Zipix recently released Zipix Lite, a photo app that automatically enhances pictures with a tap of a button. After a first test run, we are happy to report that results are impressive, indeed!
Once installed, the app is very easy to operate. Take an image or select an existing image, then compare the original with the enhanced version (See image on the right). Simply save whichever version you like better. Done.
Ease-of-use is one thing, results are more important to us. And results are there. In all of my test cases, I chose the enhanced version simply because it looked better. In some cases, the difference was very visible. Shadows were opened up. Contrast enhanced. Midtones boosted. Some artifacts were minimized. Outdoors, pictures often looked like they were taken with a polarizer to eliminate haze. In other examples, the results were a bit more subtle. But improvements were made and whatever improvements it made, they came out to the better.
Shadows were opened up slightly in this picture without loosing the reds in the sunset
Don’t expect miracles, though. Zipix cannot restore blown-out highlights or eliminate all the noise in an image. Nor can it sharpen blurry pictures. But at the touch of a button, you can make your photos look better. And I suspect that is enough for many users before they upload their images to Flickr or Facebook.
Midtones and contrast boosted = subtle enhancement
For many people, results from Zipix will be satisfactory. To me, I still took every image into PhotoGene to clean up the noise, tweak the adjustments a bit more and then sharpen the image. But I happily started with a better quality image, so I had to do less tweaking.
Higher contrasts and exposure adjustment bring out the details (including some noise)
Zipix could certainly improve over time and given that the first version is labeled “Lite”, it hints towards a future release of a Pro version. I hope that Pro version will have more noise reduction and sharpening built in (maybe not as one step, but a one-two step solution).
But given that Zipix Lite is a brand-new product that is supposed to do one thing only, it does a very good job at it. Add to that the price ($0.00) and you can easily see why we are excited. And happily bestow Zipix with an Editor’s Pick!
Price: free from iTunes.
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