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Three free Picnik alternatives
Picnik is shutting down for good on April 19. We'll show you a few alternatives to consider.
Google is shutting down Picnik on April 19.
(Credit: Screenshot by Ed Rhee)Google announced that it is shutting down its photo-editing service, Picnik, much to the dismay of many Picnik users.
Once Picnik closes its doors for good on April 19, Picnik users will be forced to seek out alternative photo-editing tools. There's always the popular free desktop tools like Paint.NET or GIMP, but true alternatives to Picnik are Web-based editors. Here are a few of them to consider:
Photoshop Express
Adobe's Photoshop Express has all the basic editing tools like crop, resize, red-eye, as well as more advanced editing features like fill light, sharpen, and exposure. It also has some interesting effects and an entire section to "decorate" your photo. You can add text, text bubbles, and even apply frames, though it lacks the seasonal effects offered by Picnik. Once you're done with your edits, you can save them onto your computer or share them to Photoshop.com, Facebook, Picasa, Flickr, or Photobucket.
(Credit:
Screenshot by Ed Rhee)
Pixlr Express
Pixlr Express, by Autodesk, is the basic version of Pixlr Editor, which is more like the desktop version of Photoshop. Pixlr Express sticks to the basics, but has a fair amount of fun effects, overlays, and borders to keep you busy for a while. Though you can save your photo edits to your computer, Pixlr Express doesn't have the ability to share them with photo sites or social-media networks.
(Credit:
Screenshot by Ed Rhee)
FotoFlexer
FotoFlexer may be the closest to Picnik on our list, for ease of use and fun editing options. Beyond basic editing, FotoFlexer also has a great selection of effects and decorations. Photos can be saved in JPEG and PNG file formats to your computer, FotoFlexer, Photobucket, Facebook, Picasa, Flickr, Smugmug, and Myspace.
(Credit:
Screenshot by Ed Rhee)
That's it. If you've got suggestions for other good photo-editing services, let us know in the comments.
