As fashion bloggers, photos are often the main (sometimes only) feature of our posts. While a simple picture may suffice most of the time, sometimes it’s more fun to dress it up!
Photo editors like the ubiquitous industry standard Photoshop and its open source cousin The Gimp definitely have a place when it comes to creating sophisticated layouts, but browser-based image editors make it fast and easy to create and upload customized pictures at any computer, no downloads or installation necessary.
Here are three that get the job done:
Picnik has a simple interface and should be easy to use for inexperienced folks. Even so, I was impressed with the neat fonts and shapes (called stickers). Your images are easily retrieved from and saved to your flickr, Photobucket, Facebook, or MySpace account, making it convenient for sharing. On the downside, the neat “premium” effects are only available for a fee, and there’s no way to combine images.
With FotoFlexer, you can edit photos from and save to almost any online photo storage account (flickr, photobucket, FB, myspace, etc.) out there, which makes it very easy to share finished creations. In addition, it is available in seven different languages! Some of the more useful options include layers, “smart” scissor and cutout functions, and the ability to apply simple effects with one click. Make sure you have a fast connection, though–it took a while to load.
If you’re familiar with Photoshop and it’s ilk, pixlr will seem very familiar. It has a similar interface and many of the same shortcuts and layer styles. There is also a convenient Firefox add-on that will allow you to quickly open images from your computer or online. Most impressively, the application imports fonts from your computer, so you have access to all of your favorite typefaces! Less impressively, your finished image has to be saved to your computer, which means you’ll have to manually upload it for online use.
Note: all of these applications are Flash-based and are best for editing images that will be viewed online, not in print.
What’s your favorite?
I like all of them , the third one is more like photoshop .The features are all the same. I have been looking for the longest time for a place online where I can do collage for my blog.I am not too creative thats why I need more user friendly tools. IF anyone know any please let me know at Ciaafrique@gmail.com
Thank you for this great post
thanks for this info very helpful. i'd love to make more collages too. i use polivore (sp).
thanks!
india