Picasa 3 Beta available

[chrisman]

If you use Picasa you should definitely give Picasa 3 Beta a try. It has a lot of new/improved features.

Picasa 3: Free download from Google

View a demo here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rskC6c_5L1M

[ftpaddict]

Certainly can't wait not to try it.

[Clicker]

That was quick, i was just looking for it yesterday and it wasn't ready ...thanks for the heads up!

I like how it didn't lose anything from Picasa2

[Derridale]

My main beef is that they still have all that unused space occupying the bottom 3/4 of the left-hand panel, in edit mode. And they have those three tabs (Basic, Tuning, and Effects).

Why the heck not just have all the adjustments on a single pane? And especially the Sharpen, which almost EVERY photo gets, after doing whatever else is needed? Why should I need to change tabs, sharpen, then change back?

Even on my laptop, there is way more than enough vertical resolution to leave space for all the adjustments on a single panel on the left, instead of having those three silly tabs!

Red-Eye fix is WAY better than previous versions.

Picasa Mail (via the Hello accounts) has gone.

Apart from that - most of the changes are to do with sharing photos. Not sure it really warrants a major version number upgrade to v3 - maybe v2.8 perhaps...

[Clicker]

I think, if you looked at the mobile version, you'd understand.

[Derridale]

Haven't looked at the mobile version... but who uses that anyway?

Perhaps they should have the option to have the three processing tabs separate, or all on one panel?

[chrisman]

Originally Posted by Derridale

Red-Eye fix is WAY better than previous versions.

Picasa Mail (via the Hello accounts) has gone.

Apart from that - most of the changes are to do with sharing photos. Not sure it really warrants a major version number upgrade to v3 - maybe v2.8 perhaps...

What about
- Retouch feature (i.e. blemish/spot remover)
-the ability to add text to photos
-better cropping
-make a movie from selected photos
-a much better montage feature (not that I use it, but many people do)
-a slider to change (reduce) the date range

I've always liked Picasa even though I use Lightroom and CS3. When it comes to fast display and quick editing and emailing, Picasa is one of the best - Oh! and it's free....

[Derridale]

OK - yes, points taken. All good stuff.

And yes, I use Picasa for its speed too, as well as Aperture, Photoshop, and am also an ex-Lightroom user (now it's too slow). Whole different thread there...

The Retouch feature looks good.

Cropping is ho-hum - take it or leave it. I prefer to crop MY way....

Movie from photos? Gimmick at best. I'd never use it.

Montage? Like you - I never use it, but granted, some do.

Slider to reduce date range? Can't see when I'd use that.

But I WOULD have liked to see all the tweaks on a single panel instead of three tabs. And I would DEARLY love to see a noise filter of some type, a la Noise Ninja...

Maybe even an opening to allow plug-in architecture with compatibility for Photoshop-format plugins. There are many free plugins out there, and having an opening into Picasa to access them could be a good move, without spoiling the free program philosophy.

Those features may justify a major version number upgrade. How about calling this one 2.9 instead of 2.8 - I'll concede that much? Heheh

But, as it's a free program, one can't be too demanding - just make suggestions.

[ManuH]

For me the biggest change in Picasa 3 is that now:
- it reads EXIF data on raw pictures
- it reads K20D PEF correctly now
- some corrections like red eye are available on raw files

[daleroy]

Anyone know if it's colour managed?

I wish they'd impement the face recognition stuff in the client, instead of just the web

[k100d]

took a quick peek today
have issues w/ handling of NR and Sharpening, no way of controlling how much :|
i like how they handle the shadows and highlights tho

[gawan]

I have liked Picasa 2.7 a lot! Tried this new beta but it crashes too often and the interface is, IMO, more cumbersome than the in the previous, so I changed back to 2.7.

But this was a beta version so it can only get better, I hope...

[dstar]

I try Picasa 3B all day I use RAW file from my camera and my son camera Sony A300. AWR .This new version work extremely fast.Some new future as web album option work much better plus new look safe file and writing to disk option very fast 700M just about 5 min. All my file very smoth move to Picasa 3 .

[Sang]

I found it is very fast and lots of good features.
BUT I found big problem on exif support for my K20d. Picasa overwrite the exif on most of pictures on one file folder.
Is this a known issue or did I made some mistake?
Thanks!
Sang

[Jasvox]

It's a FREE software...HELLO!!!!

If you don't like it, don't use it.

Jason