If you’re a Picnik user, you may be dismayed to find out Google is shutting down the extremely popular online image editing service. Google acquired the service in 2010, but is already closing the service down and merging it into Google+. What this means for users is you will now have to become a Google+ user in order to use the services you already enjoyed without joining a social network. As of April 19, 2012, Picnik will be no more.
In The Meantime
On the plus side, you can now enjoy all of Picnik’s features, including premium features, for free until the day the site closes. The site will remain open until the final day. Currently, they are busy incorporating their services in to Google+. If you’re not already a member of the new social network, now is the time to sign up if you don’t want to stop using the service.
What About Premium Members
Don’t worry if you are a premium member of Picnik. Full refunds are being rolled out. You will not lose a thing. Premium memberships will not be an option once the site is fully moved to Google+ since the social network is free.
Download Your Files Now
If you have any files on Picnik, download them now. You will not be able to after April 19th. You can download your files in a single zip file through Picnik Takeout. You can also use Google Takeout to either download your files or move them to your Google+ account. Follow the step by step instructions to ensure you don’t lose anything when the site shuts down.
Beware Of Other Google Properties
Picnik isn’t the only Google property being shut down. Around the same time, Google plans to shut down Social Graph API, Urchin, Google Sky Map, GMC and Needlebase. This is in addition to 10 other services Google stopped in the recent past, such as Notebook, Google Desktop and Subscribed Links.
To prevent suddenly losing any data on a Google owned service or site, always have a backup of your files and data. Since Google consistently makes changes, eliminates services and combines other services, it is highly likely you could lose data if you miss an announcement of a site shutting down. Many services, especially feature rich services such as Picnik, are being combined into the social network Google+. The idea is to make the network more popular by adding more features. Using Google related services will soon mean having to be a member of Google+.