Google updates Picasa
By
Mike Tomkins
(Wednesday, September 20, 2006 - 20:51 EDT)
News of a new release of Picasa, a popular (and free) photo management program, has reached us today.
First launched by Lifescape Solutions Inc. back at the 2002 Comdex Fall tradeshow, and later taken over by internet heavyweight Google Inc., Picasa Build 32.94 is a stylish, attractive and functional program for consumers looking to manage their photo collections. The latest release (launched on September 15th, according to the official release notes) has a number of changes: - Share photos online
Upload photos to Picasa Web Albums for easy sharing on the web. Select the photos you want in Picasa and upload them to the web by clicking the "Web Album" button. When viewing your friends' albums online, you can even download them right back into Picasa on your own computer. - Nested Folder View
Now you can choose how to display folders in Picasa, whether they're nested or sorted by date. - Save Changes to Disk
Picasa has always kept your original files safe. But we know that sometimes, users also like to be able to save their Picasa edits. Now you can save your edits and have access to them in other programs, but we also provide an automatic backup that lets you revert back to the original anytime. We even match the jpeg quality of your original! - Improved import
We know you've wanted to import files into an existing folder. We've also made importing faster, and made it easier to copy just a few files at a time. - Screensaver
Show starred photos in a collage, or pan and zoom your Web Album photos. Choose between four presentation options to display your best shots. - Geotagging
Picasa now works with Google Earth. Tell Picasa where you shot each photo, and view them on a 3-D globe in Google Earth. You can also export KMZ files for sharing online. - Larger thumbnails
Our thumbnails are slightly larger, so images are clearer, and we've improved speed as well. You will notice Picasa updating all of your thumbnails after the upgrade. - New RAW features
We support more cameras and RAW formats (including the Canon 30D, Nikon D200, and DNG). Color accuracy is better, and conversion speed is improved. - Other goodies
- Improved caption editing
- Starred photos organize automatically into a special album
- "Just raw frames" option lets you export time-lapse sequences in the movie maker
- The bottom row of buttons can now be configured to suit your needs
Picasa can be downloaded free of charge from Picasa's website. The software is available only for computers running Microsoft's Windows 2000 or Windows XP operating systems.
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