Face MelterCurrent Version: 3.11 (iOS 4.0 Tested)

Simple controls produce fun results with this image editor

by Chester Baker, Macworld.com

It’s not too difficult getting a smile out of someone if you’ve got the Face Melter image editor installed on your iPhone or iPod touch. The app from Nico Becherer puts controls for magnifying smiles, eyes, and other facial features right at your fingertips.

Facial Reconstruction: All it takes is a few finger drags and pinches to give someone a new look courtesy of Face Melter.

Select an from your library or snap one with the built-in camera if you’re using an iPhone, and then use the powerful, beautifully simple controls in Face Melter to distort or enhance your picture. Adjusting the image is as simple as dragging a finger. If you want to make part of an image bigger, just pinch out like you would to zoom in on a map or photo. To make something look pinched or smaller, pinch in. Rotating three fingers at once will swirl the image.

Face Melter also offers a nice localized undo feature. While a simple shake gives you the option of starting over, you can also tap an undo button in the top right corner of the screen; you then touch the parts of the image you want returned to their previous state. It’s a handy tool if you’ve messed up one aspect of the picture while trying to edit something else—altering someone’s hair, say, when all you wanted to do was give them Vulcan ears.

After you get your image just right, you can turn it into a video clip to watch the face melt and unmelt right before your eyes. It’s a surefire way to get both children and adults to laugh.

A nice addition to Face Melter would be the ability to export the animations to a video file you could e-mail or post online. Currently, you can only save the finished product to your photo library or Flickr. (In fact, there’s even a Flickr group devoted to Face Melter’s handiwork.

Nico Becherer has done a fantastic job making a fun, easy-to-use program that everyone will be able to enjoy.

Face Melter is compatible with any iPhone or iPod touch running the iPhone 2.x software update.

[Chester Baker is a technology and radio control car enthusiast from central Oklahoma.]