A POWERFUL WAY TO EDIT PHOTOS ON THE IPAD
Snapseed, $5, www.niksoftware.com
The iPad may have a so-so camera, but it has some first-class photo-editing software.
Nik Software, known mostly for its Photoshop plug-ins, has an iPad app that brings some powerful photo manipulation to the tablet for a reasonable $5.
Called Snapseed, the app has the expected features, like auto-correct, cropping, contrast, brightness and saturation adjustments. It also has a very handy white-balance adjustment for taking the unwanted tint out of a photo.
The fanciest feature is selective adjust, which lets you apply effects and filters to a section of a photo. It's a great way to fix an overexposed background or to even out spotty lighting.
It's fairly easy to use, too: You choose a filter by running a finger up or down the screen, then choose how much to apply by moving your finger left or right.
Instructions pop up on an overlay when you open features the first time. From the help menu you can make those directions visible again or see video tutorials.
Besides the photo touch-up tools, there are creative filters that let you change photos to black and white or add tint, textures, vignettes or borders.
Finished photos can be printed or shared by e-mail, or on Flickr and Facebook right from the app.
