison:

Above: Original iPhone photographAbove: Filter used CinemaAbove: Filter used NostalgiaAbove: Filter used BelltownAbove: Filter used LomographAbove: Filter used PolarizeAbove: Filter used TweedAbove: Filter used Hong Kong 1976Above: Filter used Red FlareAbove: Filter used NoirAbove: Filter used Summer ‘69Above: Filter used FantasyEven though the names may be unique (e.g. vintage filters like “Hong Kong 1976” or “Summer ‘69”), the 11 filters effectively represent a common set of filters that now seem to be included in many photography apps. Don’t get me wrong, this is a positive. It is, however, worth noting that these preset filters cannot be adjusted.

And though the multitude of adjustments available to users is impressive, the part of the app that most impressed me was the ability to stack adjustments and create your own custom filters that can be applied to future photos. To further my father-in-laws Photoshop analogy—it’s like creating mini Photoshop filter actions. That said, I did have one issue with “Stack” that I’ll address in the Cons section of the review.

Pros:

• A wide variety of ways to post-process photos. From the simple, one-button press of “Auto Photo Correction” to the three-slider bar for various RGB editing, EffectsLab is currently my go-to program for post-processing photos on my iPhone.
• Though I do have one concern about the Stack option, it is, nonetheless, a nice tool that allows me to save a “stack” of effects for future use. Not only will this allow me to post-process various photos in a consistent manner, but it will also save me time.
• Included preset filters represent a diverse collection of looks and are an effective means to apply quick changes to given photographs.

Cons:

• Though I found the ability to “Stack” different adjustments and save them as your own preset useful, it was frustrating at times. The reason for this is that while viewing the “Stack” page, the only thing you can see is the list of adjustments and filters that have been stacked.  As a result, you cannot see the immediate changes that deleting various effects/layers has on the photo. Including the photo as the background, as is the case when making adjustments in the “Filters” section, is a possible solution. And though this could create a crowded screen, I wonder if listing 2 - 3 of the layers at the bottom of the screen with toggle buttons (visible/invisible) would help to prevent overcrowding. If there are more than three filters, then users could scroll down the list.
• Though minor, I do wish that the ability to rotate and/or crop photos was an option.

Overall:

Though I’ll still use Tiffen’s Cool fx for some editing, if I want to do more than apply and manipulate filters, EffectsLab is the app I will turn to. All in all, for $1.99 Christopher Comair’s EffectsLab not only offers a nice selection of filters, but, more importantly/impressively, a wide variety of adjustment options for those who are looking to perform actual post-processing on their iPhone.

4.5 out of 5

@Matt Burrows

AppStore Link: EffectsLab - Price £1.19/$1.99

Editors thoughts: Whilst I have not tried EffectsLab, I have however tried Christopher Comair’s PhotoBox, which is a free version of EffectsLab, that only contain the pre-defined filters. Whilst for some EffectsLab and PhotoBox will meet their needs, for me these two apps compare more with apps like Mill Colour than say Photogene (for histogram editing etc.) or Photo fx (for pre-defined filters), and as such does not offer the flexibility that I am looking for. That said the ability to customise your own effects and save them for future use has to be a plus.

If you were lucky enough to get one of the promo codes, or already own this app, then let us know what you think of it by posting your thoughts in the comments section.

Comments

[SCW]

I have personally have used all apps mentioned within this write up. 
My honest thoughts... EffectsLab & PhotoBox whilst the UI, samples, effect names & even your pics might look all nice held within your iPhone. Truly that is the deceiving part here for I look for & strive for QUALITY which these apps do not give you. The saved results are absolutely horrible once you see them in full size on your computer... Oddly a 1200x1600 photo saves to 1188x1584?
 The app makes your photos look worse... Some are pixelated, blurry & full of noise/grainy making my photos just look dirty.  Something that is not acceptable to me. If I use a perfect photo & edit the colors etc I still expect a perfect photo to be saved... Not with EffectsLab or PhotoBox.
Off subject here but as mentioned Cool Fx (Photo Fx too) are excellent apps & a results & saved photos look perfect unless you knowingly chose a more grainy/noisey filter. Also MillColour to me is one of the most under rated photo apps that to me is one Amazing app. Excellent filters & tweaks plus ability to modify presets to your own liking. Giving you perfect results... Especially when viewed off your iPhone & on your computer. Same with the ever popular CameraBag which all give lovely warm & crips results.

I personally would NOT recommend EffectsLab or PhotoBox to anyone wanting or expecting to receive quality results worthy of saving or sharing off of your iPhone ie: with the rest of the world. 

That being said I look forward to perfection updates to these apps in the future which I will gladly test. 

Unfortunately until then EffectsLab & PhotoBox will not be worthy of staying on my iPhone. 

[Glyn Evans]

Hi SCW

Whilst I am not a fan of this app, I have to disagree with you (which is very rare thing). I have just tested PhotoBox which is the free lite version of EffectsLab, and whilst it does not save at full resolution it does save at 1280 x 960. Also I tested PhotoBox on 2 different photos and whilst it was difficult to gauge the grain (as this may be all part of the effect), the test photos for me looked as sharp as the original.

For me PhotoBox is not an app I would use again, as it doesn't offer me anything new over other apps I already own, and whilst we all have our own opinions on apps, I think you are being a bit harsh on these two.

If you won one of the promo codes for EffectsLab, what do you think of this app?

[scw]

Glyn,

I might possibly have been harsh since I tested these as well as 5 other poor photo apps. All within days of each other to have all of them fall short in the quality department. All had great intentions & ideas but the saved results were all poor. So that being said yes I possibly was slightly harsh yet I am always looking & expecting quality on & off the iPhone & pushing developers to strive for the best an app can be.
I can always agree to disagree at times to... but my over all approach is to seek quality first.
But again that is only my opinion =)

[Christopher Comair]

If you are using the pre-made filters, you are going to get some noise due to the adjustment style of the filter. However, if you are using the image adjustments (properly), you should not have any issues. You should understand that when you are modifying the image, you have complete power over the output. If something looks grainy, that is not the fault of the software. A color adjustment is a color adjustment, do it in EffectsLab, do it in Photoshop, do it in Aperture, it does the same thing. If you use the tools improperly, you are going to get a bad looking result. An image processing tool is not supposed to guess what the user wanted the photo to look like, it will just execute the adjustments as instructed.

EffectsLab was definitely not made for just the casual "I want to make my photo look cool" user. It is made for people who know exactly what they want with their images, and how to do it.

EffectsLab is a tool made for those comfortable with other image processing tools suites. If you are not already comfortable with these types of tools, as the developer, I would recommend you to get a different software.

[AussieDingo]

Great post. will definately check this application out.
Have been having fun with my iPhone photography. back to basics!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aussiedingo/sets/72157620810584620/

[astorg]

The main issue with Effects Lab is that it reduces resolution from 2048 to 1599. It looks it hasn't been updated to take account of the new, higher resolution available on the iPhone 3GS.