Online Photo Editor - My Review

DerrickVWS

As digital photography grows, there seems to be a push to create a good online photo editor. I'm in the business to pay attention to tools like these, so I thought I'd share my experience here. Not everyone wants to buy $100 to $500 photo editor software. A free online editor is a great option.

The latest I've come across is called Picnik.
http://www.picnik.com/

Picnik is pretty amazing. It has all the standard required features like:

• autofix tools
• rotate
• cropping
• resizing
• color fixing
• brightness control
• red eye
• sharpening

and a whole slew of other "cool" features like:

• convert to sepia tone
• convert to black & white
• boost colors
• vignette (darkening of edges of photo)
• even add a border or cool rounded corners

I was able to quickly import a photo, enhance it, resize it and save it within 1 minute. The interface is clean and the tabbed navigation system is very intuitive. Everything seems to happen INSTANTLY even though Picnik is a web application. I could see this being extremely useful for the occasional photo edit for many of you DIY-er website creators.

QUICK TIP: Once you are into the editing process, click the Picnik logo to instantly get a Fullscreen view. Click it again to go back to your window. Awesome!

Check it out.
http://www.picnik.com/

I give it a 9.5/10 for basic to intermediate photo editor needs. Pros and enthusiasts that use a photo editor regularly will still want to stick to buying a good photo editor by Adobe or Microsoft. I prefer Photoshop CS2 and recommend Photoshop Elements 5 to most enthusiasts.

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By the way, here is a list of 5 other online photo editors:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/04...ting-overview/ (They agree that Picnik is the current best)

Adobe is also building an online ad-supported version of their Photoshop product! It should be released in 6 months. Read about it here on Cnet.

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Derrick Delliquadri
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Cole

Derrick,
Thanks for the link. I will try it out.

Now about the Ad supported Photoshop, how much will it be and what do you think about CS3 being, $1800 new now?

Are they pricing themselves out of the market?

One more thing, what about Microsoft Expression Products?

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Fauker_9

Great Link Derrick, I had a pile of photos that needed to be rotated and cropped on my site. Picnik did the job very easily and painless.

Ted W

Thanks for the link, Derrick. I'll tried it out and it's a pretty cool application. I'll be sure to point others to it.

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DerrickVWS

Ad supported Photoshop should be 100% free. I imagine it will probably be closer to the power of Photoshop Elements 5 as compared to the power of Photoshop CS3 coming soon.


That's a good question. The price for a full CS3 suite (non-upgrade) seems a bit on the high side for someone just getting started with Adobe software. But Adobe's larger suites are targeting the professional graphic/web/print design companies. Their lower end suites are not priced that high. I plan on picking up Web Premium Upgrade for $499. So, no... they are not pricing themselves out of the market. I don't know anyone currently considering jumping ship from Adobe.

I have not tested Microsoft's Expression software. I see their "Microsoft Expression Studio" is being released on May 10, 2007 for $599. Not bad. It is still more than my Adobe upgrade price... but could be VERY tempting for a freelancer. Microsoft has an upward battle I'm afraid due to Adobe's massive market share, brand recognition among designers and fact that their software is the professional industry standard. The competition will be VERY good for Adobe users. Adobe will be forced to continuously compete at a higher level if they intend on charging 2 to 3 times more money.

Adobe just bought Macromedia a bit ago which brought in Fireworks and Dreamweaver to their stable. Clearly, Adobe is staying ahead of the game.

Links to Software Discussed in this Post
Adobe CS3 Suite Info
http://www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/

Microsoft Expression Info
http://www.microsoft.com/Expression/default.aspx

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Derrick Delliquadri
Vision Web Services | Contractor Websites