How do I edit my photos?

I often get asked this question. If you're a professional you would use something similar to Photoshop, but rarely is a professional asking me this question. Photoshop is not only expensive but it is a little difficult to navigate for your average user. However, if you are looking to do some serious photo editing you should use Photoshop.

For the rest of us who would just prefer to fix some red eye, crop, resize images and maybe add some flare to your photos I have some great sites for you.

My favorite so far is Foto Flexer. It allows you to upload a photo and use all the basic online tools without signing up for the site. Of course if you sign up for the site you will get some added benefits and tools. Once you edit your photos you can download the edited photo back to your computer or you can send it directly to your picasaweb, flickr, photobucket, facebook or myspace account. There are many cool things you can do with your photos and I would suggest exploring all the tabs to see your options. Try a bunch of different options to see what you can do.

Another great editor is pikifx. It allows you to do most of the same things as foto flexer but it is still in Beta and doesn't have as many features yet. I see good things for the site and can't wait for more updates.

If you join social networks, use IM or need a small picture for a profile on a website then you need to check out mypictr to create a profile photo. This free site will allow you to upload a photo and create a small face shot for your profile without registering. Check it out.

Have you ever wanted to see yourself on the front cover of a magazine? MagMyPic allows you to do just that. There is a limited number of magazines that you can use, but they are all top magazines. Rolling Stone, People, US, etc... It's easy and fun to use. You don't have a lot of control over what is on the cover other than the picture and it needs to be a fairly high resolution picture in order for it to display properly.

Ever see the famous multicolored picture of Marilyn Monroe done by Andy Warhol? Well, this site allows you to do the same thing without all the work. It's the Warholizer, and it's easy to use. It will take you awhile to find the right picture but once you do you can look just like Marilyn Monroe.

Last but not least is WallHogs. I'm sure you've seen FatHead commercials promoting life size cutouts of your favorite NFL player that you can put on your walls right? Well, this is the same idea except you are using your own photos. I know, this isn't really an editor but it deserves special mention because..well, its just cool. Have a good photo of your kid hitting a baseball, or shooting a jump shot? Blow it up and put it on their wall.

New photo editors are coming out all the time and there isn't really a need to buy software for your computer when you can do it all online for free. I'll try to keep you updated to new editors coming out in the future.