Free Resource – Picnik Online Image Editing

Posted by Denise Griffitts on Jul 19, 2010 in Entrepreneurism, Web Development | 1 comment

Weekly Recommended Resources

Do you need to clean up or manipulate images quickly and easily? Unless you are a whiz in Photoshop or Picasa, reworking images may be something that you don’t even try to tackle on your own.

Picnik is an online image editing tool that provides a variety of textual and visual embellishments such as themed graphics to personalize photographs and even provide scrapbook-like polishes.

You can crop and resize images, sharpen or soften lines, adjust layers for optimal contrast and saturation and implement other everyday polishes.

Users can also learn tips, tricks and discuss finished photos in the forums, find information about tools and features in the topically-organized in-depth FAQ section and even give feedback to the site developers using the contact sub-portal in the Help menu.

While this is a free resource, I do recommend that you go with Picnik Premium. For as little as $2 a month you get more features and content:

• More effects
• Beauty tools
• More collages
• More fonts and stickers
• Advanced editing tools
• Unlimited history
• Unlimited connections
• Priority feedback
• Ad-free and full screen
• Layering and more…

Be sure to come back here and share some of your new images!

Photshop Vs Photoshop Elements

Posted by Denise Griffitts on Apr 21, 2010 in Internet Mastery, Web Development | 0 comments

As a web developer you would think that I would revel in working in Photoshop. I don’t. In fact, it must be admitted that I actively detest it and almost always hand off image manipulation tasks to team members. To my way of thinking it is always best to “Do What You Love and Outsource the Rest!”.  So when an message from Kimberly Bohannon of GFYDMember.com (Go For Your Dream) landed in my email box a few minutes ago I got very excited and wanted to share the article here with you.

If you have been struggling with, or wanting to learn more about Photoshop this article will be very helpful to you.

Enjoy!

“Which Program Should I Buy… Photoshop or Photoshop Elements?” Which One Is Right for You?

by Kimberly Bohannon

If you’re in the market for an image editing software, chances are you’re choosing between Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.

Both are excellent software for manipulating digital photographs and images. In this article, I’ll discuss some of the ways the two software are different. Hopefully, after reading this, you can make an informed decision.

Keep in mind Adobe’s intentions when you consider each one. In their website, Adobe says that Photoshop CS4 (the latest version) is ideal for “professional photographers, serious amateur photographers, graphic designers, web designers.”

Unfortunately, Adobe doesn’t tell us whom Photoshop Elements is ideal for. It does say you can “get creative,” “enhance your photos,” “share and protect all your memories” with Elements.

This hints at a more consumer-level (rather than professional) user who manages images for personal use.

With this in mind, Photoshop and Photoshop Elements differ in three main areas: price, ease of use, and features. Let’s go over each one.

1.  Price

Adobe Photoshop costs a whopping $699, while Photoshop Elements is $99.

For many, the price will dictate their choice. Keep in mind, some professionals use Elements even for their work. They use workarounds such as add-ons and other tools to get Elements to do what they need to accomplish. But more on that later.

2.  Ease of Use

With Photoshop geared towards professional image users, you can expect it to be more difficult to use. Elements has a more intuitive, more user-friendly interface.

However, if you’re already familiar with photo editing software, such as earlier versions of Photoshop, then this won’t be much of an issue.

3.  Features

As you might have guessed, the differences in price and ease of use stem from differences in features. Photoshop has functionalities which Elements doesn’t have… and vice versa.

For example, Photoshop has more robust features for manipulating the finer details of a digital image. Here are just some features in Photoshop, which aren’t in Elements:

- CMYK and LAB color modes
- ability to work with 16-bit and 32-bit images
- Layer masks and layer comps
- Adjustment layers for color balance, curves and selective color
- Advanced text formatting, including putting text on a path

But don’t ditch Elements yet. It also has features you won’t find in Photoshop, such as:

- Automatic red-eye removal
- Cookie cutter tool, background templates and artwork
- Photo Organizer, which lets you tag photos and later find them quickly through tags. Photo Organizer also lets you share your photos by creating online galleries, slideshows, photo books and more.

As mentioned earlier, many Elements users find they can do with Elements a lot of the things Photoshop can do. Some of the functionalities are there but need to be “unlocked.”

Add-ons and tools for Photoshop Elements are developed by users of both software. Some are free, while others you need to pay for. These will enhance Elements to be able to do more of the things Photoshop can do.

Whichever software you choose, you have to know how to use it in order to achieve the images you want.

If you decide that Photoshop is for you, check out Learn Photoshop Now. The video tutorials are like looking over the shoulder of a seasoned Photoshop user.

Should you go with Elements, Learn Elements Now will help you master the software in a short time.

Photoshop or Photoshop Elements? Both are powerful software for perfecting your digital images. Choose the one that best meets your needs within the resources you have.

Picnik Lets You Edit All Your Photos Online – FREE Tool

Posted by Denise Griffitts on Jan 17, 2009 in Internet Mastery | 0 comments

Not everyone can shell out the dollars or training to get Photoshop for their desktop, and frankly, most people wouldn’t know what to do with it if they did have it. I am a web developer and admit to hating working in Photoshop or Paint. Fortunately my staff recognizes this chink in my super powers and takes care of the image manipulation issues for me.

However, it is necessary to have the ability to clean up photos, edit out stuff that isn’t relevant to the tale you are telling and just tinker around with your images until they are conveying exactly the message that you want.

Say hello to “Picnik“.

Picnik is an online home for photo editing that gives even the most photo-illiterate among us the tools that allow you to look like a pro got a hold of your work. You can even use a bevy of effect options to add some very neat touches to your photos. They have some amazing Edit tools that can fix just about anything that could go wrong with a photograph.  Even in today’s digital photography world, things do go badly. One of my very favorite things (beyond it being FREE) is that a lot of their editing tools are one-click fixes, including auto-fix, exposure, colors, and the dreaded “red-eye”. Other tools such as rotate, crop, resize and sharpening can be controlled with easy-to-use sliders.

You simply upload a photo to the site, and its easy-to-use tools doe the rest. Now while it is not as comprehensive a tool as Photoshop, PicNik does offer the amateur everything they need to spurce up their photos.