The estimated reading time for this post is 4 minutes
The Wonder of Tech is delighted to welcome Kaarina Dillabough, a former Canadian Olympic coach, who shares with us one of her favorite apps, Waterlogue. When your reality seems harsh and you want to soften the rough edges of life, Waterlogue can bring beauty into your world.
I first found out about my friend Kaarina’s passion for Waterlogue when her stunning creations began appearing in my Facebook News Feed. As I marveled at her artistry I asked her how she was creating her amazing images. She explained that she created them using Waterlogue, an app for the iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch.
Kaarina kindly shares her experience with Waterlogue:
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When a friend of mine introduced me to the Waterlogue app, I was like a kid in a candy store! I could not believe that an app could transform my photos into magnificent watercolor renditions, but for a small price, I figured it was worth the try. After all, photography and watercolor painting are two of my favourite hobbies, so this seemed like a not-to-be-missed opportunity.
The Waterlogue app says “You don’t need to paint to create beautiful watercolor images – Waterlogue captures the essence of your photos in brilliant, liquid colour.”
Waterlogue takes photographs on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch and turns them into images that look like watercolor paintings. When you open the app you’ll see a camera icon. Tap that to choose a picture already on your device or to take a picture with your camera. You can also copy and paste a photo into the app.
Choose a filter and have fun watching Waterlogue perform its magical transformation, step by step, as it “paints” your photo.
You have 12 options for watercolor filters for your photos and the app shows you thumbnail examples of each:
- Natural
- Bold
- Luminous
- “It’s Technical”
- Travelogue
- Rainy
- Illustration
- Soaked
- Shallow
- Color Bloom
- Fashionable
- Blotted
Although the thumbnails gave a general impression of what each filter would look like, you should give each one a whirl to see its effect on your photo.
To give you an idea of what each of the options looks like, from Bold to Blotted, this is how they turned out:
You also have the option of making the image normal, darker or lighter, with or without a border, and small, medium or large.
Over time, I’ve found my favorite filters, but just when I think a particular option won’t be suitable…voila! It turns out to be just the ticket. I rarely change the size, usually use the normal setting, with border.
Here are some before and after photos using the Waterlogue app:
After lots of experimenting, I tend to stick with just a few of the options, but it’s wise to experiment, because just when you think a particular choice won’t look good…it does!
Not all photos work well with Waterlogue though. Here is an example of a photo that wasn’t improved by using the app:
After you’ve finished your artwork, press the heart icon on the app to save your Waterlogue creation to your Photos app. You can also share your Waterlogue image from within the app to Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr. The app also lets you email the photo or turn it into a postcard that the app developers will print and ship to anywhere in the world!
If you want to share to Facebook, save your Waterlogue to your Photos app and share to Facebook from there.
Although I’ll never give up my watercolor painting, it’s a pure delight to use Waterlogue to transform my other passion – photography – into watercolors!
Availability
Waterlogue is an app for iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch from the iTunes App Store, for $2.99.
[note]Also see, FotoSketcher – For the Artist in You! to learn about a similar software program for PC’s. [/note]
Your Thoughts
Do you enjoy watercolor art? Which Waterlogue effects do you like best? Do you like the idea of softening the harsh edges of your world? Let us know your thoughts in the Comments section below!
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Kaarina is a business/life coach living in Ontario, Canada. For over 25 years her high-voltage energy, expertise and experience has inspired those she has worked with to reach beyond their grasp, to attain great things in business and in life. A former Olympic sports color commentator and coach, Kaarina parlayed her coaching skills from the gym floor to the boardroom, working with business owners to improve their profitability and prosperity. In doing so, she has seen people grow both personally and professionally. Kaarina is known as an inspiring motivational speaker in areas such as branding, marketing, business growth strategies, and personal growth and prosperity. She is a passionate, seasoned coach and accountability partner with a proven track record, who loves nothing more than helping people achieve their goals in business and in life. Check out her Blog or follow her on Facebook or Twitter. Email contact: [email protected]
Hi Carolyn,
You knew I would read this one! There are lots of programs that do watercolours, but this looks interesting. I can give you a tip though. Try printing photos on plain paper, they often come out looking like a watercolour. It’s also cheaper than using photo paper!
