I found this handy little PHP app today. If you are using Picasa to manage/edit your photos and want to be able to post them to your site, try this PHP script.
Picasa2 has an xml web galerie export option. Picaweb parse this xml and render the html pages on the fly (with Smarty.)
Looks solid. On a side note, does anyone use Picasa? It is currently for Windows only, so I really have no way of testing it since I use my Powerbook to store my photos and just use iPhoto. My boss uses it and just raves about it. I think they are even using Blogger to post pictures of his daughter to their web site.
Any of the FG readers have anything good or bad to say about Picasa? Inquiring minds want to know.
I tried Picasa, and although it has some interesting/useful features, the software is too bloated and has too many unnecessary features for my taste. Picasa serves as a photo organizing AND simple photo editing app, and I have no use for its photo editing tools. Other people probably will, but hey, to each their own.
Its one of the best for Windows. I like the editing controls. Its not as good as the new iPhoto though.
Pros:
-Easy export to lots of sizes, programs, and services.
-Easy importing, catagorizing, and searching.
-Easy slideshows, gift CD burning (provides graphical interface for recipient to view files), and backup cd burning.
Gripes. Most of these are related to the fact that I’m not the “average” consumer with a digital camera:
-It throws EXIF data out the window really easily. Its really hard to retain it for my photo gallery.
-It spawns little picasa.ini files all over your hard drive. These are hidden, so most users don’t see them, but power users like me always like to show hidden files and folders.
-I would really like support for the Adobe DNG format, but I don’t know if even iPhoto has this.
Since I have never used iPhoto, I can easily say Picasa2 is proabably the best out there.
but as chet said, i hate the little ini files all over the pics dir.
As someone who uses Photoshop, I didn’t have a huge use for it, but it’s certainly easier for my wife to do things she needs to do in Picasa.
I like it’s slickness – the auto colour and level adjustments fade in and out, and I believe it’s non-destructive, but someone might correct me on that.
I love Picasa 2. Personally, I like it better than the new iPhoto (most reviews rate it higher as well).
Unfortunately (but not so unfortunately), my new powerbook is on the way and I’ll probably be using that exclusively for photo management from here on out.
I would love a Picasa for OSX.
The common reaction of ‘I have Photoshop so I don’t need Picasa’ just means that the person doesn’t take many pictures. Let’s say I’m editing 100 5mpxl pictures which is about the average number of photos I have after a party or an event. Here’s the scenario:
Photoshop
First, I cannot open all at once, else, it’ll probably crash. So I’d open in small batches of 10 or so, which still takes a while. For personal pictures, I would probably do no more than rotate, crop, auto levels, auto contrast, and auto color. Then, I’ll transfer it to Image Ready, save, resize to email size, and save again. Go back to Photoshop and repeat the process 100 times. Total time: 1-2hrs.
Picasa
I don’t need to load the pictures since they’re already there. I’ll select them all, then click: picture – batch edit – I’m feeling lucky. Then I’ll scan through them using the arrow button and straighten, crop, or more adjustments if need be. Clicking email button will automatically resize and optimize to preselected size, and send them through Gmail. Total time: 10-15mins.
Even as a Photoshop power user, I have to agree with cliche.
I took 5.5GB of photos on my recent vacation. Without Picasa going through them would have been a massive pain.
I use it and love it – it makes organizing my digital pics real easy not to mention simple/common fixes like red eye.
I just wish it had some sort of API that would make it easier to integrate with other apps. For example, sure it can email using gmail and outlook and post to blogger, but I want to be able to use it, the corrections I’ve made in it, and the comments I’ve input and export all that to my Menalto Gallery. Because now I have to organize them in Picasa, and then do it all over again for my online gallery…
Damon, you can use the corrections you’ve made in Picasa elsewhere. You just have to export your photos.
Used both versions and they are both nice and loaded with extras, just don’t use what you don’t want. I also use Photoshop and I have to say that Picasa makes it quick and easy to group and organize multiple photos as well as email them (can even reduce the size if you want), quickly make contact sheets, burn Cd’s (two types: just a backup of the files or presentation) CD’s will play in just about any DVD player on a TV, which I like a lot for the kids. They get to see themselves on the monster (TV) ;o)
I use both Picasa (feature-loaded and free) and Photoshop (feature-loaded and pretty far from free)
Picasa’s great for organizing and quick editing the big batch of vacation photos. The edits are non-destructive and can be undone with a click.
If you have an image that needs the PS treatment, right click and “open with photoshop”. You can view .PSDs in Picasa (along with RAW, movies, and tiff). No DNG support yet, but with the google cash behind them I wouldn’t be surprised to find it in for version 3.
Cliche and Adam, why don’t you guys take advantage of Photoshop Actions and do a bunch of batches? Wouldn’t that do pretty much the same thing? And the same amount of time as Picasa and even MORE automated features?
I use disposable cameras…… i’m poor(sort of)
Lea,
Batch makes it a bit easier, but it’s still much more work since Photoshop will always play around with individual windows seperately. Lets say I make an action for auto-levels, auto-contrast, and auto-color and ran a batch of 100 pictures 10 at a time. When I run the first batch of 10, I’ll get 10 seperate windows. Lets say the first window needs slight rotation. So I roate canvas (image, rotate canvas, arbitrary) and set an angle. If my guess wasn’t correct, i repeat and guess a different angle. When I get it right, I gotta crop since I have empty spaces in the corners due to rotation. Then save, which pops up couple more windows, click through them, and finally close. I move on to the second window and repeat. After the first 10 are done, repeat the process 10 times. After I go through all of them, I make another action to resize and optimize the images for emails. Again, I’ll run them through the batch 10 at a time, since more you batch in Photoshop, easier it’ll crash (and crashing and losing files suck).
In picasa, I just select them all and hit ‘I’m feeling lucky’. Rotating is a button and a slidebar away–and it automatically crops out the leftovers. No need to save, and an arrow brings me the next picture immediately. No need to resize either, because emailing the pictures will automatically resize images.
Photoshop is a more powerful program without a doubt. We also know that a machine gun is more powerful than a rolled up newspaper. But when it comes to killing flys, a machine gun will probably take much more time (though it’ll kill more surely).
i wish picasa had a few more retouching tools, like healing brush and burn/dodge. Then I could use it for almost all my photos, leaving only the artistic ones for Photoshop post-processing.
We are wellocme to it’s configuration.
replying to micheal
no I don’t know
but I love it as well!
replying to micheal
no I don’t know
but I love it as well!
I’ve been searching through google about a method for installing Picasa 2 in OSX and found this site. Hopefully anyone else searching through google for “Picasa in OSX” will find my method of running Picasa 2 in OSX helpful:
http://trekerboy.blogspot.com