Why I like Picmonkey.

Here is a nice free option for editing images that we've had a quick try of recently. It's useful both for your personal photos and for any images that you might be uploading to your website. The basic image editing software that everybody has can be pretty limited but buying software can cost hundreds of dollars. Picmonkey can be used from any computer as it operates online and most importantly it is both free and relatively easy to use.

Similar in concept to the now closed Picnik.com Picmonkey gives you a variety of editing options. It also gives you a chance to have a bit of a play around with a photo of a cat if you're interested in having a look at what can be done before editing any of your own images.

I like this website because I see it as another part of the move to online operation and the provision of more and more free services in the cloud. A democratisation of the web. Anyone with an internet connection can access these services and access the tools that were once so expensive they were only practical for professional image editing. Obviously not everyone will want to use Picmonkey but I think the fact that the option is there is amazing. It's one more step towards the integrated online future that I and the rest of us here at Spiral are excited to be a part of.