Dramatic Black & White vs Formulas
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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
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.
- 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
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*** 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
Verdict
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
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.
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.
Dramatic Black & White ships an update every 4 months, Formulas every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.
| Parameter | Dramatic Black & White | Formulas |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | $2.99 |
| Rating | 4.8 (346 ratings) — better | 4.2 (114 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 84.3% of reviews — better | 72.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 346 — better | 114 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 8.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 15 MB | 262 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | JixiPix, LLC | Tinkerworks Apps |
Customer experience
Dramatic Black & White
Formulas
User reviews
Dramatic Black & White
From 346 App Store ratingsWhat 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 ratingsWhat 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 moreShow fewer
- 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 moreShow fewer
- 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
Dramatic Black & White
No in-app purchases
Formulas
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Dramatic Black & White free?
Is Formulas free?
Which has better reviews, Dramatic Black & White or Formulas?
Do Dramatic Black & White or Formulas have ads?
Which is updated more often, Dramatic Black & White or Formulas?
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