Photo Reactor

If you want to make a picture look like a hand drawing or apply other interesting effects, the image would have to undergo a complex operation, which involves all sorts of manual adjustments. Of course, you could opt for a lightweight application and apply a predefined effect, but if you want absolute freedom to apply any effect you can think of, you should try Photo Reactor. It places a vast range of image manipulation controls at your disposal, which you would expect to find in any advanced photo editor, but it comes with a unique method of defining effects. The software allows you to experiment, by combining your effects and adjustments in a flexible environment. As a result, you will be able to create your own unique effects.

You can have Photo Reactor up and running in no time. The installation process involves only a few basic settings, like selecting a destination folder or creating shortcuts. The software is compatible with all popular Windows versions and it doesn't use too much disk space, RAM or processing power. Also, you don't have to meet any special requirements, like additional tools or drivers.

While the functionality of traditional image editors is based on layers, Photo Reactor works with a node-based structure. Instead of applying effects one on top of another, which can make things difficult if you wish to undo a previous effect, you can insert and customize all the effects you need, in the same work space and connect or reconnect them in any order you want. This means that a layer can be made to affect only a specific layer, instead of everything beneath it. It also means that there is no need to merge or flatten two or more layers, so you can easily undo any changes.

When you load a picture on the user interface, the software will display it in a "before and after" preview. It will also display two nodes, for the input and output image, beneath the preview. You can find three effects categories on the left side of the user interface and you can insert one or more effects by clicking and dragging. Inserted effects are illustrated as small boxes, with input and output pins. The general idea is to create a path from the input image to the output one, through various effect nodes, by connecting one node's output pin to another one's input pin. The effect of each node can be adjusted on the right side of the interface or directly on the node itself.

You can think of Photo Reactor's functionality as a picture going through a processing machine. First, the original image will pass through a certain effect, then through another one and so on, until it reaches the output node. Of course, the path can be more complex. You may insert nodes with multiple input or output pins, connect multiple nodes to a single output pin and experiment however you want, until you discover a new effect. The combinations you make can be saved as a single node and applied on other photos, without making all the necessary adjustments again.