Picnik closes it doors today! And 3 alternative online photo-editors ...

Excuse me for a moment while I mourn a great loss ...

Oh Picnik how I have loved you so! You made photo-editing oh so easy, you made me look pro. You helped me make my "amateur-wanna be-wish I could" pictures look professional better. When Google purchased your site a few months back, I was hopeful that this meant BIG things. Then came the news. Google plans to shut down Picnik. Oh the horrow, say it ain't so!! I have stayed faithful to your beautiful site, but the day has come that I need to move on. Please forgive me for exploring other sites. You'll always be my first love!!

If you never had a chance to explore the many features of Picnik, count yourself lucky. What you don't know won't hurt you, right?? You see I have Photoshop (becoming Photoshop-able is on my bucket list) and I've used PaintShopPro for years (comparable to Photoshop Elements, though less known). I discovered Picnik a couple years back and it has been my go to for doing quick and easy edits to my photos. Here are some examples of edits:

Each of these edits only took a matter of 5-10 minutes because of Picnik's easy to use interface. Can you see why I loved it so much??

Okay, moving on. I've looked around for for sites to step up and fill the gap. After lots of disappointment, I found a few promising sites that I'll be trying out and watching closely to see how they evolve. Here's my top 3 picks:

1. iPiccy.com - Ummm, where did this site come from?? I think I might quickly fall in love with it. Not only is it easy to use but includes most of Picnik's features including some new effects. The set-up of this site is very similar to Picnik, making it easy for people to transition. At first look it seems that I will be able to apply all of my fav edits. I did a quick edit on that first picture with my sweet niece, Hannah. Take a look:

2. PicMonkey - Oh happy day! Between this and iPiccy, I might quickly forget about the wonders of Picnik. Here's an excerpt from PicMonkey on their about page:

A couple of former Picnik engineers, a rabbi, and a monkey meet in a bar.

The rabbi realizes he's not in the middle of a corny joke so he leaves. But the monkey. The monkey starts raving wildly. He's slapping the Picnik engineers on the back, congratulating them for pioneering the online photo editing space 6 years ago, and for enabling a whole new class of photographers to create beautiful images and hang out together. And the monkey has more ideas about time travel, connecting people, light speed, and making Brussels sprouts taste better. The engineers, they're listening, but they're onto something new. They scribble furiously on the backs of napkins and the edges of sleeve cuffs.

Several months later, here we are. A dynamic duo became a small dynamic team. And the world's friendliest photo editor got a chance to start again. If you loved Picnik, PicMonkey is back in town and better than ever. It's faster, more powerful, and easier to use. It's the real deal you already know, plus 78% more monkey.

What's this? Some of the former Picnik engineers created this site. Sweet! Played around with that same picture and here's what I came up with after about 3 minutes:

3. Google+ Creative Kit - If you go into your Google+ account and pull up a photo, you'll notice "Creative Kit". At first click, it look exactly like our beloved Picnik (I don't think I've ever used on word so many times in a blog before!!) For a moment, I almost forgave Google for taking away my fav toy. Upon further investigation, it is a striped down version of what was available from Picnik. For instance, it has several of the effects, but you don't have control to change levels and use a brush. It is missing several of the best edits (teeth whitening for one). And then there's the fact you're forces to put your picture on Google+.

I was working on an edit, but got frustrated and decided to not complete it. The only reason I mention it here, is because I will be keeping an eye on it to see if it will evolve into something I find useful. In the meantime, I will be busily playing with my first two finds!

I'm feeling inspired to take some new pix ... time to get off the computer!

Carrie Keele
(a.k.a. DearMYRTLE's daughter)
www.NotYourMothersGenealogy.com