Prisma is a handy little app that transforms any photo you might have taken into something that is all together more arty. Indeed, you can use it to brush up your pics into artworks that might be recognizable as having been inspired by the styles of many famous artists. Ideal for anyone who wants to create art but doesn't have the oils and canvas to hand, it is free to download and use.

An overview of Prisma

Published by Prisma Labs inc., this app is a photo editor and filter piece of software. It allows your photos to gain a unique touch by instantly turning them into works of art. You can choose a wide number of styles to reflect your mood, such as Candy, Mononoke or Gothic. Alternatively, select from well-known painters' styles, such as Edvard Munch or Pablo Picasso.

The clever software utilizes a one-off combination of neural networks – along with a good deal of artificial intelligence – to help you turn any memorable portrait or moment that has been captured on camera into something that is much more timeless and artistic. The app offers in excess of 30 filters which is amazing when you consider that each of them is completely free with the initial app download. There is a simple filter ribbon located on lower section of the screen that allows users to check the name of a filter and to obtain a sample of the original artwork that it is inspired by. This way it becomes easy to get a good idea of what the finished artwork is going to looks like before you commit.

Prisma's Usability and Interface

The app allows users two choices to get an image into a usable state. You either snap a new photo into the app or import one that you have already taken from your device's photo library. Most people will opt for the second choice because the Prisma treatment will probably only be wanted for a particularly successful photo. However, it is good the developers have offered two methods. Nevertheless, it is important to note that the app will crop everything that is put into it into a 1:1 square.

As a result, this means that you can not retain a full portrait or landscape orientation in the software. This is not much of a compromise when your realize that all of your outputted artworks will be instantly ready for Instagram with this approach, however. When operating the filter ribbon, users simply have to find one they want to use on their image by scrolling around. When something suitable is found just tap on it. The app then needs a few seconds to render the filter onto the chosen image. It is all quite quick and intuitive to use, but some some of the more complex filters do take longer to render than others.

In summary

This app offers an unbelievable amount given that it is free. The Instagram-ready software is fun to experiment with and achieves some highly professional results. It does produce a 'watermark' through the resulting artworks, but users can remove this, if they want to.