"Simply B&W is a simple to use, yet very capable black and white app"
Developed by Brian Kennedy [A.K.A. Mr. B. Ware], and inspired by two of his favourite Black and White apps Vint B&W and Monophix, Simply B&W is described by Brian as "an easy and simple way to turn your great color shots into exciting black and white photos."
As Brian says, Simply B&W is an easy to use app, that lets you convert your existing photos to black and white ones, just like Monophix, or take black and white photos, similar to Vint B&W.
Simply B&W is more feature rich that Vint B&W, with the addition of tradition black and white filter effects [Red, Green, Blue, Yellow or Orange], but lacks the advanced features found in Monophix.
So what does Simply B&W offer? Well Simply B&W lets you..
- select from 6 different colored lens filters to enhance certain colors and shades in a photo.
- adjust the brightness and contrast of the image.
- choose from border options of none,white or black.
- outputs images at full-res
Importing and convert
Importing and converting your iPhone photos to Black and White is really easy and simple to do. From the apps home screen, simply tap the photo icon, select a photo from the Photo Album or Camera Roll, then select one of the 5 traditional black and white filter options, or no filter at all, and save. Despite being a simple app, if the filter effects are not quite to your liking, then you can easily and quickly adjust the brightness and/or contrast to get the look you want.
Capture Black & White Photo
If you're a fan of Vint B&W, then you'll like Simply B&W, as it offers the same tonal qualities as Vint B&W, but has the addition of being able to apply traditional looking black and white filter effects after you have taken the photo, but before you save it.
Settings, the little extra touches
Whilst Simply B&W is a fairly basic app, it does offer 3 border options, black, white, or no border at all, and when using the camera, you can choose to save the original colour shot, as well as the black and white one, which gives the best of both worlds.
Final thoughts
Simply B&W is definitely a simple to use app that is very capable of producing some really nice black and white images, either directly from the camera itself, or existing photos. Whilst it doesn't offer the features found in some of the more advanced black and white apps, what it does offer, it does well. Whilst there are some features I'd like to see in the next release, like a basic/simple crop option, and the addition of a grain overlay, this first release is a solid one, that is worth checking out if you're looking for a simple to use black and white app.
App Store Link: Simply B&W; Price: £0.59/$0.99/€0.79
Monday, August 1, 2011 at 9:02PM | 
Above: Simply B&W with added film grain.Simply B&W, the new and excellent simple to use black and white photo app that is a cross between Vint B&W and MonoPhix has just been updated with some new and much requested features, like film grain and vignettes.