Apple picker I have been in the image editing profession for over twenty years, and Photoshop on the Mac is my daily bread. After I bought an iPad, I was looking for a program that would provide similar services to the combination of Photoshop - Bridge on the iPad and allow me to do the necessary operations on the go. After all, it is risky and inconvenient to bring a laptop with you to climbing events. The iPad is a reasonable compromise when suitable software can be found, with which I can, for example, process photos on the way from an event and send them to be included on the website.
As a long-time user of Adobe products, I first went for the pro Photoshop Touch, but that's more for toys. It caught my eye while browsing iTunes Filterstorm Pro by Japanese programmer Tai Shimizu, which, in addition to the usual editing tools, is the only one that offers batch processing, bulk editing of image metadata such as captions and keywords, and photo star rating. This is exactly what a photojournalist on the go needs.
Filterstorm PRO has basic working modes: Library, Image a Export. The entire control interface is somewhat unconventional, but if you understand its function, you have no problems with it. The units that the program works with are either collections, which are basically something like a directory, or individual images. But the image can also actually be a folder, in the event that some modification has been made. The program hides all created versions in this folder and actually implements UNDO, which you would look for in vain as a function, because you can return to any created version. During processing, we have each image on the iPad at least twice – once in the library in the application Pictures, the second time in the FSPro library. Images that are no longer needed must be deleted twice. That's the iOS security toll created by sandboxing. If you don't delete, you'll run into the Pad's limited capacity pretty soon.
Workspace
The maximum space is dedicated to displaying a library, a collection or the image itself. Above this space, in the upper bar, there is always the name of the current element, which is displayed in the image field. Depending on the situation, icons for renaming the collection and for selecting all images or canceling all selections appear at the right end of the top bar. The right column of the screen is dedicated to the context menu, in which there are six fixed icons and three menu items at the very top:
- Cross we start the deletion mode of collections and photos
- Sprocket is a menu for batch actions. Here we can prepare various batches of adjustments and run them on selected photos.
At the bottom there is a watermark maker. If we want to add a watermark to photos, we copy the appropriate image in the Pictures application and use Watermark setup to set its position, appearance and transparency. Then we select the images and apply the watermark - Information – even in the wheel, it just redirects us to the text and video tutorials on the Filterstorm website. Of course, it doesn't work without a data connection, so you need to learn everything before you go into the signal-free wilderness or abroad. The tutorials are pretty spartan and in some cases leave you on the edge of your seat, leaving you to explore by trial and error. There is no reference manual, but what else would you want for this money?
- Magnifier – searches for the specified phrase in the metadata and then displays the images for which it was found. The displayed content can be further sorted by star rating, ascending or descending date (creation) and ascending title.
- Preview size you can choose from 28 to 100% (but of what?), simply from postage stamps to a maximum of one image in landscape with the iPad in portrait. Changing the size of the preview, especially zooming in, sometimes leads to confusion on the screen, but it can be easily removed by opening and closing the lower unit.
- Star– combined feature for star rating and filtering by rating. The filter works as a minimum, so with a set of two, images with two or more stars appear. The filter value is indicated by the number in the asterisk.
- Export – starting the export of selected images or the entire collection. More on that later.
- Image – shows information about the selected image and makes metadata writing functions available.
- Library – contains the Import function and its settings and functions for moving selected images to another collection.
Import
Filterstrom PRO does not have its own option to import photos from the camera or card. For this, the Camera connection kit must be used in conjunction with the built-in Pictures application. Filterstorm PRO can only import albums or individual images from the iPad Library into its FSPro Library, which is in its own sandbox where it can work with the images, or images can be inserted via the clipboard or sent to Filterstorm PRO from another application. The import and export options are complemented by import and export via iTunes.
When importing a combination of RAW + JPEG, you can choose which takes precedence. When importing, RAW images are kept as the original. In any operation, the image is converted to JPEG as a working copy, which is used further. When exporting, we can have the original RAW sent as the original next to the edited result. All images are handled in eight bits per channel.
Each collection in the library shows how many images are in it. Collections in FSPro Library can be renamed, sorted, moved all or part of the content to another collection, and delete both images and entire collections. After a successful export, each image gets a sticker of the destination it was sent to.
Choice
For bulk operations, it is always necessary to select the images to be affected. For this, Filterstorm PRO has two icons on the right side of the top bar, which can be used to select or deselect the entire content of the collection. If we're working with all the content, that's great. If we only need a few individual images, they can be selected by tapping on each of them. It is unexpected when we need to select only a certain part of a large collection, the worst option is half of the displayed whole. All that remains is to tap all the necessary ones one at a time, and with several hundred images in the collection, it is quite annoying. Here it would be necessary for Mr. Shimizu to invent something equivalent to clicking on the first and with Shift on the last frame of the desired selection, as is done on the computer. It is somewhat annoying that selecting individual images works differently than it is used to on a computer. Tapping on another image does not deselect the previously selected one, but adds another image to the selection - otherwise it wouldn't even work. That's why you have to get it into your head that you always have to deselect images that you don't want to work with. Adding to the confusion is that in some cases selecting another element cancels the selection of the previous element - where only one can logically be selected.
