Snapheal is super easy, but not heroic [mini-review]
Relationships are so flighty these days, you don't know who will dump whom next. The defriended person or ex-lover may be out of your life, but how do you get them out of your photos? Or perhaps you have a simpler problem, one I frequently encounter: People get in the way and ruin your special snapshot. How to get rid of them?
There are plenty enough free photo apps out there, but many also are fairly complicated to use or offer too few capabilities. Others provide more features, like Adobe Photoshop Elements, but they're pricey and confounding to newbies. C`mon who really wants to fuss with layers? Enter Superheal, which the folks at MacPhun asked me try, touting its magical -- say isn't that how Apple describes iPad -- photo-editing capabilities, such as removing unwanted objects, or people, from your pics. The app also removes facial blemishes or other unsightly distractions.
Snapheal's logo features a cape and "S" logo and MacPhun uses "superhero" to describe the app. So I put it to appropriate test, removing unwanted objects from a photo of Supergirl taken during Comic-Con 2010. Supergirl is perhaps the most popular photo in my Flickr stream, but serious background distractions take away from her beauty. Look at the original and judge for yourself. Between Supergirl's legs are those of someone else walking behind her. She's a mutant! To the right, there is some guy with gaping mouth -- is he yawning or gawking at the caped heroine? Behind him there is a woman bent over, with skirt pulled up enough to show her underwear. These are super distractions!
Besides expected formats like JPEG and PNG, Snapheal also can open RAW files. I used the Leica X1, which saves images as Adobe DNG, to shoot Supergirl. The app easily opened photos I had taken in Canon and Nikon RAW, and even from Fujifilm's FinePix X100, which is my current camera. RAW support is a real differentiator in this class and price of software.
Uncluttered, Uncomplicated
Snapheal ticked me off almost immediately, by changing file associations without asking my permission. Suddenly, all images, including RAW files, open the photo-editing app. The behavior is simply unacceptable and reason enough to recommend against Snapheal.
Snapheal's ease of use definitely is a distinguisher. The user interface, while cartoonish for my tastes, is uncomplicated and uncluttered. I had little difficulty discerning what does what. For my test, I went immediately to the main removal tool, which delivered mixed results. I'm to blame for some of that, since I'm not the most adept using a mouse to highlight objects to erase. Let's just say I'm confounded to draw a straight line.
Like apps with similar capabilities, Snapheal uses the surrounding background to cover objects brushed for removal. This worked out acceptably, but by no means perfectly under close examination, removing the legs between Supergirl's. I had much more trouble removing Mr. Gaping Mouth and Ms. Panties. The app removed the guy's sneaker but then pasted part of it elsewhere. Then the jeans from his pants filled the erased area; not exactly the right mask. A second swipe and wipe did better, as long as there's no close examination.
Because I didn't get quite as super result as hoped for, the final image crop is tighter than preferred. But at least the distractions are gone, putting more emphasis on Supergirl. I could have done more to the image, such as adjust contrast, exposure, shadows and such -- the kind of capabilities once pro-class that are standard fare in consumer photo apps. There's also background blurring capabilities, which I found to be overly cumbersome for what they do.
MacPhun emailed today about a weekend special -- the software discounted by 50 percent to $9.99, which was the price when I started the review. Hours later, Snapheal is even less, just $8.99. I probably wouldn't pay 20 bucks for the app, but $9 is just about tempting enough. If you're a Mac user, Snapheal is worth a look. There's a free trial available, or you can buy it from the Mac App Store.