Missing photos from your iPhone camera roll?

I've seen a few comments lately about photos missing from the iPhone's camera roll.  This was a problem documented last August whereby if you had more than 10,000 photos on your iPhone, then any photo named IMG_10000 or higher would be invisible in the camera roll.  Now I'm not sure if this is still a problem with the latest version of iOS 3.x or even iOS 4, but a previous reader commented at the time, that when you reached image IMG_11526 the next shot IMG_11527 would become visible.  Now whilst this may mean having to shoot another 1,500 photos, which is a lot, there were the possible alternative options.

1. Sync your iPhone to backup and copy all photos off your camera roll using your computer.
2. Use a directory browser such as PhoneView for Mac, iPhone Browser for PC or SSH to delete these folders.
3. Now just take a picture and you’ll see it shows up in the camera roll.

Note from Editor: When this fix was reported last year, there were mixed results, so anyone trying this does so at their own risk :)

Original source: Apple iPhone School

Camera+ version 1.2, a sneak peek

Whilst many have been unimpressed with tap tap tap's selling tactics of their iPhone camera replace app Camera+, and this disgruntlement fueled by their blog post telling everyone one how much money this app has made them, they are at least investing some of this money in developing what is essentially a good app even further.

The following video gives a sneak peek of version 1.2, showing what appears to be dynamic exposure control and the iPhone's volume button acting as a real shutter button.

New iPhone Photo App: ColorBlast!

Description from the AppStore: ColorBlast! is a powerful, fun, state of the art, color image processing tool for iPhone/iTouch.

The core feature of ColorBlast! is the ability to separate and color one object in an otherwise black and white photo.

Painting Color

• To make this possible, and even fun, ColorBlast! employs selective color technology which allows you to start brushing on a specified color and then paint only that color. ColorBlast! stays within the lines, making this an entertaining, rather than frustrating, experience.

Changing Color

• After painting a color, ColorBlast! allows you to change it to any color you want. Make a red car blue, or a yellow shirt green.

Not Just Black & White

• The unpainted area starts out as black & white but you can choose from a selection of tints (sepia, cobalt, etc) or just bring up the color saturation to see your original image with a color changed object.

Get/Send Images Anywhere

• There are lots of ways to get images in and out of ColorBlast!. Photo Album, Camera and Clipboard are supported. Facebook integration goes deep, with the ability to browse all photos you have access to by album or tagged person.

Your edited results can be saved, emailed, messaged, or posted on Facebook.

AppStore Link: ColorBlast! - Price: £1.19/$1.99/€1.59

Editors comments: It's been awhile since we have seen a challenge to ColorSplash, but is this challenger worthy of the challenge?

The App

Launch the app and you are presented with 4 options to select a photo.  First up you can select from the photo library (camera roll), then as is customary with most photo apps you can take a photo and import on the fly.  Next there is an unusual option, and that is to import from Facebook, and finally you can import from the clipboard.

Just as with ColorSplash, when you load a photo it is converted to black and white, and then, just as indicated in the developers video above you select the brush type that best suits the photo you are working on.  Having selected the brush simply touch the area of the photo that you want to restore the colour, and begin rubbing your finger across the screen.  Continue this process of touching and rubbing the screen until all the areas you want to recolour is recoloured.  Should you make any mistakes, you can use the undo/redo icons, or you can select the eraser icon and rub out any mistakes, because whilst the video shows no colour bleed, this doesn't always work with the default brush.

Having completed the recolouring process, you can alter the mono area of the photo with 6 predefined looks, again as shown in the video, or you can bring colour back to the mono area of the photo by adjusting the "Color Saturation" slider.  If you want to alter the colour or brightness of the recoloured area, then this can be done by adjusting the "Hue" and "Exposure" sliders, and when done, post to Facebook, save to the camera roll, email or SMS the photo.

What do I think of ColorBlast?

This app uses a color picker approach (picking the color under the initial finger touch), which overall I found easy to use, with the sharp edged brush giving the cleanest results.

Whilst this app is easy to use, it is sadly let down by low resolution, which on my iPhone 3G was an unusual 1036 x 777, and therefore, for me, whilst it's a nice alternative to ColorSplash, it does not beat it, gaining a 3 star rating from me.

Update on Wednesday, July 21, 2010 at 9:47PM by Glyn Evans

I have received an email from Ralf Berger the developer of ColorBlast, who has advised me that on the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 the app supports full-res, and that it is only the 2G and 3G that saves at the reduced resolution I experienced, so based on this I would consider increasing my rating to 4 stars.

