Mobile App Review: Cross Process
[Editor's Note: Today I have the pleasure of introducing you to our new Mobile Space Writer. Conor McClure who hails from Boone, North Carolina in the United States is a musician and an avid photographer. In this and upcoming articles Conor will introduce you to many new and exciting apps that I'm sure you'll want to try! If you want to recommend one, tweet him @conorjmcclure]
m.) What’s the big deal, then? We could assume that an app called “Cross Process” is probably good for only one thing – simulating the distinguished colors and contrasts that result from film being processed in chemicals not intended for the film at hand. This is partially true. You won’t find hue, saturation, or exposure adjustments in this app, nor will you find a variety of funky presets, filters, or effects.
“Cross Process,” for all its simplicity and apparent lack of features, is quite capable and gets a huge amount of use from me, more often than not simply to add a little spice, contrast, and color to an otherwise “dull” picture. From there I’m done, and the picture is shipped off to Flickr or Facebook. Simple, easy, and fast. The $2 price tag practically seals the deal! “Cross Process” gets my full recommendation and praise.
Introducing "Cross Process" by Banana Camera Co.
Introducing "Cross Process" by Banana Camera Co.
I recently stumbled across an app called Cross Process, designed by Banana Camera Company and listed in the Apple App Store at $1.99. It has received a huge amount of use from me lately, and I might even venture to say that it’s my favorite photo app of the moment, behind the ever-useful Instagram and a few others.
Cross Process: Green + Basic + Border
So, what’s the big deal? We cam assume that an app called Cross Process is probably good for doing one thing – simulating the distinguished colors and contrasts that result from film being processed in chemicals not intended for the film at hand. This is partially true. You won’t find hue, saturation, or exposure adjustments in this app, nor will you find a variety of funky presets, filters, or effects.
What the app lacks in quantity of features, it makes up for with simplicity, top-notch results, and ease-of-use. It’s incredibly minimalistic and requires very little work to master and understand. There is one menu, which contains five different color processes (red, green, and blue, plus options for a more basic processing or a more extreme version), plus a simple on/off switch for borders, and another for saving the original image.
The only menu in the app - simple, clean, and understandable.
That’s all there is to it, besides experimenting with the colors and the results they give. Green and blue get the most use out of me, as both are subtle and realistic enough to be applicable to a huge variety of scenes without looking overdone or out of the ordinary.
Before Cross Process
After Cross Process: Green + Basic
The extreme option allows for some fun, giving huge color contrasts that too often seem to be excessive, at least for a minimalist like myself, but can be employed intentionally for a heavy and colorful artistic style.
Cross Process: Green + Extreme
Cross Process: Blue + Extreme
Of course, there’s the red – I’ve had a lot of trouble finding a scene where I can justify a red hue across the picture, so that switch is perpetually set to “off” for me. Let’s not forget combining colors and options together as well.
Cross Process: Red + Extreme + Border. Too much for me. Not a fan!
Cross Process, for all its simplicity and apparent lack of features, is quite capable and gets a huge amount of use from me, more often than not simply to add a little spice, contrast, and color to an otherwise “dull” picture. From there I’m done, the result is automatically saved into your camera roll, and the picture is shipped off to Flickr, Dropbox, or Facebook. Simple, easy, and fast. The small $2 price tag practically seals the deal! Cross Process gets my full recommendation and praise.
Cross Process: Green + Basic + Border
Conor McClure is a student at Appalachian State University in western North Carolina. Most of his time is taken by his classical piano studies and the rest is spent geeking out over Apple products or shooting professionally for whitewater rafting companies. You can find him on twitter at http://twitter.com/conorjmcclure
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Writer’s Note: Cross Process 2.0 was just released on the App Store. I’m downloading it as I type! Functionality is the same. A little more user friendly – has an intro video, a manual, more languages… It seems like the images process a lot faster, too, which is a good improvement. There’s also an auto-upload to Twitter function, which could be cool.