April 13, 2012

Edit images online with PicMonkey

The popular online photo editor Picnik has been purchased by Google and will no longer be available to users without a Google+ account. However, some of the Picnik team members have created PicMonkey, a new, free photo editor.

Upload a photo and easily manipulate it in zillions of ways, from a standard crop and resize, to dozens of customizable effects including Polaroid, Holga, Lomo, film grain, and more. You can even add mascara and lip tint to your subject. The "weight loss" effect is funny, but I decided this plant did not require a diet.

Altered photos can be saved as jpgs or pngs. Note that PicMonkey runs on Flash, so it won't work on the iPad.

And a tip for entrepreneurs: it's cool to name your service after a primate these days. I'm thinking of joining the ranks of PicMonkey, Mail Chimp, and Survey Monkey by starting a second blog called "How About Orangutan."

44 comments:

  1. Grandma GApril 13, 2012 at 12:23 PM

    "How About Orangutan".... YES!!!

    Mum

    P.S. Thanks for the info. I think I shall go for the mascara and weight loss. (I have my own lipstick.)

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  2. Jessica JonesApril 13, 2012 at 12:25 PM

    Right. I think I saw you wearing lipstick once in 1988. :)

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  3. Grandma GApril 13, 2012 at 12:41 PM

    But I still HAVE some!!

    Mum

    P.S. FYI, it was at your brother's wedding in 2004. So HA!

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  4. Jessica JonesApril 13, 2012 at 12:50 PM

    My mistake.

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  5. JennApril 13, 2012 at 12:51 PM

    And, "How About Orangutan" sounds oddly like a midseason sit com!

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  6. Jessica JonesApril 13, 2012 at 12:52 PM

    One that is doomed to failure. The pilot would air, followed by two or three more episodes, and then it would be canned.

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  7. AnonymousApril 13, 2012 at 1:11 PM

    I would watch it. As long as it was on regular cable channels. Premium and I'm out.
    Clara

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  8. DonnaApril 13, 2012 at 1:53 PM

    Ok that is AWESOME!! Just tried it out, so easy and quick, so many cool effects. Thanks for finding this :)

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  9. Melissa @ Sweet As Texas HoneyApril 13, 2012 at 2:04 PM

    Thanks for the heads up. I have been so bummed picnik was going away. Super glad they have a replacement site!

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  10. Katie LewisApril 13, 2012 at 2:15 PM

    Haha. That last line made me chuckle. :)

    Also, PicMonkey is great so far. I've been using it lately and, in many ways, I like it better than its predecessor.

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  11. hennymatsApril 13, 2012 at 2:33 PM

    just tried it and it's great! Would've liked to see the lipstick on your plant though.

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  12. Sarah PingsAndNeedlesApril 13, 2012 at 4:04 PM

    LOL Orangutan ... I think you have something there ... maybe I'll tagalong and start Chimps and Needles ..

    I'd like to have seen liptint on the plant too ...

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  13. Maria M.April 13, 2012 at 4:39 PM

    I have been enjoying PicMonkey for a couple of weeks now -- very excited to see what features they end up adding! :-)

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  14. rilojaneApril 13, 2012 at 4:43 PM

    haha! "How About Orangutan."

    The Google+ thing seriously grumped me out, but at least Picasa now has 24 new features brought over from Picnik, for those of you who may have crummy internet and/or can't run flash well. They included HDR and holga and lomo... but only a fraction of everything I loved in Picnik.
    I'm so glad you told me about PicMonkey! After exploring a little bit, I found that they have all the things I was going to miss most from Picnik- touch-ups, teeth whitening, clone. I'm SO happy! I feel like a diabetic who just discovered Splenda.
    Thanks for the link!

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  15. StephanieApril 13, 2012 at 5:20 PM

    So glad you posted this. I've been curious about PicMonkey but have been too lazy to try it yet. :)

    Orangutan... ha!

    ReplyDelete
  16. RApril 13, 2012 at 5:39 PM

    I had a look at it but found that I can't draw (lines or arrows or colored circles etc) in my photos. Did I miss something or is it just not there? If not that's quiite a flaw, as far as I'm concerned, as I need that for my presentations.

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  17. UnknownApril 13, 2012 at 8:31 PM

    This is a cool tool to use! However I still like using Picasa for my basic photo editing needs. Recently Picasa updated their software, and you can get many photo effects like the ones in PicMonkey too. :)

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  18. curiouskiwiApril 13, 2012 at 9:44 PM

    How About Orangutan!? I love it. Thanks so much for sharing the PicMonkey love. We here on the team really appreciate you spreading the word amongst your readers. The Monkey is smiling.

    @Riete, sounds like you're looking for the Overlays tool (known as Stickers on Picnik) We've got Geometric Shapes, Arrows, etc. Please look there.
    Thanks again for the shoutout!!
    Cheers, Brenda - PicMonkey team

    ReplyDelete
  19. RachelApril 13, 2012 at 11:13 PM

    Love it! I've been into this kind of simple photo editing lately and can't wait to try PicMonkey out. Thanks for introducing it to me!

