Between Naps on the Porch: Edit Photos with Creative Kit at Google+, Picnik Alternative

Jan 24, 2012

Edit Photos with Creative Kit at Google+, Picnik Alternative

I was just reading my Facebook page and found some information you may find helpful if you are looking for an alternative to Picnik now that it's closing. Laurie with Tip Junkie shared that lots of the of the photo-editing features in Picnik can now be used in Google+ through its "Creative Kit."

Here are the directions for finding the Creative Kit on Google+:

Log into Google+ HERE
Click on the Photos button at the top
Click on "Your Albums" on the left
Click on any album on the right
Click on any photo to edit
Click on the specific photo you wish to edit
At the top you'll see some options like these shown below. Click on "Creative Kit" and you're all set.

Picnik will close on April 19th so you'll want to transfer or download your images stored there prior to that date.

You'll find 9 more photo editing sites (alternatives to Picnik) in THIS post.

Labels: Blogging, Blogging Tips, Photography, Tutorial

28 Comments:

At Tuesday, January 24, 2012 , Seawashed said...: I've never used Piknik, I use Picasa. They are different right?
At Tuesday, January 24, 2012 , Susan (Between Naps On The Porch.net) said...: Yes, they are different sites, although both Picnik and Picasa are owned by Google. I don't know if you have to join Google+ to use Creative Kit or if anyone can use it. I was able to access it but I had already joined Google+ a while back.
At Tuesday, January 24, 2012 , Light and Voices said...: I do use Piknik, thanks for the alternative instructions.
Joyce M
At Tuesday, January 24, 2012 , Susan (Between Naps On The Porch.net) said...: Joyce, just in case you missed it, here's a link to another post with 9 more photo editing sites you can use in place of Picnik: http://bit.ly/AgygrO
At Tuesday, January 24, 2012 , Tardevil said...: Kate at Centsational Girl did a big post on this today, too. Don't know whether you saw it or not.
At Tuesday, January 24, 2012 , Susan (Between Naps On The Porch.net) said...: Hi Penny, No, hadn't seen it. I just read about it on Facebook about 30 minutes ago. I follow Laurie (Tip Junkie) and she posted about it on her Facebook wall so that's how I found it. I tried it out and it did work...took me to my photo albums and to a page where I could edit them. All these neat features are sort of hidden away...hard to find sometimes.
At Tuesday, January 24, 2012 , Abramyan Avenue said...: I logged onto Picnik the other day and saw the message. Immediately I started looking at alternate options. I did see that it is part of Google+ but was hesitant about the sharing and circles thing. Do you know if every photo I edit will be available to anyone on Google+? That has been my main concern.
-april
At Tuesday, January 24, 2012 , Susan (Between Naps On The Porch.net) said...: April, I'm not exactly sure about that but I don't think so. I don't think anyone would want to use it if that was the case. In my setting in Picasa, I have selected to keep my photos private and not open to everyone. I noticed when I went into the Google+ to try out the Creative Kit, it accessed Picasa where all the pics used in my posts are stored, but it did show they are private and not open for viewing to everyone. So that's one reason why I don't think it will do that, but again, I'm not positive. Maybe you can just try one photo as a "test" and see if it become visible to folks. Test a few before you really begin using it. Hope that helps.
At Wednesday, January 25, 2012 , A Classy Flea said...: I don't see any way to move the edited pictures back to my harddrive, or any other place for that matter. Fun little app but it appears to be only in google programs.
At Wednesday, January 25, 2012 , Susan (Between Naps On The Porch.net) said...: Can you right click and select copy/paste? If not, try right clicking and chose "Open with." Then open it with another program on the list that pops up. I do that when I make a collage in Picasa. After I make the collage, I right click on the collage and choose "Open with." A list of options pop up...which are programs on my computer and I open it with Microsoft Picture Manager. Then when it opens up in Picture Manager, I usually right click on it and copy it from there and paste it wherever I wish on my computer. There may be an easier way, but that works for me.
At Wednesday, January 25, 2012 , OrganizingMadeFun said...: This wasn't here the other day was it? Cause when they announced the Picnik closing I check this out and it wasn't like this. Thanks...this looks VERY similar to Picnik, which is good. I agree with above comment about sharing. They seem to want me to share everything - and as a blogger, I need to "reveal" it in my post and not on Google+. Thanks!

