Have some photo editing fun with Picnik!

Recently, a friend on Facebook turned me onto a really cool (and really free) Web-based photo editing application called Picnik.

Picnik allows you to upload pictures directly from your computer, apply cool effects, and then save them back on your computer. You can even share the newly created pictures through your favorite social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Flickr.

Since I’m pretty horrible at picture editing (using a program like Photoshop), I thought I’d give Picnik a whirl and see what kind of pictures I could create. I have to say the results were pretty impressive.

Note: They do have a premium version that you have to pay for. It does include some cool effects. I half-expected the free version to suck but there are a lot of great effects to choose from.

Below is a snapshot of Picnik’s interface. It’s really easy to use. Click to view full size (pops in a new window). BTW – You’ll notice that my face has different shades of color. That’s from the screen shot (not a desired effect in Picnik).

The Picnik Interface - You can choose from over 30 free effects, countless typefaces (for dropping in text), a touch-up tool, 7 frames (including my favorite Polaroid). There are also cool editing tools like red eye removal, cropping and sharpen.

I had a picture of myself that I wanted to put on my About page but I thought it was too boring. I thought this picture would be a good way for me to test out what Picnik could do.

Here’s what I started with:

Here are some pictures I created with Picnik:

Polaroid frame with text

Pencil sketch effect

Cinescope effect

Okay, so the subject of the photo is still a boring. At least now I can easily add some cool effects that would take years to master in a program like Photoshop.

If you’re looking for a cool (and FREE – did I mention that?) tool to give your photos a punch, give Picnik a whirl.