Comparison

Photographic Effects vs AstroEdit

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

Head to head
About

Photographic Effects

This app allows you to apply unique artistic effects to your photos. Choose from bass relief, contour, pseudo colors, or deformation to transform your images. Save your creations or take new photos to process.

Highlights
  • Apply Bass Relief effect
  • Create Contour drawings
  • Generate Pseudo Color images
  • Deform images with barrel distortion
  • Select images from archive or camera
  • Save processed images
Features
Read full description

Effects is a Digital Image Processor (DIP) for iPad. It allows to select an image from the archive, or to shot a new photo with the internal camera, then process it using one of four different image processing algorythms. The four processing effects are: 1) Bass Relief: creates a new gray scale image with an Embossing effect. It is suitable for any kind of image, provided it has a good contrast. 2) Contour: creates a drawing obtained detecting the border lines between areas with different brightness. Best results are obtained with images with a strong contrast. 3) Pseudo Colors: creates a new colored image, converting different brightness levels of the original picture into different color hues. It can produce many different color combinations on the same image, giving a kind of Kandinskij effect. 4) Deformer: introduces a barrel distortion, compressing some portions of the original image, and inflating other ones. This effect is specially suitable for close-up portraits, and creates very funny variations. When the application starts, you are prompted to choose the image source: archive or camera shot. Once you ha picked an image, you are prompted to choose one of four processing methods. Touch one of the four sampling images to select the type of effect you prefer. When selection is done, the desired effect will be applied to the picked image, and the result shown. If the selected effect is Pseudo Colors, you can change the brightness-to-color translation, simply touching the resulting image one or more times. At this point, if you like the image produced, you can save it in the local archive, pressing the Save Image button. Then, you can get a new image to process.

About

AstroEdit

Effortlessly enhance your astrophotography with advanced AI tools. Remove noise, stars, and gradients to reveal stunning cosmic details. Includes essential editing controls for professional-quality results on your iPhone.

Highlights
  • AI Noise Reduction
  • AI Star Removal
  • AI Gradient Removal
  • AI Satellite Trail Removal
  • Oval Star Correction
  • Easy Image Controls
  • Curves Adjustment
  • Wavelet Sharpening
Features
Read full description

Capture the Cosmos with Ease! Transform your astrophotography with our game-changing app—the only app that harnesses advanced AI tools to deliver stunning results effortlessly! Edit your night sky images in a flash before sharing them on social media. Unlock the Universe with Cutting-Edge AI Features: Noise Reduction: Our state-of-the-art AI effortlessly eliminates noise, ensuring crystal-clear images. Star Removal: Remove stars with precision using advanced AI, allowing you to focus on the beauty of nebulas and galaxies without distractions. Gradient Removal: Say goodbye to distracting sky gradients and enhance your photos like never before. Satellite Trail Removal: Trained on real images, our AI tool removes streaks created by satellites or aircraft. Oval Star: Make oval star round found in Seestar S30. Plus All the Essential Image Processing Tools: Easy Controls: Adjust exposure, brightness, saturation, temperature, and tint with simple sliders. Curves Adjustment: Fine-tune your images with five layers of precise control. Wavelet Sharpening: Bring out intricate details while preserving the natural look of your photos! Hubble Palette Color: Enable new color perspective. Why Choose AstroEdit? This isn’t just another editing tool—it’s a revolutionary experience designed specifically for astrophotographers using Seestar, Dwarf, and other telescopes with iPhone apps. Whether you’re capturing deep-sky objects or terrestrial scenes, our app delivers professional-quality edits right on your iPhone. Key Features: Exclusive to iOS: Experience capabilities unmatched by any other app on the market. Supports TIFF & JPEG: Open and save high-quality images in both formats. Optimized Performance: Designed for seamless use at 1920x1080 resolution for device less than 4GB RAM, otherwise at 2160x3840(4K), with automatic resizing for large files. Get Started Today! Transform your night sky captures into breathtaking masterpieces. Check out our demo video https://youtube.com/shorts/11nECmjHdC0 and discover how fun and magical astrophotography can be! For support, contact us at help@AstroEditApp.com. Don’t just take photos—create cosmic art with our unique AI-powered app! Education: If you are a student belong to an Astronomy society, you can write in (ustransit74@gmail.com) to request up to 10 promotion code. Each promotion code enables an installation of the app on a device. For others, you can write in too to request based on individual case. Basic app tutorial video at https://www.instagram.com/ycbsl/ Requirement: The AI tools require at least 4G RAM for best image. If the device has less than 4GB RAM memory, lesser weight(memory) will be used for the specific AI starless, AI oval and AI satellite, and it will produce degraded results with maximum image size of 1080x1920. This is to prevent crashes due to run out of memory. You can check your device RAM by going to this app Help section. Privacy policy and term of use (EULA) is at https://deepskycolor.blogspot.com/2018/12/privacy-policy-for-deep-sky-color-app.html New Feature: AstroEdit uses AI to automate the complex comet stacking. Currently, user needs to stack first for the stars and second for the comet since they moves at different speeds. Then he has to blend them together and do further edition on another program on a laptop. AstroEdit makes comet stacking quick and simple. Subscription is optional: With one time purchase, users can access all features in AstroEdit. Users can subscribe monthly and we'll keep improving AstroEdit.

Screenshots

AstroEdit4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: AstroEdit at 62% against Photographic Effects's 0%. AstroEdit also leads on rating (3.9 vs 1.0) and update cadence (every 6 days vs every 38 months). Photographic Effects's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and price ($0.99 vs $2.99). On ads, device support and iOS requirement 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

Photographic Effects costs $0.99 and AstroEdit $2.99 up front. AstroEdit sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Photographic Effects asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

AstroEdit holds the better App Store score, 3.9 against 1.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 17 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 0% of Photographic Effects's written reviews are positive against 62% of AstroEdit's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Photographic Effects ships an update every 38 months, AstroEdit every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Photographic Effects versus AstroEdit: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPhotographic EffectsAstroEdit
Price$0.99 — better$2.99
Rating1.0 (4 ratings)3.9 (17 ratings) — better
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews61.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings417 — better
Update frequencyEvery 38 monthsEvery 6 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB153 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLuigi Fontiyong chong loh

Customer experience

Photographic Effects

All ratings4 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

AstroEdit

All ratings17 ratings
Positive64.7%
Neutral23.5%
Negative11.8%
Written reviews47 reviews
Positive61.7%
Neutral17.0%
Negative21.3%

In-app purchases

None

Photographic Effects

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

AstroEdit

Subscriptions3
  • Back AI Training$0.991 Month
  • Back New Features.$1.991 Month
  • Back App Longevity$2.991 Month
One-time1
  • Activate AI featuresFree

Questions

Is Photographic Effects free?
Photographic Effects costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is AstroEdit free?
AstroEdit costs $2.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Photographic Effects or AstroEdit?
AstroEdit is rated higher. Photographic Effects averages 1.0 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while AstroEdit averages 3.9 from 17 ratings.
Do Photographic Effects or AstroEdit have ads?
Neither Photographic Effects nor AstroEdit shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Photographic Effects or AstroEdit?
Photographic Effects ships an update every 38 months, and AstroEdit every 6 days. Most recently, Photographic Effects was updated on November 1, 2026 and AstroEdit on October 30, 2026.

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