Beginning today, Picasa users can choose to edit their photos in-line using Picnik. You no longer have to leave the site to edit your pics using your favorite (and mine!) photo editor. Simply choose “Edit” on any picture in your album, and choose “Edit in Picnik.” This announcement comes just a few short months after Google purchased the popular photo-editing giant, and is one that many of us have been waiting for.

When you save your edited photo back to your PWA album, you can either replace the old image or save a new copy. If you’re not a fan or user of Picasa, never fear! Picnik “will retain its own branding and web presence.” The application remains free to use. However, subscribers who pay a small fee will receive access to more advanced editing tools and additional stickers, fonts and photo effects. Picasa will automatically detect whether a user is a subscriber or free user. Your capabilities will adjust accordingly – without your having to do anything.

It will be interesting to see what else Google has in store for Picnik. Will we be seeing this integration on other Google-owned properties?