Review: Snapheal v1.0

December 14, 2011 in Reviews by Bob Faulhaber

Snapheal is a new image editing application, from MacPhun LLC, for OS X that simplifies the touch-up and editing of your photos using a simple, straight-forward interface. The interface along with the application’s graphics engine gives the user a robust tool set that will allow anyone to do professional photo editing.

When you open the application you are presented with a window allowing you to import a photo either by dragging it into the window or by browsing your file system.

Once you have imported a photo, the app gives you the image in an editing pane and all available tools in the right-hand window pane.

The editing tools available include: Erase, Clone & Stamp, Retouch, Adjust, Crop and Rotate/Flip. The toolbox is well configured and includes detailed instruction and information as to how each particular tool works.

As an example, using the Erase tool and following the instructions, I painted over the object I wanted to erase. The app allows you to set the Brush diameter and clearly highlights your selection.

After selecting the objects, you can erase using one of three different modes. The different modes are Wormhole, ShapeShift or Twister. Select the mode and click Erase and your image will be updated after several seconds. The processing time will depend on the complexity of your image and the amount of the image being erased.

Zooming in on the area erased shows the the power of Snapheal. The image is touched and the image area behind the erased item is editing to match the surrounding area, so you are not left with a blank area.

Another nice feature is the ability to see a comparison of your original compared to the edited version.

The other tools in the app work just as well as the Erase tool by providing a simple, easy to use interface and instructions.

Once finished making changes to your photo, you can Save or Share using Email or other social media sites, such as Facebook, Tumblr, Flickr or Twitter.

Having used Snapheal on several photos to test for this review, I must say that with its simple interface and graphics processing engine, the app makes photo editing simple and efficient for anyone, from a beginner to a professional without having to use a more powerful and expensive photo editing application.

Snapheal is available in the Mac App Store and will priced at $19.99, however the special introductory price is currently $9.99.