Mobile Monet turns your iPhone photos into art

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Since the dawn of photography, people have been finding ways to alter images and add effects. Since mobile photography rose to the top, companies have come up with numerous types of effects apps that do all manner of interesting things to your basic snapshot.

East Coast Pixels is one of those companies and their art rendering photo app MobileMonet just received a major overhaul with new processes that provide a more painterly effect. We’ve got a hands-on app review of MobileMonet for you today.

Concept

If you want to turn your photos into watercolor abstract art, you could sit down with a paintbrush and a canvas and get to work. Or, you could tap your iPhone and watch the magic happen before your eyes. You can increase or decrease the effects and choose from a number of different filters. Once you’ve finished your masterpiece, share it on your favorite social networking sites or even print it out, right from within the app

Design

The main painting page features tools and options on the top and bottom of the screen. Select a filter, then a tool, and adjust your images until it looks just right. From the home page, select a picture from your photo library or the iOS clipboard. You can also take a picture from within the app or access recently edited photos. In camera mode, you can turn on or off the flash, set a timer, or edit right after you take a picture (similar to the way Fusion HDR’s quick-edit feature works).

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App Use

Once you’ve taken a picture or grabbed one from your photo library, the default Monet effect will render it. You can also check out the 18 additional filters to see your options. Choose from such effects as charcoal, impressionist, paint + sketch, watercolor, and more.

After you set the filter, you can customize it even further. Adjust the line width and intensity and alter the color range between warm and cold. Increase or decrease the paint effect, colors and grain. Tweak the vibrancy, brightness, and contrast.

You can erase some portions of the picture using the sponge tool. This allows you to essentially remove specific areas of the image (although some slight lines still appear in the background). You can also clear the canvas and work backward, filling it in with the photo instead.

All of your projects are automatically saved in the Recent Edits section where you can access them at a later time. Once you have finished customizing your artwork, you can save it to your camera roll, share it on social media, or send it directly to friends and family via email or text. You can also send it to AirPrint compatible printers

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The Good

I like the adjustment settings for each filter. When you make lines thicker or thinner, it changes the effects. Plus, adjusting the color and brightness can turn a simple landscape photo into a beautiful abstract image.

The Bad

It doesn’t seem to work very well on profile pictures. For example, if you want to turn your selfie into Impressionist art, you’ll get a lot of noise that never quite looks right.

Value

Mobile Monet costs $1.99, which is about right for a photo effects app. The filters render quickly and the customizable settings give you more options than just letting the app put a layer over your image. However, there are not a lot of additional features.

Conclusion

This is a solid app that turns photos into abstract and impressionist watercolor style images. It works fast and saves your projects as full resolution pictures. The only problem is that this app doesn’t stand out as having anything exceptional. It works just fine, but doesn’t blow my mind. If you don’t already have a painterly effects app, this is a decent one at a reasonable price. It is available on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. You can download it in the App Store today.

Related Apps

Waterlogue is a watercolor-rendering app with an interesting build. Brushstroke creates textured brushstroke filters for your pictures.

What do you think of this photo effects app? Let us know in the comments below.