10 Tips for Digital Photo Editing & Fun

It's been about 3 years since I've blogged about FREE digital image editing & fun sites... So I thought I would update it! Thanks to my dear friend @who Tweeted & Scooped to me about Ribbet which made me give it close look comparing it to my beloved PicMonkey.  I thought I owed you, my dear readers,  an unbiased review of these fab photo editing sites. Last time I talked about 5 of them - this year I'm giving you 10! (Plus a link to my Sqworl gallery with 66+ links)
1. What makes PicMonkey Made of Win? Features Galore!
PicMonkey, is MADE of WIN! This beloved site with happy hipster styling beautifully filled in when Picknik went away. [pours some Diet Coke out for my fallen homey] Really, for 94% of what you need to do with images this site can do & WAY easier than Photoshop. I even thought of making a Comic Tutorial for it - but it really is SO easy and intuitive I don't think you need one!
PicMonkey is a creation of several former Picnik engineers and "offers a simple and easy to use tool for editing and altering your images. Even if Picnik was still around, PicMonkey would be a great alternative!
The entirely Web-based editor is fast and effective, and among the cleanest interface (PicMonkey and Ribbet will be fighting Smackdown style for that title) for a photo editor (Web or desktop) that I've come across."
Easy to use PicMonkey has amazing FREE features that if you don't want to spend the $ on Photoshop this should make you very happy. Easy text layering, cut-outs, arrows, speech bubbles, frames, & easy crop & resize means anyone can make their pics for blogs, wikis, & sites beautiful and easy breezy!
Worth the Royale treatment, for a few dollars a month (the price of a latte) those extra perks make this digital image manipulation site a winner. Remember, no awesome Ad-Free site will remain 100% FREE forever.
SUPER COOL UPDATE! Flickr & Tumbler Integration!
One of the things that first impressed me so much w/ PicMonkey was how responsive they are on Twitter. They care, they listen, & they respond! Follow them! 

2. Ribbet: Advanced Editing, Your Fonts, & Flickr Integration
Ribbet is "built on the same platform that made Google's Picnik great and is an easy to use yet powerful online photo editor. You can use Ribbet for collages, touch-ups and advanced photographic effects like curves and clone tools, fonts, frames, stickers, vampire effects, beards, and an entire pond full (yes, get ready to deal with some froggy puns) of effects. Like Picnik, there will be a free and a premium version."  But try it out NOW when ALL the features are FREE, at least as of (3/13)
How is Ribbet different than PicMonkey? 
So far, you can start with a blank canvas, use your own machine fonts (click ALLOW when asked) & connect to your Flickr account. The site will ask & you will need to give permission to take from and save to Flickr.  
Create Transparent PNG's!
You can also go into Advanced editing with Pixlr so you can use the magic erase wand & eraser to remove a background - save it as a transparent .PNG (never .JPG) this way you can superimpose one photo over another like I did with the Ribbet frog on a branch over a black background in my example.  Ribbet also saves your photos during your latest session in a "tray" where you can go back to them. That's pretty neat.  AND yes, Ribbet is also very communicative, responsive, & friendly on Twitter! Follow them

