Oh Picnik…I will miss you! In almost two weeks Picnik will be shutting down, as most of you already know. I have put this news on the back burner telling myself it wasn’t true. I use Picnik for all my photos. I don’t have the best camera or lighting so Picnik was my go-to pal to make my pictures pop. It was easy and simple to use. So now I have to find a new program to fill my picture editing obsession. I actually found quite a few really good ones!
Here is a rundown of some programs I’ve tried out that are pretty similar to Picnik to use.
- Google Plus Creative Kit. O.k. Yah Google was the one responsible in shutting down my beloved Picnik but they did transfer most of that program over to Google Plus. It’s just kind of hard to find. I have the Google Plus app on my phone so all my pictures instantly pop over there after I take them (super convenient btw). You then click on the photo you want to edit and in the top left hand corner is a small button called Creative Kit. Click on that and viola it’s a scaled down version of Picnik. I will probably use this a lot especially with my mobile phone pictures.
- Ipiccy : This program was very user friendly. It’s pretty much the same concept as Picnik. Upload your photos and edit or design away. You can fix/crop, add text, or add different effects. The only thing I couldn’t find was adding frames. I like my frames sometimes!
- Pixlr – I am not a Photoshop expert at all but this program feels like Photoshop. It is defiantly for the more advanced photo editors and takes some time to learn. However, I really liked this one for photo editing. It’s not quick like Google Plus or Ipiccy but you can do layers. I’ve used it for my blog button and some other pictures I’ve done. It makes me feel professional. Haha. They do have Pixlr Express that is very similar to Picnik. They also have a cool app for your phone or computer call Pixlr-o-matic. It can give your photos that cool retro vibe.
- Picmonkey – This program is cool! I really suggest giving it a try. They have all your basic photo edits. They have a really neat effects selection to choose from. You can give your photo that vintage retro vibe that seems to be in these days. You can add text as well but I did notice they didn’t have a very big selection of fonts. This will probably be my new go-to photo editor for my camera photos. I’m excited to see if they will add more to the site.
There ya have it! My top picks to replace Picnik. What will you use once Picnik is closed??
I have been trying not to think about it- kind of avoiding it really. I love that program, it makes me so sad that it is going to be gone 🙁 Thanks for writing up this post and sharing your ideas for replacements!
-kendall
songbirdsandbuttons.blogspot.com
I know:( I’m going to have to retrain my brain to start going to these other sites! 🙁 I just automatically go to Picnik with out even thinking about it.
I’ve started using PIXLR for some simple cropping and resizing. I have done a bit with PicMonkey as well. I recently got a copy of My Memories and even though it’s marketed as a scrapbooking software it’s great for all embellishments, not photo editing though. I too will miss Picknik.
I will have to check out My Memories. I really like playing around with web design and graphics even though i’m pretty new at everything!