Welcome to Tap that App, I'm Jason Parker and this is the show where we cover the hottest apps in the
mobile space.
Now that people have had some time using the new iPhone 4S, we're sure many of you have checked out
the upgraded 8-megapixel camera.
On it's own, the iPhone 4S takes great shots, but what if you want
something more?
This week we're showing off PhotoToaster, an app that offers tons of options for adding effects to your
images.
There is certainly no shortage of image-editing apps in the iTunes App Store, but PhotoToaster has
a unique set of tools that give you a little more control over effects.
Get started by snapping a new picture or grabbing an image from your iPhone photo library.
Once you've
selected a picture, touch the wrench button in the upper left for basic editing like cropping, rotating, and a
cool free-rotate tool you can use for angled shots.
Once you've gone through basic editing, you can browse through pre-set effects and custom options to give
your photos a stylized look.
Buttons across the bottom of the interface let you experiment with each of the
different effects.
PhotoToaster has what they call Global Effects that you can flip through if you just want
to quickly add an effect and save the image--and you can browse through Global presets by hitting the
circular button in the lower left to look at PhotoToaster's Basic, Deluxe, or Supreme effects.
After selecting a Global preset, you can save and finish now, but you also have the option to go through
each button across the bottom to tweak lighting, add additional effects, add vignettes, change the texture of
the image, or adjust borders.
As an example, in the lighting section, you can switch through different
lighting presets like Flash, Sunny, and Chilly to see how each effect changes your image.
All of the different categories across the bottom come with their own set of presets, but what makes
PhotoToaster better than most apps in this genre, is the capability to make precise adjustments.
Start by selecting a preset that's close to what you want--we'll select the Cool preset in lighting--then touch
the small button in the upper left of the same window.
Now we can adjust specific effects like Exposure,
Temperature, and lighting, then swipe to turn the page to adjust more effects--all in real time.
All of the
preset effects give you the option to switch to sliders if you want to precisely tune your image.
In the
texture section, you can use the slider to switch between textures, the use the other slider to control the
intensity of the texture.
If you don't like the way a certain set of effects turns out, not to worry.
Any
changes you make are non-destructable so you can always hit the Undo arrow at the top of the screen or go
back to the original picture if you want to start over.
Just go back to the Global preset effects, and choose
As Shot to start over from the beginning.
When you're finished with your picture, you can share your creation with Facebook, Flickr, Tumblr,
Instagram, Twitter, or via SMS.
You also have the ability to send a toasted image to another app for more
tweaks, but it's important to note, only apps on your iPhone that are set up to receive images will be listed.
Overall, PhotoToaster offers a nice set of tools for adding some pizazz to your photos and lets you fiddle
with controls to make your images just the way you like them.
The app is on sale right now for $1.99 in the
iTunes App Store to celebrate the new version, so tap this app immediately if you want to save a little
money.
That's it for this weeks show, if you have any suggestions, send them to Tap That App at cnet.com.
I'm
Jason Parker and we'll see you next time.
