Handpicked Software

I’ve written about Apple’s free Core Image Fun House elsewhere, as well as Stone Design’s $49 iMaginator. If you want to play around with Core Image effects without shelling out for iMaginator, and want a more refined interface than Core Image Fun House offers, Image Tricks is worth a look.

Image Tricks offers an interface that’s the model of simplicity. Launch Image Tricks and you’ll see a document window displaying a sample image, with effects listed on the left side. Select an effect and you can preview it immediately in the document window, then click Apply to alter the image. Controls for the effect are displayed below the Effects list. A crop tool and zoom slider are also available.

Image Tricks lacks the usability refinements of iMaginator (for example, there’s no way to view, let alone rearrange, the layers you’ve applied) and only includes about 35 of Core Image’s 99 built-in effects. But it’s simple and clean and might be just the ticket for getting comfortable with Core Image effects.

Bottom Line: Image Tricks doesn’t have many tricks up its sleeve, but it can still pull a rabbit or two out of its hat.
From: BeLight Software
Price: Free
Platform: Macintosh