News: Photoforge2 version 2.0.2 coming soon

Hot on the heels of the recent Photoforge2 2.0.1 update, GhostBird Software, the developers behind this new and improved app [or not, some would say], announced via Twitter that yet another update is pending.

Their website states that "PhotoForge v2.0.2 has been submitted to the App Store for review.  This update contains a fix for project bug in the v2.0.1 as well as a bunch of new features."

So what can we expect to see in this update? Well according to their website, PhotoForge v2.0.2 will have...

• Added Rotation Editor.
• Added Vignette Editor (8 different vignette styles with full intensity control). 
• Added Color Balance Adjustment Editor. 
• Added Colorize Adjustment Editor. 
• Added Device to Device image transfer. You can now easily transfer photos between your devices. 
• Added ability to invert layer masks. 
• Changed the behaviour of the shadows & highlights adjustment to give much better results. 
• Greatly improved performance of crop and layer transform tools. 
• Fix for projects not loading properly after update to previous version.
• Fix for graphical corruption when repeatedly cropping huge images. 
• Fix for rare bug on iOS 4.2.1 that may cause app to become unresponsive when no wifi connection is available. 
• Minor graphics improvements and fixes. 
• A few minor bug fixes.

Please note: When all has settled down, I will write a review of this app, but at present, and at the rate these updates keep coming, any review I write will be out of date with in days of publishing, but stay tuned, I will get there in the end :)

Comments

[Alex]

That is a pretty big update, taking into consideration how fast they made it.

[Suzé]

No fix for getting the adjustment pane out of the way when using curves or levels? Was hoping this would be a fix as it's really a pain not to see real time adjustments and have to toggle back and forth. There is also a bug when loading a photo it's blank on the layer screen. You have to add it as a layer then it becomes visible.
Like the app a lot but I'm still disappointed about the lack of universal support for the iPad. If they had it on the marketing video and got everyone excited about using it on the iPad then where the heck is it?

[Corey]

@Suzé just turn down the opacity of the adjustment windows, they added that in the last update. :)

[Suzé]

Thanks Corey, I didn't pick up on that one! Still would like it to drawer so it's out of the way but I can definitely work with the opacity. This app will be fabulous I think, once it's universal. The iPad is a spoiler when making major adjustments or editing photos. I love the extra screen real estate.

[KimH]

Anyone else notice the huge "Photoforge" logo wasting space on the editing screen?

It's ridiculous- wastes space that the user interface needs. It's the same area where the checkbox and "x" are located (for confirm/cancel). The checkbox and "x" are small, and difficult to hit, if you're using your thumb. The interface could be much improved if these guys would cool it with the huge logo, and use the space for better controls — think of their users instead of their branding.

Frustrating to deal with this.

And while I'm at it, why do I need two fingers to drag the crop area? Why can't I drag it with one finger? As long as my one finger isn't touching a control point, it should move the entire crop area, like other photo apps do.

The Photoforge authors seem to think that anyone using this app has it on a table or something, with two hands and all fingers available. Often, I'm editing on the run, under less-than-optimal conditions (it's a phone, after all), and I find this app to be lacking for that purpose — needlessly so — especially with the giant logo sucking up valuable space.

It's too bad, because the app is very powerful, but these interface gotchas are cropping up.

[GhostBirdSoft]

@KimH Youre the first to complain about the confirm and cancel buttons! We can probably make them a little bigger if youd like but chances are the logo will stay where it is as :)

However as for the crop window double finger move gesture; its a control we discussed at length. The crop editor in PhotoForge2 unlike most crop editors will let you zoom in all the way down to view your actual pixels. This lets you do an absolutely precise crop. In PhotoForge2 on all screens when zoomed, a single finger pans the image so you can move/look around. In the crop editor when you are zoomed however you still need to be able to move the crop window. Most likely when zoomed in the crop area will take up most of the screen so using a single finger to move the crop window would now mean you cannot pan around. We chose to keep the standard single finger gesture the same on all screens when you want to pan. And the special two finger gesture would be used to move the crop window in the crop editor and move the layer in the layer transform editor, while maintaining the normal method to pan. Hope this explains our reasoning a little bit. If you have any suggestions on how better to handle this please send them to us we are always listening to our users.

[Len]

I like the app...more than most others, even Iris (another good app).

The interface while working with layers is spotty. Try it out.
1) select a photo to edit
2) then select the layer icon to import another photo
3) add the photo you like, then try adjusting it
4) you can pinch to zoom or move...

this is where it can be a little difficult. The photo "jumps" or "slips" like your mouse cursor when you touch your mouse pad in another spot.

Oh well,,,still a good app!

[the bman]

The transparent tools option is GREAT - thanks for that!(I have mine set to 0)

I'd also like to add how I hate the way that the logo and top bar takes up precious space!
Surely these buttons would better moved somewhere on the bottom toolbar even if it's as a secondary level option?

The underlying layer needs to be opaque immediately when you use the layers editing! ...and there are a few other 'bugs/quirks' that will hopefully be ironed out soon :)

I have to admit Iris Photo Suite is awesome, but as it appears to crash a lot recently and it hasn't been updated for a long time (on iPhone) - Photoforge2 is pretty close :)

It's not perfect but it's a great app. considering the price!

Fully recommended for anyone who likes to 'mess' around with images.

[MickymX]

Anyone know when this update will be available ?
Thanks