Comparison

Dramatic Black & White vs Formulas

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Dramatic Black & White

Transform your photos into striking black and white images with adjustable light, contrast, and texture. Explore classic and modern styles, and use unique tools to create artistic compositions. Perfect for photographers seeking to enhance their monochrome vision.

Highlights
  • Black and white photo conversion
  • Adjustable light and contrast
  • Texture and shape controls
  • Ellipse spotlight tool
  • Classic, infrared, and HD styles
  • Grain and vignette effects
Features
Read full description

Make a Black and White Photo with Light Contrast Grit and Form --- MacWorld’s pick for the App Gems of the Year Award --- Everyone knows it doesn't get better than classic Black & White - it's the artistic soul of photography. Referencing one of our favorite Ansel Adams quotes: "Great Black & White photos aren't taken - they're made". Using Dramatic Black & White you can make your own black and white photographs, ones where light and contrast, grit and form come together to tell a story; ones where stone and sky, water and light transcend the material world and ascend to the Photographers’ Gallery. With Dramatic Black & White there are no mistakes you can't fix, no limits to your vision, no stopping until you're finished, nothing to hold you back from truly 'making your photos' and making them - Oh.My.Gosh. good! 

JixiPix's Dramatic Black & White app starts by leaving color in the rear view mirror, and enables you to make expert adjustments with easy-to-use, fully customizable controls to contrast and light, texture and shape. Before your eyes, watch your photo transform into the dramatic looks of the past and cutting-edge styles of the present.
 PHOTOGRAPHY STYLE
 • Black & White – Classic 
• Infrared Photo – Modern 
 • Dramatic Black & White – High Definition 

 FEATURES
 A one-of-a-kind ellipse spotlight tool will allow you to set up a light source on a subject in your composition. Fully customizable controls allow expert adjustments to contrast, light, texture and shape; and adjustments to spotlight size intensity. INCLUDES
 Spotlight, Black and White Filters, Grain and Vignette UNIVERSAL FEATURES
 All JixiPix Apps come with: Superior Customer Service, Support for High-Resolution Images & Output, Undo/Redo, Randomize Button, Quick Presets and the ability to create Custom Presets, Cropping with the ability to specify aspect ratio, Quick Preview, Email, Print, and the ability to post directly to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr. We also have an online art gallery and invite our user’s to display their artistic creations on it: http://www.flickr.com/groups/jixipixcreations/


 *************** 

“JixiPix turns any photo into a masterpiece. All that is required of you is the appreciation — we’ll take care of the rest! ”

JixiPix.com “Creative Tools for Creative People”
 Photography | Artistic | Graphic Apps
 MAC • iPad • iPhone

About

Formulas

Apply unique, multilayered photo effects and custom frames to your images. Features include vintage emulations, artistic styles, and textured finishes. An intuitive interface and one-tap auto adjust make professional editing easy.

Highlights
  • Custom multilayered photo effects
  • Vintage film emulations
  • Textured and artistic styles
  • Dozens of custom frames
  • One-tap auto adjust tool
  • Intuitive UI
  • Photo editing extension
Features
Read full description

*** App Store Best of 2015 *** MIAN FEATURES: Dozens of custom, multilayered photo effects unlike anything available on the App Store, ranging from basic color and tonal to authentic vintage film emulations, textured finishes, and painterly and artistic styles. Built with scientific precision by some of the most talented artists in the mobile photography community, these effects truly deserve the “Formula” accolade. Each is meticulously constructed from components that are expertly-crafted by renowned photographer Dirk Wuestenhagen and that themselves are fully-fledged effects in the traditional sense including textures, filters, gradients, adjustments, and much more. Each formula goes through a vigorous testing process to ensure compatibility with a wide range of scenes, subjects, and editing styles from landscapes and cityscapes to street photography and portraits. Dozens of custom frames expertly-crafted by renowned photographer Dirk Wuestenhagen, which include high quality scans of vintage paper, worn fabric, weathered stone, and a multitude of other materials and substrates that are then refined, blended, and fine-tuned to perfection in an arduous post-processing regimen aimed at exposing naturally occurring character lines, blemishes, and impurities. Moreover, a great deal of attention is given to specific color tones within an overall limited spectrum of earthy hues that are deemed to work best with images. One-tap Auto Adjust tool that automatically analyzes color and tonal levels in an image and makes adjustments accordingly, thereby producing professional results with no effort whatsoever. Beautifully designed and streamlined UI that is intuitive and easy to navigate. A lot of thought and effort went into making the UI appealing to and accessible by users of all skill levels. PHOTO EDITING EXTENSION: Edit your photos right from within your photo library with a fully-fledged photo editing extension that not only provides access to the full functionality of the main app, but also preserves your sessions, allowing you to pick up right where you left off the next time you edit the image. STACKABLES: Think you’ve got what it takes to create your own formulas? Download Stackables from the App Store and start experimenting today. TECHNICAL INFO: High resolution support up to 16MP (4,000 x 4,000 px) on newer devices (iPhone 5 and later, iPad 3 and later). Support for JPEG, lossless PNG, and lossless TIFF formats. URL Scheme "formulas://". SUPPORT: Experiencing issues? Have comments or suggestions for future updates? Please contact us at support@formulasapp.co.

