You’ve probably heard the cliche about a picture being worth a thousand words, right? Well, the folks at bitCycle took this phrase quite literally and created WordFoto, a really neat iApp that transforms pictures and words into amazing typographic works of art. Yep, this “cool tool” is a must-have for every photography arsenal!

Photos can be imported from the iPad, iPhone or iPad photo library or shoot a new one using the camera option. Once the image is selected, the WordFoto fun really begins! Choose from eight preset text styles or design your very own unique word set. Effects such as brightness and contrast as well as fonts can also be customized. Additional WordFoto features include a crop editor, zoomable preview and manual fine tuning.  And the results? A pretty impressive full resolution word image that can be saved and/or shared via email or Facebook.

Check out the WordFoto app in action by viewing the finished product shown below.

So, what if I don’t own an iDevice (yet)? No worries! If you like the capabilities of WordFoto, then be sure to check out You Are You Words, a similar web application I featured a few weeks ago.

Classroom Connection:

Besides being fun, motivating and engaging, WordFoto is the perfect app for helping students make visual connections between words and images. With that said—there must be at least a thousand ways this app can be utilized in the classroom—vocabulary builders, warm-up activities, culminating projects, creative writing prompts, encouraging the use of rich description, posters of all sorts and much more!

Regardless of the content area, WordFoto images are great for visually depicting topics that span the K-12 curriculum. What a cool way to promote literacy skills—particularly with reluctant writers.

For additional ideas related to using word images in the classroom, visit my You Are You Words blog post.