Get this all-in-one solution to taking and editing photos
While Instagram may take the crown of king of social image sharing, VSCO Cam has a professional feel to it, with its collection of smart filters, more camera features, and a smaller sharing area. VSCO Cam itself is very minimal in its look and feel and most of the app is navigated with simple swipes and taps. Most menus are hidden away to ensure that the images are always front and center.
The simple slider lets you quickly edit a picture and see the result.
VSCO Cam has a built-in camera that lets you add new images to your library. One small problem here is that VSCO does not support using the volume buttons to capture shots and instead you must tap the camera button at the bottom. There are some extra settings hidden behind the cog icon such as flash, turning on a grid, and locking focus and white balance. The camera also lets you set exposure and focus separately by pinching out on the view.
Once you’ve taken some images you can head over to your library through the small thumbnail. The gallery is very clean and simple and can be canted to show small, medium, or large thumbnails. From here you can tap an image to reveal more options along the bottom. You can flag an image, share it, or trash it. Of course if you want to edit it, then you simply tap the spanner and screwdriver icon.
The filters along the bottom are all named with a letter and number to group them.
Across the bottom you’ll now see the basic filters that make VSCO Cam so great. The app has been designed by the experts at Visual Supply Company to make your images look like they’ve come from a real camera. The default options are often good enough, but if you wish to alter the strength of the effect a simple second tap lets you drag the slider up or down.
If you wish, you can stop here and you’re image will look great. However, if you want to tinker with it even more, the advanced options are accessed by tapping the arrow at the bottom of the screen and then tapping the spanner. This holds editing options including Exposure, Temperature, Contrast, and even Highlights Tint. You could spend hours tweaking all the options in here, so make sure you haven’t got somewhere important to be before embarking on an image.
Once you’ve made all your changes the image is saved to the library. From here you have all the usual sharing options, such as Facebook and the aforementioned Instagram, but also VSCO’s own Grid. This is the internal network that can be joined free of charge to which you can post your edited shots and browse through others to get ideas. These images are often better quality than the usual selfies and gratuitous food shots you find on Instagram.
VSCO Grid lets you see amazing photos from other VSCO users.
While the app is free, it does only come with a small selection of filters, though more are available to purchase. Currently a massive bundle of filters is available on sale for $5.99/£3.99 that takes your total filter count to over 40. These should provide enough options for even the most die-hard image editor.
Price: Free
Size: 17.1 MB
Version: 1.3.0
Platform: iOS Universal
Developer: Visual Supply Company
