Online photo editing is one of those awesome new things that web 2.0 has brought us. Although you’re not going to find something as powerful as Photoshop, for most users, an online photo editor offers everything you would want and more.
For years, now, my wife has used Picnik for quickly editing photos for her blog. I’ve also recommended Picnik to bloggers, businesses and churches. The interface was easy to use, straight forward, and even though you had the option of upgrading to a paid premium account, the free version had plenty of great photo effects.
Picnik was eventually bought be Google, and now Google has gutted Picnik and integrated it into Google+ (and perhaps other Google products in the future), and will be shutting down Picnik on April 19th, 2012.
It’s sad to see Picnik go, but we’ve found an awesome replacement.
PicMonkey
PicMonkey was started up just this year! I think they’re capitalizing on trying to fill the void Picnik will be leaving, in fact, they are listed on the Picnik website as an alternative.
And a good alternative it is!
PicMonkey has a really nice and clean interface:
Your photo editing tools include:
- Basic Edits – Crop, rotate, exposure, etc …
- Effects – Boost, Lomo, B&W, etc …
- Touch Up – Blemish fix, weight loss, teeth whiten, etc …
- Text – Fonts galore!
- Overlays – Signs, symbols, flowers, etc …
- Frames – Rounded corners, drop shadow, Polaroid frame, etc …
- Textures – Paint, metal, weave, etc …
This give you a basic idea what PicMonkey has. In fact, they’ve even added some effects and textures that weren’t there just a few days ago. PicMonkey is still in it’s early stages and already looks very promising.
When you’re editing your photo, you will notice a number of the tool options have a grown icon, and when you apply the effect your photo is watermarked with the PicMonkey icon. More on that in a moment.
Once you’re done editing up your photo, it’s time to save, and PicMonkey delivers great options — again:
Quick, easy and bubbling with potential!
Conclusion
As you make your way through the tools, textures, etc … you’ll notice there are those that have a crown icon. These options add a PicMonkey icon to your photo. At this time, PicMonkey is a free service. My guess is, the more ‘premium’ tools and effects may turn into some sort of watermark-free paid service or paid only option. At this point of the game, PicMonkey is about getting there service in the hands of users, building up a user base, and then they’ll start monetizing it. Of course, this is just pure conjecture on my part.
In any event, I highly recommend PicMonkey as on online photo editing alternative to Picnik.
Daniel Milner says
Their About page actually says that it was created by a couple of ex-Picnik engineers.
http://www.picmonkey.com/about
Eric Dye says
Word.
JohnBen says
As of Sep 2014 PicMonkey charges for just about all of the photo editing options!
Eric Dye says
#SADPANDA