Picasa Updated - Improved RAW & Ext. Drives

[Mr. Pickles]

For those who don't know, Picasa ( http://picasa.google.com/index.html ) has been updated again (actually on Sep 19th). It's now version 2.1, (still FREE) and it added some things to make it even better. Might not be the best one for certain things, but it is a really good program (kind of utility program), that does more than people think. Here is what they added:

Picasa 2.1

* Improved RAW handling – Picasa supports more RAW formats and cameras in this release, with improved color-balance support and faster speed. Work with your highest quality files from these camera manufacturers: Canon (.CRW, .CR2), Nikon (.NEF), Olympus (.ORF), Pentax (.PEF), Kodak (.DCR), Sony (.SRF), Minolta (.MRW), and Fuji(.RAF). New models supported include the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT (aka the 350D), Pentax *istDS, Konica/Minolta Maxxum7D (aka the Dynax 7D).

* External drives - Find photos on external drives using Picasa. Simply go Tools > Folder Manager to choose whether Picasa should scan a connected external drive to find pictures. When you unplug and reconnect, Picasa will find your pictures instantly (with no scanning), and will also preserve your labels

* Print CD covers – Turn any photo into cover art. Click the "Print" button. Go to Tools > Options > Printing. Select "CD Cover Size" and apply. "CD Cover Size" is now one of the print layout choices.

* BlogThis! - Post a photo to your blog in one click. Picasa's new "BlogThis!" button replaces the "Blogger" button and allows you to upload your photos directly to the Blogger web editor, without the need for a Hello account. To use, select a photo in Picasa and click the "BlogThis!" button. (If you do not have a Blogger.com account, follow the steps on-screen to create one.) When you are signed in to Blogger, the web editor will open. Click "Publish" to post your photo to your blog.

* Multiple interface languages – Picasa is now available in Chinese (simplified and traditional), Dutch, English (U.S. and UK) , French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. When you start Picasa, the software will automatically match your system's native language. To change the language in Picasa, go to Tools > Options. Change the language using the pulldown menu on the "General" tab. You will need to close and re-open Picasa to see your changes take effect.

[dmacgee]

How's it with memory? I was running the earlier version and found it to be a bit of a memory hog. I liked its organization features it just slowed my PC down to a crawl when it was searhcing for new graphics.

[Mr. Pickles]

Mine never had a real problem once it did it's intial scan. When I did that, I just left it on and went and ate dinner or something. I hear it running and I can see little new thumbnails being generated (they appear in the lower right-popping up above Picasa), but no real slow-downs.

What I like is the half transparent histogram & camera info window you can turn on and off while viewing an image.

[Paul Shields]

I've found it to be a bit of a memory hog in the past, but I really need more memory in general (1GB is borderline these days). New version is a big improvement in how it represents colour for ORF (Olympus) RAW files. I will still stick with my current photo managers, but all in all it's a great tool and Google should be commended for developing a free product that is this feature-rich.

[Mr. Pickles]

Paul is right. A great little tool for the FREE price. Maybe not the best, but worth a look if you have or tried very little. For "snapshot" takers (nothing wrong with that), it is really good and simple to fix those almost images.

Also, I like the Fill Light, Highlight, and Shadow sliders on the Tuning tab too. There is a Color Temperature slider on there too.

The Effects tab has a lot of interesting quick fixes like Sepia, Film Grain, etc.

Focal B&W on there is neat, as it draws a circle around whatever (you can move the circle), and feather and sharpen its edges. What is in the circle is in color, and the rest is B&W.

There is even a Graduated Tint effect, whcih does what a graduated fitler would do. You can change the featehr of it, and the shade of it (darkness), and you can change the color of the graduated part to whatever.

[Paul Shields]

Originally Posted by Mr. Pickles

Also, I like the Fill Light, Highlight, and Shadow sliders on the Tuning tab too. There is a Color Temperature slider on there too.

Yes, the fill light is fantastic. I almost feel guilty using it as it works so well with no effort required .

[Mr. Pickles]

You feel guilty? Humm, I feel like I don't need to tell anybody I used it

I can do better with PS, but your are spot on in saying it is quick and easy (okay, you said no effort required).

[dmacgee]

For a small fee I won't tell anyone that you used it Okay everyone else forgoet you read any of this thread.