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"Aviary's photo editing tools are embedded in more than 300 partner apps. Now it's bringing them directly to Facebook through an app of its own.\nThe Facebook app, which launched on Monday, gives users access to basic editing tools, photo effects and stickers from within their Facebook accounts. They can either edit photos from existing albums or upload new photos, and the app automatically saves the updated images in an \"Aviary\" album.\nAviary's suite of web-based creative tools, including an advanced photo editor Phoenix, were once its main focus. But the company has since pivoted to a strategy that favors powering other companies' photo tweaking options over creating its own. About 10 million photos are edited per month using Aviary tools \u2014 in other people's products. \nLaunching its own app at first seems incongruent with Aviary's recent strategy, but Paul Murphy, head of Aviary's Business Development, doesn't see it that way.\n\"We see it as a capability on Facebook as opposed to an app on Facebook,\" he says. \"It's extending its platform rather than creating a destination site for Aviary.\"\nIn other words, Aviary's Facebook app is the closest the startup can come to partnering with Facebook without actually partnering with Facebook. \nAt the moment, Facebook doesn't have its own photo editor, but there are several other apps such as Lunapic and piZap that will edit your Facebook photos. Google-owned Picnik, with 3 million monthly active users, is the biggest of the bunch. \nThough Aviary started building its Facbook app before Picnik announced last week it would shut down, the opportunity to fill the space Picnik will vacate hasn't been lost on the startup.\n\"We know that your very first question is going to be how this experience will compare to Picnik,\" reads a blog post on the Aviary website. \"The short answer is that we already offer most of the features you know and love.\"\nWith Picnik off the scene, Aviary's photo editing tool is the most simple and effective photo editor for Facebook we've seen. But the startup's ultimate hope is to one day, through some sort of integration with Facebook, power the default photo editor for Facebook we see. Whether or not that's a realistic dream is debatable, but accumulating a large user base for its app would help Aviary make a case.\n\n\nHow To: Edit Your Photos Using Aviary in Facebook\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAviary's Main Menu\nAfter you install Aviary, you are taken to a landing page where you can peruse your photos, or upload a new photo.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nEasy Album Organization\nThe drop-down menu allows you to quickly sort your photos by album.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nEditor Screen\nOnce you've selected a photo, the editor lightbox pops up with plenty of options to choose from.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFilters\nThe filters here somewhat harken to Instagram, and show how easy filter addition has been a popular feature in free photo software.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFilters\nWe stuck with the bright \"Laguna\" for this one.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBrightness\nMany of the options like brightness, contrast and saturation, are on simple sliders.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCrop\nThe crop tool allows for easy resizing of photos, and even has several scaling options.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaturation\nThe saturation slider is just as easy to use, to bring out the color in these apples.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSharpness\nThe sharpness too, also a slider, really brought out the detail on this dog's fur.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nRed Eye Reduction\nThe app also has tools to remove red eye, whiten your smile, and remove blemishes with a blur. Image courtesy of redcarpet; Flickr.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nStickers\nWhile the Aviary app is loaded with serious features, it also allows for stickers...\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nText\nYou can also add text to your photos. While you could change the color and scale the size, we didn't find an option to change the font.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2012/01/23/aviary-facebook-app/>