App Update: BlurFX

I've not covered this app here on the iPhoneography blog before, but if you are looking for an app that lets you create out of focus photos, then this is one of the best apps currently available in the AppStore.

BlurFX key features include:

• Simple and easy UI (Userinterface)
• Everybody can use the Out of Focus Effects.
• Variety of the Out of Focus Effects.(Gaussian blur, Median blur, Normal blur)
• Provide gray effects partially
• Support zoom, with two finger you can change zoom scale and move photo.
• Provide photo filter.
• Added color filter. (Hue, Saturation, Lightness and colorize)
• Support all resolution.(480x480, 640x640, 800x800, 1024x1024, 1200x1200, 1800x1800, Full RES)
• Saving multiple session.
• Support facebook, flickr, twitter uploading

In addition to these features BlurFX has just been updated and now includes:

• Saving multiple session.
• Uploading image to flickr and facebook.
• Filters added.
• UI renewer.
• Brush size guide line added.

AppStore Link: BlurFX - Price: £0.59/$0.99/€0.79

New iPhone Photo App: Iris Photo Suite

Description from the AppStore: Iris Photo Suite gives you the power to easily and quickly edit your images, right on your iPhone/iPod Touch. “Iris” is a collection of highly optimized set of tools and actions(filters) that are commonly used in the industry to correct and enhance digital images. With all features optimized to juice out the maximum performance from the iPhone's processor, it ensures a rich & smooth photo editing experience. Iris has been designed keeping in mind the problems faced while using a mobile camera, and thus these tools allow you to overcome these drawbacks and let you create that perfect shot that you had been wanting click!

LIST OF FEATURES AVAILABLE INCLUDE:

• Simultaneously adjust the image parameters like Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, Sepia, and Temperature.
• Automatic adjustment of White Balance, Image Levels, and Gamma.
• Complete Histogram Control with Input Levels, Output Levels, and Gamma Control.
• Adjust the Shadows' and Highlights' Level.
• Dedicated Color Balance control that works independently on the Shadows, Highlights, and the Mid-tones.
• Crop and Horizon Correction.
• One Touch Color Splash based on selective color.
• Sharp/Blur.
• 10 step undo.
• Restore.

24 ONE TOUCH FILTERS

• Polarizer, Cross-Process, Vintage, Retro, 2 Strip Technicolor, Dyna Range, and 3 Strip Technicolor,  Black 'n' White, Sepia, Split Tone, Dramatic BW, Red Filter, Infrared, and History, Sketch, Color Sketch, Solarized, Blueprint, Negative, and Artificial Flash.

ONE TOUCH COLOR SPLASH

• With "Iris" you can create stunning color splash images, by simply selecting the color you want to retain. Colors can be easily selected by sliding a slider across the color spectrum. The software ensures smooth blends between the color boundaries, and ensuring that there are no color leaks or abrupt color edges.

SMOOTH CONTROLS, WITH LIVE PREVIEW

• All the filters and the controls in Iris have been optimized to provide you with one of the smoothest UI Experience available on iPhone/iPod Touch.
• Sliders move smoothly without showing any erratic behavior and the effects would be visible live! as you use the same.

AUTO GAMMA, AUTO LEVLES, AUTO WHITE BALANCE

• Iris Automatically corrects the above parameters for you, with a click of a button, saving you tremendous amount of time correcting your images on your PC/or MAC.
• It automatically finds the appropriate black and white color point for your images, and thus corrects the white balance of your images.

COLOR BALANCE WITH HIGHLIGHTS, SHADOWS, & MID-TONES

• You can selectively adjust the color balance(R,G,B) of the individual tonal ranges of your images giving you the complete freedom while correcting your images.

LARGE NUMBER OF PREDEFINED FILTERS

• High end photographic filters like the ‘Polarizer’,etc can be applied to your images with a click of a Button. Unlike most softwares available, the filters are not merely preset values for the manual controls provided.
• Each Filter is set of highly complex actions, that are applied pixel by pixel on your images giving them the desired effect as needed.

AppStore Link: Iris Photo Suite - Price: £0.59/$0.99/€0.79

New iPhone Photo App: XProcess

Description from the AppStore: XProcess (pronounced Cross Process) is an app that simulates a cross processing effect and makes your photos strange and beautiful.

