I have a whole collection of Photography apps on my iPads. Typically, I download one, experiment with it for awhile, then mostly forget about it. So when I saw a new Photo app called “Enlight” in the App Store, I almost ignored it, even though it was listed as one of the “Best New Apps”. Luckily, I did not. Instead, I read the reviews and decided it give it a try.
That was a week ago, and I have been having a wonderful time with it ever since. Right now, it is my number 1 app for photo editing on my iPad, and I foresee using it for many, if not all, of the photos I take with my iPhone. In fact, I have been using it with some of my images from my Canon DSLR cameras rather than using Photoshop on my computer. (It’s a universal app, so I can also use it on my iPhone itself, but unless I am just using my one of the pre-set filters, I like the space on the iPad to fully use all of its features with brushes, masks, and tools. More about that later.)
What makes this a 5 Star Photo editing app, for me, is that it combines standard controls such as cropping, exposure, saturation, curves, etc. with some great artistic effects and filters. Presets can be used for a one-click enhancement or a combination of effects can be used with sophisticated results.
The first photo below is the original image of the Tenakee Springs Bath House in Tenakee Springs, Alaska. It was a snapshot of this historical site taken with my Canon 7D. I used 3 different editing enhancements for the second photo.
First, I went to the Image Menu on the right side bar of the app and clicked on the Adjust option. Within Adjust, I chose the HDR Preset. With one click this brightened the shadows and enhanced the details. I then used the “Heal” tool found under the Tools menu to “patch” the sky and remove the telephone wire on the upper left of the image. To create a frame, I used one of the Presets found in the Finalize menu.
Many photo apps have similar capabilities, but Enlight does this and so much more. It also has a clear, user-friendly interface and renders the images quickly and smoothly – all for $4.99. (Yes, this might be more than some folks want to pay for an iPad app, but compared to Photoshop and third-party filters, it is indeed a very capable and economical photo editor.)
Here are a few more examples of some Before and After images using Enlight. (To see these at and additional examples at a higher resolution, go to www.cindyconephotography.com/Enlight/. )
In my next post, I’ll explain exactly how I created these two transformations and others – step by step, with screenshots of the actual Enlight tool bar and presets.
The App Store currently has some great apps on sale for $0.99. They will be at this price for a limited time, probably through the end of July. I want to focus on a few of them that I think are extremely useful and a bargain at 99 cents. (I don’t have any connection with these companies or receive any promo from them, these are just a few apps that I find very helpful.)
Scanner Pro by Readdle – While not as comprehensive as a flatbed scanner, this app certainly takes care of most of my needs when it comes to scanning documents. It is so convenient and very easy to use. Features in the latest update put it a notch above most of the other scanning apps, in my opinion, especially at the current price (regularly $6.99). For example, you can simply take a photo by accessing your camera from the iPhone Lock Screen and create the PDF later. When you then open Scanner 
Pro, “Scan Radar” automatically finds photos of documents and receipts in your Photo Library. It efficiently detects edges and page corners and unskews the document. Once you are working within the app, it scans automatically without the need to press the “shutter”; this makes it much easier to hold your device steady and achieve quality scans quickly. Another nice feature is the ability to go back and re-edit your scans at any time – changing from color to B/W or modifying borders. Scans are easily emailed, printed or uploaded to Cloud storage, Dropbox, or Google Drive,
I use it to scan and store copies of membership cards, business cards, credit cards, receipts and all important documents. I personally like having a digital back-up that can be accessed easily in the event of an emergency or disaster. I’ve been backing up all important documents in this manner – passport, licenses, insurance policies, birth and marriage certificates, etc.
As you digitize your life and PDF files, it’s helpful to have a good PDF reader and document organizer:
GoodReader by Good.iWare Ltd. – I’m beginning to use this app more and more in
conjunction with Scanner Pro. I find I like to use this app for reading and storing PDF files rather than using iBooks, and it is especially useful for organizing documents. I love that I can sign PDF files easily and then email them. (Scanner Pro and GoodReader are huge time-savers for me as I prepare documents to e-mail my accountant at tax time.) I can also annotate files, rename them, and sync to the cloud. I especially like it for reading and storing manuals that are then available on any of my devices. GoodReader is a powerful application that can view a variety of file types in addition to PDF – jpegs, TIFFs, HTML, Word, Excel, Pages, Powerpoint, and most audio and video files. It has more tools and uses than I can explain in a single post. It’s definitely a bargain at $0.99. I’d recommend downloading it now before the price goes back to $7. I find I like to use this app for reading and storing personal PDF files rather than using iBooks, and it is especially useful for organizing documents. I love that I can sign PDF files easily and then email them. (Scanner Pro and GoodReader are huge time-savers for me as I prepare documents to e-mail my accountant at tax time.) I can also annotate files, rename them, and sync to the cloud. I especially like it for reading and storing manuals that are then available on any of my devices.
If you would like more information on how I organize and store my digital docs let me know, and I’ll include that in a future post.
I’ve recently received a few panicked phone calls from friends because their iPhone or iPad screen has frozen while browsing in Safari. A pop-up appears on their screen that says:
“Warning!! iOS Crash Report!!. Due to a third party application in your device, iOS is crashed. Contact Support for Immediate Fix.”
Of course it is not Apple Support, but someone who is trying to con you to pay money/give credit card info to solve the problem.
Luckily there’s an easy fix you can do yourself:
2) Delete your Safari data by going to Settings -> Safari -> Clear History and Website Data
3) Open Safari and exit Airplane Mode