Ready for Your Close-up?

Digital cameras certainly make it easier to take and view pictures, but did you ever wish that it was easier to organize them? Or maybe add some creative borders or even retouch an unsightly blemish?  If so, several free photo editing websites can help you turn an average digital photo into an improved and edited picture. Here is a sampling of some free websites that are easy to use, contain few or no ads and do not hassle you to upgrade to a paid account.   

Get Organized

Picasa.com features a suite of organizing and editing tools that you download from Google.  It has no distracting ads, and the application is almost as powerful as any boxed software you would have to buy.   

Easy to download and install, the application is compatible with all the current supported operating systems.  The software has a nice mix of tools to help you quickly organize, tag and edit your entire photo library — or just the images from this summer’s vacation for a start.

Along with the basic editing tools to crop, rotate, straighten and enhance color, the software contains some handy features to make albums and animate slideshows that you can later upload to YouTube.com for sharing.  Picasa has the unique ability to geo-tag photos to Google maps so you can remember which port in the Bahamas or street in New Orleans you took some of your memorable photos.  http://www.picasa.com

Enjoy Some Glamour Time

Citrify.com is an online editing tool that does not require any preregistration or setting up a password. You simply upload a photo from your computer and edit the images.  Once you are happy with the results, you can save the image back to your computer. Citrify‘s tools are easy to use and allow you to even do minor facial editing.  You can make blemishes disappear, erase away those little wrinkles or get rid of red eyes caused by flash. You can even reduce facial shine from bright sunlight or whiten that big grin with a “toothbrush” tool. Too bad a tummy tuck tool isn’t included in the menu. http://www.citrify.com

Be the Next Cover Girl … or Boy

FotoFlexer.com gives you hundreds of one-click options and special effects to choose from. This editing and embellishment site specializes in a wide selection of colorful holiday and greeting card frames to wrap around your images. In addition, you can add some glittery text or a funky sticker image or animation to create a scrapbooked-look around some of your photos.  The faux-magazine cover frames allow you to embed a portrait so you can make just about anyone look like a tabloid celebrity. Numerous special effects tools can make a photo look like it was created by a painter or sketch artist. For those distance or panoramic shots, you can fine-tune the color's hue, sharpness and brightness to make your landscapes pop.  http://www.fotoflexer.com

Many other free (and paid) photo editing sites are available. Do you have a favorite?  If so, leave a comment in the "Tell Us What You Think" section below.