Photo editing programs let you do some amazing image manipulation, but unfortunately most of them cost quite a bit of money; not to mention that it takes lots of time and practice to create the enhanced image. Ohanaware offers Funtastic Photos, a simple to use photo manipulation program that doesn’t cost an arm , yet includes a wide variety tools. It provides a preview window and sliders to see what the different effects do to your photo, which reduces your learning curve significantly.

Funtastic Photos opens into an iPhoto-like browser window, in which you select photos from iPhoto, a folder, or even another hard drive in a sidebar. The tool bar across the top provides a Quick Look option, in addition to buttons that Get Info or Add to Favorites for one or many photos. Quick Look uses Mac OS X technology and lets you zoom in on a photo. When you click on a photo and choose Get Info from the Toolbar, the information doesn't change when you click on another photo, as it does in iPhoto.


Browser Window
The bottom of the Browser window includes the familiar Finder icons in which you can change your display from icon view, or list view, to column view. A resize slider and a Search field round out the commands available. This isn’t quite up to par with the usual Mac interface, but at least the Finder-like commands exist.

When you double-click a photo the editing window opens. You can save, copy, share, print, undo, rotate, and crop your selected photo from the Toolbar across the top. If you want to work on a different photo, the Back to Browser button returns you to your open photo library or folder. The Before & After command in the View menu lets you see your original photo and the edit on screen, if you make the window wide enough. It does not automatically resize for you.

I didn’t care for the cropping tool, because it doesn’t work like most standard Mac cropping tools. It uses an edit-type box instead of giving you cursor control; but it works well and has some preset size options.


Cropping Tools Dialog in Edit Window

1-Click Styles

Funtastic Photos provides a number of effect modules below the preview area, available from the 1-Click Styles button. Categories include Ohana Favorites, twelve styles that create the impression of a framed oil painting, glassy greyscale, self framed photo, and a wanted poster. I thought that most of these obscured the photo too much. Other styles include Artistic, Romantic, Quick Fixes, and Vintage Camera, plus a My Styles area in which you can make your own presets. Select Vintage Camera and it gives your image one of ten style choices including 1830 Daguerreotype, 1880 Sepia tone, or a faded color photo. Romantic style gives you seven options that include creating a red heart vignette and several borders.


Quick Fixes Edit Window - Vibrant Colors
The Wildflowers at an Apple Event at Macworld Expo

Advanced Options

The Advanced Options include a variety of very useful editing tools. TAn oddly named Return to Editor button takes you to the Advanced Options, also available from a button on the upper right side of the preview area. It is by far the most interesting part of Funtastic Photos.

Four tool categories: Fixing Tools, Color Adjustments, Artistic Adjustments, and Finishing Touches, cover a variety of editing tools. First, you determine what is wrong with or how you can best enhance your picture. Each tool has a Reset button, in case you make a mistake. If the 1-Click Styles options are in your way, you can click the button to hide them from view, plus another small button lets you view your edited photo in full screen.

Fixing Tools include corrections for poor exposure, contrast, color balance, highlights, shadows, or sharpness. Common problems that reduce the quality of your photo can be fixed with these simply presented tools. Select the problem from the list and a slider appears in most options to improve the image. You can even straighten your photo. The Levels tool includes a small histogram, but it only shows the result of moving the slider control. You cannot access it directly. Unfortunately, the Sharpen tool does not include a slider control and gave most photos an electric look. It over sharpened by quite a bit and there is no way to reduce the effect.

In the Color Adjustments area, you can remove all of the color and turn your image into a sepia, duo tone, or a black and white image. You can also enhance the current color in a variety of ways.

The Artistic Adjustments options offer seventeen more options, including blur, line art, mosaic, oil painting, wave and water drops. You can even add a caption to your photo.


Caption Applied with Thick Bubbles Border