Picmonkey Photo Editor

Picmonkey is an easy to use photo editor that should be in your blogging toolbox.

Adding visual interest to your website has never been more important.

Picmonkey gives you the ability to touch up your photos, add text overlays, and make collages for your website.

Why You Need Pictures

If you have a website you need photos. Period.

When I first started blogging – everything was text (those were the days!).

Then people started adding photos to their websites. They would just slap up a picture and call it a day.

Today we have Pinterest and Facebook and Twitter. (those are links to my profiles, btw – I would love it if you would give me a follow!)

Not only do you need pictures – but you need to add text to your pictures.

If someone shares your picture on Pinterest, for example, people that see it want to know what your article is all about.

So, You are Not A Blogger?

At the risk of sounding callous – who cares?

If you are a business owner and you have a website, you better have some good pictures.

A Quick Tour of Picmonkey

What Do You Want to Create

When you first land on Picmonkey you have a choice editing or touching up a photo, creating a design from scratch or making a collage.

Usually, I choose to design a project from scratch.

On the left hand side of your window you will see a column of gray icons – these are your top level menu options.

In the second column to your left are larger, colorful, rectangular buttons. These are the options available under each top level menu item.

Basic Edits

The first gray menu item looks like 3 lines with dots on them – these are your Basic Edits.

Here you can crop your design, choose your canvas color (and even select a transparent canvas), rotate your image, adjust your exposure settings, and resize your image.

Effects

The next menu item is an icon that looks like a magic wand – these are your effects.

Picmonkey has a bunch (too many to mention) of preset effects that you can apply to your photo.

It is really fun to play around in this section.

You can make a photo black and white, blur the edges, remove all color but keep color on one element only,  add bokeh or flare, and much more.

Touch Up

The next option in the Picmonkey menu is called Touch Up.

Mostly you would think to use these options with photos of people – but you can use them on pictures of objects as well.

Here you can add eyeliner, whiten teeth, and even “Nip Touch” without ever visiting the plastic surgeon. 😉

I have removed years from some of my own photos – if only I could walk around that way.

For photos of objects you can use these options to remove something unwanted from the background or draw lines etc.

Text

As you can see, I use the Text menu item in Picmonkey quite a bit.

Picmonkey allows you to choose from one of their own fonts or pick a font that you already have on your computer.

Adding text to your photos is important. People can then look at your pictures and know right away what your article is all about.

Text also adds a branding element.

If you use the same fonts consistently, people will begin to recognize your brand as they see your images on different social platforms.

Overlays

The butterfly icon in your menu is one of the most fun things about Picmonkey.

The range is from your standard geometric shapes to things like Stars and Stripes, and Leaves, Hearts, and Pumpkins.

You can also upload your own images on this tab.

When you see images with text that have a colored background behind the text – usually this is accomplished with an overlay.

Frames

The Frames menu option is pretty self explanatory.

Here you can add a border around your project or photo.

Picmonkey also gives you the option to do a shape cutout as well.

Textures

The second to last item looks like a piece of mesh. This option allows you to add textures to your finished product.

Make your image look like paper or brick or fabric.

Whichever one you choose, a little texture adds some visual interest.

Themes

The last menu item is called Themes.

Here Picmonkey has created subsets of the features found in the other menu items and each each one of these subsets center around a theme.

Examples are “Trick or Treat” for Halloween, Santa Land for Christmas, and School U for back to school.

Easy To Use

If you are an advanced graphics user then you may want some of the things that a full featured program like Adobe Photoshop offers.

However if you are an average blogger like me, Picmonkey is more than enough.

I find it really easy to use and it has a ton of options.

How Much Does Picmonkey Cost?

If you are on a tight budget, Picmonkey is also your answer.

You can actually use it for free – it’s called the Basic plan.

However, throughout the menus, you will see some items that the image of a crown under them.

These option are only for paid Royale members.

I happen to use Royale for a few reasons:

• Reasonable cost – Royale is $39.96 per year. For me, that is a great price given how much I use it.
• No ads – again, I use it all the time, so it is nice to have no distractions
• Extra Features – Royale members can use all those fonts, effects, and overlays etc that have that crown on them
• Picmonkey Hub – This new Beta features allows Royale members to save your projects and edit them later

The good news is that there is a free Royale trial available if you want to give it a spin first.

If you are waffling between the Picmonkey free account or Royale – read this.

Do Your Photos Need an Upgrade?

Take a critical look at your own website. Do your photos need a refresh?

If so, give Picmonkey a try. Even if you have zero photo editing skills, Picmonkey makes it easy at an affordable price.

What Photo Editor Do You Use?

I know that there are a lot of options out there. What photo editor do you use to create images for your blog or website and for your social media accounts?

Let us know in the comments below.

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More Helpful Website Graphics Articles:

• How to Resize Images with Preview on a Mac
• The First Step to Taking Better Pictures