Online Photo Editing with Picnik

I’ll admit it; I still use the old installation of PhotoShop that I got from my webmaster job in college. To be honest, it’s hard not to. Unless you’re stuck in the dark ages of text- or graphic-only websites, good web design requires photo editing from time to time.

Of course, there’s no way for me to get PhotoShop from my old computer to my new one short of swapping hard drives (or shelling out the money for a new version). I won’t be mourning the loss of it, though. Thanks to this whole “Web 2.0″ thing people keep talking about, there are plenty of free, online photo editing alternatives that can get the job done just as effectively.

Take Picnik, for example. Instead of a software suite that costs $100s and gives you a ton of functionality that you’ll never use, Picnik is a free, browser-based program that offers the short selection of features that most of us actually care about. You can crop, resize, rotate, adjust brightness and contrast, etc. No, it’s not PhotoShop, but without installation or a price tag, I know I’m sold.

Hey, thanks! I need to upgrade my PhotoShop Elements program, but will definitely try this before I take the plunge. XO

Another neat-looking one I came by recently was Splashup. I’m sure, if I looked, I could probably find a half dozen others. I recommend giving them all a try and finding the one you like best.