About this time last year I discovered an amazing online photo editing website called Picnik.com. Simple to use, effective and with a plethora of editing options, I soon subscribed to it and no photo was uploaded onto my blog without having the special Picnik treatment (Ortonish to 50% fade and 1960s to 80%). It was so easy to use as photos were uploaded directly from your computer, auto-adjusted on the click of a button, there was a sliding scale of the strength of the filters applied and a variety of frames to be added. For a special occasion, text and extra clipart could be added. One of the most used features for me was the collage function, and I used it to create every page in my 365 book. The $20ish a year subscription was worth it, especially as I could access it from any computer that had web access.
Then in January of this year, the ever-increasingly arrogant Google announced it was closing Picnik (they had bought it last year) and moving some of the functionality to Google+. Gah! Damn Google+, I didn't have an account, didn't want one and was determined I would not play ball. (I ended up registering one just to see what the fuss was about, then a month later had a warning from them to remove my account, which I did happily, as apparently TheBoy andMe is not a real name. And of course Will.I.Am is)
And then the lovely @EmsyJo told me that there was a successor to Picnik, and it was to be called PicMonkey.
As you can see from the screenshot, it's a cleaner homepage, more sophisticated and a damn sight quicker to use. The three photos up there are sample images to play around with the photo editing options, top left is where a photo (just the one upload at a time for the moment) can be opened or dragged to be edited. And it's really, really quick!
Once in on the main programme there is a simple selection panel on the left-hand side (as with Picnik) and the picture displays in the main window. The main difference for me is when it comes to ease of saving; click the button in the bottom left hand corner, type the file name and about a second later it is saved. No waiting more than ten seconds for it to save.
The marvellous developers behind the phenomenal PicMonkey are actually some of the original engineers behind Picnik so they understand what we want, they know how it all works and they know how to make it better! And it really is.And it's getting better all the time as they work to improve it (before 19th April when Picnik closes).
I'm a huge fan of it already and I wanted to share why. I've taken one of my standard photos from last year and applied some of my favourite filters along with some new additions to their catalogue to it to show what it can do.
There's a great selection of filters to apply, I've featured about half of them. Of course you can also layer them to achieve greater results. Some of the new filters have a crown watermark on them which I am presuming means that they will become part of the possible future subscription service. However, at present there is no sign up and no fee.
The only irony is that unfortunately at the moment PicMonkey don't have the collage function and so I had to use Picnik!
(For another review of what PicMonkey can do, see Domestic Goddesque's post here)
—
I am shortlisted in the Britmums Brilliance in Blogging Awards for the 'Snap' category. If you'd like to vote for me, I'd really appreciate you clicking on the button below and choosing my name in that award.
got a load of new features I noticed when I used it tonight, its becoming very good, and does say collage available soon…but when is soon??
I am impressed with it and funnily enough my Project366 today also has a link on…what a coincidence, Im glad you told me about it
My pleasure, I love how quick and easy it is to use in comparison. Not bogged down with loading libraries etc.
I NEED collage too! But yes otherwise am v impressed with the monkey 🙂
I hope that we're not left without it for too long!
I love pic monkey, was so relieved to find there is a near replacement for picnik and it's great to see they're improving it all the time too. Really hope they manage to create a collage function. Would be ace to have one place to do it all :0)
I think they've said they're working on it, I imagine it's going to be around the time Picnik closes down and it will be the big enticement.
Yay!!! I hope so :0) Wouldn't it be great if they also made it a smartphone app? #hinthint
The thing I have got to like about Picnik is how easy I find it to upload – I take a pic on my phone, upload directly to photobucket, connect to picnik & the pics are there & the same goes for saving…straight to photobucket where I get the HTML code to insert into my blog…easy peasy. I hope that function will also be available with picmonkey or it's a bit more tedious.
I'm liking the Tranquil filter…I think I used that one yesterday.
As for the collage, I asked them on FB earlier….there will be a delay between Picnik closing & Picmonkey doing the collage, they didn't say how long but they're working on it as a priority.
I'm sure that they have it ready to go once Picnik closes down. Hope that they manage to do an app for it, that would be great!
That does look very nice! I'm going to have a look at this!
It is brilliant at transforming photos into something special
Best post ever: love that you had to use Picnik to do the collage but what a useful collage. I find it so helpful to see all the different filters on the same photograph: it gives you a better idea of what they do.
Best post ever: love that you had to use Picnik to do the collage but what a useful collage. I find it so helpful to see all the different filters on the same photograph: it gives you a better idea of what they do.
Thanks missus, I roared with laughter that I had to use Picnik to do the collage, thought best to disclose it!
Looks great – I love photo editing programs because they make my crappy phone photos look soooo much better!
I just love how great they can make a photo look.
wow, thanks for doing all the research for us.
I just use iPhoto for my pictures, but have dabbled with picnik for stickers on photos, collage and variations of the likes.
I will give monkey a go once the collage are on, let's hope it's soon
x
They've got stickers and text on there too. I don't have a Mac (shudder) so don't know about iPhoto.
I am loving it, thank you for letting me know about this fab site
My absolute pleasure.
What a great post, thanks for all the info. xx
No problem, hope you enjoy using it.
ooog looks fab, off to look now. x
Hope you had a good play around with it
In one regard, they've just gotten better than picnik – not only have they now added textures, it's possible to use a texture from our own files.
Another note – if you have any picnik textures you love, create a blank canvas, apply just the texture from picnik, and save. You'll be able to use it in Pic Monkey.
Thank you for this comment and your tip about the textures. Textures aren't something I've investigated in photo-editing, possibly because I don't understand what they could be used for?
Its a shame it requires flash as apple products i use dont support it!! However i think i may have found an app i can use at last once picnik goes 🙂 yay. Because i was getting worried
Oh brilliant, did you see me mention Camera+ on my other post "Photography On The Go"? I use that now on my iPod and it's fab.
I have been using it the past couple of days and absolutely love it, and it is so easy to use. I will be using it from now on as well xx
Brilliant news! It's so much quicker and easier than Picnik as well.
Ah that is why my google account says my name is something like Joanne Jones (which it is not) because Pink Oddballs isn't a "real" name either. Glad you have found something you like in place of your fav photo editing programme.
Thanks missus. Yes, all part of Google's attempts at world domination, not in this household!
Yes apparently they want to automatically upload my photos from my phone to google plus any time I get near wifi – NOOoooooo
Time to watch out. I am now in on the PicMonkey secret. There will be no stopping me now! Thank you so much for sharing a great find.
oooh, came across this via Coombe Mill blog…looks fab! Can't wait to hook up and have a go. Thanks for the post 🙂