Download Picasa 3.9

Softworld editor's review - 2011-06-22

Manage and watch all of your favorite pictures

Picasa could be easily considered as one of the best photo viewers. At this moment the owner of this application is Google. In order to enjoy this program first you have to download it and then install it. After you have finished this process and you start Picasa a window will appear where you have two options from which to choose: to search for pictures in the entire computer or only in My Documents, My Pictures and the Desktop.

Whether you choose the first or the second option a window will appear where you will have to choose if you want to use Picasa as a default photo viewer or not.

The program will scan the folders in which are located pictures. In the top right corner there is a basic menu system with File, Edit, View, Folder, Picture, Create Tools and Help sections. With Picasa you can open a new album or add a new folder to the program.

To be able to use the Import from Picasa Web Albums function first you have to create a Google account or to use the one that you already have. All the photo albums and folders are displayed in the left side of the application.

There is a expandable menu system that contains Albums, People and Folders. With the pictures that are displayed you can do various things. You can choose to share them on the web or simply to edit them.

There are not to many photo editing tools. You will find functions like red eye correction, autocontrast, auto color, retouch and a few others. The pictures also can be uploaded to Web Albums, send them by email, print or export them.

The application also allows you to make a movie presentation with various pictures, to place various photos on the Google Earth globe and to create a Photo Collage with your selection of photos. By using the Google's online photo-hosting application the users have 1GB of free hosting.

All the pictures and photos can be manipulated and uploaded by just using Picasa. Those that want a massive host space have to pay up to $500 a year. Until now all this sounds pretty good. However despite all of those great functions there is a drawback.

Personally i really don't like how the folders with all of the pictures are displayed in a column in the left screen of the application. I say this because when i tested the program i found it a little bit confusing. Also there could be a lot more editing tools.

Picasa definitely that is a great application. Because it doesn't have many imperfections it is a program that is worth recommended to be used.

Good:

-simple menu system
-plenty of useful options
-great for beginners
-excellent photo viewer

Bad:

-although the interface looks great there is still room for improvement
-not to many editing tools

Version 3.8 reviewed on: 22 Jun 2011

Publisher's description

Picasa is a free photo editing software from Google that makes your pictures look great. Sharing your best photos with friends and family is as easy as pressing a button!

Picasa makes it easy for you to organize and edit your digital photos, then create online albums to share with friends, family & the world.

Show your photos at their best. View full-screen slideshows, see your pictures arranged on a global map, enjoy video playback, and more.

Publish your favorite photos online with one click. Create stunning online photo albums to share with friends and family, or public albums for the world to see. Get notified when your "Favorites" post new photos.

Improve almost any picture with Picasa's one-click fixes for common problems like red-eye, color, and lighting. Or, use tuning and effects to make your best photos look even better.

Picasa automatically finds all the photos on your PC, wherever they are, and will organize them in seconds.

Easily add geo-tags to your photos so that you can remember exactly where they're from using Google Maps.

New Features:

Share to your Google+ circles
-If you've joined Google+, you can use Picasa 3.9 to share directly to the circles you've created in Google+. They'll see your photos and videos in their Google+ stream. People that don't use Google+ aren't left out. They'll get an email to view your album in Google+, and they don't have to join to do so.

Picasa name tags on Google+
-If you've joined Google+, you may have noticed that name tags have become more social. With the release of Picasa 3.9, you can now upload and share your name tags on Google+. Note that if you choose not to join Google+, name tags won't change at all.

New photo editing effects
-Added a plethora of new editing effects like Vignette, Duo-tone, Borders and more.

Side by side editing
-Compare two different photos side by side. Or compare the original and edited versions versions of the same photo simultaneously as you apply edits in Picasa.

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