Google borgs online photo editor

Google has acquired Picnik, a 20-person startup offering a web-based photo editing service.

The deal was announced today with a post to both the Google and Picnik blogs. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

With the Flash-based Picnik, you can upload photos from your hard drive or open them directly from online pic-sharing online services like the Yahoo!-owned Flickr, Facebook, MySpace, and Google's Picasa Web Albums. Yes, Google already offers its own Picasa photo editor, but it's a downloadable application. Google likes to do everything on the interwebs.

The Seattle-based startup - founded in 2005 - also offers Firefox and Chrome extensions for pulling online pics into its editor. Editing tools include all the standard stuff, such as cropping, resizing, rotating, auto-fixing, red-eye removal, and the addition of special effects.

Naturally, neither Google or Picnik hinted at what the Mountain View Chocolate Factory has in store for the service. "Nothing is changing right away, but Picnik now has more potential than ever before," Picnik's blog post said. "The team that built Picnik from the grass up will continue making advanced and powerful photo-editing easier, more intuitive and more fun, so stay tuned to hear about all the cool new stuff we’re working on."

Google acquired the Pasadena-based Picasa in 2004. ®