MonoPhix Review

Gorgeous Black & White Effects on the iPhone

by Pu on February 22, 2011

For most people, monochrome is just negation of color and thus a black and white picture is a mere desaturated version of something that in the original contained colors. For photographers specialized in monochrome though the question is not that simple. Black and white photography is first of all a matter of thinking in monochrome, carefully pondering before clicking the shutter button if monochrome is going to work or not with a certain subject. Not every photo that looks good in color looks also good in black and white and vice versa. Monochrome is a branch of photography that in the most accomplished instances follows rules that are slightly different than those of color photography.

Currently in its third version, with revamped appearance and improved features, MonoPhix ranks among the best monochrome conversion apps for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

Main Features

  • Full resolution available;
  • Adjust light/dark level and exposure;
  • Set alpha opacity and posterization effects;
  • 2 types of vignetting on/off;
  • Grain generator;
  • Set tint (bw, sepia, antique, custom);
  • 2 types of film simulation;
  • Retina display support.

Appotography Opinion

To use MonoPhix, all you have to do is to load a photo into the app. You are presented with several options to give you great control over your final outcome. By playing with sliders and switches you can handle several different aspects of the editing process. You can go for a vintage look, by adding intense noise (grain), vignetting and tint, or you can simply simulate slight desaturation making use of the monochrome alpha setting, which basically blends the monochrome version of the image with the original colored one. The interface works flawlessly and setting each parameter is very easy.

Monophix for iPhone

The black and white effects delivered by MonoPhix are rich and captivating. In photos where greatest importance must be given to contrast enhancement, MonoPhix truly gives its best and most convincing results.

Monophix for iPhone

What would be useful to have as an addition to an app as focused as MonoPhix on converting color to monochrome is an option for color sensitivity adjustment. MonoPhix already does its job pretty well. However, being able to work not only with parameters as exposure and light/dark balance is something photographers devoted to monochrome I am sure would appreciate. Unfortunately, not many apps to this moment offer this feature, but for more accurate control over black and white photography color sensitivity is fundamental.

Both for the quality of processing and for its user-friendly interface, MonoPhix 3 remains one of the best apps in its genre and a must have for users eager to make the most of their black and white photography.

Overall

Name: Monophix
Developer: UIC Phoenxsoftware
Compatibility: iPhone. iOS 3.0 or later.
Price: £0.59||$0.99||€0.79
Vote: 4/5

MonoPhix - Vintage meets Technology - UIC Phoenxsoftware

Grendalin Q February 23, 2011 at 8:16 pm

Sometimes I have a problem with the vignetting in this app. It will look weird if I apply it and then change intensity with sliders. Then I close the app and the vignetting works properly again. Has this happened to me only?

Renzo Verleysen February 23, 2011 at 9:25 pm

Hi Grendalin,

We are currently trying to find out what’s wrong with the vignetting. it’s been malfunctioning for some time now and we thought we fixed it in MonoPhix 3. But somewhere in the massive amount of code is a line which causes it to come back in the weirdest way.

If we find the issue an update will be submitted to the App Store immediately.

Cheers,
Renzo Verleysen
UIC Phoenxsoftware/The MonoPhix developer

Pu February 25, 2011 at 1:59 am

Personally I had no problems with vignetting. But for those who are experiencing this issue, I’m sure it’s good to know the developer has acknowledged it and is working to fix it.

Thanks Renzo for the comment!

Jamie Helfen March 6, 2011 at 4:46 pm

I like MonoPhix a lot.

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