The selection can only be made faster by tapping more than one finger at a time, and all the pictures we touch will be selected. Realistically, a maximum of 6 images can be selected at a time, with three and three fingers of both hands, but it is still a delicate and tedious affair. The fact that tapping on the "select all" icon in the case of an active filter (stars, text) also selects hidden images that do not match the filter could be considered a bug.
Export
Export is a very strong point of the program. Selected images can be sent back to the iPhoto Library, emailed, FTP, SFTP, Flickr, Dropbox, Twitter, and Facebook. At the same time, the size of the exported photos can be limited to a certain width, height, data volume and the degree of compression can be determined. You can send the original image with the result, including RAW, a large final version, a working final version and an action associated with the image. At the same time, in the case of RAWs that cannot have embedded metadata (for example, Canon .CR2), a separate file with metadata (so-called Sidecar with the ending .xmp) is sent at the same time, which can be processed by Photoshop and Bridge. So we have a choice when exporting:
- Original image without modifications with EXIF metadata, in the case of RAWs, optionally with IPTC metadata in the form of a .xmp sidecar. Unfortunately, the star rating is not transferred when the original is exported, and if the original is in JPG, the .xmp metadata file is transferred, but since JPEG supports metadata inside the file, the sidecar is ignored and we simply cannot get the metadata into the original that way.
- A large final version (Final Large), to which all the modifications made are applied. It contains EXIF and IPTC metadata and its dimensions are affected by the export settings - width limit, height limit, data size and JPEG compression quality. The star rating is also stored in the final version.
- Working version (Final-Small, Final version (Working)). If the original was not affected by any modification except adding metadata, the working version is the original (even RAW) without IPTC metadata, but with EXIF. If the image has been edited, it is a working JPEG version with dimensions typically around 1936×1290 pixels with the adjustments made, without IPTC metadata, the export settings do not affect it.
- Automation – or a summary of performed edits, which can later be added to the action library.
In a separate form, we will set the parameters for sending - Delivery settings. Here we set:
- Scale to fit – maximum height and/or width of the image being sent,
- maximum size in megapixels
- JPEG compression level
- whether to send with the original IPTC metadata in the form of a sidecar – a separate .xmp file.
Classification Scale to fit to the sending procedure is an excellent thing, because we can just describe and send well-taken images that do not need further editing. The weakness of export is its incomplete reliability. When sending a large number of pictures at once (on the order of twenty or more for 18 Mpix originals, especially RAW originals), the process often does not finish and then you have to search for what has already been sent, select the remaining photos and start the sending again. It is less time-consuming to send photos in smaller batches, but this in turn complicates the difficult selection of a subset from the collection. When exporting back to the iPad image library, we must note that IPTC metadata is not supported here and the written values will be lost.
Rating and describing, filtering
Selecting, evaluating and describing photos is the alpha and omega of the program for photographers. Filterstorm PRO has several ways to star from 1 to 5, this can be done both individually and in bulk. Individual previews can be starred by dragging two fingers downwards on the relevant preview.
It is very effective to enlarge the photo to the full screen by spreading your fingers, swiping left or right, you can scroll through the images and assign them individual stars or IPTC metadata items.
When mass marking images with stars, we again come across the not very convenient option of marking only a part of the collection, as well as the risk of forgetting to unmark already rated images, which can destroy our previous work. Images in the collection can be filtered by the number of stars assigned.
To describe the images, we can define the IPTC metadata items that we want to attach to the images. Keywords and title are usually used, author and copyright are often useful. The content of the item written in the form will be inserted into all currently selected images. The unpleasant thing is that the rating is saved only in the final version, the original is always unrated.
Color management
Filterstorm PRO works according to the settings in the preferences in the sRGB or Adobe RGB color space, but it does not perform color management as we know it from Photoshop on the computer. Pictures taken in a space other than the one set are displayed incorrectly. They are assigned a working profile without recalculating the colors. If we work in sRGB and have an image in Adobe RGB in the collection, the initially wider color space is narrowed and the colors are less saturated, flattened and faded. Therefore, if we plan to work in Filterstorm PRO, it is necessary to take photos only in the color space to which Filterstorm PRO is set and not to mix images in different spaces.
You can see it well in the following image, which is composed of strips of two almost identical images once shot in Adobe RGB and sRGB, Filterstorm PRO was set to sRGB.
Editing, filters, masking
Double-click the image to enter editing mode. The functions present here can be divided into groups working with the canvas (canvas), filters (this is an imprecise designation, it also includes levels and curves) and layers.
In the group Canvas functions are cropping, scaling to a certain height and/or width, scaling, straightening the horizon, framing including inserting a label into a lock, canvas size and resizing to a square. What does cropping is obvious. Scaling to a certain width means that, for example, if you specify a width of 500 px, all images will have that width and height as they come out while maintaining the aspect ratio. This is especially suitable for websites.
