However, the Area Split feature allows you to sample from multiple sources which can help you avoid obvious repeating areas.
Next is an erase option that seems very similar in use to the Adjustment Brush in Lightroom. With blending modes and opacity controls, this is largely analogous to layers and you can return and edit these later. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem an easy way to hide an effect in case you decide you want to use it later after all.įurther tools are available through the buttons that run down the right-hand edge of the screen.Ĭomposite allows you to combine photos so that you could add a sky from one photo to another or add one or more people who did not appear in the original photo. Also, should you decide that you no longer want an effect that you added earlier, you can easily delete it at any time while leaving later effects completely intact. At any time, you can click on an earlier effect and edit it again to make it work better with an effect that you added later. Further thumbnails are added to the bar, with the latest effects appearing to the right. You can then add more effects and build up some exciting combinations to produce unique results. When you're happy with an effect, click the confirm button and you'll see that a new thumbnail of your photo appears in the top bar of the application. Exactly what the different settings do isn't always immediately obvious, but you can reset a slider by double-clicking it, so the best thing is to experiment by changing settings and seeing what you like. Once applied, you'll usually have the option to adjust some of the settings to change the final effect. Searching through the different options can become a time absorbing exercise, but when you find something that you like, it just takes a single click to apply it to your photo. This is because the effects are community-driven with other users mixing their own effects and then publishing them. Last of the main buttons is the Favorite Effects, which allows you to curate your own favorite effects to save you having to search through the thousands of options each time you start work.Īs already mentioned, there are quite literally thousands of effects available, though many may look a bit similar while others may be of lower quality than the best on offer. Some effects include an option to mask an area, but this feature means you can also do this with effects that don't have the option included. Next down is the Select Area tool that allows you to paint a selection onto your image and then apply an effect to just this area. With literally thousands of effects available, the left-hand column displays a variety of ways to filter the results to make it easier to find a suitable effect that will produce the result that you're hoping for. The first of the main buttons is the Effects gallery and clicking this opens a grid that displays all of the different effects that are available.
If you mouse-over any of these buttons, you will get a brief description of what it does. To the right of the window are three main buttons, followed by a group of further buttons for working on your photo, followed finally by the Effect Editor Button. By default, tips are displayed in yellow overlay boxes as you work to help describe the features, though you can turn these off once you become familiar with the application. This allows you to display the last tip that was displayed.
To the top left, the Undo, Redo and Pan/Zoom buttons are prominent, with the Last Tip button alongside them. While it's not the slickest or easiest on the eye interface that we've encountered, it is generally clear and easy to navigate.
Thankfully most software designers realize that the user interface is a vitally important aspect of an application and the makers of Smart Photo Editor have done a reasonable job.