We Mourn the Passing of Picnik

...But we do not despair!  For lo, picnik was not the only photo-editing program in the universe! *shocked gasps*

After much frantic searching, I've found two fairly good programs.  I shall proceed to review them for your especial benefit.

First there's  PicMonkey, one of the programs (I think) recommended by Picnik itself.   What's nice about this one is that it is extremely similiar to our dearly departed itself, with a nearly identical setup and much of the same options.  There are two things I dislike about it, though.  The first is that there aren't all that many interesting fonts.  It has a couple quite pretty ones, but there isn't that much of a selection. (At least, not to my font-devouring mind.)  The second thing is that, like Picnik, there are "premium" features that you have to pay for.  What's nice, though, is that they're free for now!  I'm just thinking forward to when the freebies go bye-bye.  I'm not sure how soon it'll be.

The second program I've been using is Pixlr.  It has cool stuff, people.  First of all, it has some elements of the makeup suite we all adored, including airbrush, teeth whiten, and touch up.  Then it has effects.  LOTS of effects, including pop art and lots of choices for old-fashioned-looking photos.  There are also lots of overlays (like the textures that Picnik had).  TONS OF THEM.  Space, fireworks, film leaks... you name it.  It has a fair selection of borders, though a lot of them look the same to me, and I'm not much of a border fan in general.  Pixlr has some stickers, though not much of interest to me.  Enough swirly things to get by with, though.  Last but certainly not least, the fonts.  They are awesome!  Lest I do not do them enough justice, I made a sampling for you of my favorite ones.

One thing I must say.  Though the fonts are extremely cool, they're not exactly what I'd call pretty.  Just unusual and interesting.  There aren't enough swirly-girly ones.  But you can't have everything, right?  (By the way, that pic started out as a photo of trees.  I just did major editing on it so I could use it as a background.) 

Speaking of my pictures, I edited one in both programs so that you could sorta get an idea of what they're like.  I didn't use anything "premium" on PicMonkey, just so you know.

The original

PicMonkey

Pixlr.  I didn't realize until now how washed-out it looks. :p

In general, I'd recommend PicMonkey for those who just want an editing program to make their photos look more professional (that is, basic editing), and Pixlr for those who just want to play around and have fun making things look cool.  One thing that I'm a bit disappointed about is that neither program seems to have layering or collage-making capabilities.  That was a bit of a bummer.  But my brother has an old version of photoshop that I'm going install and try to learn how to use, so hopefully I can supplement with that.

So.  Have you used either of these programs?  Which do you like best?  If I've inspired you to try one, tell me what you think, and - dare I say it - tell me if my review was accurate!  TELL ME EVERTHING. 

:)