Handy Photo, an impressive set of editing tools in one new & handy app

From the developers of TouchRetouch and AntiCrop comes a new suite of powerful editing tools in one simple to use and handy app, Handy Photo.

Handy Photo includes ADVA Soft's powerful, tried and trusted TouchRetouch and AntiCrop tools, alongside a new Move Me tool, a new simple yet powerful photo editor, and much more.

There are many things to be impressed about this app, not least the price tag, of just £1.49/$1.99/€1.59 and support for images of up to 36 megapixels on any of Apples latest iDevices (iPhone 5/iPad 3/iPad 4).

Handy Photo's key features include:

• Move Me technology for intellectual objects extraction and moving
• Magic Crop tool with unique photo “un-cropping” function
• The best retouching technology for mobile platforms
• Impressive collection of professional photo filters 
• Complete sets of high quality textures and frames
• 100% size image viewing 
• Up to 36 MP support
• Optimized for multi-core and GPU processors 
• Stylish and intuitive UI

For a full review of Handy Photo, check out Marty Yawnick's 5 star review over on Life in LoFi.

App Store Link: Handy Photo; Price: £1.49/$1.99/€1.59

My Apps up close and personal: TouchRetouch

In the second part of my "Up Close and Personal" series, I going to look at TouchRetouch from Adva-Soft.

For those not familiar with TouchRetouch, it's an excellent app that does just one thing, but does it exceptionally well, and that is, it removes unwanted elements from your iPhone photos.

No matter how careful you are when composing a photo, there are times when unwanted objects get in on the act. This may be because you've missed something when composing, something or someone wanders in to the shot, or there is just an object that can't be moved. Which ever of these situations affects you, 9 times out of 10, TouchRetouch can save the day, and that is why I use it.

If you are unfamiliar with TouchRetouch, it's a real simple, easy to use, and yet very powerful application, with many basic and advanced features/tools that are found in more powerful desktop applications. Advanced features like a Lasso tool and Clone Stamp, and basic features like the Brush tool (which is used to paint over the offending objects) and the Eraser (used to undo mistakes made with the Brush tool).

So how do I use TouchRetouch? Well, I only use the Brush tool, as 99.9% of the time it does exactly what I want, and for that 0.1%, it's just not possible to do on an iPhone. Like the sample shot below shows, when ever I have a photo that has an object in it that I don't want, I simply launch the app, load the photo from the iPhones camera roll, then using just the Brush tool, I paint over the object or objects that I want to remove, then tap the GO button, and after a short time, the object/objects just fade away, and I'm left with the perfect, or at least near perfect result, which is ready to save. If for some reason the app gets things wrong, or I'm just not happy with the result, then tapping the undo button lets me start the process over.

As you can see from my sample images, I use TouchRetouch to remove both minor and not so minor objects from my iPhone photos, and for me the app works better than any other standalone app (Mac or iPhone) designed for removing objects from photos, and hence why it's part of my arsenal of iPhone photo editing apps.

Above: My windmill shot including unwanted foliage.Above: Foliage removed by TouchRetouch.Above: In this before and after photo, I removed the unwanted streetlight before putting the image through Perfectly Clear.

If you want to find out more about TouchRetouch, then head over to the Adva-Soft website, or if you want to buy the app, then it is available from the App Store, for the bargain price of just £0.69/$0.99/€0.79.

Please note: All images in this post have been taken with and edited on an iPhone 4

Promo Code Giveaway Part One: TouchRetouch for iPhone

Just over a week ago TouchRetouch for the iPhone received a minor update, and to celebrate that update the good people over at Adva-Soft gave me 5 promo codes to give away. Now due to my busy schedule, I'm not going to be able offer these promo codes out in the normal way, so instead I'm having to make them available below on a first come first served basis.

For those who are not familiar with the app, TouchRetouch is a revolutionary application that lets you remove unwanted content or objects from your photos, using just your finger and iPhone or iPod Touch. Mark the items you want taken out of the snapshot and hit ‘Go’.

Promo codes: Well, here they are: K7WF66PERNHF, 9K6X7T346M6F, KYKEEM3NKYJR, F4TH3RE4TYXX, YJJ9LTPERTHR

If you weren't lucky enough to grab one of the promo codes, then the app will only cost you £0.69/$0.99/€0.79 from the App Store, and comes highly recommended.

TouchRetouch for iPhone and iPad updated to version 3.0, and we have promo codes to give away

TouchRetouch for the iPhone [App Store Link] and TouchRetouch HD for the iPad [App Store Link] have both just been updated. Described as "a revolutionary application that lets you remove unwanted content or objects from your photos", this update improves on what was already an excellent application, with a new look and feel (design) and an all new "Algorithm".

To celebrate the release of TouchRetouch version 3.0, the developers Adva-Soft have provided the iPhoneography blog with 5x promo codes for the iPhone version, and 5x promo codes for the iPad version to randomly give away, so if you would like the chance to win one of these promo codes, then please post your request in the comments below, specifying which version you would like (iPhone or iPad).

Quick Fix: Remove unwanted objects from your photos with TouchRetouch

Above: The retouched photo, which has also been given the Camera+ "Clarity" treatment.Whilst on my recent trip to Egypt I took a series of photos using QuickPix in rapid fire mode, whilst sat along side the driver of our horse and carriage. More concerned about my safety than the photos I was taken, I just pointed the iPhone in the general direction of what I wanted to shoot, kept my finger on the QuickPix shutter button, and hoped for the best. The resulting series of photos I got were great, depicting Egyptian street life in a natural and unposed way, but sadly many of the photos suffered from what would normally be classed as a school boy error, finger over the lens syndrome. Yes, more concerned with staying aloft the carriage, my finger founds its way in to the corners of some of my shots, but thanks to TouchRetouch, not all was lost.

Above: The original untouched, finger over the lens shot.

With TouchRetouch, I was able to load each photo that I wanted to salvage and quickly and easily remove my finger. Using the hand icon to pinch and zoom in to the affected area, and then the brush tool to highlight the finger, it was only a case of tapping the clapper icon to let TouchRetouch do its magic.

For all the photos I needed/wanted to salvage, TouchRetouch did a great job, and whilst the app can't guarantee to cope with all object removals, I've yet to have a photo that I haven't been able to salvage, so if you are in need of an object removal app for your iPhone or iPad, then why not give TouchRetouch [App Store Link] a try, after all it's only £0.59/$0.99/€0.79.