Author Topic: Alternatives to Picasa  (Read 5612 times)

Alternatives to Picasa
« on: 24 March, 2016, 08:41:25 pm »
Google is no longer supporting or updating Picasa, which I have used for quite a few years to organise my photos and to carry out very basic editing.

Picasa will continue to work, possibly for quite a long time, but I’d prefer to make the switch to an alternative. Can anyone recommend an alternative?

fuaran

  • rothair gasta
Re: Alternatives to Picasa
« Reply #1 on: 25 March, 2016, 09:25:52 pm »
I use Windows Photo Gallery, I think its not bad. Works fine for all the usual tagging photos etc.
Can do some simple editing, though I rarely bother with that.

Re: Alternatives to Picasa
« Reply #2 on: 25 March, 2016, 09:39:26 pm »
Thanks - but I should have mentioned that this is for a Mac.

I haven’t investigated the OS X Photos app at all but as far as I can see without opening it and risking it messing up my folder arrangement, it doesn’t seem to have editing functions.

Re: Alternatives to Picasa
« Reply #3 on: 25 March, 2016, 09:43:25 pm »
I think you can edit your images using Preview (to an extent), and then drop them back into Photos.
Long term Flickr (yuk!) user here.
HTH

ETA - If you want to tamper further without paying Photoshop ransom, check out  Gimp.
Srsly.

Re: Alternatives to Picasa
« Reply #4 on: 25 March, 2016, 10:47:58 pm »
Yes, Preview can do most of what I need, but it all seems a bit fiddly - plus the handy thing about editing in Picasa is that local changes are reflected in the online copy. And it is easy to import photos into automatically dated folders.

I have tried Gimp but it is far too complicated for me.


Samuel D

Re: Alternatives to Picasa
« Reply #5 on: 26 March, 2016, 09:45:16 am »
Apple Photos is reasonably easy to use (much more so than the old iPhoto) and does just about any kind of editing that is in good taste (and more besides). I would take a good look at it before looking at alternatives, none of which are likely to be as simple or good.

Re: Alternatives to Picasa
« Reply #6 on: 27 March, 2016, 07:34:32 am »
Apple Photos is reasonably easy to use (much more so than the old iPhoto) and does just about any kind of editing that is in good taste (and more besides). I would take a good look at it before looking at alternatives, none of which are likely to be as simple or good.

+1, and it's integrated into the apple universe so it 'just works'. 

Re: Alternatives to Picasa
« Reply #7 on: 27 March, 2016, 11:56:04 am »
Thanks all. What worries me about Apple Photos is not so much if it will do what I need, but if it will create a duplicate library on first use. It seems as if it will create a library within my Pictures folder and I’d rather it didn’t. Also, apart from this Mac I am not really in the “Apple Universe” - I don’t use iCloud for online storage and my existing photos are uploaded to Google and Smugmug.

Nevertheless, I’ll give it some thought.

fuaran

  • rothair gasta
Re: Alternatives to Picasa
« Reply #8 on: 27 March, 2016, 01:06:08 pm »
Does Digikam work on Mac OS? I think it is rather good.

For any organising software, I would check whether it actually stores the tags within the files, not just its own database. It makes it a lot easier to change to any different software in the future.

For simple editing, you could try Pinta.

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
  • Custard Wallah
    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Re: Alternatives to Picasa
« Reply #9 on: 27 March, 2016, 02:37:41 pm »
Apple Photos is reasonably easy to use (much more so than the old iPhoto) and does just about any kind of editing that is in good taste (and more besides). I would take a good look at it before looking at alternatives, none of which are likely to be as simple or good.

+1, and it's integrated into the apple universe so it 'just works'.

Like the recent iOS "update" :demon:
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

Re: Alternatives to Picasa
« Reply #10 on: 02 April, 2016, 10:10:13 pm »
I’ve played around with the editing tools in Photos and I pronounce them “good”. I also note that it works with an app that I had forgotten about called Camerabag. So as far as editing is concerned, all is ok.

Now there is the matter of moving all my images into Photos. Currently they are almost all in albums named for the date they were created. How do I move them all without messing everything up? Or do the images actually stay where they are, in my Pictures folder, and Photos simply accesses them in situ?

Re: Alternatives to Picasa
« Reply #11 on: 02 April, 2016, 10:21:42 pm »
I’ve played around with the editing tools in Photos and I pronounce them “good”. I also note that it works with an app that I had forgotten about called Camerabag. So as far as editing is concerned, all is ok.