Cross processing simply refers to the process of developing one kind of film with the chemicals meant for another type of film. Doing so produces some wild, usually unpredictable results that can give you photographs with vivid saturated colors and higher levels of contrast.

With XProcess, You do not need any difficult setting. All you need is just take photo or choose from the photo library. XProcess automatically adds effect.

FEATURES:

• output size: 320px to original size (maximum width)
• output format: High Quality JPEG, Low Quality JPEG, and PNG
• Shake to Shuffle mode*
• Share the pictures with others by Email.
• Automatically activate camera function when launching Monochromia. (optional)

*Shake your iPhone/iPod touch, then XProcess adds a random effect to the photo.

AppStore Link: XProcess - Price: £0.59/$0.99/€0.79

Universal Photo App Review: Monotone

Monotone from developer Sato is a new universal app for turning your colour iPhone photos in to mono ones.

Thankfully this app is universal, because at time of purchase it was listed as iOS 4 tested, and NOT listed as requiring iOS 4 to run.  This has now been amended in the AppStore description, but as I am not currently running iOS 4 on my iPhone, I am reviewing this app on my iPad.

The App

Monotone is a simple to use app, simply launch, and from the home screen select "Album" and load a photo.  Having loaded your photo simply decide if you want it to be positive or negative by selecting the "Mode" and then use the slider controls to adjust the Hue, Saturation, Brightness and Contrast.  The Saturation slider if slid all the way to the left will render your photo black and white, whilst bring it back to the right in conjunction with the Hue slider will add a colour tint to the photo.  Finally you can add a black or white vignette before selecting the output size from the settings menu and saving the up to full resolution photo back to the photo album.

What do I think of Monotone?

Overall this is a nicely designed, simple to use mono application for your iPhone or iPad, that produces some really good looking results, and with full-res support.

I can find nothing to fault this app, so if you do not already have a mono app for your iPhone or iPad, and want one, then Monotone is well worth the money and gets 5 stars from me.

AppStore Link: Monotone - Price: £1.19/$1.99

Create Diptych or Triptych photos on your iPhone or iPad with Diptic

What is it?  Diptic is an app that lets you quickly and easily combine two or three of your photos to create a new image.

Who is it for?  People who want to tell a story with their photos. With Diptic you can quickly and easily:

• Create a before-and-after sequence
• Produce a photographic series
• Juxtapose contrasting images
• Create photo collages

How does it work?  Just choose a layout, select your photos, place the photos in position and save to your camera roll or email to a friend.

OK, so that's what the developer has to say about Diptic, but what is it really like?

Diptic is a universal app, which means it can run on either the iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, with all three devices sharing the same user interface (UI), letting you create Diptych or Triptych photos.

What is Diptych photography?

A diptych is a photograph that uses two different or identical images side by side to form one single image. The two images can be in contact with each other, or separated by a border or frame.

What is a Triptych photography?

Above: The meaning of Diptych

Just like Diptych photography consists of two images side by side to form a single image, so Triptych photography is a photograph that uses three different or identical images side by side to form one single image, and just as with Diptych, the three images can be in contact with each other, or separated by a border or frame.

The app

To use Diptic, launch the app and select 1 of the 5 Diptych layouts, then tap each of the square/rectangled areas and load a photo to that area.  Do this for all quares/rectangles, using your fingers to pinch to zoom and position each photo with in their frames.  If after positioning your images you need/want to flip them or rotate them 90 degrees, then select "Transform" from the menu options found across the bottom of the screen... ...and tap on the photo in question to flip/mirror or rotate.  When this stage is complete you can change the colour and thickness of the Diptic/Diptych border by selecting the "Effects" option at the bottom of the screen, followed by the "Border" option found in the top right.  From here you can make the necessary adjustments by using the sliders, but here you will find adjusting the border thickness crops the photos.  Once complete, simply tap "Export" and then either save to the camera roll/photo album, or send as an email, and that's Diptic.

So what do I think of Diptic?

I really like the simplicity and ease of use of this app, with only 2 negative things to say.  The first is the output resolution is only 1024 x 1024, which whilst perfect for online use, is not good enough for printing (if that's something you want to do), and the other thing, is, I would like to see some more layout options.

Diptic does exactly what it says on the tin, and apart from the 2 small issues, I can find nothing else to complain about, and so give Diptic 5 stars, recommending it to anyone who wants to create Diptych or Triptych photos.

AppStore Link: Diptic - Price: £1.19/$1.99