Whether you take all your photos right on your smart phone, or you carry your trusty DSLR wherever you go, there are so many photo editing and sharing services now (a must for parents!). Here are our very favorite from this past year.

Kristen

Snapseed
Since I discovered Snapseed, I’m pretty thrilled that they’ve been bought by Google because now their previously pricey app is free. And with the whole Instagram terms of service issue yet to be totally resolved, Snapseed is now my go-to app for editing.

Best photo editing and sharing services: PicMonkey

PicMonkey
This year also marked the end of Picnik and sent thousands of fans scurrying for alternatives. Just when we get completely addicted to PicMonkey’s free, amazing, web-based photo editing software, they have to go and make PicMonkey Royale which now makes a lot of the filters and other capabilities available only with a paid upgrade. While it can be hard to justify the $4.99 a month if you don’t use it as much as we do, we love these guys so much we’re kind of rooting for them to find their own Instagram-level success. Plus, the software is just so fun and easy.

Liz

Best photo editing and sharing: Artkive art storage app

Artkive
The photo app I probably use most, after Instagram and Snapseed, is Artkive, a genius way to photograph and store all of your children’s artwork automatically by date and by artiste. I especially love that with one click of a button I can send this month’s self-portrait off to a designated list of eager grandparents.

 

Best photo editing and sharing: Mosaic Photo Book

 

Mosaic Photo Books
While there are so many app-to-book options now for your photos, especially if you’re an iOS user, I’m really taken with Mosaic, a super easy app that lets you grab 20 pictures from your roll and turn them into something pretty that you can touch and feel and never accidentally delete when you hand your phone over to your toddler.

 

Best photo editing and sharing services: Twitter Photo Filters

Twitter.
Yes, Twitter. Right in time for that pesky Instagram TOS change, Twitter launches some very decent basic editing and filter functionality to the photos you share through TwitPic. We could definitely see it bringing more people back to Twitter through photo sharing options, because hey…one less social media network to manage would probably be a good thing for a lot of already busy parents.

Cool Mom Tech - Pick of the Year 2012

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