Following my review of the the A Beautiful Mess app on a Mobile Monday a few weeks ago, I got a lovely e-mail from Ben, the developer of a new app called WordSwag, inviting me to try it out. As I like to get a little wordy with my photos from time to time – and judging from Instagram and the Flickr Group, so do you – I decided to check it out.

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I’ve been playing with WordSwag for a few weeks now and I have to say, it’s a lot of fun.

The app lets you take a photo or import one from your camera roll. Once the photo is taken/imported, you have the option to crop and then you can start playing with text.

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For your text you can add a custom message, as I’ve done here, or the app will generate quotes, from classics by Eleanor Roosevelt to motivational mantras. Once you’ve entered your text you can preview it in one of the WordSwag fonts.

One of the great things about WordSwag is the variety of fonts it offers. Many of the fonts also include graphic elements, which add interest to the lettering. There are 25 font packages within the app ($1.99 in the app store), though unlocking some of them requires in-app purchase ($.99 each or all as a bundle for $1.99).

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Some of my favourite font packages, including Victorian Victory, which I’ve used here, did require in-app purchase. Within each font are 5 variations from which to choose, or you can ‘roll the dice’ and let the app choose for you.

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I chose option 5, in red to pop off of the black and white image. The app offers a wide variety of colours from which to choose (including several shades of grey, which I really like). There are also a few colour palettes, as you can see above, which gives you colour variation through the text.

Once you’ve decided on your text and colour, the app offers a great deal of freedom to move your text around, as well as to rotate it to fit your photo. As well, there are features that allow you to play with the transparency level of the text and also the brightness of the image behind, in order to make your text more or less prominent.

This is how my Eiffel Tower image ended up:

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And here are a couple of others:

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In addition to allowing you to add text to your photos, the app has a number of backgrounds  that you can choose from, allowing you to create images like these:

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My verdict? This is a fun little app. I like what it offers, in terms of options for adding text to photos in interesting fonts and flourishes. I also think that it offers a great option to bloggers who want to add text and interest to photos or to make badges and buttons on their iPhone. WordSwag does exactly what you’d expect it to do, in a nice, easy to use way. If you’re a fan of adding text to your photos, this app is one you may want to pick up.

If you’re looking for more wordy inspiration you can follow @wordswag on Instagram as they feature galleries of the best hash tagged images.

Debra ~ Manifeisty

Just a note that I was provided with a free copy of WordSwag to test out for this review. However, all opinions are my own and I purchased the in-app font package myself.