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  20. SuApril 14, 2012 at 3:28 AM

    love it! I ´ll try it!
    Su.
    Trendy Pastel

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  21. RApril 14, 2012 at 7:15 AM

    @Brenda Thank you so much! That was what I was looking for! Awesome! :)

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  22. Monica LeeApril 14, 2012 at 9:04 AM

    Ok, that's funny "organutan!" You are right about oll the monkey business though! Poor giraffes, they feel so left out.

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  23. StephanieApril 14, 2012 at 2:50 PM

    I love your blog. You post some of the cutest and most useful things! :]

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  24. JAMIE SAYS DREAMApril 14, 2012 at 4:49 PM

    Thanks for the tip! I tested quickly and PicMonkey seems like a lot of fun!

    I will give this tip on my blog too, and link back to this post.

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  25. KeeleyApril 14, 2012 at 5:59 PM

    You just made my day! I've been grumbling about the loss of Picnik for the past few months and now I'm happy to see that non-professionals still have an option for photo editing. I hope it stays in business!

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  26. InitforthehoneyApril 14, 2012 at 6:05 PM

    Hehehe! I love it too! How About Orangutan is a winner in my opinion. And you're spot on with the monkeyness of the Internet today. Are the monkeys getting their revenge on all the kittens and LOL cats I wonder?

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  27. HeARTworksApril 15, 2012 at 2:43 AM

    Hilarious!
    But picmonkey was a lifesaver! I always used Picnik and kept looking for an alternative until I found picmonkey! Yehey! Patsy from
    HeARTworks

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  28. curiouskiwiApril 15, 2012 at 4:46 AM

    @Riete, oh yay! Pleased you found what you needed. The Monkey is smiling!

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  29. JennaApril 15, 2012 at 6:25 AM

    Wow, thanks for showing us PicMonkey!
    Latley I have been super obsessed with photography applications/apps, ie, instagram, hipstamatic, frametastic... but this is among my favourites! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Nicole_boldgoodsApril 15, 2012 at 10:38 AM

    I just tried it and like it a lot. Too bad some of the coolest features put a giant monkey watermark in the corner! Guess I won't be doing any polaroid effects! You think there will be a paid option to get rid of the watermark?

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  31. Trading ForexApril 15, 2012 at 11:09 AM

    Ok broter tanks for sharing this amazing info. .

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  32. LimeRiotApril 15, 2012 at 1:07 PM

    I discovered picmonkey yesterday and spent a couple hours playing around with it. Such fun! I gave myself pink hair in a photo :).

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  33. curiouskiwiApril 15, 2012 at 10:49 PM

    @Nik at boldgoods ... if you're seeing the Monkey watermark, it means you haven't got the free trial yet. Just click 'Apply' on the effect and the monkey will disappear. See more here:

    http://help.picmonkey.com/customer/portal/articles/431837-a-monkey-appeared-on-my-photo

    (sorry @Jessica for turning your comment thread into a help desk!) :) Cheers, Brenda (PicMonkey team)

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  34. dawnApril 16, 2012 at 12:06 AM

    yay! I miss PicNic although Be Funky has filled the void somewhat. Thanks for the link to the new site.

    and yes, I believe "How About Orangutan" is a great idea... yeah. sure.

    ;-)

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  35. Lavender PlaygroundApril 16, 2012 at 12:06 AM

    This is awesome! I was wondering what to do after Picnik disappeared..I will give PicMonkey a try!

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  36. JennyApril 16, 2012 at 8:39 AM

    Thank you. Thank you. Thank you! I've been trying to figure out the picnik on google+ and I'm not that computer literate apparently because I can't even find it! Ugh. So thanks for the picmonkey info

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  37. Jessica JonesApril 16, 2012 at 8:55 AM

    Brenda, no apology needed! I'm really glad you're answering questions, and happy you chimed in!

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  38. AnshuApril 16, 2012 at 5:10 PM

    you forgot greasemonkey

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  39. AngelaApril 17, 2012 at 6:33 AM

    Oh, thanks so much for this -- I was mourning my loss of picnik and dreading learning an alternative -- now, no need! Plus, it's way faster. yay!

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  40. SarahApril 17, 2012 at 9:58 AM

    Thank you for discovering this!!! I was so sad when Picnik refunded my money and told me they were movin'.

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  41. KristinaApril 17, 2012 at 10:04 AM

    Love it! Thanks for posting about it!

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  42. AnonymousApril 17, 2012 at 10:33 AM

    this looks fun! thank you!

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  43. Iveth Morales April 17, 2012 at 1:53 PM

    THANK YOU. So much!!!!!

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  44. UnknownJuly 12, 2012 at 3:09 PM

    Jenn - PicMonkey is the BEST website I have every used for photo editing. Thank you for the resource!!

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