There's always a reason you might want to edit some of your images. Maybe you want to create a watermark or crop something out, make something a bit more fancy or all sorts of things.
In my How to Make a Blog Button post (and How to Make and Install a Favicon), Picnik was the tool I used to create an image. Unfortunately, Picnik is going away (I know, it's very sad).
But Pixlr, and particularly Pixlr Express, is good alternate image editing tool and it's very simple to use.
You'll want to experiment with it, but here's a basic tutorial.
Can't see the video? Watch it here.
Collages and more…
Update: Want to make collages? I created another tutorial using iPiccy for collages: How to Make a Photo Collage.
(If you use Picasa, you might also be interested in How to Make Photo Collages with Picasa at skiptomylou.com.)
Yet another alternative is PicMonkey which looks promising as well (with a collage feature to come soon).
Another tool that's similar to Picnik is BeFunky. (Hat tip to Hill Country Homebody who mentioned it in our Facebook discussion!)
I love how you imbed links to other articles when you post. Today I meandered over to creating a blog button and while there had an 'ah ha' moment when I read about 'smart quotes'. Now I GET why I'm having some trouble with things not showing up right in my widgets!
Thanks for another informative morning!
You're welcome!
Thank you for this post, I am very anxious to go check it out. I have had the paid version of Picnik for a while now because I do all my childrens', nieces and nephews portraits. Since I heard about Picnik closing I am trying to learn Gimp because I have a nephew turning 1 in March and a niece turning 15 in June who will both need pictures made. Since I really seem to need WYSIWYG type sites to work with I think this may be perfect for me.
I've really been enjoying Pixlr. It's pretty simple and easy to use (especially if you are familiar with photo editing software). I love that I can open it quickly in my browser. Just remember to save often since in case your browser should crash! I lost some work once because it locked up on me.
Yes, great tip. Thanks, Kristin!
Looks good, and is easy-I just can't get the photo to save?
Really? Hmmm…maybe try another browswer??
Thanks, Amy! I'm sure I'll be referring to this soon and will pass it along to others who are also grieving the loss of their beloved picnik.
Is there a way to change the font size using Pixlr?
The way to change the font size is to move the little anchors that you see around your text.
It pops up to save…the save as bar is blank though, and I don't know how to save otherwise. I tried several times.
Thanks for the heads up on Picnik! I passed it on to my sister-in-law who just discovered it…Totally off topic, but I'm taking the plunge with Genesis! My head was spinning trying to decide on which theme, but I'm just going to dive in! I can change it later if I need to. Thanks again for all this wonderful information and hand holding
That's my standard operating procedure…just dive right in!
Wow. I just spent an absurd amount of time feeling incompetent, only to fix all my problems by updating Genesis. I just assumed when I purchased it today that I downloaded the most current version
I hate code. But I like my theme much better now than twentyeleven. Yaaay. Maybe a fresh perspective tomorrow will help me make sense of it all 
Thanks again for all your insight and wisdom!
A good night's rest always makes things a lot better!
Great information Amy. I set up my Button with Picnik although somehow it didn't turn out to be the right size. So I put it on the backburner. I'm glad you've reminded me so I can go and edit it now and hopefully get it posted before it's too late. Otherwise now I have an alternative thanks to you.
I'm going to check out BeFunky. My problem is that Pixlr looks so much like Photoshop and Photoshop freaks me out. The feature I loved most in Picnik is the collages- they made it easy for me to condense photos in a post so that they aren't so photo-heavy. So far I have yet to find an app that allows for collages along with all the other features. I have found a few that are very good in other areas, but lacking in collages, or vice versa. I'm so mad at Google!
I think someone else asked me about collages, so let me know if you find a good tool for that!
I just played with pixlr some and I love it. I was so sad to see that picnik was leaving as I had just figured it all out. thanks for sharing! I'm excited to play with it some!
Hi Amy! If anyone figures out how to make collages, please email me with that information! I used Picnik too and I am very upset that it will all be over soon. I used the collage aspect of Picnik all the time to make blog buttons, banners, and headers for both my blog and website. I have just tried Pixl today and it will work for photo editing, cropping & adding text and great borders, but I still need something to make collages for all of my buttons!
I'll miss Picnik really, really, really bad! Excuse the pun, but with Picnik, my life was picture-perfect!