Becky B.
www.organizingmadefun.com
Organizing Made Fun
At Wednesday, January 25, 2012 , Susan (Between Naps On The Porch.net) said...: Becky, I'm not sure because I just heard about it about two hours ago...so not sure how long that feature has been there. I know Google is catching a lot of flack for their decision, so maybe they are scrambling to offer an alternative as quickly as possible at Google+. I would imagine most folks are reluctant to continue using Picnik knowing they are just going to have to move those images in the end.
At Wednesday, January 25, 2012 , Abramyan Avenue said...: Sounds good. I was thinking about trying it out on some pet photos just to see what would happen. It seems like much of Google+ is open to everyone. That kind of weirded me out. I do know there are ways to block most of it. I'll probably give it a try on the weekend. Thank you for replying so quickly.
At Wednesday, January 25, 2012 , Dixie Redmond said...: A lot of the Picnik stuff is there, but I don't see the "frames" option, which is too bad. I use that one a LOT.
At Wednesday, January 25, 2012 , Gina said...: Dear Susan, Thank you for doing this great detective work pertaining to alternative photo editing sites. I love Picnik. It is so user friendly and has so many features that other programs don't have...at least not all in one place. I also have used Microsoft Picture editing and it will have to do for now but it does not have some of the features I need. I have tried alternative editing programs, those that are free and those that require a fee. They just don't measure up to Picnik
I would love for Google to make available a Picnik software program that one could purchase. I would be their first customer.
I could use Picasa and I could work with Google+ but I am not willing to share my photographs with the rest of the world. As it is photos are shared even when permission is not granted.
At Wednesday, January 25, 2012 , Lani Padilla said...: Thank you so much for sharing this. I spent quite a bit of time on Google+ the other night trying to figure out where the Creative Kit was. Now I know!
At Wednesday, January 25, 2012 , Victoria said...: Oh gosh, thank you so much for posting this! I just found out about Picnik when I logged in yesterday and was so bummed about it closing:( I follow blogs through Google but I don't do any "social networking" ie. Facebook or anything like that and have no desire to...I worry that it's going to put all my photo's out there like a social thing or something. I know when I see my son's Google account I can see his pics and people he's connected with. I've never used Google to socialize online and I don't want to!

I'm going to check it out this morning though but I sure will miss Picnik:( Thanks again for this post!
At Wednesday, January 25, 2012 , Unknown said...: Can't wait to try it! Thanks for posting.
At Wednesday, January 25, 2012 , Pamela Gordon said...: I am wondering that if our pictures are on Picassa and Picnik was only a 'feature' of Picassa that our photos will still be there stored in Picassa. I have so many questions about this and I thank you for your research and help Susan! Pamela
At Wednesday, January 25, 2012 , Unknown said...: I have gone and looked at all the alternatives in the last few days. The Creative Suite appears to be just like Piknik, but it falls WAY short. No collaging, not much there. I am so bummed.
At Wednesday, January 25, 2012 , Heaven's Walk said...: Thank you so much for this inside scoop, Susan. Can you tell me that if I plan on using an editor like Fotoflexer, and I've saved all of my past Picnik-edited photos to my Photos File on my own computer....would I even need to join Google+? It just sounds a little to "social" for my taste. I rarely use Facebook as it is and really only share my blog posts there - nothing else. (There are too many other interesting blogs/crafts/projects I enjoy learning about instead of "chatting" endless hours with everyone on FB.) Thanks!

xoxo laurie
At Wednesday, January 25, 2012 , Susan (Between Naps On The Porch.net) said...: Laurie, I know exactly what you mean. Not enough hours in the day, are there? No, if you've got your pics on your computer (like I do, too) you can use any photo editing site you like. All the sites I referenced in the post where I listed 9 photos editing sites, will let you upload the pic from your computer to edit it, so you should be able to use any of them.
At Wednesday, January 25, 2012 , Susan (Between Naps On The Porch.net) said...: Lesley, I bet they will beef it up eventually. I'm wondering if they just added that to Google+ now because of all the flack they are getting from folks about Picnik going away. They may have plans to add more features to it, but that's just a guess.
At Wednesday, January 25, 2012 , Susan (Between Naps On The Porch.net) said...: Pam, I don't think Picnik was just a feature of Picasa. I could be wrong but I think it was a separate site altogether, although they are both owned by Google.
At Thursday, January 26, 2012 , Passionate for White said...: Thanks for the info...I'm headed there now to check it out.
At Thursday, January 26, 2012 , Heaven's Walk said...: Hey Susan - Thanks so much for the reply! I appreciate your help! Could I ask you one more question? Did I just do a dumb thing and download all of the photos that I have had edited on Picnik to my computer when I really didn't have to??? I just got thinking about that....I must have a double set of all my pics on my computer now? Duh.....I should probably just not even bother to unzip them and just delete them....? Would love to know what you think. Thanks, Susan!!!!!

xoxo laurie
At Thursday, January 26, 2012 , Life on the Edge said...: Thank you! I only JUST started using Picnik, and then find that they are shutting down. I was wondering where I could go for photo editing!
At Wednesday, February 22, 2012 , Jenn said...: Hi Susan,

I just wanted to give you a heads up about PicMonkey, a brand new photo editing website created by ex-Picnikers! It's not live yet, but will be very soon! PicMonkey will have all the familiar bells and whistles that you're accustomed to with Picnik but with lots of new charm. Sign up at www.PicMonkey.com and we'll keep you updated on our progress. Also, please feel free to send me an email with any questions or feature requests, I'd love to hear from you!

Happy blogging!

Jenn

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Jan 24, 2012

Edit Photos with Creative Kit at Google+, Picnik Alternative

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