Even before the blockbuster success of Instagram, there was never a shortage of photo-filtering apps for iOS. To this day, the app store is chock-full of them. But every once in a while, a photo-effect app comes along that generates buzz. Most recently it's the Prisma iPhone app, hailing from Russian software house Prisma Labs. Using artificial intelligence technology, the app goes beyond merely filtering by letting your photos mimic the work of modernist masters like Van Gogh and Picasso.

Starting Up

The free app, for all its wizardry, is just a tiny 15MB download; that's because it performs its magic in the cloud (which can have its own downside, however, as I'll explain later). Prisma runs on iOS 8.0 or higher; I tested the app on my iPhone 6S running iOS 9.3. To get going, you have to allow the app access to your iPhone photos and camera. After that, you can simply start snapping, or applying effects to your existing camera roll photos—no account signup needed. For now, there are no in-app purchases, but a settings option labeled "Activate Promo code" suggests that things may not stay that way forever.

Using Prisma

The interface is simple and clear. The Start screen shows the top half of the iPhone screen as a camera viewfinder. Your only shooting options are to turn the flash on or off, tap the screen on an area where you want lighting and focus set, and switch between front- and rear-facing cameras. There's no option for zoom, HDR, or timer, such as you get with the default camera app. After snapping a pic, you can crop or rotate it, but that's the extent of standard photo editing tools. Instagram and PicsArt offer much more here, with detailed correction options.

Similar Products

Our Current Picks for The 100 Best iPhone Apps for 2020

But the real magic comes in the next step, which entails applying one of the 34 artistic filters. Prisma is not concerned with correcting images for accuracy, but with making art. In fact, during the cloud-based filter processing, a triangle progress timer fills in as the words "Creating artwork…" are displayed. This typically only takes a few seconds.

It's at this point that the reason for app's viral takeoff becomes apparent: The images created are truly remarkable. I've seen plenty of photo app filters that can approximate, say, Impressionism or cartoons, but Prisma's results are very convincing. The very first filter I tried, Mondrian, produced a rectangular-ized version of PCMag gadget analyst Tim Torres's visage that was damned-near suitable for framing.

Some filters are more appropriate for landscapes, others for portraits, and their names and example thumbnail images provide hints. 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. Aside from Mondrian, the filters don't directly state the artists they impersonate, but you can easily figure it out with basic art history knowledge. Some aren't based on an actual painter, but produce their own striking looks.

By dragging a finger down on the image, you can reduce the intensity of the effect, and sometimes this can render a more pleasing result. One feature I would like to see added is a Before button so that you can easily compare your results with the original image. I do like that previously used filters are saved and applied instantly, saving you from waiting for another round of cloud-processing just to reapply a filter. By default, a Prisma watermark adorns your art, but you can turn this off in settings—without incurring an in-app purchase charge.

Sharing and Output

Once you get a result you're happy with and want to share, you needn't look far for a way to do so: Instagram, Facebook, and iOS Share Sheet buttons sit right below the image. I shared one of my test images with a Slack group, and it appeared as a 1,080-by-1,080-pixel PNG file. That's well below the standard iPhone 6s photo size of 4,032 by 3,024. This might make photos less suitable for printing, but on-screen images looked very clear.

Note, too, that like the Instagram of old, Prisma images are square, and their shape cannot be changed. Also worth noting, a couple of times during my testing of the app, I got a message saying that Prisma was over capacity. But after a minute, the problem went away and I was able to process more photos. Success in the cloud-powered app world comes with its costs. Some users have noted slow installation times, as well.

Instant Art

Prisma dazzles with its ability to automatically create art from your iPhone photos. The results are truly staggering. That said, it can't replace a full-featured photo editing app such as PicsArt or even Instagram, our top picks for iPhone photo apps. Prisma is a single-function tool, but it does a brilliant job at turning your photos into works of art. The app is well worth downloading and enjoying—assuming the company's servers can keep up with demand. For more on Prisma, you can read 6 Things Know About the Sensational Prisma Photo App.