If you’re looking for simple graphic software that includes an easy cartoon photo editor, check out a popular FX cartoonizer, Colorcinch. If you’ve never edited photos before, check this Colorcinch review. I think this tool will get you started easy, especially if you need to create images to place on your website platform. It’s pretty much a simplified version of Photoshop.
Colorcinch Review
Product Name:
Colorcinch (formerly known as Cartoonize)
Website URL:
Type:
Photo editor
Owner:
Colorcinch
Price:
Free - $5.99 p/m or $47.88 p/a
Rating:
What Is Colorcinch?
Colorcinch is a desktop browser-based graphic editor, developed by the company of the same name, led by Creative Director, Peter Babiy. It was formerly named “Cartoonize.net” and the site URL stays the same. Colorcinch is still often advertised as a photo-to-cartoon converter. But it does all the things you would expect from a basic graphics program. The photo editor essentials include;
- Crop, resize, flip, blur, add text, replace colour, remove the background.
While the AI-generated filter & effect features allow you to automatically retouch your photos and create a different look at a click of a button. So you can turn your photos into;
- Cartoon, painting, sketch, digital art, and grayscale.
Others include;
- Creative - combine two photos, draw on photos, overlay images, add frames, overlay images.
- For social media - create a profile picture, and add a watermark. There’s also a separate avatar maker.
You can start using Colorcinch for free without signing up. But you need to get a premium account (Colorcinch Plus) to enjoy full access, which will cost you as low as $3.99 per month.
When Is A Cartoonizer Useful?
It may be fun to cartoon yourself online, but is it any useful? One good thing is that your cartoonized images can be monetized - sold as print-on-demand, for example.
Nobody’s interested in buying a photo of me, that I’m 100% sure. But if I remove the background and transform it into a painting, it’ll become arty, become a portrait of some imaginary guy. Then I could have it printed on a T-shirt or a mug and I sell it? It’s a possibility.
Celebrity photos are copyrighted. But (I’m not sure if I’m allowed to say this openly) if you cartoonize them and deform them, they’ll practically become drawings, right?
Who Is Colorcinch For?
Many all-in-one graphic apps are virtually all-in-one…too many features for a beginner to handle. Many elements of Colorcinch are AI-generated to keep the need for manual adjustments at a minimum. Colorcinch does not require you to have photo editing skills, so it is perfectly suitable for beginners. But it does let you make all the manual edits manually, so it’s also ideal for intermediate users.
Usability - How Easy Is Colorcinch?
I’d say fairly easy. If you’ve ever used any photo editing app before, the icons in the edit palette are all recognisable. Most of the features should be self-explanatory. If you’ve never edited a photo in your life before...then you might want to practice it with Colorcinch since its interface is quite straightforward.
What I Like About Colorcinch
Simplicity
Those standard top menus that you often see - File - Edit - Insert - Format - Tools, and each one has 20 sub-menu items so you can never find anything… Or multiple navigation bars across both vertical and horizontal directions… I guess that any software developer would find it more difficult to create a comprehensive navigation bar when they have more features available.
In contrast, Colorcinch’s interface is nice and simple. Just a few headings at the top, the rest is in the options palette on the left-hand side of the screen. It’s easy to find what’s where. So I think it’s very good.
Background Remover
I remove the background from my photos often because my house is full of clutter (!) I think Colorcinch’s background remover is one of the best and quickest I’ve seen. I often struggle with others, having to retouch the edges. While with Colorcinch, every time I can get to download a beautifully outlined no-background png.
Free Stock Images
Colorcinch works in partnerships with Unsplash, so you’ll get access to over a million royalty-free photographic images directly from your editor dashboard. You can search images by name (e.g. “woman smiling”, “beach walk”, etc.) So you can start making your own art or poster without having to have your own photo.
Also, you can merge 2 or more photos, for example;
- Upload your own photo,
- Remove the background, and
- Use a stock photo as a background.
“Suggest a Feature” Facility
If you’d like Colorcinch to add a new feature, or you think there’s an area for improvement, you can use the “Suggest a Feature” facility to send a message to the developers, which I think is great.
What I’m Not Too Keen About Colorcinch
A Little Misleading?
For example “Meme generator” - I thought there was a separate program, but it’s just that Colorcinch allows you to embed text anywhere on your artwork. That’s all it is. Same as “Image Converter/Compressor” - PNG-JPG, JPG-PDF, etc. There is no separate program, but you can save your finished artwork as a jpeg, png, or pdf, which is essentially an image converter. I’m not saying these are problems, I’m not complaining, I must say.
