PicMix Lite for iOS

The photo-editing capabilities of the iPhone are fairly limited. Other apps often pick up the slack of Apple's limiting Photo Library and iPhoto tools, providing filters, cropping tools, collage-creating tools, or sharing options. However, not all photo-editing apps are created equal. Some only offer a single feature. Others are loaded with options but no clear idea of how to use them. That's why PicMix Lite is such a nice surprise, providing a handful of very useful tools to combine, edit, and save photos on your device. Allowing you to load images into layers and add or remove parts of them, it is a great way to change backgrounds, combine photos, or have fun with your photo library on the go.

PicMix Lite installs quickly and requires no additional setup or registration. It accesses your existing photo library and loads images quickly onto the canvas. For each image you edit, you can add photos to the background or foreground. Foreground images can be erased or drawn on using a brush, while background images provide the backdrop for your new one. A common use would be to place a photo of a friend or family member on a background of a beach and erase around the individual to create the illusion that they are on the beach. Is it photorealistic? No -- this is a simple, free app, and it slows down and uses tremendous internal memory when editing full-size 5MP images (it recommends downgrading to 1.9MP when editing).

But for what it promises and the features it offers, PixMix Lite is an intuitive, easy-to-use app that works well, making the process of erasing or drawing that much easier. We found it quick and precise (when downgrading to 1.9MP) and the final photos, when saved, look good, even at the lower resolution. The one drawback of the Lite version is that you can save only at a resolution of 300x200, forcing you to further shrink the images before sharing. For those creating thumbnails or having fun, it's not a problem. If you are interested in creating professional-grade images, you'll likely want to pay the $1.99 for full access to larger image size.

mostly bugfixes