I was pretty sad the whole day when I saw "that" message from Picnik. Anyways..life has to go on!
Thanks for the Pixlr tutorial Amy….like Valerie has pointed out, except for the lack of collage, which i tend to use every day….i am reasonably sold on Pixlr Express.
Keep us updated if there's anything out there to bridge the gap!
Which screen capture service do you use?
I just blogged about 8 free alternatives to Picnik and so far, Pixlr is everyone's favorite!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! I was getting unreasonably stressed and ancy about losing Picnik…I mean, seriously I've had to calm myself down about tweeting mean things to google about how inconvenient this is for the average blogger to lose our easy & cheap photo editing lifeline! I'm having a strong reaction to say the least! =)
Anyway, I just went through BeFunky & signed up for the year, the format is so similar to Picnik and I'm so glad…I need easy & quick! The last few days I've been stressing about Adobe photshop elements 10 (I downloaded the trial version and it's beyond confusing) & unfortunately last night I dropped $30 on the Mac app "pixelmator," & another $3 on the Mac app, "Collage Maker." I wish I'd just come to your blog first! (Although I don't see that BeFunky does collages which was one of the things I used all the time in Picnik, so that bites.
anyway, thanks!!!!!
Thanks for sharing. I was wondering what I would do when Picnik was gone. I don't like Fotoflexer.
You're welcome, Michelle. Glad it was helpful!
I've been using http://www.plixr.com to create the images for my site. Unfortunately, I just realized that when I save the image as a .PNG the text in the image becomes pixalated. Any suggestions on a free tool that keeps the text "smooth?"
Thanks!
Thank you so much! When I found out that Piknic was going away I was so sad and have been trying to figure out since what I was going to use that didn't cost me. I'm so glad I found this post. Thanks again!
I really appreciate your video tutorials. The tip about making a watermark in Pixlr is fantastic! The last time I tried to watermark photos I spent hours and wasn't successful. The experience obviously scarred me, because I haven't even tried it again in 2 years.
So this was more than helpful — it was therapeutic! Thanks, Amy.
Hi. I use Picnik to create Subway Art. Does Pixlr have images/clip art that you can use to create with text and save as a PDF? I could not figure out if/how it was possible. I am going to check out Be Funky, it may meet my needs. I just don't have the time or honestly, motivation, to learn PhotoShop. So disappointed Picnik is closing too. Ugh! Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks!
Oops, I meant save as a JPEG.
Hmmm…not sure about that. BeFunky might be a better bet.
I stumbled on this page which looks like they are building a Picnik clone or alternative launching in April: http://www.picnikalternative.com
Thanks for the heads-up, Anthony. Will check it out…
Yes, thanks Anthony! I just emailed them to ask if they had a mailing list or if they might consider a Pinterest board or Facebook Page so that we could be notified about their opening. (I don't know about anyone else, but I have a tendency to forget what I have bookmarked!)
Anyway, if others write to them and express an interest in being on their notification list, if they don't have something already set up, maybe they would consider it!
I'll try to come back and let you know what they said.
It paid off to write them, they just opened a Facebook page to keep us informed! Here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Picnik-Alternative/216912495072867?sk=wall
I have been using both picmonkey and pixlr and really like both of them. But if I need to create a collage I use picasa
Blogging With Amy to the rescue! It's almost midnight on the 18th (the night before the horrible predicted closing of picnic) and I just knew you would save me with a great recommendation. Thanks so much Amy!
My teen daughter and I are really like Picmonkey! Thanks!
Now that picmonkey has the collage feature, will you do a post on how to use the collage feature?
Hi Sonja, as of today, the PicMonkey website still says the collage feature is "coming soon," but did you see my post about the collage feature in iPiccy?
Hey , you might wanna take a look on http://www.fotoflexer.com its simple and easy , I am sure you are going to like it
I just found you via a google search. This is very helpful! I have been trying to find out how to make a watermark on my photos, create a blog button, and change my flavicon with WordPress. Your site is extremely helpful. I have added you to my favorites and will use your site whenever I need help modifying my blog. Thank you!
You're a lifesaver, Amy! I am at a lost with all these technical stuffs but I appreciate you taking the time out to go through it. I will check this again and holler at you once I've made my own
I use both Pic Monkey and Be Funky and love them!
BeFunky wouldn't let me upload a pic. I managed to make what I want on PicMonkey, but it won't let me save the image.