Snapheal Mac App Review

Features
Performance
Verdict


Snapheal is a Mac app that combines a range of editing tools to fix imperfections on images, such as erasing unwanted objects and controlling light. It is designed to be quick and easy to use and is currently available from the Mac App Store for just £8.99.

Snapheal Mac App Features

• Remove unwanted objects
• Delete people from the photos
• Make skin imperfections vanish
• Erase text, signatures, etc.
• Restore old photos
• Get rid of scratches and blemishes
• Erasing tool with smart brush and lasso
• Clone & stamp
• Light levels control
• Sharpen and noise reduction
• Highlights and shadows
• Saturation, gamma, contrast, hues, exposure
• Clarity and colour temperature
• Crop, rotate, flip and a lot more
• Support of practically all image formats, including RAW
• Resolution support up to 40 megapixels
• Intuitive user interface
• Import from Aperture and iPhoto
• Export Aperture and iPhoto
• Share photos via Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, E-mail
• 100% compatibility with Mountain Lion and earlier OS X (10.7 and above)

Snapheal Mac App Performance

When you open up Snapheal you can drag and drop an image in, use the load / import button or open a recent image, this opens the last image you were working on. The main editing area is down the right hand side of screen, split into three options; erase, retouch and adjust. There are also a number of options along the top, these are open, save, undo, redo, zoom & move, compare and crop buttons.

The erase area is all about removing those unwanted objects from your picture. You need to select the area you want removing, you can use the brush or lasso tools. When you've highlighted the area, there are three erasing modes to choose from (twister, shapeshift and wormhole), if you hover over them a box appears to tell you when the best time is to use them. There are also three levels of precision; norm, high and highest. We got the best results by select small areas at a time and using the normal level of prevision. You can also use the clone stamp. Results are quite impressive and doesn't take too long.

In the pictures below we have remove a sign post from the scene, they are best viewed at full size by clicking on the thumbnails. The third picture has used some of the other editing tools, which we'll talk about later in the review.

Drive Before	Drive After
Drive After Edited

The erase tools are also useful for removing blemishes from portrait shots, again, to view the images full size click the thumbnails.

Chloe Before

Chloe After

As mentioned, Snapheal has a number of other tools for editing your pictures. The Retouch area allows you to selectively edit certain parts of your picture. Again, there is a brush for selecting the area(s) you wish to edit, with options including exposure, contrast, shadows, highlights, clarity, saturation, hue, sharpen and red / blue / green. For example, you can select the whole image except one colour, and reduce the saturation to turn the rest of the image monotone, creating a colour splash image.


Colour Splash

The next image has been enhanced using the adjust option, this has similar options to Retouch, but applies them to the whole image. Below, we've sharpened and increased the saturation.

Thoresby Before

Thoresby After

When you've finished you can save your image or share it via Facebook, Flickr, Tumblr, Twitter, email or print.

Snapheal Mac App Verdict

The Snapheal Mac app is an ideal option if you are wanting to dip your toe into the world of photo editing, without the expense and complexity of Photoshop. It lacks the features to replace professional editing programs but Snapheal is easy to use, has an easy to use interface and will, most importantly, allow you to enhance your digital photographs.

Snapheal Mac App Pros

Easy to use
Good range of features
Ideal for those who don't want the price and complexity of programs such as Photoshop

Snapheal Mac App Cons

Not great when removing objects with complex backgrounds
Can only work on one image at a time

FEATURES
PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY
OVERALL

The Snapheal Mac App is available from the Mac App Store for just £8.99. For more information, please visit the Snapheal website.