Image Effects

Image Effects is a feather-light and portable utility that has the purpose of applying various effects to image files, as the name suggests. It contains just some basic options that can be easily figured out, even by inexperienced users. Supported file types include JPG and PNG.
Before proceeding any further, you should know that this is an unfinished project that hasn't been updated for a long time (and it seems it will remain this way), so several displayed options are not actually functional.

Portability perks

Since installation is not required, you can save the executable file anywhere on the disk and just click it to launch Image Effects. Another possibility is to save it to an external storage device to directly run it on any computer effortlessly. More importantly, it doesn't modify Windows registry settings.

Simple interface and photo effects

Wrapped up in a user-friendly interface, the main application window invites you to open an image file and preview it while applying changes in real time.
Thus, you can add a reflection and tweak the size, stretch, gradient and gap, personalize the background color, convert the picture to colored, grayscale or inverted mode, and set a color filter. The new photo can be saved to PNG format by just indicating the output directory and file name. There are no other notable options available here.

Evaluation and conclusion

The utility didn't put a strain on the overall performance of the computer, since it needed low CPU and memory to work properly. However, it took a while to apply changes after selecting a specific effect.
Plus, all images automatically receive a watermark of the developer, so they cannot actually be used. Taking this into account, you should look for another application designed for image effects.