By Erik Vlietinck

CameraBag 2 is standalone application with a collection of filters and effects for editing images. It’s easy to use, comes with a huge collection of presets, and offers total control over adjustments and effects. Although it can be used for applying just one of the many presets -- called styles -- users can create their own styles from scratch.

The desktop version of this original iOS app offers 32-bits-per-component color depth, nondestructive editing, and adjustments that can quickly be rearranged in the workflow. CameraBag 2 represents applied styles, adjustments, and borders as tiles running along the bottom of the working window. Styles can be combined, just like adjustments and borders, into a workflow of which the tiles can be removed, repositioned, and turned on or off.

Styles are adjustment and border workflows of which all tiles are applied at once in their saved order. All effects are controlled by sliders in combination with a color palette or with a curves interface. The Borders tab hides nifty borders from the days of analog film, but you can also create your own custom borders.

I found the Saturation, Contrast, and Exposure adjustments to posterize the image at a 75% setting, and it would have been nice if color palettes came with an eyedropper. Except for these flaws, I found the workflow system to work surprisingly well. Especially nice is that changing the position of a tile in the workflow will give totally different effects. This allows for endless experimentation and effects that range from subtle to dramatic.

Company: Nevercenter Ltd. Co.
Price: Home: $29
Web: www.nevercenter.com
Hot: Endless combinations; workflow concept
Hot: No eyedropper; posterization problems
Rating: 7 out of 10

(This review is brought to you courtesy of "Layers Magazine": http://layersmagazine.com/ .)