BP4 - Picnik

This week I worked with a program called picnik. This tool allows you to easily edit your photos and save them directly to your computer.  While most of the editing tools are free, some of the more advanced tools are list as premium and you must upgrade to a paid membership.  The cost is minimal, but the free tools are enough for any novice.This is a shot of my original picture, which was taken by a firefighter, seen here to the right, on the ladder of his fire engine.

Original

The first tab of tools, called basic edits, includes cropping, rotating, exposure and color settings and the ability to resize the photo.  I opted to crop the photo to eliminate the pile of back packs and dirt patches.  I also saturated the colors for a bolder look. 

The second tab of tools is named featured.  This tab has a list of featured options, which mostly were directed to Halloween themes because of the season.  I did not use any of these tools for this edit.                                                                                                                                                                 The third tab, labeled effects, lists all of the different ways to customize your photo.  There are many color options, pixelation, focal points and plenty of others.  A few examples are shown in the photo seen here.  I chose the focal point tool which led me to the next screen shot of my progress.  You can see that i set the focal point on the kids and staff making the flag.

The fourth tab allows you to add text to your photo.  They have many fonts and styles to choose from.  I added two text features to my photo.  The first was a title that I set to the right of the photo.  The second was my business name, martin productions, that I put in the bottom right hand corner.

The fourth tab, stickers, allows you to add pre made graphics from different categories.  I opted not to use any stickers for my photo for two reasons. 1. They were mostly childish.  2. I didn't think that this photo would benefit from one.  

The fifth tab, touch-ups, had a few tools for enhancement, like red eye reduction.  Most of these tools were only available in the premium package and I did not need any of them for my photo.

The sixth tab, frames, lets you add frames or change the edges of your picture.  I opted for a red and blue frame to go with the flag theme of the photo.

The seventh tab, advanced, housed five specific tools, none of with were offered in the free version.  These tools included cloning, dodging, burning, paint options and a levels option to alter your colors.

The last tab, titled seasonal, let you pick from a variety of overlays. I found one under the Fourth of July section that I felt would add impact to the picture.  This allowed me to overlay a flag on my photo and then decide the percentage of fade to use.  This was my last step before saving the newly edited picture to my computer.  This is my finished product.

I enjoyed working with this program.  The fact that most functions are free and that the interface is easy to use made this tool more appealing.  The kids will enjoy this at school and I believe it may be basic enough for my mom to learn. Let the fun begin!