By Graham K. Rogers

I have downloaded a fairly large selection of iOS apps in the last few years. Most of these are for photo-editing. Some of these apps become favourites and I use them regularly, particularly those that are accessible directly from Photos (using More). One of my regular choices is Priime (with two i's): a lovely app that is well worth looking at.

I reviewed this in March last year. It is a free filter-based app with a fair selection of editing tools and is suitable for most users. There is a large selection of filters available as in-app purchases. These have been endorsed by photographers to reflect their own types of photographic work.

A few days ago version 2.0 of this app appeared with a large list of improvements and changes. On Friday morning, as part of my regular check for updates (Mac and iOS) I opened App Store on the Mac. At the top of the screen was a panel showing a version of Priime for the Mac, called Priime Styles which is priced at $24.99. After a few nanoseconds thinking about this, I pressed the Buy button. The Mac version does not have all the editing tools of the iOS one, but there are a couple of extra tricks.

Priime Styles - Standalone

As an app on the desktop, I was able to import an image directly from Photos using the Finder's Media link. This also works for images in iPhoto (if you still have that) and Aperture.

Once imported, the image is displayed on the black screen with the filters (100 are claimed) on the left in alphabetic order. Unless a user knows which filter(s) to try, this could take a while, so the developers have a full-width option that displays all the filters in a grid. Screen size on the MacBook Pro I use limits this to 12-16 filters in one go, but this cuts down the time needed, if all filters are tried.

A slider at the top of the screen allows the strength of any filter used to be tempered. Alongside the slider are two icons: the one to the immediate left of the slider toggles between the original and image being edited. The one further to the left, shows a split-screen version: the left side is original, right uses the filter. An "i" icon opens a browser page with information about any filter selected, including photographer details. A Reset button allows the current image(s) to be removed and the user can select a new one to be edited.

As a test of the batch editing, I imported 30 images, all from the same time and location. Using one of the filters available on the left, the effect is applied to all images. Using Explore, the first image in the batch is shown and all filters are displayed.

There are two ways to use images. At top right a Share button allows the image to be shared to a number of sources, including social networking sites, Photos, Aperture (I was surprised about that), plus Notes and Messages, as well as setting the photo as a background image. An Export button reveals a Finder panel and the edited image can be saved in JPG, PNG or TIFF formats.

Priime Styles - Photos Extension

As far as I am able to tell, the Priime Styles extension works in exactly the same way as the standalone app, except there is no batch editing. What we have instead is efficient and quick editing within Photos, expanding the usefulness of Apple's replacement for iPhoto.

I now have some 8 extensions, plus 6 from Affinity, allowing me to carry out several tasks over and above the initial capabilities of Photos (although not yet up to the power of Aperture or lightroom).

End Notes

The large range of filters available in Priime Styles, may mean that once initial editing (crop, exposure, contrast, etc.) is done, many users will only need to select a suitable filter to finish. This my not suit all (which is why we use applications like Lightroom and Aperture), but the nature of such editing these days suggests that many will be content with a quick workflow in which a suitable effect is applied.

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs. He is now continuing that in the Bangkok Post supplement, Life.