Last week we took a look at PicMonkey, a new online photo editing service that seeks to fill the gap that Picnik will be leaving when it goes offline on April 19th. Another new service, is iPiccy, also free and with many of the same tools that Picnik offered.

I started off the same way I did with PicMonkey by uploading a recent photo to edit. The first thing I notice is that iPiccy’s edit screen looks quite similar to Picnik’s!

 

The first edit I made was to select “Fix Image”:

 

 

I was very happy with the way the image was “fixed”. It lightened the shadows and brightened the photo without over saturating the colors.

Cookies don’t look appealing with the Orton Effect that I used on the flowers in PicMonkey, but the Bloom Effect makes them look soft and really pops the color of the M&Ms.

 

 

OK, maybe a little too soft, let’s adjust that bloom a bit shall we?

 

 

Much better! Then it was time to check out some the Effects from iPiccy. There are Orton, Bloom, Cross Process, etc., just like Picnik and PicMonkey but iPiccy has several Effects I’d not seen on the other two services. Like a Wanted Poster:

 

 

You can adjust the coloring and the wording on this poster. So fun! And here’s another fun one called Shine:

 

Divine cookies, anyone?

iPiccy has the ability to put text on your photo as well. There are several fun fonts including ones not available on Picnik or PicMonkey.

 

And finally, I took a look at the borders. Again, I was a bit disappointed in the options. No before/after border like Picnik offered and only six borders (they’re called Frames on iPiccy) to choose from. This Reflection Frame was the most unique.

 

 

Like PicMonkey, iPiccy is also lacks the ability to create collages. However, it does boast the advanced Levels, Curves, and Clone Tools that were available on Picnik’s premium plan. You can also share your photos to Facebook, Flickr, or with a unique URL (that ability was missing from PicMonkey). iPiccy is completely free to use and there is no registration required. All of their editing tools are available without a subscription or upgrade.

Overall, I really enjoyed using it. I was happy to see some of the features from Picnik that I would be missing. And the fact that iPiccy greatly resembles how Picnik was designed makes the learning curve that much easier.

Have you tried iPiccy? What are your thoughts?

Several website have gone “dark” today to protest the two anti-piracy bills that are before Congress right now. SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act and PIPA, the Protect IP Act. Most of the websites maintain that they are all for making sure piracy is stopped, however the language used in these bills would make it all too easy for any website to be shut down without due process.

Here’s a list of who is “going dark” today.

Join the strike and write your congressperson here.

Why SOPA is dangerous

Google: End Piracy, Not Liberty

The Oatmeal’s take on it (FYI – possibly NSFW or if you have young eyes around)

And finally I’ll leave you with something a friend of mine posted on Facebook this morning, “I’d tell you to stop SOPA and PIPA but everyone else is telling you that today. What I will instead tell you is to put on your calendar to keep calling your congressperson once a month about it. Because what they’re counting on is that we make a big fuss for a few days and then go on to something else. So please–the best thing you can do is set up an autoreminder in Events or iCal or Outlook to remind yourself to keep asserting your freedom while you still can.”

It’s not just about today or when Congress comes back from their break and takes a look at these bills again. Use your voice. Be heard.

A couple of weeks ago, as I was perusing our Twitter stream, I saw this tweet:

Word-of-mouth conversations happen all the time, whether it’s sponsored by a brand or simply friends sharing their latest and greatest finds. And while social media has been a wonderful tool to enhance this very old practice, it is true that most word-of-mouth type conversations still happen offline, even as much as 90%. [source]

Why then does social media and online marketing get so much attention when it comes to word-of-mouth marketing? For those that do spend a lot of time online, the Internet is where they often go first to get information about potential purchases, everything from cars to electronics to music to restaurants. It’s been shown that “90% of consumers online trust recommendations from people they know; 70% trust opinions of unknown users.” (Econsultancy, July 2009)

That’s where the community aspect of blogging becomes very tangible. When you have formed relationships with your readers, you end up in the category of “people they know” and they’re more likely to trust what you have to say about that product or service. A survey from Manage Smarter (Sept 2009) says, “Eighty-three percent of online shoppers said they are interested in sharing information about their purchases with people they know, while 74 percent are influenced by the opinions of others in their decision to buy the product in the first place.”

Recommendations from family and friends trump all other consumer touchpoints when it comes to influencing purchases, according to ZenithOptimedia. (AdAge, April, 2008)

Over the past several years, the way information is spread via word-of-mouth has significantly changed. You may remember your mom and next door neighbor trading tips on which food brands were best or dad and his buddies regaling the finer points and downfalls of automobile makers. That information was retained until the next time came to make purchases.

The average consumer mentions specific brands 60 times per week in conversations with friends, family, and co-workers. (Keller Fay, WOMMA, 2010)

Nowadays, if you’re curious about the difference between brands of spaghetti sauce or what quirks to expect from a certain kind of car, you still ask friends and family AND you look to the Internet. New media has a very big role when it comes to online word-of-mouth with impressive ROI results, “53% of people on Twitter recommend companies and/or products in their tweets, with 48% of them delivering on their intention to buy the product.” (ROI Research for Performance, June 2010) and “Facebook, blogs, Twitter and customer reviews are considered the most effective tactics for mobilizing consumers to talk up products online.” (Etailing survey of 117 companies, September 2009)

Members of One2One Network are the movers and shakers of the online word-of-mouth movement. They are Internet savvy, effective communicators and have a knack for creating community. We hope you all know how valuable your contributions are to the projects we bring to you!

Quoted statistics are from Bazaarvoice, unless otherwise linked. Images from iCLIPART.