The Evolution Of Web-Based Photo-Editing

Seattle-based Picnik is a recent addition to the Google start-up acquisition stable. Thinking about Picnik, I realized that I had only a hazy idea of how online (web-based) photo editing evolved. I’ve been using Photoshop since it was something like v2 (eons ago, in Internet time), so it’s not surprising that I was a relatively late adopter of online editing tools.

Web-based photo editors highlighted:

• Aviary
• flauntR
• FotoFlexer
• Photoshop Express
• Picnik
• Picture2Life
• Pixlr
• Pixoh
• Preloadr
• Slashup (was Fauxto)
• SumoPaint
• Zorpia

In the tradition of blogging, this is a reverse chronological list. Please shout (in comments) if I’ve missed a key milestone or tool!

1 March 2010

Google acquires Picnik.

12 February 2010

Aviary’s image editor goes free for all (Lifehacker).

07 July 2009

Lifehacker names Aviary the best online image editor.

15 August 2008

SumoPaint launches (pdf).

15 July 2008

First blog post at Pixlr.

28 March 2008

The Christian Science Monitor reports that Adobe has launched an online (free, Flash-based) version of Photoshop called Photoshop Express.

25 March 2008

OpenSocial Foundation launch with Yahoo, Google, MySpace means applications like Picnik can work across social networks (ArsTechnica).

27 February 2008

Picnik becomes free for all (Mashable). Picnik announcement.

15 February 2008

FotoFlexer goes free for all (cNet).

04 December 2007

Flickr and Picnik integration rolled out (Mashable).

16 November 2007

Picnik is one of a handful of web apps (but the only photo editor) that integrate with cloud storage service Box.net (ZD).

30 July 2007

First blog post at flauntR.

10 January 2007

Bitnik launches company blog; product is Picnik. Mashable review: 31 January 2007.

19 December 2006

Mashable review of Fauxto, now Splashup.

18 July 2006

From cNet: A new, free, AJAX-y photo-editing package called Preloadr adds photo-editing capabilities into the Flickr photo-sharing site. Mashable review: 14 July 2006.

23 June 2006

Mashable review of Picture2Life. Earliest blog post at site: 06 March 2007.

18 May 2006

Zorpia launches web-based (Flash) photo-editor.

10 April 2006

Phixr.com launches.

06 March 2006

Mashable reviews Pixoh.

These online editors have their roots in standalone software applications like Adobe’s Photoshop, Corel’s PaintShop Photo, Corel’s Ulead PhotoImpact, Google’s Picassa, and, of course, Gimp. I have not included Glide (operating system as a service – see InfoWeek from 2007).

Next up: iPhone photo editing tools.