PhotoWand is a handy photo enhancement app for Windows 8.

It provides simple tools to improve your photos, including a crop function, sharpen filter, and adjustments for hue, saturation, brightness and contrast.

A mixed set of filters ranges from the basic (Negative, B&W, Sepia) to the more interesting (Vignette, Lomo, Sunlight).

The effects also vary in quality. "Oil Paint" is poor, but "Rain Drop" and "Snow" are better than we expected, and the pencil and sketch effects are so good they probably justify installing the app all on their own.

Whatever filter or effect you choose can be tweaked in intensity with a slider. You're able to customise an image further with frames or clipart-like "stickers". Finished images may then be saved locally, or shared on Facebook with a click.

Annoyances include a Collage button which doesn't actually lead to a Collage function, but instead opens the Windows 8 Store at an entirely different app. There's also a mildly irritating ad which changes every 20 seconds or so, although you can now pay to have this removed (around $1).