A new trend is on the rise among iPhone users to turn smart photos into a work of art. Some might think that means applying a filter and posting them to Instagram, but I mean legitimately mimicking the look of a painting or other artistic creation. Also, it's worth livening up your Instagram feed a bit with something creative. Steal the show.
So if you are looking for apps that can easily and dare I say magically turn your photos into a masterpiece, look no further. Here are the three best iPhone apps to get artistic with your photos.
Prisma is by far the best app for turning photos into works of art and it's also one of the easiest to use – win-win in my book. It's free and works much like Instagram. Simply select a photo from your camera roll, crop it, then choose one of dozens of illustration effects.
The experience is much like selecting an Instagram filter. However, it does take a bit longer to apply to your photo – a few seconds at least – but in all honesty there's a lot more technology working its magic behind the scenes to really turn the photo into a unique work of art. P>
Some of the effects make the photo look almost entirely abstract, some just make it look like a painting, and others are comfortably in between with both artistic flair and subtlety. Once you've chosen the look you want, just send the photo to Instagram, Facebook or wherever you want.
Prisma is free for iPhone in the App Store.
Photo Lab is another creative app that lets you turn photos into art – especially imitation sketches, paintings, watercolors, and more. Photo Lab, unlike Prisma, also supports a wide range of other art styles such as borders and frames, face montages, and more. When you open the app, you can choose the category of effects you want to apply to a photo you have in mind, then browse that category to find the perfect fit.
As for illustrations, Photo Lab offers categories for drawing effects, sketches and paintings, shape collages, and more in a separate app upgrade called ArtBot, which works more like Prisma. ArtBot costs $0.99, though, so if you're looking to stick with free, Photo Lab's other categories should still be fine for you.
Photo Lab is free for iPhone and iPad.
Adobe PaintCan works differently than Prisma or Photo Lab because with PaintCan you are responsible for turning your photos into art. PaintCan gives you the tools to essentially "paint" over the image and simulate an artistic effect with your personal touch. It's not as simple as applying a quick effect that does all the work for you.
PaintCan comes with six different brush tools that all intelligently analyze the content of your photo and can automatically turn the area you swipe over into paint. An entire photo can become art in seconds.
Tip: Zoom in and use smaller brushes for finer details. On the other hand, zoom out and cover the whole area with a large brush for the abstract.Adobe PaintCan is free for iPhone and iPad.
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