 
3. Picadilo: Super Touch Ups & Totally Free
Picadilo is a totally free online photo editor that's easy to use.
Pros: Slick interface, nice features, text overlays make this a standout. I especially like the Miniaturize photo effect example on right.
Cons: I did notice a few hiccups with the ladybug spinning as I tried to upload a pic to edit.
With Picadilo you can "enhance your photos using effects, versatile editing tools and a wide range of textures. Some of the best features are the photo mosaic and the ability to use multiple windows - commonly available in only much more expensive photo editors."
Cool Features From the site:  Multiple windows "Don't be restricted to working on just one photograph at a time. Let your creativity run free by loading more than one photo and work on them side by side. You can also select and copy regions from one photograph to another creating new interesting effects."
4. Photocat: Cute Kitty - Limited Features - Take a Pass!
Photocat was "launched in late 2012 as another entrant in the crowded field on online Photo Editors. Since Google closed down the Picnik service in early 2012 we have seen an array of new services like Ribbet, Picmonkey and now Photocat."
Pros: Photocat offers the standard array of basic photo editing features - with the addition of an excellent collage option. Between the collage, some nice holiday features and some advanced handling of large images.
Cons: Better like the layer you're editing because once you navigate off it - there's no going back. Unlike all the other editors mentioned you can't re-edit or reposition text once you navigate away from the Text editing page.
This is a BIG Kitty Litter Smelly DRAWBACK!  Sample of the Dashboard is below.
Another HUGE Con -- You can't place text on different lines -- they all go in one straight line (no return) AND there are only a handful of fonts to choose from. Boo Hiss!
And Now Just For Fun!
Sites that don't edit - but they are blingtastically, hugely, glittery fun to play with!
5. Big Huge Labs = Big Huge Fun!
Big Huge Labs is a wonderful site where you can make motivational posters, movie posters, magazine covers, badges, mosaics, collages, calendars, frames, and a lot more. BigHugeLabs has established itself as one of the biggest destination websites of its kind. Twitter Follow BigHugeLabs on Twitter
6. Deefunia: You Don't Have to be a Professional to Have FUN!
Deefunia is an "online image editing tool that gives users a fun filled experience. Users can upload any photos and just wait to see the wonder it does. Any photo can be placed in unique photo layouts" - both fun, fab, & a bit doofy.
Pop culturally hip, with plenty of Pan-Asian kitsch,  you can put yourself (or your pics) on subway cars, city billboards, magazine covers or in art galleries as shown below! 
You can also make multiple photo collages using the templates. Save your creations to your hard drive or share them via social media.
7. Says-It - Church Signs & More! 
Says-It Features Customizable: Church Sign, Official Seal,  Concert Ticket,  Uncle Sam Poster, old skool Videotape,  Cassette, & Vinyl Records,  Safety Signs and Soft Drinks Cans 
8. Glitterfy is Just Blingtastic!
Glitterfy will customize your pictures with the Glitterfy Glitter Graphics maker, Create words with Glitter Text for profile comments, Photo Flipbooks for Orkut Scraps
---glitterfy
 Glitter Photos
[Glitterfy.com - *Glitter Photos*]
9. Photofunia Style Photo Editors
Photofunia offers high quality photo editing for free. See examples and comparisons to Deefunia, Photo505, Pixiz, Jpgfun, Photomontager and more free photo editing sites. With each service you upload a picture and the picture can be retouched, modified using an easy to navigate interface. Check out the Photofunia Blog for the latest templates!
10. Easy Breezy Cut My Pic
Cut My Pic: Just what it sounds like, this is a way you can fast upload any pic & cut it - adding cool corners and shapes and save to your HD.
 Scoop.it, Baby!
Check out my Font Lust & Other Graphic Desires Scoop.it! Topic where I will try & curate super cool sites that provide digital imaging resources & the latest font news! If you haven't checked it out - I've also blogged about it!


Create your own Playlist on MentorMob!
My MentorMob Obsession Grows!
Experience this blog posting as a (follow them on Twitter, they super rock!) Curated & interactive playlist!  With How-To Videos!
Resource


  • 66+ Digital Photo Fun Sites - My Sqworl Gallery 
  • Larry Ferlazzo's The Best Sites For Online Photo-Editing & Photo Effects
  • After Google pulls the plug, vultures flock around Picnik
  • I was also very inspired by the Squidoo lenses created  by & quoted him liberally cause he's smart! 
    • Disclaimer! 
    I will NEVER EVER blog about a site because they suck up to me or ask me to. I only blog about sites, resources, books, etc. because I like or love them or find them worthy of my readers attention. I may be a snarky smart @$$ but I can NOT be bought. No emails please requesting me to blog about you - unless I get 5 bags of Tropical Skittles & an XL Hoodie --- kidding!

    Comments

    1. UnknownApril 8, 2013 at 7:37 AM

      Interesting information. Thank you Anne for sharing it. Smart applications have revolutionized the modern concept of photography enabling the photographers to deliver quality services to their clients. Features like restoration photo, colouring photos, digital editing has made it possible to work on the poor images to improve their quality.

      ReplyDelete
    2. LarryOctober 12, 2013 at 6:00 AM

      These apps are easy to use and ignite the creativity of most users. But if our aim is to edit professionally then we have to use photoshop.

      ReplyDelete
    3. Yuga BharathiJanuary 28, 2016 at 7:05 AM

      Great article. Really happy to visit your blog. Thanks for sharing.

      remove background from image services

      ReplyDelete
    4. AnonymousJune 7, 2016 at 9:37 AM

      Nice tips, thanks for sharing. I'm often using this http://ipiccy.com/ft/cool-photo-effects online photo editor, it's one of my favorite, because it doesn't matter which kind of device you use. The only thing you need its internet.

      ReplyDelete

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