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Aviary: Powerful Online Tools For Artists

There are a number of desktop tools for designers and artists but it seems an online version of those tools is something that is lacking. From a photo editing perspective picnik and Adobe Photoshop Express offer easy to use tools for editing images. But they are fairly simple tools and do not offer vector image creation or editing. Aviary is looking to change this by offering a number of tools for  the creative to do everything including image editing, typography, music and video. Aviary is a website for artists of all genres to create, edit and share their works directly in their favorite browser. This collaboration is something that similar desktop applications do not offer.

flauntR: An Online Photo Editing Alternative

I use Flickr just about everyday to store and manage my photos. I was happy to see Flickr add photo editing tools by integrating with online photo editing software, Picnik. On thing irks me about the integration though is the fact that as a Flickr premium user I still DO NOT have full access to all of Picnik's offerings from within Flickr itself. I really feel that as part of the partnership and integration Flickr should have reconciled which users are premium Flickr users and done a revenue share to enable them full access to Picnik. That said, I have been on the lookout for an comparable alternative to Picnik for more sophisticated photo edits and updates to save me the hassle of firing up Adobe Photoshop. I recently found flauntR, a free online photo editing site create by India-based DeviceDriven, which offers a number of similar photo editing features.

Picnik Launches Development API

Picnik, the solid suite of photo editing tools, has just announced the release of "Picnik-in-a-Box," its  development API. Now any web site can integrate with Picnik free for charge. According to Picnik, the new Picnik-in-a-Box API should enable anyone with knowledge of HTML or server-side scripting to quickly integrate photo editing int0 their website with some custom design aspects.

Personally, I find myself leveraging Picnik more and more these days as its tools have been integrated into Flickr. Picnik has also integrated with Box.net and Webs (formerly Freewebs). If you are interested obtain a software key which gives them instant, free access to the Picnik API.