Normalize is an App for Those Who Can’t Stand Retro Photo Filters

Digital artist and programmer Joe Macirowski is one of the many people bemoaning the spread of Instagram-style filters to every nook and cranny of online photo sharing. Even though he enjoys Instagram itself, the fact that more and more people are using the filters to share their memories outside the app made Macirowski decide that something “had to be done.” What he did was write Normalize, a new iOS app that is anti-Instagram… literally.

The app takes any photo treated with retro filters and attempts to revert it back to its pure, original state.

This isn’t simply Photoshop’s Auto Levels or Apple’s Magic Wand packaged inside an app. Macirowski found that those didn’t do much to correct filtered pictures, so he had to write his own correction algorithms.

Normalize is the no-button solution to bad photos. No “Exposure” of “Contrast” sliders. No graphs. No color wheels. No confusing controls whatsoever. This isn’t like other “auto enhance” apps.

The smart algorithm that powers Normalize automatically improves your photo without you ever having to make tedious manual corrections. It will improve all kinds of photos – even those that are dark, yellow, or already have filters applied to them. You can even copy and paste photos into Normalize to instantly begin transforming them without ever having to save unnecessary photos to your library or photo stream.

It’s also geared towards allowing photo consumers to correct and enjoy other people’s images, rather than correcting and saving their own.

You can purchase the app for a buck over in the iTunes App Store. Reviews so far have been fantastic. If you’re curious about how it works, Macirowski has written a blog post revealing some of its secrets.

(via Cult of Mac)

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