AMITIAE - Thursday 21 March 2013


Repix: An Unusual Editing App with Sophisticated Brushes, for iOS Devices


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By Graham K. Rogers


Repix


I have come to like the iPhone rather a lot as a photographic device. It will never replace my DSLR Nikon of course, but the nature of the device, with its quick access to the camera, means it is more likely to be my camera of the moment, although there are many times when I do make the effort and remove the Nikon from my backpack. What makes the real difference for me when using the iPhone is the apps. There are thousands available and each day some thing new arrives.


The iTunes App Store is currently featuring what are being billed as Extraordinary Photo Apps, although those listed may be a rather subjective choice. Alongside the feature panel is another for an Editor's Choice: Repix. Having this displayed separately from what are billed as "Extraordinary" piqued my interest. I am glad I had a look. This is an extraordinary app in its own right and this is complemented by a well-made video on the developer website.


iTunes


Repix - iPhone

When first opened, there is a test photograph loaded in the main working page. The app itself comes with a number of effects that can be applied by brushing them on. Users may use the test image to practice right away.

There are clean controls at the top of the screen: for Import, Undo, Editing, Redo and Export. At the bottom of the screen are icons that look like aerosol cans. Eleven of these brushes are available when the app is first downloaded, for example Cartoonize, Dotter, Posterize and Bleach, as well as an "Undoer" and an Eraser. To the far left of these icons is a link (again looking like an aerosol) that links to the store. There is some cleverness in the way this works (below).


Repix Repix Repix


Tapping on the icon for imports, the top of the list is marked, Editor: this takes users back to the working panel. Below are links to Camera Roll, Photo Stream, facebook Photos and Camera. At the bottom of the screen are icons marked About and Guide. The former opens a list of ways in which Repix can be followed or liked, as well as a link to Support.

Pressing "Guide" leads to a well-designed run through of the ways in which the app may be used, as well as a link to a video guide on Vimeo. Like the in-app guide this was beautifully made and clearly showed the way the app worked (on an iPad). The guide and the video (as well as the video on the website) indicate that a great deal of care and love has gone into this.

I tried two test images:the first from the Camera Roll, then one taken using the camera. With the first, I used three brushes to transform the image quickly: Silk, Bleach and Posterize. I exported the result by saving to the Photo album and via email, selecting the largest option of 682KB. The Photo Album image ended up on my computer as a considerably larger inage of 2048 x 1536 (3.1 MP) and a file size of 3.26 MB.


Repix
Image taken with the iPhone camera in Repix


I then edited the image using Crop, Saturation, Vignetting and Contrast. All of these options (apart from Crop) are applied by swiping the finger across the screen. The result was saved and again sent by email. Unsurprisingly, with the cropping, the image was slightly smaller. With the camera, the images saved were a little larger, but the original was not saved to the Library. One example sent by email was 1.1 MB as exported. Again, however, the image from the Camera Roll ended up on my Mac with a size of 2048 x 1536 (3.1 MP) in a file of 4.21 MB.


Repix Repix Repix



Repix - Store

At the bottom left of the main screen is an aerosol icon marked Store. Using this we may make in-app purchases of several more brushes sets from the three currently available: Color Brushes, Artistic Brushes, Light Brushes and what is called the Master's Collection. Each of the sets is $1.99, while the Master's Collection is all three sets for $4.99.

Each set is shown onscreen in the same way as the main editing panel, with a test image, so we are offered a Try Before You Buy scenario. Color Brushes includes Sepia, Hollywood, Vintage and Freshen; Artistic Brushes are Hatching, Daubs, Van Gogh and Spray; while the Light Brushes include Glow Smoke, Stars, Sparkler, and Glow Line.

Perhaps not all of the brushes available for in-app purchasing will appeal to all users, but the Master's Collection is an economical way to buy extra effects. I bought the Color Brushes. The in-app process was done in seconds and the brushes (already included in the app data) were unlocked right away.


Repix - iPad

On the iPad, Repix was the same, but better. The app was set out in the same way as for the iPhone: all controls were in the same place and the screen displays were identical. Of course, the larger overall screen size meant that image adjustments were accomplished much more easily. One image that I had brought in from the PhotoStream was edited and then exported to the Camera Roll (the Library). Like the images on the iPhone, I was somewhat surprised to see the size of the final image when it arrived from the Camera Roll, via Photo Stream (iCloud synchronisation) on the Mac. It was 2443 x 1618 (4.0 MP) in a file of 4.58 MB.


Repix


I exported this image as an 8-bit TIFF file and when I opened it in Graphic Converter I had a file of 33" x 22" and a file size of 11.9 MB, which is fairly respectable for the iPad. I also then checked the size of the large photo from the iPhone which was some 9.4 MB, producing an image of 24" x 21".

When I first started the app on the iPad, the extra brushes I had bought on the iPhone were not available, but these were installed in a few seconds after I visited the in-app store and used the Restore button.

I did not use the camera feature with the iPad. I never do. However, images from the Photo Stream were easy to import and easy to edit. This is one of a number of apps that do actually work better on the iPhone when used as an editing tool, selecting images from the available sources and then exporting when complete.


Comment

The way that this app works on the iPhone makes it one of the nicest apps I have seen for a while and it was justifiably an Editor's Choice in the iTunes App Store. The interface is clean and easy to use, while the amount of help that the developers provide (and the way it has been carefully assembled) is a lesson for many. The store too, with the ability to try the brushes before making a purchasse, is smart.

Along with some other apps I have looked at recently, I prefer using Repix on the iPad because the fit of the app to the screen is just right. This recently-released app is well worth taking the time to download and work with as some of the results are more than interesting.

Highly recommended.


Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs.


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