As some of you might already know, my most-favorite photo editing program (Picnik) closed it’s doors a couple weeks ago… which means I can no longer use it’s wonderful services to make fun collages and add cute numbers to Nora’s monthly onesie pictures.
I was dreading the day Picnik “died” and refused to switch over until the very last second. I was editing pictures like crazy until I went to bed on April 19 — yes, that’s how much I loved Picnik!
Unfortunately, since I’m trying to take lots of pictures these day, there are always more pictures to edit…
So for the past couple months, I’ve been trying out different photo editing programs… and I’ve decided on my TWO favorites.
Ideally, I’d love to just use one, but you’ll see why I “need” two as you keep reading.
#1 PicMonkey:
PicMonkey is extremely similar to Picnik and offers many of the same features… BUT you can only upload and save one picture at a time, and you can only upload a picture from your computer and then save it back to your computer. You can’t upload the photos to Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, or any other website… so that creates an extra step.
However, PicMonkey is completely free, and it’s SO quick and easy to use. It literally takes me less than 30 seconds to upload, edit, and save a picture.
PicMonkey is a great photo editing service, I just wish it had a few more features — and yes, I’d be willing to pay for them!
#2. FotoFlexer:
A friend told me about FotoFlexer — because it’s also free and she knows how cheap I am! It’s set up like PhotoBucket (I personally don’t love PhotoBucket but that’s beside the point!); it allows you to upload multiple pictures from all different social media sites… and then save them back to those same sites (or to your computer).
FotoFlexer also has the ability to create collage photos… which is a Picnik feature I used ALL the time. It does take a bit longer to upload, edit, and save — which is why I’m still using PicMonkey for my quick editing needs.
So thanks to these two programs, I’ll be able to continue editing all my super cute Nora pictures!
Kaitlen says
Hi! This is way late, but I love using Pixlr.com, which has some photoshop abilities in one of the branches, and editing in another. I also use PicMonkey along with this. (:
Andrea says
Thanks Kaitlen! I actually just purchased the pro membership for PicMonkey and am loving all the extra features!
Michelle says
Andrea – are you still using the pro membership? I was using it back when it was $30 a year but I just got an email from PicMonkey that they are increasing the basic pro to $48 a year (really $70 but they are giving me a loyalty discount). Ouch. Any other sites you recommend? I used to do so much more editing but now I have twins and I mainly use it for their monthly photos and the cover of my photo books…
Andrea says
yes I am — I use it daily so I didn’t really have much of an option to not pay the full price (boooo). At least I can write it off as a business expense!
casey says
I LOVED picnik, when it went down , i started using picmonkey but am having alot of trouble with it going down and or just not saving, so after cloning for 30+ min im ready to pull my hair out!!! Please fill me in on a simliar program that i can buy and downloadd so im not having to go throu a site…. Have elements but hate how complicated it is… Thanks soooo much!
Jacqui Gonzales says
I use Picasa on my home computer in combination with PicMonkey. I will do some basic changes in Picasa and make any collages I want/need, then upload the picture to PicMonkey to finish editing it. It works for me!
Stace @ SavingStace.com says
I realize I’m late in commenting on this post, but I just came across this one. If you haven’t already, you should try ipiccy.com (my favorite! You can do collages here, as well as watermarks and text overlays) and befunky.com (which reminds me a lot of picnik).
Great site that you have – I enjoy reading your posts and have found SO many useful tips. Thanks! 🙂
Andrea says
Thanks Stace! I hadn’t heard of either of those programs and after checking both of them out today — I’m super excited! I think I’ll like ipiccy.com a lot!
Tara says
I love your blog, so many great ideas! I”m glad I came across this post. I’ve just recently started a blog. I am unsure of what to do with my pictures in regards to editing. I have picasa now but may look into the two you mentioned. Question – when you post pictures to your blog entries, do you just insert them from live writer or do you copy the html code from FotoFlexer and insert it into your posts that way? My blog is self hosted and I use wordpress. Thanks 🙂 🙂 Lots to learn about all this fun blogging stuff!
Andrea says
Thanks Tara,
I actually upload all my photos to Flickr and then copy the HTML from there. There are some occasions where I upload the pictures directly to my blog though. Hope this helps!
Amy @ 20minutemom.com says
I’ve been using Google+ photo editing and am really happy with it! Like any new program it took me a little while to get used to, but overall I am able to do most editing I need to do! I haven’t found a way to do collages though, bummer!
Amy says
Ohhhh I’m so excited! I’ve tried so many other sites and NONE of them have even come close to Picnik. Picasa is similar but sloooow. I have no patience so it drives me crazy. PicMonkey is GREAT! Super easy, friendly, and free!! Yippee!
Thanks Andrea! I love your new profile picture. Motherhood becomes you 🙂
Happybee says
Thank you Andrea for sharing!!!
I used Picnic for several years and…was so sad when it closed…
and…I was still looking for similar features…
so…now i’m going to check the you are speaking about!!!!
Thanks!!!
Dany
Lindsay says
Andrea, thanks for sharing these! I just checked out PicMonkey for the first time and I’m really surprised to see how many editing options it has! Woohoo! I hadn’t found anything I liked as much as picnik but I think this will be a very good replacement. Thanks again.
Pyper says
I discovered Picnik about 2 days before the site went down. 🙁 However, I have since been using PicMonkey and I really like it alot. It is super simple to use and that’s what I love about it. I haven’t heard of FotoFlexer, but I think I’ll try it out!
Lisa says
I use Picasa…I’ve been a fan for a long time! It’s free, and they’re continually improving, updating, and adding more features. The only drawback is that you can’t edit from a different computer, because it’s a program that’s installed on your computer. This has never bothered me though, especially now that we have a laptop. You can, however, view the edited pics if you upload them to online albums (Picasa Web).
kristen m says
Which site do you use for the month photos for Nora? I have 4 months worth of those photos for my son but still need to edit 🙂
Dana says
I just use Picasa but I don’t think I do as much editing as you do. Picasa also does collages.
Heart and Haven says
I use GIMP, it’s free and most similar to Photoshop.
Melissa says
I really like picmonkey too. 🙂
deborah says
I used and really liked picnik too!
I recently used picmonkey and I really like it and its similarities to picnik. Most of the time I just like the basic edits for my pictures, so both picnik and picmonkey have been great for me.
deborah says
Are there any free sites that will upload several pics at once from a computer or hard drive? I love picmonkey, but it takes time going in to get each pic seperately.
I checked out Foto Flexer, but couldn’t get it to upload more than one at a time from my computer. Am I missing something?! Most of the pics I want to upload are just on my computer or hard drive not on another site…