PicMonkey is an online photo editing and

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...

service that can be accessed from a

web browser A web browser is application software for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used on ...

, or through a mobile app. The company behind the service is headquartered in downtown

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

. PicMonkey offers graphic design and photo editing tools, as well as design templates for wedding invitations, announcements, thank you cards, business cards, etc. While free users can access most of the tools and features on the site, a membership is needed for the full design and photo editing workflow, which includes saving, sharing to social accounts like Facebook and Twitter, and access to PicMonkey's integrated cloud storage option. PicMonkey has an open

API An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software Interface (computing), interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standa ...

for developers to integrate its tools directly into a website. Some current API partners include

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

Ipernity Ipernity is a non-commercial photo sharing community which is financed exclusively by membership dues without any intention of making a profit. By means of the Ipernity Members Association (IMA), the community operates its own website for the pr ...

, and

SmugMug SmugMug is a paid image sharing, image hosting service, and online video platform on which users can upload photos and videos. The company also facilitates the sale of digital and print media for amateur and professional photographers. On April ...

. PicMonkey's affiliate partner is ShareaSale. PicMonkey was recognized as a Top 100 Website in 2013 by

PC Magazine ''PC Magazine'' (shortened as ''PCMag'') is an American computer magazine published by Ziff Davis. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009. Publication of online editions started in late 1994 and have continued to the present d ...

, listed as hosting one of the Best April Fools’ Pranks of 2014 by

TIME Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...

, and recognized as one of the most affordable online services for startups.

History

PicMonkey was founded by former

Picnik Picnik was an online photo editing service which was acquired by Google in 2010. It was headquartered in Downtown Seattle, Washington, United States. The site allowed users to edit images, add styles to imported images and use basic editing ...

employees Brian Terry, Justin Huff,

Jonathan Sposato Jonathan Sposato (born March 17, 1967) is an American businessman. He is the chairman and co-founder of Geekwire, an American technology news website, the CEO of the PicMonkey, and investor in companies including Pokitdok, EveryMove and Vizify. ...

, Charlie Whiton, and Lisa Conquergood. Picnik was a popular online photo editor that had been acquired by

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

in 2010, but was shut down in April 2012. Terry, Huff, Sposato and others saw this as an opportunity to create a new company, PicMonkey, which was founded on March 1, 2012 with the stated aim of creating a “fast and lightweight” photo editing experience. By February 2014, PicMonkey had become profitable, and had grown to over 13 million unique monthly users. In July 2015, the company received a $41 million investment from the growth equity firm Spectrum Equity. On September 2, 2015, Frits Habermann joined PicMonkey as Chief Technology Officer. Habermann had formerly worked as vice president of core technologies at

Adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...

, and as the CTO of

PopCap Games PopCap Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Seattle, and a subsidiary of Electronic Arts. The company was founded in 2000 by John Vechey, Brian Fiete and Jason Kapalka. Originally founded under the name "Sexy Action Cool", ...

. In 2017, Habermann was appointed as the new PicMonkey CEO. Former CEO Jonathan Sposato continued on the PicMonkey board of directors as the chairman. In 2018, PicMonkey did away with the

Adobe Flash Player Adobe Flash Player (known in Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Google Chrome as Shockwave Flash) is Software, computer software for viewing multimedia contents, executing rich Internet applications, and streaming media, streaming audio and vide ...

plug-in for web browsers. In 2019, the service launched a

collaborative Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Most ...

image editing feature. In 2020, PicMonkey began supporting video editing. On September 7, 2021, PicMonkey was acquired by

Shutterstock Shutterstock is an American provider of stock photography, stock footage, stock music, and editing tools; it is headquartered in New York. Founded in 2003 by programmer and photographer Jon Oringer, Shutterstock maintains a library of around 2 ...

in a $110M cash deal.

References

External links

{{Portal, Companies
PicMonkey homepage

PicMonkey reviews
Photo software Companies based in Seattle Internet properties established in 2012 American photography websites