Okay, I admit — the title of this post is a bit crud. Describing this program as removing “skin imperfections” is a bit mean to the people who’s photos this program is used on. However, that is the best way I can think to describe Magic Skin Filter. It claims to “beautify” photos using “automatic portrait photo smooth skin software”. Let’s see if it is worth your time.

WHAT IS IT AND WHAT DOES IT DO

Main Functionality

Have you ever heard of how professional photographers and whatnot sometimes edit out skin imperfections in their models from photos using Photoshop? That is basically what Magic Skin Filter is looking to do, except Magic Skin Filter is a lot quicker and easier to use than manually editing a photo with Photoshop.

Pros

• Allows for easy one-click “beautification”, with little to no input needed from the user
• For those that do want to customize, allows control over brightness level and smooth adjustment
• Has a ‘Skin Recognition’ feature
• Changes to images are seen in real-time in the program, so you can see exactly what you will get after outputting
• Supports batch processing
• Supports JPG/JPEG, PNG, GIF, and BMP inputs
  • Note: Developer does not specify exactly what input image formats are supported. However, as per my tests, at least JPG/JPEG, PNG, BMP, and GIF are supported; other formats may or may not be supported.

Cons

• Some may disagree, but in my opinion the output images appear very unreal and fake. No where close to what a professional can accomplishing using Photoshop.
• Can only output images as JPG
• Has no online or offline Help file. The program itself is fairly straightforward but without any sort of Help, it has hard to determine what some settings are. For example, what exactly does ‘Skin Recognition’ do? I have no bloody idea. I’m guessing it allows the program to automatically detect the skin areas of a photo and apply the changes to those areas only but I saw no difference with this feature enabled and disabled.

Discussion

Meh. I really don’t like Magic Skin Filter-like programs. Why? Simply because they are to automate something that cannot be automated. I don’t know about the future but, at this moment in time, we simply don’t have the technology to build programs that can automatically “fix” photos like a professional can do manually via Photoshop. The same goes for “beautifying” photos, such as removing skin imperfections. Of course I gave Magic Skin Filter a fair test (otherwise I would be unethical) and it didn’t disappoint; it performs exactly as I figured — badly.

Using Magic Skin Filter is really easy. You simply load in the image(s) you want to beautify and output images; the program automatically beautifies your input images and there are only four settings that you can customize if desired: ‘Increase Brightness’, ‘Smooth Adjust’ (‘Amount’ and ‘Power’), and ‘Skin Recognition’. However, easiness and automation are worthless if the program is unable to produce quality outputs. And, in my opinion, the outputs of Magic Skin Filter are bad.

To be fair, it should be mentioned I tested Magic Skin Filter on photos of my wife. My wife is the most beautiful woman ever and there is no way to enhance her beauty any further. So Magic Skin Filter was at a natural disadvantage from the get-go. However, I also tested Magic Skin Filter on other photos and all tests lead me to the same conclusion: Magic Skin Filter makes photos look unreal and fake.

You don’t have to believe me. Simply check out the examples the developer shows on his/her website:

You are welcome to disagree with me, but to me all the ‘After’ photos are unnaturally bright and a bit blurred. And the reason for this is actually pretty simple. From what I can tell, the way Magic Skin Filter “beautifies” photos is by a) increasing brightness and b) blurring (‘Smooth Adjust’ is blur). That really is all this program does — increase brightness and blur — and it shows in the outputs.

CONCLUSION AND DOWNLOAD LINK

Typically dotTech reviews are objective with objective criticism. However, the nature of Magic Skin Filter leaves us no choice but to issue a subjective opinion: we feel Magic Skin Filter does not “beautify” photos but rather makes them look fake. As such, no matter how easy it is to use and how automated it may be, there is no way we recommend this program to anyone. You may, of course, disagree with us… in which case we urge you to download the app and try it as a trial before purchasing. However, if you agree, then there is no need to download this program.

So, then, what is our recommendation? As I mentioned earlier, there simply is no way use a program to replace the job of a professional. If you really want to “beautify” a photo or fix imperfections, you best bet is to hire someone who is adept at using an image editor or learn how to use an image editor yourself. You can start by looking at the best free image editors for Windows. Best of luck.

Price: $19.95

Version reviewed: 1.1

Supported OS: Windows

Download size: 1.1MB

VirusTotal malware scan results: 0/39

Is it portable? No

Magic Skin Filter homepage