Noknok

Nokia has updated its Creative Studio app to take advantage of Windows Phone 8, making it ideal for your Nokia Lumia 920 or Nokia Lumia 820 smartphone. Here we take a look at the changes and see how well it fairs. Find out more with our Nokia Creative Studio hands-on for Windows Phone 8.

Creative Studios is one of those apps that is exclusive to Nokia Lumia smartphones and first saw the like of day on Windows Phone 7 where it was very much a jack-of-all-trades effects app. The original allows you to choose photos from your Windows Phone Album, as well as take photos from within the app itself and instantly add effects.

Check out our Creative Studio review for Windows Phone 7.5

There is also a neat little Panorama app that allows you to take four shots in quick succession and stitch them together. If you’re rocking Windows Phone 7.5 it’s well worth getting your hands on.

This latest version for Windows Phone 8 takes into account that the camera now uses Lenses, such as the really easy to use Panorama and Cinemagraph, to add extra features, so this app has stripped out the camera and Panorama functionality and is now very much focussed on being an image editing app.

Open Creative Studio for Windows Phone 8 and you’ll find your most recently captured photos displayed. If there is an older image you want to edit simply tap ‘photos’ and you’ll go through to the Album and as before you can pick it up from there.

Where Creative Studio for Windows Phone 8 differs is that once you’ve selected a photo, tap it and you’re moved to a film strip of the image with each of the eight effects – Opal, Amber, Aquamarine, Jade, Quartz, Seashell, Ivory and Silver – as well as Original offered up, full screen.

We really like this approach, it’s easy, quick and shows you exactly what effects are being applied alongside the others, so you can choose the one that seems most appropriate without having to go back and forth.

Once you’ve picked the filter you want you can edit further as Colour Balance, Brightness, Clarity and Vibrance settings allow you to fine tune with ease. This is done as a simple slider control in each effect. It would have been good to be able to see a before and after side-by-side but sadly that isn’t currently an option.

As a final touch, once you’ve finished editing, you can easily share your photo via the usual social networks, text or email.

Creative Studio for Windows Phone 8 isn’t quite the jack-of-all-trades it once one, now it’s a more focussed and slicker offering that anyone with a Nokia Lumia 920 or Nokia Lumia 820 and likes to add effects to their photos before they share will certainly find appealing and fun.