I don't know if any of you used to use Google's Picnik photo-editing suite, but if you did you will be all too well aware that it was discontinued on 19th April. I don't really know why. I used it a lot and I was a bit worried about what I would use instead. Google have been trying to point people in the direction of Google+, to which I have now reluctantly signed-up, (though I find it totally incomprehensible!) which may be part of the reason. Fortunately they also mentioned a site called PicMonkey.com (which seems to be owned by Google anyway), so I have had a try of that. It seems very much like Picnik, so it only took me a minute or two to understand how it works. It has the dual benefits of being free and Registration-less!
Here are some of my first experiments with the new software:
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| Moss |
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| Black Dogwood - Cornus Kesselringii |
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| Potatoes |
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| Golden Hops |
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| Asparagus |
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| Apple Blossom |
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| Philadelphus (Mock Orange) |
I'm very satisfied with PicMonkey.com. From my point of view it only has one major failing: it is not linked to Picasa, so when editing my photos for blogposts I now have to do things differently. Under the old arrangement, you loaded the photo into a Picasa Web Album, and you could then alter it as many times as you liked, using Picnik and saving it with the options of over-writing the original copy or making a new one. Now I have to edit the photo outside of Picasa each time, reload it to the album, and delete the existing one. However, it's certainly better than Google+, in which I have so far utterly failed to DISCOVER the photo-editing facilities, let alone USE them!
P.S. Has anyone out there actually managed to use Google+ for editing photos? (The features are allegedly accessible via "Lightbox" - wherever that might be...)
Have you tried the editing features in Picasa the program? this also helps your sort and upload your picture from your camera really easily however you may notice that it now creates google+ albums rather than picasa/ I believe Picasa will be the next thing to go :(
ReplyDeleteI might have to give the PicMonkey.com editing features a whirl. I used to use Photoshop but it's too fussy. I have Gimp on my Mac but cannot figure it out for the life of me!
ReplyDeleteI upgraded my Picasa which has all the Piknik editing just the same and no messing about.
ReplyDeleteJust had a look at the Picmonkey website-have to say it looks very user friendly so will give it a go-thanks Mark!
ReplyDeleteMy husband is a big photo aficionado. He has two beautiful digital SLRs with multiple lenses. He buys Lightroom, so that is what I use. The funny thing is that I use a point and shoot little digital for my photos. I ought to learn how to use his, but I like having a camera that I can toss on the ground without worrying about it. I throw it in my pocket. So easy. Though it doesn't take good macros. I need to learn his with his macro lens.
ReplyDeleteI have always used Microsoft Office Picture Manager. I load pictures to may computer, open with Mic. Off.Pict. Manager, edit there, then load to Picasa.
ReplyDeleteI am ashamed to say I have no idea what you are talking about - not having used piknik etc at all. idon't really edit my photos much and when I do its just to give them a slight trim which I do in the Windows photo gallery. There is just so much I don't know about digital photography - and indeed photo editting for that matter that I'm usually too overwhelmed by it to try much. A sad reflection - but perhaps one day I'll actually invest some time in working it all out.
ReplyDeleteLike Liz I have no idea! I don't do anything to my photos except crop.
ReplyDeleteThat first photo of the moss is lovely.
I use PhotoScape the odd time for editing. It's free to download. Your photos look good so PicMonkey must be ok. I usually end up ruining photos when I try to edit so I don't use these sites much.
ReplyDeleteLovely photos Mark,I agree it is a shame its not linked with picassa.
ReplyDeleteI tend to use the photo editing software that I have e.g. Photoshop, Serif Photo Plus and Colour Magic. They all do slightly different things - although for the blog I tend to just use the Picassa tools to crop, adjust lighting etc. Have you Picasa 3 downloaded onto your computer as that have lots of tools? You edit and upload straight from this to Picasa web albums.
ReplyDeleteJust checked and wih the downloaded Picasa you get a PicNik too but it is computer based rather than web based
DeleteDon't know anything abut photo editiing software - though I could certainly do with it, but your photos look fabulous. I had a go at joining Google+ as so many said it would be useful, but in teh end baulked at the registration bit - too much information required!
ReplyDeleteYou'd never realise that top photo was moss without being told, great photo. I never edit my photos so I don't have a clue about the sites you're talking about.
ReplyDeleteUsed piknik too and now had to revert back using windows live writer.
ReplyDeleteHi Mark - I had to laugh at your post! When I heard Picnik was closing I almost went into complete depression. DH thought I was mad!!! I have signed up for Google+ and once you do, you can see various buttons down the left hand side - Home, Profile etc. One of these is photos. Click on that and then upload new photos (just under search bar). Once uploaded the photo will go into an album. Double click on the photo in that album and it will open up in a black sort of screen thing. You'll see 'creative kit' at the top. Click on that and you can edit your pic. Having said all that, I won't be using it as it's VERY long winded, complicated and a right royal pain in the ..... so I'll stick to picmonkey or lunapic. lol x
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