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After hours Toolkit

Picasa 2.0: a first look

Robert Vamosi

Published: 20 Jan 2005

The Picasa photo organiser is the first standalone, hard disk-installed software that Google has released, and it may be the start of an era for the search giant. Unlike earlier versions, Picasa 2.0 has improved its editing tools and search capabilities considerably. Simply point and click to see real-time edits of your digital photos, lighten dark shots, use white balance, crop, straighten crooked horizons, zoom and even add soft focus.

If you don't know all of the above terms, that doesn't matter. Your options are displayed at all times so you can see what you like, and if you don't like a change, there are multiple levels of undo. Picasa combines the deep-level editing tools of Adobe Elements with the ease of Paint Shop Pro and other popular programs, without the expense.

No mystery here; what you see is what you get with Picasa's editing tools.

Drawing upon the vast engineering resources within Google, Picasa has transformed itself into a very intuitive application. For example, you see each edit you make to a photo in real time instead of waiting for the preview image to render. Want to send a photo to your blogger.com site? Direct integration makes it possible to take a photo and post it on your site within minutes. Want to find all images with cats on your hard drive? Picasa's search quickly pulls those images together, using a variety of methods, including hunting for EXIF data contained with the digital image itself. The new edition of Picasa also burns albums to your computer's DVD or CD burner -- something missing in earlier versions. For hard copies, Picasa links out to several well-known services, such as Ofoto and Shutterfly, meaning you don't have to open yet another print service account to make hard copies of photos edited in Picasa.

Picasa 2.0 is available only for Windows and only in English. Other languages may be available later. There's also a slight performance drag on older computers running Picasa 2.0.

Given that Picasa 2.0 is free and easily downloadable from Google, the outlook looks fantastic for this very easy-to-use photo album program. You'd be mad not to give Picasa 2.0 a try.

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Full Talkback thread

23 comments

absolutely thrilled with picasa-my nephew download... pauline merry
Don't do it....Picasa2 crashed my system the secon... Jack Hackman
I have also had problems with picasa2. It wor... Thad Cox
The anti-google whiners clearly are tryi... NJ
As smooth operator.....at first look, th... Malc
I downloaded Picasa2 because I want... Anonymous
I used it for a couple of days and just... Gary Hughes
excactly the same thing happened as in jack h... Anonymous
It worked great for 3 days, then my computer start... joyce nichols
Think Picasa2 is the best photo prog my computer h... Chris Carter
I think Picasa 2 is great, BUT will someone tell m... Anonymous
This is a great piece of software! It isn't large... Anonymous
For a free download Picasa 2 is great it beats a f... Leslie Pashley
When I try to print to my HP 6110 printer it... Anonymous
Interesting program- but WHY does it insist on cre... Bob
I see the questions on the board, where are t... Patricia Ann Curtis
I am having print quality problems. I get an effec... John Petch
Banding using a Canon S750 Allaneop
I have Picasa 2 it is the best photo album any one... Clive Coleman
I like Picasa OK and think it's a good progra... Galen Heslet
When trying to attach a photo in hotmail, I cannot... Christine
Something killed my machine - not sure if it was p... leebaz
Something killed my machine - not sure if it was p... leebaz

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