App Review // PhotoMarks

One of my favorite apps to download are font overlay apps.  These apps that allow you to add text to your photos in a professional way.  I was contacted by PhotoMarks to test & review their font overlay app and let me tell you it is a great app to add to your arsenal...especially if you are a blogger!  This app has a feature I love - you can save different templates (known as profiles) so that you can add your branded text to images over & over again.  You don't have to start from scratch each time!  This is also great for adding a watermark or logo to you photos as this app supports an uploaded logo!

What it is 

This is your basic font overlay app.  You load a photo, add your text, save to your camera roll.  While this app doesn't have the most sleek design, it does have great function.  It is a very intuitive app.  If you've used any app to load or edit photos, you'll be able to figure this app out.  You can customize the appearance of your photos by adding text or logos - you can even upload your own logo.  

The app store description says :

PhotoMarks from Bits&Coffee is an elegant solution for visually watermarking or annotating your photos. Easily protect your copyrighted images or add beautiful text comments to your photos before sharing on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Email, or other options.
With PhotoMarks you can completely customize the appearance of your text and logo marks. Working with multiple layers is an easy and visually pleasing experience. Brand, trademark, and copyright protect your pictures with ease!

The app costs $4.99 on ios and it seems there are no in-app purchases, so you're getting the full experience right off the bat!  Plus, there is a desktop version in case you're not one to go to your phone for this kind of thing!

What it does

This app allows you to create seamless, branded photos with just a few taps.  Supporting full resolution & multiple layers, this app is a powerful too for your social media presence.  The best part is that you can save your work as a template (known as profiles) and then load them later to keep with your consistent branding.  The mutli-layer function allows you to add different text options & logos for easy arrangement. Exporting to your camera roll is easy & the app supports sharing to social media.

PhotoMarks can be a powerhouse design tool right in your pocket.  It offers quite a few fonts to choose from so you'll be able to find a similar font, if not the fonts you may use for branding.  You can also easily upload a transparent logo to use over & over again so that your photos are protected.

How it helps you

Consistency is key when building your blog/brand.  I've mentioned the idea of a style guide over here on the blog before and I personally find it important to stick with your one to three fonts across your platforms.  It is very tempting to change things up, espeically if you're a creative person, but when people see a photo they should easily recognize it as yours.  

I'll say it again, the best part is saving a template to use again & again for your blog or social media sharing!  This is so helpful when you've got a quite a few blog posts written but need to make your blog graphics quick.  I use my phone for nearly everything when it comes to the blog.  I only write my posts on a computer & everything else - photos, editing, blog graphics, etc - is done on my phone.  That makes my blog work so easy for me.  So having something like this powerhouse app is wonderful for my productivity.  So if you've got a 9-5 like me you can take a lunch hour to edit photos & create blog graphics, then drop them into any blog copy you have written.,

I've only got two downsides to this app - it doesn't support custom fonts and it's not that pretty.  If you can't find your font in their extensive collection, odds are you can find something similar.  However if you use a custom font there is no way to import that font into the app.  If you're also down for a pretty app - an app that really inspires you to use it - you may find this app a little chunky.  It functions well and is a really intuitive app to use, its just not that pretty.  So if function is more important than form you probably won't be bothered.

All in all this app is a great standalone or companion app to the apps you already use as a blogger.  The logo upload option means you don't have to have the image saved to your phone at all times to overlay in another app.  And the template or profile option allows you to pull branded content in easily.  Super functional app!

Download PhotoMarks here & get your branding on!

xoxo, Moe