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Picasa is sometimes called the Windows version of iPhoto.
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Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983
T e c h n o f i l e
Need photo-management software for Windows? Picasa does it superbly, and costs nothing
Jan. 8, 2006
By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2006, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2006, The Post-Standard
Got a new digital camera? If so, you probably installed the free software that came with it.
Hold onto your shutter, keep your wits about you and get rid of that dreck.
Companies that make cameras give away lousy software. They don't care about the software; they care about the camera.
So it's up to you and me to find better software for your digital photos. Both Windows and Apple Macintosh users have outstanding software for viewing, managing and printing digital photos. And in both cases, it's free. We'll take a look at the Windows software this week and cover the Mac program next week.
Taking photos with your new digital camera would make no sense if you couldn't view them, so the main job of photo-management software is to show you all the pictures you've taken.
Good software should show you all your pictures, no matter where they are - even if you don't know where they are on your computer.
It should also show you small versions of your pictures, called thumbnails, so you can look at dozens at the same time. And it should help you organize your photos, so you can look at all the pictures you took of Aunt Deb no matter when you snapped them — both before and after her nose job.
Finally, good photo management software should also help you print your pictures and send them in e-mail. After all, Aunt Deb might want to see what you've been showing others.
All of those requirements are met in Picasa, a free image management program for Windows PCs from Google.
Picasa is free as in "no cost at all," without nags, shareware fees or guilt trips. You simply install it and use it.
Picasa is slick. Even if you already have a favorite way of managing your pictures, give Picasa a try. Go to www.google.com and click the link labeled "More" above the address line. Scroll down to "Google Tools" and click the "Picasa" link. Download the installation program and run it after the download is complete.
The first thing Picasa wants to do is index every picture on your computer. Let it have its way. It will find pictures you never knew you had - images stored in games, for example. Later, you can configure Picasa to ignore particular storage areas. (Use the Folder Manager in the Tools menu.)
Much of what Picasa does is intuitive. Click around, and you should catch on quickly. Double-click on a thumbnail image to change it, then return to the photo library (using the "Back to Library" button at the upper left) when you're through.
Like iPhoto, the Macintosh OS X photo software, Picasa never asks you to save changes. It simply takes you at your word - or at your click. When you switch to another function from the editing window, your changes are automatically saved. But if you ruin a picture by making Aunt Deb's hair purple, you can always right-click on the thumbnail and choose Undo All Edits.
You can view timelines of pictures (all the photos taken in 2004, for example) or entire folders of images. Slide shows are easy, and you can limit them to selected pictures or choose all the ones in a folder. During a slideshow, a control window pops up when you move your mouse toward the bottom of the screen. Pressing the up arrow or left arrow keys shows the previous picture, and pressing the down arrow or right arrow keys shows the next one.
Windows users who also own OS X Macintoshes point out that Picasa is the closest thing in Windows to Apple's iPhoto.
I'll report on iPhoto here next week, and I'll share my thoughts on how the two programs compare in my Web log. Read my blog at www.syracuse.com/technology/weblog.
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