Etchings Review

I love finding an app that takes one function, perfects it, and presents it to users in a simple way. Etchings is one such photo-editing app. It turns ordinary pictures into hand-drawn sketches. I’ve seen other photo apps try to accomplish the same task, but Etchings does it better than any I’ve seen and offers some great filters in a clean and simple interface.

Etchings greets users with options to either take a picture from within the app itself or to select a photo from the camera roll or the user’s Photo Stream. After taking or selecting a picture, the next step is to apply some filters to make the photo look like a sketch. There are eight different filters and seven different texture options ranging from thin to heavy. The filters apply different sketch effects while the textures make the lines less or more defined. This app is very easy to use and a new photo can be captured and edited within a few seconds. The interface is intuitive and an example of simplicity at its best. One of my favorite things about this app is its exporting capabilities. The app allows user to save images to the cameral roll, Facebook, Twitter and even Instagram. The integration with Instagram is a really nice feature and will come as a delight to many picture-sharing addicts.

Although Etchings does what it does well, I found it to be somewhat limited in its filtering options. For an app that only has one function, I would hope that it would offer a few more editing options. There are a number of other photo editing apps that offer many more options and different filtering effects. Eight different filters are enough to get an initial taste, but after using the app for a while I craved more. I’m hoping that more filters will come on board in future updates.

Etchings is out now in the App Store and comes in at a fair price of $0.99. This app has found a nice home in my “Photography” folder on my iPhone and I’m excited to use it to share more pictures. I’d recommend it to anyone looking to add some new flare to their photos.