by It’s hard to keep track of the seemingly countless photographic editing tools on the App Store, but Tangent actually brings some new tricks to the virtual light table, combining some very appealing graphic design elements together with a really slick, effortless interface, making it easy and enjoyable to add visually pleasing effects to any picture.
You start by opening an existing image or taking one with your iPhone camera; the next step has you choose one of a selection of base “styles,” each with three different types of customizable elements — color/blend mode, fill, and mask. Multitouch gestures are used to customize elements; pinch to dynamically resize an overlay, two fingers to rotate — it’s all here, and experimenting with different combinations is fast and fun. The elements are basic but visually attractive, and you can get down into the details with controls for customizing things like the size and rotation of fill patterns, which is a really slick touch. You can’t add your own custom shapes — something we’d like to see in a future version — and the app isn’t yet universal, which is a pity, as the expanded screen size of an iPad would be a perfect match for Tangent.
