I received an email this morning, announcing Picnik was closing. My heart stopped! That’s my favorite, quick, photo editing program. I know lots of people who use it. I’ve introduced lots of people to it who have taken a shine to it.

After taking a deep breath to calm down, I read the announcement . At first it looked as if they were going to be merging with Google+ – which they still might, that’s unclear. But for now, everyone can use Picnik and all it’s premium features for free, up until it closes on April 19th. I’d recommend planning ahead, create as many images for your stockpile as you can in the event a similar option doesn’t present itself right away.

Ironically that happens to be my dad’s birthday which seems to be a magnet for tragic events and bad news – Waco, Oklahoma City, a close friends death. Granted, Picnik closing isn’t nearly as tragic, but still, I feel like I’m losing a very good friend :(

Once Picnik is gone, what options will we have? What image editing programs do you use?

—————-

Since joining Google in 2010, we have been creating editing magic in Google products while continuing to keep Picnik awesome. But now we get to focus on even awesomer things. Picnik will be closing on April 19, 2012.

Your photos liberated
Amazing photos are created in Picnik, so we have launched a new feature, Picnik Takeout, that easily downloads your photos to your desktop in convenient zip files. You may also elect to copy your photos to Google+ where you can store and share your creations. You may request your photos at any time and use this handy tool as many times as you like until our closing date of April 19, 2012. Learn more.

Premium Refunds
To our primo Picnik Premium members, we’ll begin processing a full refund of your current membership fee within a week of this announcement. By “in full” we mean the whole darn thing. Yep, this means even if you are on your very last day of an annual membership, we will refund you the entire $24.95. Just because we want to say thanks.

Now the Good News – Free Premium for ALL!
To express our gratitude for your support over the past 5 years, Picnik Premium is free for everyone! Use Picnik in all of its premium glory, for free, from now until our actual closing day. Touch-up, Textures, Advanced, and more are all free for you to use!

We have been incredibly proud of building a product that is used and beloved by so many of you. We continue to be amazed and humbled by the photos you create and we are immensely grateful for all of your support, creativity, and passion.

We are excited by the photo-editing fun we have already brought to Google products, like Google+, where you can find many of your favorite Picnik effects in Creative Kit. We encourage you to visit Google+ and give it a whirl.

Please visit the Help Hub for more information on our wind down, and check the Picnik blog for updated information on our April closure.

It’s been awesome,
Team Picnik

—————-

Again, what options do we have? What editing programs do you use? Suggestions?

I found one that may be a nice Picnik alternative – FotoFlexer – check it out and see what you think.

Tagged with: • • • •

Filed under: Industry News

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!