It happened, I have to find a new photo editor...
I have faithfully used PicMonkey for years. I love it, it's fantastic. They have the basics to edit your photos, cool filters, lots of fonts, great overlays and special effects. If you don't mind paying $47.88 a year, go crazy on this site. PM used to be free with the option to get a premium membership and have access to additional features. I felt a change coming when I noticed more and more free features flipping over to premium access only. When I logged on there this weekend to add a watermark on my photo, I clicked export and got this pop up.
Why!?!?!?!?! I'm still fixing the mess I was left with after Photobucket let me down, now this? Blogging and Etsy are my hobby, I'm not investing in a service to use once in awhile when I can get it for free somewhere else. Sorry PicMonkey, I'm breaking up with you.
**UPDATE(9/9): I just got on PM this morning and now it's allowing me to export my images again. I know someone who emailed them last week and supposedly they they confirmed they were moving to an all paid site. Even their Facebook page has people asking what's up. I don't know what exactly is happening, but it never hurts to have more options!
I use a photo editor for my blog and Etsy photos. I do basic edits to make it look as good as possible, resize photos, sometimes add graphics/title for blog posts and add watermarks. I played around with these online photo editing sites but have yet to really delve into every feature. Here are my thoughts so far...
1. iPiccy
Similar format to PM. You can do edits, collages and graphic design. This is a completely free site. I could not find any blocked features or offers to upgrade. I think this site is my favorite so far because all the options are available and it's easy to use. There are some things I had a hard time with though, like you can't go back and forth between layers to edit. If you can, I couldn't figure it out.
2. BeFunky
Similar format to PM. Offers edits, collages, design from blank canvas, templates for social media graphics, greeting cards. Option to upgrade to premium for $34.92. Looks to have what I'll need. One thing that bugs me is you have to click and open every sub-section to see your options for things like graphics and effects. So much clicking feels like time wasted. There are a few options listed for free and tons for premium members.
3. Ribbet
Built on the same platform as Picnik, so if you miss that site, you'll be happy here. Looks to have the features I'm going to need. You can do edits, collages, shape collages, design from blank canvas, and create cards. Something I find useful is that they save your recent uploads. There is an option to upgrade to premium for $29.95/year.
4. piZap
Offers two ways to use, HTML5 or Adobe Flash. You can edit, make a collage or design from blank. You can use the site for free and there is an option to upgrade to access all the features for $35.88. There are a variety of stickers available but I couldn't find basic shapes. That's no good for me since I often use a faded rectangle behind title letters on my blog pictures to make the letters stand out. This site does have a really cool cut out feature you should try.
All the sites I found have positives and negatives. None of them is going to work exactly like PM. Here are some more photo edit sites I checked out. They all offer great photo editing features but don't have some of the other tools I'm looking for.
LunaPic
Pixlr
Desygner
If you struggle with getting pure white backgrounds on your product photos, you HAVE to check out FotoFuze! For real, it's like magic and absolutely no skill required.
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I will be sharing with these great blogs!
Thanks for the alternatives!
ReplyDeletethanks for the info--i have been using picmonkey but need to take a look at my account! pinned your post for future reference :).
ReplyDeleteNever heard of these. Thanks so much!
ReplyDelete#alittlebitofeverything
Thanks Laura for the the list of these photo editing sites. It's so frustrating when these things are free and then they start changing you money!!
ReplyDeleteHope you have a nice day and thanks for your visit to my blog.
Julie
Great list. I had to switch a couple of years ago from PM, it just got too damn slow for me. Their site started to drag. I like using Ipiccy now, and love it.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know this and was just going to try and learn picmonkey. thanks!
ReplyDeleteGood to know. I'm still using PM at the moment and was adding watermarks and saving images last night but I have noticed more and more things with that little crown on them! It's good to know there are some alternatives out there. I hate change so it will take some getting used to ! (and yes the whole Photobucket thing was a mess)
ReplyDeleteYou had me running to my PicMonkey account to see what was still available. I use Corel PaintShopPro for most things, but I love PicMonkey for making my Pinterest graphics. Glad to see I still have that capability! Thank you for sharing at DesigningUs.com https://www.designingus.com/designing-you-thursday-link-party/
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post! I've used PicMonkey for a while now and a few months ago they locked up 3 fonts I use the most and made them premium membership only. I was so bummed! I found BeFunky in a search, but I've had issues uploading photos there. I'm so happy to learn of these other editing sites :)
ReplyDeleteGlad it was useful! I never realized that you could use your own computer fonts. When they made the Black Jack font premium I was so mad but I found I could download it for free to my computer and still use it that way.
DeleteI used Picnik for a long time, and now still use Picasa, which is no longer available to new subscribers so... I will be trying Ribbet.Thank you so much for the info!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this! I was disappointed when PicMonkey started doing this as well.
ReplyDeleteNo problem, glad it was helpful!
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