ProCamera: Five tips for sharper iPhone photos

UPDATED! Just added the freebies Mobile Monet for iPhone and Mobile Monet HD for iPad, ClassicINSTA, and now Hipstamatic itself is on sale!

I don’t know why US holiday weekends seem to have bigger, better App Sales. If this were Thanksgiving (U.S.), I’d be thankful that they do. This Labor Day weekend is starting off big, too. Watch this post all weekend. I’ll be updating the sales regularly.

To get things started, AnyShape Photo Editor is still free and all Juicy Bits apps, including the excellent Halftone and Layout are on sale for half off or more. These discounts are very limited, so if you see one here that you like, don’t hesitate to grab it now. >>>

There are a ton of app sales and freebies this weekend. If we missed any of your favorites, please share them in the comments below.

App Sales

ClassicINSTA

ClassicINSTA is one of the better fauxlaroid apps available in the App Store. It’s got a full range of the excellent, authentic-looking misskiw film effects. ClassicINSTA “turns an iPhone into a perfect instant camera.” It reproduces all features of an instant camera, from the operations to the results.

ClassicINSTA is on sale this weekend for only $0.99. That’s one dollar off its regular price of $1.99. Limited time only. |

Hipstamatic

What can I say about Hipstamatic that hasn’t already been said before? There is nothing like Hipstamatic in the App Store. Years later, there are no apps that have been able to recreate Hipstamatic’s rich, lush retro and analog effects. I am one of the Hipstafiends. I love the app and use it regularly.

If you don’t already have Hipstamatic, it’s on sale for the rest of the weekend for only $0.99 — a savings of $1.00. Its standard configuration comes with enough lenses and film effects to get you started and keep you happy. Want more? Nearly all of Hipstamatic’s previously deleted film paks are available this weekend as well.

Here’s the App Store link. |

Halftone

Halftone turns your photos into unique, vintage comics that friends and family will love! More than a simple “photo filter” app, Halftone makes it easy to add paper styles, captions, speech balloons, graphic stamps, and fonts (including built-in comic fonts). Your final image can be sent via e-mail, uploaded directly to Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr, shared with apps like Instagram, Camera+, and Color Splash, printed, and even sent as a real, physical postcard through the mail!

Halftone is on sale for $0.99 — a savings of $1.00 |

Layout

Layout makes it easy to arrange your photos, tell stories, and share with friends. Swipe your finger to quickly split a frame into sections, and use the radial menu to add photos directly from Facebook, Instagram, or Flickr. Enhance images with built-in filters and effects, adjust saturation and contrast, add some stickers, and a whole lot more.

Currently, Layout is an iPad-only app, but the next update should be a Universal build and work on iPhone and iPod Touch as well. Right now, you’ll have to download this one on your desktop or laptop.

Layout is on sale for $0.99 — a savings of $1.00 |

The Hipstamatic Vault | Retired HipstaPaks available this weekend

I had a hunch Hipstamatic was going to give us something this holiday weekend. Back by popular demand, the Hipstamart vault is unlocked for Labor Day Weekend! Collect all retired and desired paks! Both RetroPak One and RetroPak Two are available all weekend long as in-app purchases in Hipstamatic. This is a good chance to get caught up on any Hipsta films or lenses you may be missing. The only pak not available? The Nike NSW Always On FreePak, with its lush black and white films and lenses. According to Hipstamatic’s agreement with Nike, that was a once-only release. If you have it, you have one of a few Hipstamatic rarities.

In case you’ve been waiting for the RetroPaks to come out of retirement before you bought Hipstamatic, here’s the App Store link. |

App Freebies!

These are commercial apps that have been discounted to free for limited time. These are the fully-functioning versions, not a feature-limited lite version of the app. There are some great finds in here this weekend!

Mobile Monet for iPhone and iPad

MobileMonet generates a black and white sketch version of any picture you select. There are settings to adjust the sketch line thickness, intensity and even color, as well as the shading. It then lets you paint onto the sketch using a soft flow brush tool that applies a painterly version of the original photo.

Both the iPhone and iPad versions are FREE this weekend for Labor Day! The iPhone version normally runs $0.99.

Mobile Monet for iPhone  |

Mobile Monet HD for iPad |

Transferable PRO – wifi photo transfer!

Transferable lets you download your photos and albums using just a web browser — no need for iTunes or even plugging your device in! As soon as the app launches, it displays a web address. Simply type this into a web browser on your PC or Mac and you will be able to browse, download or upload photos and albums.

Transferable is normally $0.99. It’s a Universal app that runs great on both iPhone and iPad. This freebie is for a limited time only.  |

iColorama S for iPhone

iColorama lets you add filters, textures and effects to your images. You can also enhance colors and apply many filters and image settings. It saves at a fairly good 3.2 MP — 2048×1536 pixels. There’s also a dedicated iPad version available, but it’s not for sale this weekend.

iColorama S is normally $0.99. For free, it’s a good download if your needs don’t require super high resolutions. |

Big Photo

UPDATE 08.31.12 @13:40 CT: Three hours after this app went “Free for the weekend”, it’s back to its regular price of $0.99 — still a great price for this zoom/resampling app. I’m hoping it’s just a glitch and will keep you updated if the price drops back down.

Big Photo allows you to take pictures and view pictures of ANY sizes with unlimited zoom in/out with highest quality. Precisely crop with exact coordinates and pixel sizes. Accurately enlarge (like digital zoom) or downsize pictures with exact pixel sizes with or without locking aspect ratio. Automatically save your cropped, enlarged or downsized pictures back to your Camera Roll.

Big Photo is normally $0.99 |

AnyShape – Photo Editor

AnyShape – Photo Editor completely revolutionizes selective editing on the go. The highly effective Bezier selection tool, previously only found in costly desktop programs like Photoshop, has been fully optimized for your mobile device. This is truly unique and far superior to what’s currently available on the App Store i.e. your typical finger-smudging masking tool.

This is a really great app for creating clean photo clips. This one will probably be going back up to its regular price of $1.99 any time now, so grab it quickly! |

Font Art

Use Font Art to add stylish text to your photos and share with friends. Cool and clean interface design make the process easy and fun. In just a few seconds you can add beautiful captions, quotes, jokes, poems or any phrases to your photos.

I just downloaded this new app. I haven’t tried it yet, but it looks like it’ll be pretty good. It normally sells for $0.99.  |

QuickPix

QuickPix is still free for a very limited time in the App Store. Rapid fire shooting at high resolution, for those moments when only fast will do.

QuickPix is normally $1.99 in the App Store  |

Wireless Transfer App

Taking advantage of Wi-Fi network, Wireless Transfer App helps you easily and quickly transfer photos and videos between iPhone and iPad as well as download photos and videos from computer to iPad/iPhone/iPod and vice verse. Using Wireless Transfer App, you can transfer photos and videos from iPad to iPad, from iPad to iPhone, from iPhone to iPad, from iPhone to iPhone, from computer to iPad, from iPhone to computer and more. There is no need for cable or extra software. You just feel free to browse and download photos between devices.

Wireless Transfer App is normally $1.99 |

Instaeffects – Photo effects for Instagram

Use Instaeffects to enhance your photos and post to Instagram!

Instaeffects is normally $1.99 |

~~~~

Steve Thomas also contributed to this story.

Marty Yawnick

Marty is a self-employed graphic designer in the Fort Worth/Dallas Metroplex. He is an avid Rangers baseball, Chicago Cubs, Packers and Highbury Arsenal fan. In addition to capturing random moments with whatever camera is close by (usually his iPhone), his other interests include coffee, film, music, and traveling in seats 5E and 5F with his fiancé.