It’s Good Friday so I’m looking for things to photograph over Easter! I think it will be narrow-boats on the canal on Sunday.
Hi Mike, I’m so glad you found this article on your own. I was going to let you know about this article because you were the one who let me know about Fotosketcher. I knew you would like Waterlogue too.
That’s great advice about printing on plain paper instead of photo paper. How wonderful to get a better effect while saving money! :-bd
This looks like a great app! How do I get the sale price? It’s 2.99 in the App Store today, the day of this article. Thank you for sharing this fabulous app.
Hi Darragh, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Thank you very much for alerting me to the price change. When I wrote this article the app was on sale for $0.99. But the morning I published the article the app price went back to $2.99. I edited the article to show the current price based on your comment.
Kaarina originally included the $2.99 price in her article but I had edited the article to show the sale price. Very unfortunate that the day I publish her article the developer ended the sale.
I hope you enjoy the app, Darragh!
But at only $2.99, it’s still a great deal:)
Hi Kaarina, and welcome to Carolyn’s blog 🙂
Good to see you here and with such a lovely post 🙂
Yes, I’ve tried playing around a lot with images too, though I haven’t used Wayerlogue as such as I am not the person who uses much of gadgets, but they look awesome here. I usually make such effects on good old Photoshop, which also has similar drop down options in it’s settings so you can have similar effects and some a little different one. I think they are very exciting and it’s great to see a picture from so many different view points.
Thanks for sharing this with us. Have a nice weekend, both of you, and Happy Easter too 🙂
Hi Harleena, Yes, I was so thrilled when Kaarina agreed to write a post about Waterlogue for Wonder of Tech readers! Her lovely images on her Facebook page were truly stunning so I asked her to write this guest post.
The images Waterlogue produces are beautiful but what’s also fun is watching the app at work creating the effects. It’s a bit like watching an artist at work (but a very quick artist!).
Thanks so much for stopping by and welcoming Kaarina, Harleena!
Thanks Harleena: as Carolyn said, it not only produces wonderful images, it’s fun to watch the process unfold, as the waterlogue’d image comes into being. Wishing you a wonderful weekend:) Cheers! Kaarina
Is there a good app for android that is similar?
Hi Peggy, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech. Great question! The developers have written an entire article on why the app is only for iOS devices: Why Waterlogue is an iOS App.
As for Android apps that do exist, you can check out Photo Painter, a free app for Android. I haven’t tested it so I can’t vouch for it, but the app is rated 4 **** stars at Google Play.
Watercolor effects are quite fun! I suppose if I wanted to use it I would have to transfer some of my photos to my iPad, as I take most photos with my Canon Rebel then transfer them to my external hard drive for later use with my desktop computer.
I like how you showed a photo that you didn’t think worked so well; actually, I find the watercolor effect on the person rather interesting. But the landscape and nature scenes you chose to try out were quite stunning with the app.
Hi Leora, Yes, Kaarina did a fantastic job not only writing about Waterlogue but also illustrating the app. Showing us the beautiful images as well as those that didn’t turn out well helps us learn about the best ways to use the app.
Great post. I’ll definitely install this app on my phone to atleat test it. Thanks once again.
Hi Syed, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! I hope you really enjoy Waterlogue.
man they look majestic.The transformation makes the images more lively than the normal images.Great to know about waterlogue.I will give that a try for sure.
Hi Ragib, Yes, Waterlogue really can make your world more beautiful. I really like how Waterlogue makes the images look, especially with the filter choices. I’m glad you like it too!
