Full-size Arty Pop output. Magnifier not included.
Someone ‘splain this to me, please. Is there some limitation in the iOS that limits iPhone Pop Art apps to super-low resolution output? Arty Pop is the latest Warhol-esque pop art style app. It allows you to take your favorite photos and turn them into works of pop-art. It would be a cool app if it didn’t have horrible output resolution.
Arty Pop is easy to use. Simply shoot or load an image, choose the style of effect and process. The standard version comes with a few Warhol-style options and a sort-of halftone inspired by the artwork of Roy Lichtenstein. More styles are available through an in-app purchase.
There isn’t any way to control the effects once your template is selected, but the random application looks good enough in the onscreen previews. The app does a pretty good job of converting to a stark black & white and the color application looks good.
The Lichtish Standard style is just that — Licht-ish. It’s basically a large dot mask over your image. There’s no color changes or contrast adjustments. It’s a cool effect on its own, but those who are expecting a cool, comic-book halftone will be disappointed.
Unfortunately, the output is a HORRIBLE and completely unusable 300×300 pixels. It’s not even screen resolution on old iPhones. Output is way to small to even share on Instagram. Especially with the 8 MP output of the new iPhone 4S, this lack of even low resolution support is inexcusable.
There’s a $0.99 in-app purchase for more templates, but the super low resolution makes this a waste of money, in my opinion. I’d rather pay a buck or two for high-resolution output.
Arty-Pop is a cool idea hampered by unusably low resolution. Until the app supports larger output, this is one to avoid.
In case you want to be frustrated for yourself, Arty-Pop is a free app with in-app purchases. It’s compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.1 or later.
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