AntiCrop, a new photo-manipulation tool for universal iDevice, says it’s the result of a “new anti-cropping algorithm.” Although this anti-cropper does seem to be the first of its kind, the tech isn’t anything new to anyone familiar with Photoshop.
But, with so many options for cropping your photos, one that’s designed to expand them is worth a look. With AntiCrop, you can take an image and clone its edges, thereby expanding it to a larger size. The app itself is easy to use, however this technology cannot be equally applied to all images. Because AntiCrop is cloning whatever already appears at the edge of the image, the app works best with simple images, such as landscapes. I tried this on a few images I had of Lake Michigan, and although AntiCrop did expand upon my existing vignette, I could definitely see that something … well, just wasn’t right with the image. By squinting, I could make myself believe the water extended seamlessly, but I was lying to myself. Forget about using AntiCrop to expand anything other than plain colors or simple patterns.
Another feature AntiCrop demonstrates is its rotating tool. This allows you to straighten an image, and AntiCrop fills in the gaps to keep the image at its original size. If your images are exactly like the ones this app presents in its demo, you might have OK luck, but I wasn’t impressed with anything the app did to my test images — even ones fairly similar in composition as AntiCrop’s examples. AntiCrop also offers a cropping tool, but with this standard in your camera’s editing panel, there’s little incentive to use this app for that purpose.
AntiCrop sounds like an awesome app in theory, but in practice it don’t cut it. Save your buck, and be happy with your photos as they are.
