Picnik is an online image editor that allows people to alter photos from within their browsers. Uploaded photos can be resized, processed and manipulated via a comprehensive set of operations designed to rival traditional image processing software.
The site impresses via its easy on-boarding process: there is no sign-up required and the initial photo can be uploaded from disk or selected from a list of suggestions that the site makes available.
Picnik has around 5 million monthly unique visitors according to Compete. Most of its features are available for free. Picnik Premium costs $24.95 a year and offers more effects, additional fonts, stickers, layering and an ad-free editing environment.
Picnik has rapidly grown into a large player in the online photo editing arena, and it has done so without venture capital, bootstrapped by Jonathan Sposato and co-founders Mike Harrington and Darrin Massena. The company was acquired by Google on 1st of March 2010; Jonathan, its CEO at that time, was a previous Google engineer who sold his previous startup (Phatbits) to Google back in 2005. Jonathan owns a restaurant and bar in the Belltown neighborhood of Seattle where he enjoys spending his free time. In a 2009 interview he shares more details about his interests, as well as additional information regarding Picnik.