CNET Editors' review
Picasa Web Albums is Google's Web photo-hosting service. Users get 1GB of free hosting, and images can be uploaded and manipulated using Picasa, Google's free desktop photo management application. Users who want additional storage can shell out up to $500 a year to bump up the hosted space to 400 times the size of the free hosting service.
Much like everything else Google, Picasa is exceptionally straightforward to use, with a tabbed interface offering three options--My Photos, Favorites, and Explore--the last of which lets you browse the public photo library. Next to the tabs, you'll find a prominent Upload button for adding photos to your albums, which you can set to various levels of privacy. Within your albums, you have the option to view a slideshow, share via e-mail, make a collage or movie, order prints, and edit various aspects.
We really like the integration between the desktop and Web application. Similar to .Mac and iPhoto, Picasa makes it really simple to take photos from your desktop and publish them online for others to see. We're also fans of the built-in geotagging that lets you set where photos were taken either by single photo, or by entire albums. It's a great way to browse photos if you feel like exploring.
Picasa 3:Publisher's Description
From Google:
Transfer, find, organize, edit, print, and share images, all with this easy-to-use product. Watch Picasa automatically organize all your pictures into elegant albums by date. Having all your photos in one place means no more time wasted searching for folders or files. The program works with JPEG, GIF, BMP, PSD, and movie files and is compatible with most digital cameras; it detects your USB driver and imports pictures into albums. Editing tools include cropping (standard or custom), removal of red-eye, and enhancing--even switching from color to black and white. Create slide shows set to your MP3s. Integration with Picasa's free Hello instant picture-sharing software lets you share hundreds of photos in seconds and chat in real time. E-mail photos with Picasa's built-in client to take the guesswork out of compressing images, and order photo-lab quality prints or print at home with no mistakes. You can also make instant backups to CD (or to other hard drives) of your photo collections, to organize your photos using labels and stars (just like with Gmail), to write captions for all pictures, and to organize videos as well as pictures.
What's new in this version: Version 3.6 build 105.41 now available in 38 languages.
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All versions:
4.2 starsout of 1,546 votes
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Current version:
4.3 starsout of 38 votes
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My rating:
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"It's Picasa - The "Poor Man's Photoshop""
Version: Picasa 3.6 build 105.41
Pros
Have used Picasa since 2003. It was a "throw in" with my first decent Digital Camera, a FujiFilm FinePix S3800 from Ritz Camera. Picasa has done everything I have thrown at it since. In my opinion the best, most intuitive free photo program extant.
Cons
It is not Exactly Photoshop.
Summary
It is Good - It Is Free - Therefore It Is For ME.
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"does the job"
Version: Picasa 3.6 build 105.41
Pros
for free? can't ask for a better price.
Cons
Can't do the more complicated stuff.
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"easy to use"
Version: Picasa 3.6 build 105.41
Pros
first class program
Cons
not found any
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"A great piece of work."
Version: Picasa 3.6 build 105.41
Pros
All of it is good but Face Recognition is first class.
Cons
I haven't found any unsurmountable ones.
Summary
It does the job perfectly and its free. What's not to like!
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"Pictures come out beautiful"
Version: Picasa 3.6 build 105.41
Pros
It is easy to use
Cons
I don't have any complaints
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"great free programme"
Version: Picasa 3.6 build 105.41
Pros
covers all basic areas related to photo retouching and more
Cons
? could be a big job to re ''tag'' all my photos when i do a re install of my operating system.
Summary
wouldn't be without it
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"Great product"
Version: Picasa 3.6 build 105.41
Pros
easy to use
Cons
none that i found
Summary
Great product
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"The price is right " Free " and it works well for me."
Version: Picasa 3.6 build 105.41
Pros
It's a simple solution for storing, editing, categorizing and distributing photos.
Cons
None of any significance.
Summary
I have had this for years, and it works well for me. First let me say I am not into serious or professional photography. For someone in those categories, this is probably not for them.
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"Perfect program easily understood."
Version: Picasa 3.6 build 105.41
Pros
What I like most is the fact that friends and relatives, who previously had difficulty saving, locating and emailing photos have installed Picasa and all their problems were solved.
Cons
Even though this problem exists in many programs, even the one that I payed $79.00, I need a tool to fix animal eyes. The auto fix in other programs does not work.
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"Really Good Graphics Program But Exclude Folders Hard"
Version: Picasa 3.6 build 105.41
Pros
I like the way it methodically goes through all your folders and finds all graphics files. Once found it is a simple matter to rearrange the order of the thumbnails exactly as desired.
Cons
As I said in the title, it is not easy to figure out how to exclude a set of sub-folders including the parent folder of those subfolders.
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