Unlock your inner artist with photo editing app

Image editing apps come in all shapes and sizes and Over comes in a super sleek package with a stylish user interface and nicely-designed layout, plus some cracking features that really allow you to tap into your creative side. But can it push itself to the top of the pile in an already crowded market?

Turn your photos into works of art

With Over, you can use images from your camera roll or take a picture there and then and transform it into a work of art by adding a wide range of different artwork (examples include city icon sketches, words of inspiration and storylines) from professional designers. Some come pre-installed, some you have to download. There are plenty of packages for free but, if you’re a serious creative, you may want to consider buying one of the paid-for options. The artwork isn’t something put together by some college kids doing a project, it’s designed by professional artists so the quality is excellent.

Once you’ve added this artwork you can edit it in Over by resizing and changing its color and positioning, as well as making some minor edits to the photo, such as cropping it and changing the tint.

As well as artwork, you can also add text in a variety of fonts to your photos in Over. If there isn’t a font you like, you can install your own. The ability to place artwork and text behind your main photo would be a great addition.

One of the features I really love is the ability to send your photo as a postcard anywhere in the world. It’s a really easy process and Over does all the work, from resizing the photo to specific dimensions right through to the actual posting. You can also share your photos in the ususal social ways, as well as get some inspiration from Over’s Instagram account.

Why won’t you do what I want you to?

For all of Over’s fantastic features and stylistic appearance, it’s let down by slightly over-complicated controls and navigation, as well as a few usability issues. A lot of these can be overcome by playing around with the app for a while but it could still use some work.

For example, it seems intuitive that you would be able to swipe right to access the artwork, but instead you have to swipe to access the main menu and then go into the ‘add’ option. Although through testing, I did find that pressing on the screen also brings up the artwork menu.

Same with editing your artwork. Instead of tapping and holding to change size etc, you have to go into the ‘edit’ option. It’s adding in a step that isn’t necessary. If you’ve placed a piece of artwork too near to the menu, then it’s hard to move it again.

And it’s a double tap to edit your artwork and a single to move it.

One problem I had was that artwork seemed to disappear off the screen from time to time when I was editing it. I changed the size of the text and it was gone, never to be seen again. Once you have deleted something it then offers you the option to delete or cancel. It turns out that cancel is the equivalent to ‘done’, but that’s a little counter intuitive.

Thumbs up for features, thumbs down for usability

Over has so much potential. If I was rating this on the features alone, it would probably get a nine. It’s so much more than most image editing apps out there and is a steal at that price tag. But it’s let down by not being quite as intuitive as I’d like and taking a while to figure out. The app has some great unique features and allows you to be really creative. I’d recommend Over more for those looking to spend time creating some super images rather than the casual user.

Overall, I did really like Over and I’d rate it even higher if they iron out the issues that caused me frustrations.