Just when you thought that the folks at GoogleTM had exhausted all of their good ideas, here comes another one. Picasa is a free, downloadable program that's practically a one-stop shop when it comes to digital photos!
If you're like many, you gave in and traded your 35mm camera for a credit card-sized digital camera. It fits in your breast pocket, takes great pictures, and even lets you dispose of any photos of your not-so-good side. You couldn't be happier! The only problem is that your renewed love of photography has created quite a mess on your computer's hard drive. You now have pictures in every folder except the one that says, "My Pictures".
That's where Picasa comes in. Simply log on to www.picasa.com and download the latest version of this wonderful software. From there, you're only a few steps away from having your own virtual photo gallery!
•Organize - The first thing Picasa will do is locate every picture you have on your hard drive, even the ones you've forgotten about. Picasa's easy-to-follow format then allows you to rename and organize these shots into appropriate albums. It also enables you to use the same picture in multiple albums, without taking up any more space on your hard drive. If you have a special photo or album that you'd rather not share just yet, a password can be created to keep it "for your eyes only".
•Edit - Now that your hard drive is organized, how about fixing those pictures you weren't especially excited about? Picasa's state-of-the-art tools allow you to adjust colors, crop, and remove red-eye from your images. If you'd like to add captions or adjust the angle of an off-kilter shot, you may do that as well. You can even transform your pictures into black and white or sepia-toned.
•Share - One of the joys of taking good pictures is sharing them with your family and friends. If you enjoy sending images via email, Picasa will automatically resize them for you so that recipients will be able to view them. In addition, the program has an instant messenger system so that you can share photos with friends who are online. If you have a website or a blog, you can also use Picasa to upload your photos to it as well.
•Print - Have you ever tried to print pictures and ended up ruining several sheets of expensive photo paper? Picasa will not only format pictures for your printer at home but it also allows you to export the pictures to any number of online photo processing sites.
•Backup - This important step is frequently forgotten, and it's essential to ensuring that your memories will last a lifetime. Picasa will identify which pictures haven't been backed up to CD or DVD so that you can act accordingly. The program also makes it very easy to create slideshow on CD.
•Create - There's an artist inside of all of us, and this part of the program allows you express this side of yourself by turning your pictures into works of art. Create movies, collages, posters, and screensavers with just a few clicks of the mouse!
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