Love it! I downloaded this app shortly after it hit the store, hoping that I could find a new way to augment my photography. I was blown away within the first few uses of Brushstroke; especially with the ease of use, minimalist but effective design of the user interface, and with the sheer variety of adjustments that can be made. Immediately upon opening the application you can choose to load a picture from your album (make sure you allow it to access your photos) or use the camera to take a new shot. The home screen also allows you to change options such as saving the original picture; I find this option especially useful as I like to post instagrams of the pre vs post processed images. When you take your first image, Brushstroke will apply a base painted filter and canvas but give you a myriad of options to change the brush styles, color overlays, and paper selection. In addition, there is an entire adjustment section in which you can scale the photography-based criteria such as saturation and contrast with the slide of a finger. One of my favorite features comes next, the signature. What a ‘stroke’ of genius to allow you to sign your very own custom painted photograph! I have never seen this done in an application before and it truly gives your image a unique and fun stamp. Brushstroke never ceases to impress, even the selection of ink from the color palette for the signature. The last feature, which I imagine will be a large draw for people is the opportunity to have their painted photograph framed (or stretched on canvas) and shipped directly to you. I have already created several images which I can envision hanging in my office in the future.

The first time I used this app I recall thinking there were so few controls, it must not do a very good job. And the first time I converted a photo the app crashed; not an auspicious beginning. However, since that rocky beginning I've grown to love this app. Despite the simple interface, it does a KILLER job of converting photos into really beautiful paintings. I took a photo of some Laurel Oaks that were dripping with Spanish moss, and had the sun backlighting the moss. The moss was still very wet with morning dew, and that wetness, combined with the angle of the sun, created a scene that contained both subtle, subdued lighting and brilliant areas of softly glowing color. It is easily one of my best photographs, and I wanted to see what this software would do with such a complex palette. The results were nothing short of amazing. I thought my photo was a nearly perfect expression of my vision, but after comparing the original and the result, the painting wins. Everything from my original shot is there, but muted, enhanced, and hinted at in ways that make it so much more beautiful than the original. Can't wait to do some serious portraits!

This application would be great. It does a pretty good job turning photos into paintings. But the process of importing photos is clunky; the user interface controls that it uses are non-standard. Its photo picker doesn’t deal with nested albums. And I can’t search for photos by name or title or face. It should just use the normal Photos picker, which would be able to handle all those things. It’s difficult finding the photo that I want to use in the application. It also doesn’t have an action extension and it doesn’t handle drag and drop. Because of this, if I have an photo open in Photos, I can’t open it in Brushstroke. We have to go hunt for it in Brushstroke’s clunky nonstandard slow UI. It also resets its settings (like filter and canvas texture) every time I reopen the application. It also is difficult to switch between the filters I want, since there are so many filters (dozens), and I use only a few of them. I should be able to save my favorite filters, instead of having to scroll through a dozen filters every time we reopen the application.

I made a picture of my Mom’s old dog into an incredible looking painting, ordered it straight from the app, and shipped directly to my parents’ house. I did the same for my sister with a painting (from a picture) of her three boys when they were younger. They both cried tears of joy and couldn’t believe how well done they were. They both told me it was the best gift they’d received in years. The paintings were professionally framed, canvas taught, hanging wire in place and the artwork was ready to hang straight out of the carefully packaged box. All of that said, if you’re interested in having a physical painting ordered from what you created from your picture, be prepared to spend $80-$150 per print depending on how large you would like it. I think if you find a piece that you are really proud of, it’s worth the price tag. If you’re not interested in spending big bucks, you don’t have order them, you can save them to your device for free. Anyways, this app is dope. And it helped me win Christmas.

Downloaded this app and I am really shocked at how much battery it takes to process images. I worked on my 5S with an image for 5-10 minutes checking out the features and went from 92% to 75% just during that short time. That's with no BT or any other known battery drainers. I reopened the app and tried again and sure enough, not only does my 5S get very hot when using this app, but I can watch the drain on the battery. The app itself is okay. I do like some of the brush effects but some are quite heavy handed and I notice it produces a lot of sky banding in a landscape. That is not a wanted painterly effect IMHO. I would like to see a slide control to control the brush and filter effects. Some effects seem redundant meaning there isn't a lot of difference between one and another in a category. I am not going to play with this app if my battery is low. The heat issue and drain needs to be addressed. I use Glaze a lot and never have this issue and the effects in that app processes a lot too. I do like the ability to add a signature. But there needs to more control over the effects as given and less of a color threshold effect in the skies.

I love this app. I also love to paint. For me this doesn't just edit a picture I want to look like a painting but it provides guidelines. I've only taken 2 years of painting class and am still trying to improve. I'm not very confident in realistic photos of people and some landscapes just yet, but when I can see someone I want painted already done then I get it nearly exactly like that. This app lets me transform gorgeous landscapes into amazing paintings id want to hang on my wall or give to friends & family. I know this app probably wasn't intended to do that, but it's just an incredible bonus that comes with it. All the edits are beautiful and you get a wide range to select from- I have about 5 photos of the same picture just with different styles on my phone because I couldn't decide! Thank you for making this app, and if anyone actually read all of this definitely download it if you enjoy paintings!!