Graphics+Activity+3

and Another difference here was the "Animation" category. There were a ton of options to "animate" the picture including making the picture "sparkle," creating a snowstorm, rain, fire, "groovy" colors and animation, etc. One of my favorites was the "reflecting water," but I didn't want to make my kids look like they were sinking to the bottom of the lake in their wagon, so I took it out. ||
 * Graphics Activity 3 - Online Photo Editor Comparison: Picnik vs. LunaPic**
 * Original Image (Below): This is a picture that I took of my kids last Halloween. **
 * Image modifications using Picnik (Below) **
 * Image modifications using LunaPic (Below) **
 * **Criteria** || **Picnik** || **LunaPic** ||
 * **Tool selection**
 * Effects** || There's a lot to choose from in a user-friendly format. The "Edit" tab allows basic photo editing - what I'm used to - such as, auto-fix, rotate, crop, resize, exposure, colors, sharpen, and red-eye. The next tab, "Create," was a lot of fun. You could add different effects. (For my photo, I softened the picture, but sharpened the faces and then added the vignette frame.) There were many more effects to choose from, including those that had to do with the camera, ("1960's," "night-vision," etc.), colors, area, artistic, and miscellaneous effects. I can't wait to try some others. There is an add text feature with some great choices of font - some really fresh ones that I felt like I hadn't seen before. I used the "stickers" feature to add a crown on my daughter's head. The touch-up feature wasn't particularly useful, as you had to buy the "premium" membership to use most of them. I added a "frame" to the image to make it look "finished." || Just like Picnik, there was a lot to choose from. There were some really cool and different options here. From Andy Warhol, to Obama political posters, to the Lego effect, there were definitely things here that seemed fresh and new. I got a lot of ideas for our family art in the house. I don't think the options here are any "better" than what Picnik offers, but they are different, which made playing with the program a lot of fun.
 * **Interface** || This was very user friendly. I felt like I could proceed through in suggested steps that encouraged more and more creativity. It made the task more of an "art project." I felt like a genius at times! || Though I prefer the interface of Picnik, I thought this was easy to use. I did get a little frustrated with the fact that you had to float the mouse over the options across the top for "File," "Edit," "Draw," "Adjust," etc to bring up the options. It seemed clumsy to me. Often, I would lose the menu and have to try to pick my effect again. There were also so many options that some of them got lost on the bottom of my screen. However, it was easy to try things and undo them. I played with most of the features before committing to my final adjustments. ||
 * **Speed** || Nothing seemed slow to me except for some of the frames I played with. It took time for some of the more decorative frames to load, but other than that, things were very quick and easy. || This seemed a bit slower that Picnik. Each change took a few seconds, but the undo feature worked pretty quickly. ||
 * **Export** || Wow - there are a ton of ways to export your photos: save to computer (with a choice of format and suggested uses for each format), email, fickr slideshow, conventional printing, exporting to a website, picasa albums, twitter, facebook, myspace, and photobucket. What I appreciated most about the save to computer option (after having worked with images) is that it tells you the dimensions file size. Like Gimp, it also "locks" the dimensions - make a change to one, and it updates what the other dimension should be. That's heaven for an English teacher! || Again, lots of options - Facebook, Photobucket, Flickr, Picasa, MySpace, or simply download to computer. It was easy to do, and seemed to work pretty quickly. ||
 * **Flash/HTML** || Flash (Also mentions Flex as open source - what is that?) || HTML ||
 * **Max. file size** || Couldn't really tell (I would guess it would be about the same - 2 Mb) || 2.0 Mb ||
 * **Cost** || It was free for everything I did here. I didn't even have to sign up or come up with and remember a new password. The free membership allows you to upload five photos at a time.

You can join for roughly $2 a month, which seems reasonable if you enjoy photo editing. This membership allows you to upload 100 photos at a time. || Like Picnik, it was free for everything I did here. I didn't even have to sign up or come up with and remember a new password. || Overall, I had a great time exploring and playing with the features that both of these had to offer. If I had to pick one of the two, **I'd go with Picnik**. I thought the interface was pleasant, fun, and easy to use. I called my mother (she's not very tech-savvy) and told her to check out Picnik. She loves it! This summer, I spent a lot of money **on //Creative Memories// software**. I didn't get a lot of time to play with it before starting school, but playing with these editors makes me wonder if I made a mistake by purchasing this software. It does safely archive my photos, but the features that I think are included in that software were offered in some way in both of these programs plus some. Don't tell my husband! He'll have a fit if he knew I "threw away" so much money. Yeesh! So what does all this mean for my **professional setting**? I think there's great possibility for school PR - for sleek and clean documents and presentations. Additionally, students could easily use these programs for their own projects and presentations that involve using images and graphics. The user-friendly nature of both makes me think that they would really enjoy them. I am also positive that on my way through the EDET program, I will get the chance to manipulate images using these programs. Now, I am beginning to feel much more comfortable doing it.
 * **Layers** || The program says that layering is an option: "layer photos together to create one-of-a-kind photo compositions" ([] Premium Tour). However, it looks like this is a feature you have to pay the "premium" fee to use. || I don't think so, but I am so new at this, maybe I missed it. From what I could find, I don't think you can use any layering in this program. You can make collages using different effects, but I don't think you can layer images. ||
 * **Killer feature** || I have to pick just one? There were so many fun things to do and experiment with. The most convenient thing is the preview each option offers before you even apply it to the photo. There is a frog picture that shows what the effect will look like before you even choose it. That makes things very convenient. || Because I had not seen them in Picnik, I'd have to say that the killer feature(s) here were all the different animations. They were fun to experiment with. And after my maiden voyage with Gimp, I have a whole new appreciation for the people who create these features. ||
 * Using them elsewhere**? I absolutely love photographing my kids. What parent doesn't? I have big plans for some of my favorite shots of the kids, including super-easy Christmas presents for the grandparents!