When straightening the horizon, a square grid appears over the photo, and we can rotate the image as needed with the slider.
Framing adds a frame to the outside of the image in which text can be inserted - such as a caption or the photographer's business card. The text can be written in Czech, if we choose the right font, and it must be written in the input field. The photo may have a shadow. The logic should be taken over here by the caption from the IPTC metadata, but it is not.
Filters contain a comprehensive set of reasonable functions - auto exposure, brightness/contrast, gradation curves, levels, hue/saturation, white balance by adjusting the color temperature, sharpening, blurring, clone stamp, black and white filter, text embedding, tonal map and noise reduction, adding noise, red-eye correction, color removal, vignetting. All these functions can be applied even to the area defined by the mask. To create masks there are different tools, brush, eraser, gradient and more. If a mask is defined, the selected adjustment is performed only in the places covered by the mask. These functions are quite common in image processing programs. AT levels a curves the control window seems to be small and the finger work is a bit clumsy compared to a computer mouse, maybe a little bigger would do. If the window covers an important part of the photo that is in the background, we can move it elsewhere, enlarge it, reduce it. Curves it is possible to influence both the overall luminance and the gradation of individual RGB channels as well as CMY. For all operations, the mixing mode can be selected to achieve different artistic effects, the reportage photographer will probably leave the normal mode.
Two possible modes can be selected to assess the effect of the function. Either the effect is displayed on the whole screen or the left or right half, the other half shows the original state.
A photographer used to Photoshop will initially have trouble getting used to specifying all parameters in percentages. Somewhat strange it must be u white balance, where it is customary to indicate the color temperature in degrees Kelvin and it is difficult to say how the +- 100% is converted to them.
U sharpening compared to computer Photoshop, the effect radius parameter is missing, and the total intensity is up to 100 percent for FSP, while I most often use values around 150% for PSP.
Function Color sets the mask to the selected color and allows you to apply a solid color, or perhaps more usefully a color with a specific blend mode. Add Exposure is used to add another image or exposure of the same scene to a new layer. It is explained more in the video about layers.
Some functions and filters would deserve more detailed documentation. But Mr. Šimizu is probably one of the programmers who prefer to program rather than document their work. There is no complete manual, there is not even a word about it in the tutorials.
Layers
Filterstorm PRO, like other advanced photo editors, has layers, but here they are conceived a little differently. A layer consists of an image and a mask that controls the display to the layer below it. In addition, the overall transparency of the layer can be controlled. Black in the mask means opacity, white transparency. When a filter is applied to a layer, a new layer is created containing the result. Tapping the "+" will create a new opaque layer containing the merged contents of all existing layers. The number of layers is limited to 5 due to the memory and performance capabilities of the iPad. After closing the image editing, all layers are merged.
History
It contains a list of all performed functions, any of which can be returned to and continued differently.
Summary
Filterstorm PRO is a program that largely satisfies the needs of a photographer on the go and can largely replace resources used on computers. The photographer does not need to carry an expensive and heavy computer with a shorter battery life, just an iPad and Filterstorm PRO. With a price of 12 euros, Filterstorm PRO is more than worthwhile for photographers, despite some shortcomings. In addition to a little stability when exporting a large number of images, the drawbacks are that the star rating is not transferred to the originals and that IPTC metadata cannot be included in the JPEG originals. Selecting a larger number of images but not the entire collection is also problematic. Redraw errors with some operations are not serious and can be easily eliminated by opening the parent folder and going back.
For 2,99 euros, you can buy a stripped-down version of Filterstorm, which is universal for iPhone and iPad and does not include some features, such as batch processing.
[Checklist]
- Export to various services – Dropbox, Flickr, Facebook, etc. including the original
- IPTC metadata bulk write
- Works with RAW format
- Resize when exporting
- Standard professional image editing capabilities
[/check list]
[bad list]
- Inability to select larger groups of images other than by tapping on each one
- Unreliability of export with larger data volumes
- Inability to select images that have not yet been exported with one function
- The select all icon also selects images that do not match the active filter
- Not doing color management
- Incorrect redraw of the screen when zooming in on previews
- It is not a reference manual with a detailed description of all functions
- JPEG star ratings and IPTC metadata are not transferred when exporting originals
[/bad list]
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I've known about this app for almost two years and still haven't got the guts to buy it, so thank you so much for the review. Although she didn't convince me to buy it for the price it costs, it's good to know that there is something that can batch process. The problem with inconvenient tagging one photo at a time also applies, for example, to the selection of photos when exporting from the SD card to the iPad, where it is not possible to select even all photos at once, let alone a certain number. It's pretty annoying. I still stick with Photoforge2, which does not have batch processing but otherwise works great, and with iPhoto, which can select a certain number of images by simply clicking with two fingers on the first and last image.
I also looked at Photoforge. Even from the manual, it is not clear to me whether metadata can be edited en masse, or only for each individual image separately.