No Blank Canvas To Start
It is a photo editor, after all. So when you open the Colorcinch editor and start a new project, you have to start with a photo - either by uploading your own photo or using a pre-loaded stock photo.
I personally think it’ll be great if you can start from a blank canvas, and then add photos to it. I have indeed suggested via “Suggest a Feature” but that’s my personal preference. As I just said, Colorcinch is a photo editor, not a graphic design app. The developer may say, why would you want a blank canvas?
Colorcinch as an NFT Maker
There’s a separate menu titled “NFT Maker”. But at least for now, it just seems to suggest that your cartoonized photos can be sold as your own NFT art. Personally, I thought it would be great if it gave some tips on trends in the NFT market and some tricks to make your NFT successful. Maybe something’s coming up in the future?
Colorcinch Plus (Paid Option)
Colorcinch can be used for free and you don’t even have to sign up with it. In fact, there’s no free signup option, which means you’ll only be able to sell your work if you become a Colorcinch Plus (premium) member. The Plus membership will cost you;
- $5.99 per month (if paid monthly) or
- $47.88 if paid yearly in advance ($3.99 per month).
The price is friendly if you compare it with some of the other online photo-editing apps;
I know there are free browser-based graphic editors that let you do quite a bit. But free editors are free for a reason - too many flashing ads, or bad usability due to the lack of funds for updates. So I think as a user, we can appreciate an ad-free platform with a suggestion facility for as low as $3.99 per month. That’s my personal opinion.
Cancellation and Refund
Your paid membership is not contractual, so you can cancel and deactivate your Colorcinch account at any time. You might also want to note that Colorcinch doesn't offer refunds after your fee has been paid. Except where you switch your membership from annual to monthly within the first 30 days of joining.
It means that if you paid an annual subscription ($47.88), then immediately regret it, you can switch it to monthly and the difference may be refunded ($47.88 - $5.99 = $41.89.) After the initial 30 days, you won’t be eligible for any refund.
How Does It Compare To Other Alternatives?
Colorcinch vs Photoshop
Photoshop is the king of photo editing software, indeed great for advanced graphic users, and perhaps for business users because of the high price. There’s so much you can do, including cartoonizing. It allows you to transform your photo automatically with one click, then also allows you to retouch manually in every little detail to make the image as natural or as eclectic as it can get… Non-artists like me may find it too technical, too complicated.
Colorcinch is a simple version, it is equipped with the manual adjustment features like Photoshop but not in great detail so I find it easily manageable. For bloggers or individual online marketers, image editing is a necessity, but may not be an absolute priority. Colorcinch is perfect for people like me, I believe.
Colorcinch vs Non-Web-Based Software
Having said that, I have Photoshop Elements installed on my Mac and I use it daily because I find it quick and powerful. I don’t have to log on, upload photos, wait while rendering, and then download. Quick and steady loading is one advantage of software installed on your hard drive.
It also works without an internet connection - you may find it convenient if you often design graphics in the middle of the Sahara Desert.
Pixelmator Pro is also a popular app among Mac users. For just $39.99, it’s equipped with over 50 image editing tools. It was chosen as a “Mac App of the Year” in 2019.
Web browser-based apps like Colorcinch work on Windows, Mac, and Linux. Logging in is all you need, so you can work on your projects on any desktop, save them on your Colorcinch account, and pick up where you left off on another desktop.
Colorcinch vs Canva
Canva is a popular and very versatile graphic designing app that’s ideal for presentations, printed materials, social posts and all. As a free member, you can pretty much do all you want. Great text graphics. New features are regularly added to the photo edit section, such as autofocus, auto enhancement, animate photos, etc.
The disadvantages for free users are that once your canvas size is set, you cannot resize it or change the width x height ratio. Many ready-made graphics as well as the background image removal are for premium users only. The premium membership costs $99 per year, which is a lot more than Colorcinch, but with the number of features, you may find it worth the price.
Colorcinch Pros and Cons
Pros
Cons
Cartoonize Colorcinch Review - Conclusion:
If you’re looking for a cartoon photo editor, you might find Colorcinch worth a try for free to start with. This is a low-cost, simple and easy cartoonizer. Especially if you need to mass-produce avatars, social media memes, and any other painting-style graphics, you might find it pretty useful.
