picnik

{Watch for a new video Mandarin lesson for kids from Hold the MSG later today. Video is loading up to YouTube even now.}

I was kind of late to the party with Picnik, the free online photo editing tool, but once I discovered it, I was hooked. While I used my husband’s Photoshop Elements for some edits, in many ways, Picnik was easier, simpler, more intuitive and quicker to use.

So, like many bloggers, I was sad when Google announced it was folding up the Picnik blanket for the last time today, April 19, and moving Picnik to Google Plus.

There are no shortage of tools rushing in to fill the void. They’re all very different, though.

Here’s a sampling of different programs, all online like Picnik, and what they offer:

Splashup – Offers an interface very much like that of Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. To my mind, not as intuitive as Picnik.
Dr.Pic – This site is full of ads, which for me was an immediate turn-off. Features are good, but limited. A few features feel clumsy, like resizing, which is done by percent by default (but can be switched to pixel size).
FotoFlexer – Offers to load your photo from your computer or several different sites such as Photobucket, Flickr or Facebook. I wish I could say more about this program, but I wasn’t able to get it to successfully load any photos from my computer.
iPiccy – This tool has promise. There are plenty of features, and the menu bar (though compressed into one long one in the sidebar), will feel very familiar to Picnik users.
Pixlr This tool too, has promise, with a free tool specifically aimed at previous Picnik users. Don’t expect a familiar interface, although there are many different types of edits to choose from.
PicMonkey – This program is the one that to me feels most like Picnik, the most intuitive, and the most fun. They have added a number of new features since I began experimenting with the program a month or so ago that are similar to those of Picnik. It even has a collage feature. There are, it seems to me however, quite a number of features (more than Picnik?) that remind the user that they’re free “for now.” I’m afraid to get hooked and have something taken away from me again.

This is probably the program I’ll be using however.

What about you? Do you use photo editing software? Do you use an online version or something on your computer? And will you miss Picnik?

http://ipiccy.com/editor

I committed to participate in the Holiday Break Reading Challenge. Today is Day Five. Day One was goal-setting day. I committed to finish the items on my “currently reading” shelf on Goodreads. I’m halfway there.
As far as my participation in the blogging part of the challenge, however, my week has gone a little sideways, thanks to WordPress and my shoulder injury which gave me a little trouble this week.

However, I finally get to participate in a fun challenge. Here are the details:

Go to “Fake Name Generator” or click http://www.fakenamegenerator.com/ The name that appears is your author name.
Go to “Random Word Generator” or click http://www.websitestyle.com/parser/randomword.shtml The word listed under “Random Verb” is your title.
Go to “FlickrCC” or click http://flickrcc.bluemountains.net/index.php Type your title into the search box. The first photo that contains a person is your cover.
Use Picnik, or something similar to put it all together and create a synopsis to go with the book cover design.

Here is my resulting book cover design:

My husband had to help me with the boxing reference. For the benefit of those as clueless as myself about such things:

Clinch – in boxing . to engage in a clinch: The boxers clinched and were separated by the referee.

Synopsis:

Robert “RT” Jefferson wants to win so bad he can taste it–even more than the mixture of blood and sweat that runs down his face and stings swollen lips as he stares down his opponent.

But the championship fight is fixed when his younger brother Marcus is accused of a gang shooting. If RT doesn’t take a dive, the gang will give his brother up to the cops. Marcus says he was set up. Can RT and his girlfriend Angel clear his name before the fight?

Goodbye, Picnik

Holiday Break Reading Challenge, Day 5