iPiccy Photo Editing

iPiccy.com is a free, completely web-based photo editing and sharing application to give users everywhere the ability to quickly and easily edit, enhance and share their photos from any Internet browser. There are other web based editors like Photoshop Express, Ribbet, and Citrify but iPiccy's is a new entry that is a strong competitor to these services. iPiccy provides new, easy-to-use tools for modifying pictures, using advanced image processing.

iPiccy offers a clear and easy interface allowing users to pull images from any Web site or file folder on their computer. iPiccy includes an extensive variety of easy Web-based photo-editing tools such as Auto-fix, Rotate, Crop, Resize and Color adjustment and Sharpen which you have come to expect in any photo editor. But in addition, iPiccy can also be used to turn photos into creative masterpieces, with clever special effects like liquify, painter, vignette, pencils, and many more. Some of these are features you would have to upgrade to premium service with other online photo editors. Like Photoshop, it even has an advanced photo painter that works with levels for the most complex types of photo editing.

On larger images (really larger image sizes than you need - but ones that many new cameras will create) the updating/rendering is slow and will hog your computer's memor - but so far that is my only big criticism of this up and coming photo editor. Well that and I have not found a great use for the retro comic effect but that is probably just my taste - not a flaw.

An alternative to iPiccy is Ribbet which is built on the same platform that made Google's Picnik great and is an easy to use yet powerful online photo editor. You can use Ribbet for collages, touch-ups and advanced photographic effects like curves and clone tools, fonts, frames, stickers, vampire effects, beards, and an entire pond full (yes, get ready to deal with some froggy puns) of effects. Like Picnik, there will be a free and a premium version.

Another alternative is Pizap which is a fun free photo editor that lets people easily create wacky images with their digital pictures. PiZap was created as a tool primarily for social networking users who want to post their images to their favorite social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, Hi5, Orkut, Friendster, Bebo, miGente, Windows Live Spaces, Blogger, Tagged, and many more. PiZap provides a very easy to use photo editor that lets you add photo effects, custom text or speech bubbles, hundreds of original colorful stickers, a full painting program, and much more.

Photoshop Express is a web based and free version of Photoshop. Photoshop is the name of a brand though some people think it is a generic term for photo editing.

Sure it's a less featured version of the expensive Photoshop software. That said you won't miss many of the exotic features as this tool is targeted at mainstream consumers, not professionals. Photoshop Express is a free - all it requires is an easy registration.

PicMonkey, a creation of several former Google engineers offers a simple and easy to use tool for editing and altering your images. The entirely Web-based editor is fast and effective, and among the cleanest interface (PicMonkey and Ribbet will be fighting for that title) for a photo editor (Web or desktop) that I've come across. In the left-hand column you see all of your options. And that includes everything from basics likes cropping and rotating to a full array of air-brushing edits. You can add icons and text and throw a frame around a photo. Basic edits consist of crop, resize, rotate, as well as color tweaking and sharpening.

It's not like the world needs one more photo editor, but if one is going to be built at least make it a good one. Citrify is a great addition. The best feature is the ease of touching up photos. I took the above photo on the left (a Citrify default photo) and enhanced it to the image on the right in the first 4 minutes of using Citrify. No training. No research. I just uploaded the photo and used the out-of-the-box touch-up tools. Citrify does not have all the features of other photo editors - but for facial touchups with almost no training Citrify is awesome!

Want to change facial expressions in photos of people with just one click, or even create funny animations? Cartoon Photo! makes this possible! This online service works in fully automatic mode: you just upload a photo from your computer or from the internet by entering its URL, choose an emotion from the list (joy, sadness, surprise, etc.) and get a funniest gif animation, or a static caricature. The service automatically detects the face in your photo and also lets you adjust animation speed and picture size.

I love editing photos, but when you have the photos say from a wedding, a reunion or a graduation you might want a professional touch. Tucia can add a person into a family portrait or remove an unwanted stranger from your photo (or maybe remove a few excess pounds as in this example). They can digitally open up closed eyes or fix hair. This service is a commercial service - but it offers great quality at reasonable prices. Tucia editors can also offer glamorize and digital cosmetic enhancement options - get a tan, clear acne or remove braces. Simple touch-ups such as digital camera mark or red eye removal and cropping are also available.

BeFunky Photo Effects allow everyday people to easily create photographically rich and artistic results from their digital images without the need for any technical knowledge. BeFunky is a quick and simple tool for transforming digital photos into instant art work or digital comics. BeFunky offers an extensive range of effects, speech bubbles, accessories, graphics and lot's of objects that you can add to your pictures. These "one-click" photo effect options produce desired results effortlessly and each effect comes with the option to make simple adjustments. BeFunky makes it easy to get photos from your favorite web sites. Apply special photo effects and save back to your account -- Facebook, MySpace, Flikr, Bebo, Hi5 and Friendster.

There are hundreds of iPhone applications available for photo editing and sharing. Check old OldBooth, Photogene, Best Camera App, Comicify, TiltShift, Night Camera and many more iPhone Applications! Apple has also finally released the iPhoto application for the iPhone - on the Macintosh this has been a perennial hit! There are also great utility applications like Wi-Fi PhotoTransfer and Treehouse to help move your photos to other devices and services.

You don't need to be an expert to play with your photos, so it's time for some good fun Pictures4fun provides new original effects every day. Choose an effect from one of their categories

• Photo Fun,
• Magazine Covers
• Picture Frames

and upload your own photo. After resizing your photo you can download the fun photo to your hard disk or use it as an avatar.

I order a lot of photo gifts and coupons for Shutterfly and Snapfish can help you save a ton of money. Once you get on their mailing list you can get these coupons for yourself - but till then eBay is a great source for coupon deals.