I’ve recently become frightening aware that I have a soft spot for Photo Apps. It started with the Purikura Apps, and moved on to Frames, and now we’ve landed into Photo Editing territory.

I realize that this article is going to come off as entirely vain – but let me assure you that the obsession is not limited to photos of myself. In fact, I’ve created and saved many a photo of my Hetero Life Partner Angelina too, however have not received express written permission to post her face all over the internets, so you’ll just have to suffice with Just This One of Her (Edited using aforementioned Frame Wiz) for proof that I’m not obsessed with my own visage.

With that out of the way we can get on to more important things. Pictures of Me.

I took one photo and decided to try out two different Apps for photo editing: Be Funky FX App and the simply titled Cool Photo Effects App. It was immediately apparent that these were two very different Apps, and that I should probably not compare the two. This is why this is a double review, not a Photo Editing App Showdown.

There really is no limit to the number of photo editing Apps on the iTunes Store. The reason that I’m reviewing these two is simple. One, The developer for Cool Photo Effects asked me to try it out. Two, BeFunky has a range of 99¢ Apps that are basically the filters from BeFunky FX – if you’re searching for a Photo Editing App, you’re going to trip over BeFunky’s Apps, so at least I could give you my opinion.

Lets get to the good stuff, first BeFunky FX.

This App, as mentioned above, is basically a collection of all their 99¢ Apps Filters combined, 11 Filters to be exact. But each has its own variations – 3 or 4, which means something near 50 possible photo options. Obviously, the success of each filter being applied, and actually looking good is variable depending on lighting, focus, etc, but for the most part my photos came out great. My favorite part of these filters is that they range from Modern to Old-Timey, but never Kitschy (stay tuned for that in a minute).

On to samples, here is my “Before” Pic (which I used to test on both Apps):

And here are some examples of “After” using BeFunky FX:

I know you’re probably wondering which filters were which but by the time I got around to uploading them I honestly forgot, sorry! (Although I’m pretty sure the purple one is a version of Inkify.)

Obviously, from the examples above you can tell that this isn’t something that’s overly complicated to do yourself in Photoshop (See the Icon Photo I created for this Post as an example) – a few Hue/Saturations here, a lens flare/pixelate there and you’re done. But having the ability to funkify your photos right on your phone, with one click, is pretty sweet. In the settings you can also share your pics via Facebook, Flickr or Twitter. As those are the only three social networking sites I frequent, I liked that feature a lot. FYI I did have trouble with a few of the filters, Cartoonizer, Charcol and Old Photo were giving me particular hell with this photo, but like I said I bet it depends largely on the lighting and focus of your original import.

If you search ‘BeFunky’ in the iTunes Store you’ll see all 10 of their Apps, including FX, but also including a few 99¢ options that aren’t included in FX such as Sunburst and Worholizer. If you’re thinking of picking up a couple, than your best bet is to just get the full FX App for $1.99.

On to Cool Photo Effects.
I guess these are technically ‘effects’ however I would argue they’re more closely related to Frames. Basically what this App does is inserts your photo into a scene/background for dramatic/artistic effect. Don’t understand what I mean, just have a look at the samples I made (using the same ‘Before’ picture above);

Uh huh. What was that I said about Kitsch?

Not bad, not bad. I’m certain there is an audience out there for which this is appealing. I am not the target demographic for this App, however I am fair, and trying to cater to highlight more iPhone Apps ‘for Girls’, so I think I can safely, and gently, put this in that pile. This app does function very well – although there is no option for email or social media integration (only saves locally) from within the App, which is a feature that should absolutely be included especially if they think they’re going to sell it for $1.99. Another drawback is that they are only 35 odd ‘Effects’. Very limited at this price range – would probably have more success if it were a 99¢ App.

So that pretty much wraps it up for these two Apps. I shall now retire that photograph for good by turning it into The Ultimate ‘Photo Editing App’ Edited Photo – having been put first through BeFunky FX (‘Motion Color’ Filter #1), Frame Wiz (‘Emo’ Frame #6), and finally finished off with Puri! (for the Stamps).
Enjoy: