Snapseed updated, and now free forever

Thanks to the Google acquisition, Snapseed, which my number 1 photo editing app for my iPhone and iPad, has just been updated with Google+ support, a bunch a pre-defined retro looks, and is now completely free.

So what's new in version 1.5?

• Now free!
• New icon!
• Built-in Google+ sharing functionality!
• New Retrolux filter! Use one of the newly created film styles, combined with a range of different scratches and textures as well as light leaks to create a truly retro look for your photos.
• Updated Frames filter! Now includes a wide range of new, high quality photographic frames. Colorize the frame edges to match the look of your image or switch to square mode with a single tap.

In addition to these updates, Google has finally delivered on their promise, and brought Snapseed to their Android platform.

App Store Link: Snapseed; Price: FREE

Stormy Weather

As many of you will probably know, I like trying to create dramatic images, and the Lighthouse at Portland Bill on the Dorset coast here in the UK is one of my favourite subjects. Taken on a dull and misty day, I put the original image through LensLight, Snapseed, Dramatic Black & White and RainyDaze, to get the moody, dramatic, and stormy look I was after.

For those interested, I will cover these apps and how I created this image, in a future "Up Close and Personal" feature.

Google snaps up Nik Software's Snapseed

In other news, today Google announced the acquisition of what it is calling Instagrams rival, Nik Software, for an undisclosed amount. Nik Software makes professional photo editing plugins for desktop applications like Adobe Photoshop and Apple's Aperture, as well as the award winning multi platform mobile photo editing app, Snapseed. Now I'm not sure why Google (and the tech blogs and news sites) are referring to Nik Software, and in particular Snapseed as a rival to Instagram, as both these apps serve two very different purposes. Instagram with its photo sharing community and  build in square format camera with retro/funky filters is aimed more at the casual snapper, whilst Snapseed with its professional grade photo editor is aimed fair and square at discerning photographers. It is anticipated that Google will integrate (in some way) Snapseed with Google+, as the battle for social networks and photo sharing heats up, but lets hope the deal doesn't see the end of the pro plugins that many photographers (including myself) use and love so much.

App Alert: Snapseed is FREE until 7th June

The above shot was taken yesterday of Hay Tor which is located on Dartmoor in the Southwest of England. I took this shot with my iPhone 4, my iPro wide-angle lens, 645 PRO camera app, before processing it with Snapseed.Snapseed the simple and easy to use, yet professional grade iPhone/iPad app from Nik Software is available from now until the 7th June for the princely sum of £$€0.00. Yep, that's right, this £2.99/$4.99/€3.99 universal app is available once again for nothing, free. nada, so if you haven't already got this app, then go grab it now, and experiment and have fun with it, and if you own an iPad and a DSLR, then try them out together, you won't be disappointed.

App Store Link: Snapseed; Sale Price: FREE

Snapseed update brings desktop features to the iPhone and iPad

Snapseed, the universal iPhone/iPad app from Nik Software has just received a major update, and with this update comes full iOS 5.1 support, support for the iPad 3rd Gen Retina display, and features found in the desktop version of Snapseed.

So what's new?

• Beefed up Black & White—We love monochrome a lot, having developed the world’s leading professional black and white software in Silver Efex Pro. Snapseed gets even more of that mojo with new algorithms and color filters for superior enhancements and control. Plus, presets will help you get started faster
• Center Focus magic—Taking a cue from our professional filters product, Color Efex Pro, we’ve improved Center Focus to make it even more powerful. You can now draw attention to the subject of your photo by adjusting the brightness of the inside or outside of your image. You can enhance the overall effect by blurring, or turn it completely off to create vignette effects with ease. Oh, and did we mention that we’ve added presets to give you a starting point and save time?
• More crop fun—The Crop tool now includes 7:5 aspect ratio for all of you 5x7 printers out there
• Share even further—Open your Snapseed-enhanced images into Instagram and send them on their way! It’s never been easier to show off to your friends on Instagram or even to open images into your other favorite iOS photography apps

In addition to these new features, there is now language support for Arabic and Brazilian Portuguese, as well as a fix for the apps square ratio bug fix.

• Square is the new square—Speaking of Instagram, we squashed the bug that caused some odd lines appearing in images cropped as 1:1. Square images will be truly square now, we promise!

Snapseed for iOS is available from the App Store, priced at £2.99/$4.99/€3.99