Screenshots

Dramatic Black & White4 screens
Formulas4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Dramatic Black & White at 4.8 against Formulas's 4.2. Dramatic Black & White also leads on review sentiment (84% vs 72%) and ratings volume (346 vs 114). Formulas's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 4 months) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 15.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Dramatic Black & White costs $2.99 and Formulas $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Dramatic Black & White holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 346 and 114 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 84% of Dramatic Black & White's written reviews are positive against 72% of Formulas's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Dramatic Black & White ships an update every 4 months, Formulas every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Dramatic Black & White versus Formulas: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDramatic Black & WhiteFormulas
Price$2.99$2.99
Rating4.8 (346 ratings) — better4.2 (114 ratings)
Positive reviews84.3% of reviews — better72.2% of reviews
Number of ratings346 — better114
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.08.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB262 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJixiPix, LLCTinkerworks Apps

Customer experience

Dramatic Black & White

All ratings345 ratings
Positive95.9%
Neutral1.7%
Negative2.3%
Written reviews319 reviews
Positive84.3%
Neutral5.6%
Negative10.0%

Formulas

All ratings114 ratings
Positive81.6%
Neutral4.4%
Negative14.0%
Written reviews270 reviews
Positive72.2%
Neutral5.9%
Negative21.9%

User reviews

Dramatic Black & White

From 346 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great for B&W photography
  • 🎨 Lots of editing options
  • 💻 Works well on desktop
  • 🤩 Fantastic results
  • 🙌 Easy to use

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes frequently
  • 🔍 Clunky UI/UX
  • 🔍 Annoying pop-ups
  • 🔍 Slow saving process
  • 🔍 Limited features

Formulas

From 114 App Store ratings

What we love

  • ✨ Beautiful and professional-looking filters
  • 🎨 Excellent artistic effects for photo editing
  • 👍 Simple and intuitive user interface
  • ⚡ Fast and efficient editing process
  • 🖼️ High-quality results with vintage-style textures

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
  • ⏱️ No updates in 9+ years
  • 🚫 Regional restrictions not disclosed
  • ❌ Non-functional in-app links and cart system
  • 🔗 Broken connection to App Store

Bugs and requests

Dramatic Black & White

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Freezing on login screen
  • Incompatibility with newer devices
  • Inability to access camera

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to adjust individual color channels
  • Layers and masking tools
  • Remembering custom settings
  • Improved performance and stability

Formulas

Reported bugs

11 issues
  • App crashes on iPhone iOS 26
  • Crashes when tapping camera icon
  • Cannot save to camera roll
  • Crashes frequently during use
  • Non-functional icons marked as forbidden
Show 6 more
  • App won't run on iPad Pro despite optimization claim
  • Photos extension not working properly
  • Broken external links (App Store, Instagram, websites)
  • In-app purchase system not connecting to App Store
  • Lost access to previously purchased add-ons after update
  • Stackables app crashes repeatedly

Requested features

11 requests
  • Update app for current iOS versions
  • Add landscape mode support
  • Increase number of filter options
  • Separate color and texture controls
  • Adjust opacity independently for colors and textures
Show 6 more
  • Add more texture options (peeling paint, fresco, plaster)
  • Improve Photos extension functionality
  • Restore Stackables app availability
  • Add layering/stacking capabilities
  • Include tutorial videos
  • Add brightness and contrast adjustment controls

In-app purchases

None

Dramatic Black & White

No in-app purchases

None

Formulas

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Dramatic Black & White free?
Dramatic Black & White costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Formulas free?
Formulas costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Dramatic Black & White or Formulas?
Dramatic Black & White is rated higher. Dramatic Black & White averages 4.8 out of 5 from 346 ratings, while Formulas averages 4.2 from 114 ratings.
Do Dramatic Black & White or Formulas have ads?
Neither Dramatic Black & White nor Formulas shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Dramatic Black & White or Formulas?
Dramatic Black & White ships an update every 4 months, and Formulas every 3 weeks. Most recently, Dramatic Black & White was updated on November 1, 2026 and Formulas on November 1, 2026.

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