6 Things You Need to Know About the Sensational Prisma Photo App

iPhone users who want to be dazzled by their photos should check out Prisma.

Step aside, Instagram: The latest photo-enhancing app craze is Prisma, an app from Russian developers that turns prosaic smartphone shots into art.

The app uses artificially intelligent cloud processing to apply the looks of master painters such as Van Gogh, Picasso, Munch, and Mondrian to your digital snapshots. Here are a few things to consider when using this really impressive app and some pointers to its future directions.

It's still early days for the Prisma app, as you'll see in some of the takeaways included in our slideshow, but the future looks bright for the budding yet impressive software. The app is free to try out for yourself (for now), so if you're an iPhone user who wants to be dazzled by your own photos turning into art, get over to the iTunes App Store. Android users can now get Prisma, too. For more background, read PCMag's review of Prisma and click through this short slideshow for some insight.

1. Servers Sometimes Fail

Because of the massive success of the app (the company claims on its Facebook page that it "became the most downloaded app 10 countries within nine days"), it's been widely reported that the company had to double its server capacity to handle the load. During review testing, PCMag encountered a few occasional server-down errors, but the app was usable most of the time, and connectivity returned quickly when outages did occur.

2. Video and VR Versions May Be Coming

Moiseenkov's VK page shows a video with the Prisma filter applied, so it makes sense that we'll be seeing this capability in the app at some point. Beyond that, Mashable reports that the company is working on a virtual reality version of the app. That claim is supported by a tweet from Prisma founder Moiseenkov saying "I needed total immersion, driven out of fear and lack of knowledge."

3. Some Better for Faces, Some for Landscapes

The current version of Prisma offers a good selection of artistic filters—34 in all. Their names and example thumbnail images provide hints as to which. For example, Coloured Sky and Wave work better with landscapes, while Illegal Beauty and Curly Hair work better for faces. Many are equally impressive on either kind of photo.

4. Some Standard Camera Functions Are Missing

If you're a fan of the iPhone's HDR or self-timer features, you'll notice that they're missing in Prisma. The solution: Just snap your photo first and then start working on it in Prisma from the camera roll.

5. You Can Turn Off the Watermark

Easily! A simple option on the app's Settings page, Enable Watermarks, can be disactivated, and your instant artwork becomes free of branding. Who's to say if this will remain the case in the future, as the app's makers will no doubt want to make some money off the wildly popular app.

6. You Can Adjust Filter Strength and Use Multiple Effects

In case you missed the quick demo on first run of the app, you can adjust the strength of the filter you've chosen: Just swipe your finger down on the image. You can only reduce the intensity of the effect at first, but you can restore it with a swipe up. In some cases, reducing the effect will result in a better image.

To apply more than one effect, simply open an already-enhanced image from the iPhone photo storage and apply the next filter. This, too, can sometimes result in an even more impressive image. The left side is the result of applying both the Udnie and Tears filters in sequence.

7. You Can Adjust Filter Strength and Use Multiple Effects

About Our Expert

Michael Muchmore

Contributor

My Experience

I've been testing PC and mobile software for more than 20 years, focusing on photo and video editing, operating systems, and web browsers. Prior to my current role, I covered software and apps for ExtremeTech and headed up PCMag’s enterprise software team. I’ve attended trade shows for Microsoft, Google, and Apple and written about all of them and their products.

I still get a kick out of seeing what's new in video and photo editing software, and how operating systems change over time. I was privileged to byline the cover story of the last print issue of PC Magazine, the Windows 7 review, and I’ve witnessed every Microsoft misstep and win, up to the latest Windows 11.

I’m an avid bird photographer and traveler—I’ve been to 40 countries, many with great birds! Because I’m also a classical music fan and former performer, I’ve reviewed streaming services that emphasize classical music.

Technology I Use

For everyday work, I use a good-old Dell tower with 16GB of RAM, a 12th-gen Intel Core i7 processor, and an Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti GPU that runs on Windows 11. I pair it with a 4K Lenovo ThinkVision P27u-10 monitor and a Logitech MX Vertical mouse. For offsite work, I use a 2024 Microsoft Surface Laptop with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processor. Camera-wise, I moved to mirrorless from a Canon EOS 80D with a Canon 70-300mm IS USM lens. I now have a Canon EOS R7 with a 100-400mm lens, but I miss my DSLR for several reasons.

In order of usage, the software I turn to most frequently is the Edge web browser, Slack, Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft 365, Firefox, Brave, and WhatsApp. I use the Windows Phone link app to see everything on my Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra phone, which has excellent telephoto capability.

For fitness monitoring, I have a Fitbit Charge 6 and use an Anker Smart Scale P1. I’m also a streaming fan, so I subscribe to both Amazon Music Unlimited (especially for its Dolby Atmos content) and Qobuz (for its high-res sound quality and classical catalog). I recently added a Vizio 5.1 Soundbar SE, which sounds surprisingly good given its low price. To holler commands instead of using a remote control, I have the Amazon Fire TV Cube in the living room, which lets me verbally tell the TV what I want to watch. It hooks up to an LG B4 OLED TV. I have a Sonos One speaker in my kitchen that also ties in with Alexa, as does the Echo Dot 2 With Clock in my bedroom. For serious listening, I have B&W 601 speakers plugged into a Conrad-Johnson Sonographe amp and preamp, with a Cambridge Audio AXN10 streamer as source. For reading, I also have a Nook GlowLight 3.

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