Easy Photo Editing with Picnik (not PIKNIK)

Photo editing just got easier with Picnik. You just register, upload the photo you want to edit, and you’re all set! It can work in Microsoft, Mac, and Linux, so no need to fret whatsoever.

I’m not particularly fond of daisy frames and hand-drawn hearts stickers, not even collages, but their presets are really worth the visit. Highly advanced, they mimick popular photo editing techniques such as the HDR, Lomo, Holga, and Orton— and you can do this with just one click!

Sounds like a breeze to use? It is. And the results are nothing short of AMAZING. What takes you months to learn to do with Adobe Photoshop, you’re able to do here in MINUTES.

Check out what I was able to do with that photo of the old man. While the original photo is satisfactory, I knew it would be stunning with dramatic colors. And I was right.

The topmost is the original photo, the second one is a cross of sepia, cross processing, matte, and focal softening; the third one, of tint, cross processing, and a strong local contrast; the fourth one (the bottommost), of black and white, holga-ish, (yeah, they really call it that) cross processing, and a strong local contrast.

For a more detailed explanation of the editing process I used in Picnik, see bottom portion of this article.

So the question now is, do you go premium?

It entirely depends on you. I’ve expressed my lack of, uhh, fondness for daisy frames, hand-drawn hearts stickers, and collages, so being limited to a few of those things really isn’t an issue to me. What concerns me is the resizing that is done to non-premium members’ photos. 2800 pixels can still print quality 8×10 photos, but what happens if I need bigger prints?

At $2.08 a month it doesn’t seem worth the debate, but when you really think about it, that amount still adds up to $24.95 in a year— wasted money if you don’t bother with the extra fancy features or make prints bigger than 8×10. And at this time of recession, wasted money is just unaccepta… Ookay. Moving on.

Next topic please.

Oh yeah, as promised…

The Editing Process— the Picnik way!

1st Picnik Edit (2nd photo from top):

Create>>Effects>>

1. Cross Process (50%)

2. Sepia (bottom right brown)

3. Matte:

Size (80)

Strength (20%)

Color(light yellow)

Fade (60%)

4. Focal Soften:

Blur (30%)

Focal Size (100%)

Edge Hardness (50%)

Fade (10%)

2nd Picnik Edit (3rd photo from top):

Create>>Effects>>

1. Tint

Color (light blue)

Fade (0%)

2. Cross Process (60%)

Edit>>Exposure>>Advanced>>

3. Local Contrast (35%)

3rd Picnik Edit (4th photo from top):

Create>>Effects>>

1. Black and White

Fade (5%)

Color (light green)

2. Holga-ish

Blur (55%)

Grain (60%)

Fade (50%)

3. Cross Process (70%)

Edit>>Exposure>>Advanced>>

4. Local Contrast (10%)

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