Yet another awesome post, I really love to play with photo affects and I’ve been using photoshop and learning new things. The waterlogue is simply awesome.
Thanks for share.
Hi Samir, Yes, if you’re a fan of photo editing tools, you will really enjoy Waterlogue. The effects are impressive, plus it’s fun watching the app work its magic!
Hi Kaarina and Carolyn,
Glad to see you at Carolyn’s blog, Kaarina 🙂
It’s interesting application, indeed!
When I read this article, I really enjoyed the images that you provide in this article. I love the watercolor effect :-bd
Well, I’ve never heard about Waterlogue before, this is the first time. However, I can say that this app is enjoyable, especially for those who are interested in images editing.
Thanks for sharing this post with us and have a nice week ahead for both of you 🙂
Regards,
Nanda
Hi Nanda, Yes, Kaarina did a beautiful job with this article, both with her writing and with her Waterlogue images. You’re right, those who enjoy editing their photos will love this app!
Thanks so much Nanda: it’s a very enjoyable app that is really quite addicting:) I appreciate your comment and well wishes: I wish you a wonderful week ahead, full of fun and prosperity. Cheers! Kaarina
Hey Kaarina,
I have seen some of the photos in Google Plus; they are wonderful. I don’t use iPhone, so can’t get this app (The only person who use any Apple product in my family is my mom…I suppose I could borrow her phone every now and then :D).
Thank you for the recommendation and review (Hopefully, one day we will have this app on other Operating systems).
Thank you Carolyn for the recommendation at the end…I will certainly check out FotoSketcher 😀
Btw, WP gallery looks great!
Hi Jeevan, Yes, Kaarina did a fantastic job in letting us know about Waterlogue. I’m sure your mom would enjoy the app very much. You could borrow her phone to create some beautiful watercolors from your photos.
I like using the WordPress Gallery feature when I have a lot of images that I want to publish so the articles load quickly but readers get to see a lot of images. I’m so happy that WordPress included Gallery in a recent update so no plugin is needed.
Be sure to borrow her phone once in a while Jeevan: I think you’ll enjoy it:) Cheers! Kaarina P.S. Thanks so much for your kind comment on my waterlogues that you’ve seen over on g+
Hey Kaarina,
Good to see you here at Carolyn’s place and sharing one of your favorite apps with us. What a cool one that is too I must say.
Isn’t it amazing what they come up with these days! I can just image all the pictures you take with your snowy landscapes and how those can be turned into some really cool watercolors. Of course the flower one at the top of this post is really pretty too. I like the way you showed us the different types of photos that we can turn them into if we want to do something a little different. I might have to give this one a try.
Thanks so much for introducing this one to us Kaarina and thanks Carolyn for having her share this.
~Adrienne
Hi Adrienne, Yes, when I saw Kaarina’s beautiful creations on Facebook I knew I had to ask her to write a guest post about the app for my readers. And what a great job Kaarina did in both writing about the app and showing us how to use it and how not to use it! This app is a lot of fun, I’ve been playing around with it since I read Kaarina’s article and have made some really beautiful images.
You’re way too kind Carolyn, but I appreciate it!
It’s my pleasure Adrienne. I’ve so enjoyed playing around with my photos, trying this and trying that on the app. Sometimes it’s magical, sometimes messy, but always fun. I’m indebted to Carolyn for allowing me to share here. Cheers! Kaarina
Lol, Kaarina, I am indebted to you for sharing your writing and Waterlogue skills with us here! Thanks so much once again.
Hi Carolyn and Kaarina,
This is really awesome. I like the BOLD look in the watercolor. $2.99 for this app is really cheap. I thought it was going to be a lot more.
What a great idea. Whoever invented it is brilliant! 🙂
This was a great article and I love tech stuff.
Thanks so much.
Geri Richmond
Delighted that you found the post to be of interest Geri, and I think you’ll really enjoy the app:) Cheers! Kaarina