Best Reviewed
Photo-Editing Software
- Best photo-editing software for most Adobe Photoshop Elements *Est. $80
- Free photo organizer Google Picasa *Est. $0
- Free photo-editing software GIMP *Est. $0
- Pro-level photo editor and image manager Adobe Photoshop Lightroom *Est. $275
- Professional graphics software Adobe Photoshop *Est. $665
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Free photo organizer
- Good photo-editing tools
- Organizer with web integration
- Supports facial recognition and geotagging
- Not suitable for huge photo collections
- Editing tools are very good but not pro-level
Google Picasa is earning enthusiastic reviews, though the highest compliments are reserved for its photo-organizing features. Those include face-recognition, for scanning photos and automatically organizing them by who is in the shot, and geotagging, which lets you add geographic data that can be used for organizing or by other programs (displaying images on a map in Google Earth, for example). Image-editing tools can't compare to those in more sophisticated programs, such as Adobe Elements (*Est. $80), but are powerful enough to handle basic needs, with a few additional tricks such as a brush that lets you retouch just part of an image. Other pluses include sophisticated web integration and even a basic movie editor. Picasa runs under current and recent versions of the Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems.
Google Picasa 3.6 is the most recent version. Most reviews we found cover Google Picasa 3.5, but differences are so small -- mainly bug fixes and improvements in how certain features work -- that the opinions offered are still valid. The best can be found at PCMag.com, Download.com and Macworld. PC Pro, a U.K.-based publication, also reviews the app in some detail.
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Our Sources
This review of Google Picasa 3.5 praises its polished interface, support for RAW camera files, image management and editing capabilities. The most notable negative is an interface that could confuse some at first. That's not enough to deny Picasa an Editors' Choice recommendation, however.
Review: Picasa 3.5, Michael Muchmore, Sept. 29, 2009
2. Download.com
Download.com gives Picasa 3.6 a score of 4.5 stars out of 5 for organizing, editing and sharing photos, along with an Editors' Choice award. The brief review notes several improvements and new features. A good number of readers add comments, most of which are positive.
Review: Picasa 3.6, Staff of Download.com, Jan. 29, 2010
This review praises Picasa 3.5 for its extensive online feature set, simple photo access and organization, and free online-photo-gallery integration. Kris Fong calls it a good alternative to "plunking down $79 for the latest iLife iteration" just to get iPhoto '09's Faces and Places features.
Review: Google Picasa 3.5, Kris Fong, Nov. 3, 2009
4. PC Pro
PC Pro awards the app 5 stars out of 6, saying that its "easy-to-use tagging capabilities, including advanced and effective face recognition, take Picasa 3.5 to the next level." The software earns the magazine's Recommended award.
Review: Google Picasa 3.5, Editors of PC Pro, Oct. 21, 2009
Photo-Editing Software Runners Up:
4 picks by top review sites.
3 picks by top review sites.
2 picks by top review sites.
Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 Ultimate
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