Now there is the matter of moving all my images into Photos. Currently they are almost all in albums named for the date they were created. How do I move them all without messing everything up? Or do the images actually stay where they are, in my Pictures folder, and Photos simply accesses them in situ?
AAAAAK!
I feel your pain....



Re: Alternatives to Picasa
« Reply #12 on: 03 April, 2016, 09:27:49 am »
Before ditching Picasa, remember what it is for - organising and editing the files ON YOUR MACHINE. The reason that it is being sidelined is that Google, along with Apple and Microsoft are all about getting you to use stuff online. If what you want is to organise the stuff on your local drive with editing capability then stick with Picasa. It's a mature product that has nowhere to go developmentally, it works. The best paid alternative is Adobe Lightroom.

Google photos is all about pushing stuff online, IMO they are making a reasonable fist of it, I expect the next six months to add a degree of usability that will improve it, the current feature of searching your photos for objects and things is on the amusing side of awesome (eg, you can search all your photos for "bicycles" as if you had tagged them). I'd wait a while before making any organisational changes to see what happens.

Samuel D

Re: Alternatives to Picasa
« Reply #13 on: 03 April, 2016, 09:42:17 am »
The best paid alternative is Adobe Lightroom.

Adobe is certainly well paid! But Adobe is also all about getting your stuff online. They’re just moving a little slower, since their customer base is a bit more reluctant to do that (requiring much greater bandwidth, etc.).

I’d also put money on Lightroom moving to a subscription-only regime before very long. Besides, although Lightroom started out with a streamlined, pared-back, rather beautiful interface, it has now suffered the fate of all Adobe software – complexity piled upon complexity as feature-bloat goes unchecked for years. No-one in that company understands that you ruin things for everyone by pandering to every user’s last whim.

Re: Alternatives to Picasa
« Reply #14 on: 03 April, 2016, 10:23:34 am »
Agreed, their saving grace has been increase in compute power.

I resent the move to subs against one-off purchase and Adobe cloud stinks big time, but then again I multiplied out the cost vs months and decided I could live with their new model.

I don't think they see their target audience as moving off local storage any time soon, even with advances in bandwidth it doesn't approach the fast response needed by professionals.

Samuel D

Re: Alternatives to Picasa
« Reply #15 on: 03 April, 2016, 10:59:48 am »
I agree that Lightroom users will not soon be ready for cloud-based storage. Or rather, the technology won’t soon be ready. But give it a few years and I think things will move in that direction.

Lightroom remains a good choice for keen or professional photographers in need of its many features and willing to put in the work to learn them, but I am not sure it would be a great choice for Sergeant Pluck, who used Picasa for “very basic editing”.

I’m stuck with Aperture, which Apple has disowned. It is rather annoying that Apple and Google dump products just about the time a slow learner like myself is starting to get comfortable with them! ’Tis the modern way.

Adobe, for all its faults, is more like Microsoft in its willingness to support old products until the last user dies of old age. Apple and Google have shorter attention spans.

Re: Alternatives to Picasa
« Reply #16 on: 03 April, 2016, 09:13:58 pm »

Adobe, for all its faults, is more like Microsoft in its willingness to support old products until the last user dies of old age. Apple and Google have shorter attention spans.

Ahem, ahem. That's a big basket of fruit you got there, lots of apples and oranges.

The last time Adobe gave anything away for free that was useful was ....... I don't think they ever have.

Microsoft charge for their crap and live off revenue for making people upgrade. They also make $$$ from extended support from corporates, leaving the domestic end user to go screw themselves.

Google don't actually charge the end user for their software so it is difficult to complain of poor value.


Re: Alternatives to Picasa
« Reply #17 on: 22 March, 2017, 10:28:09 pm »
Only just discovered (or perhaps forgot) that picasa is not supported, and isn't available on google AFAICS.  Does this look like the original program to people..?  http://filehippo.com/download_picasa/tech/
It says author is google, and runs on Windows 10...  Worth installing?



Cycle and recycle.   SS Wilson

Re: Alternatives to Picasa
« Reply #18 on: 22 March, 2017, 10:32:03 pm »
Well it matches the version number of the most up to date Picasa, probably worth giving a whirl if that's what you want. somewhere or the other you may be able to find a checksum to validate it.

Zipperhead

  • The cyclist formerly known as Big Helga
Re: Alternatives to Picasa
« Reply #19 on: 22 March, 2017, 10:59:11 pm »
The checksum looks ok. Before it disappeared from google I downloaded the pc & mac versions for someone. The checksums are:

f5e535745f0e2140c31623df8f9ad746  picasa39-setup.exe
3a6e45e49e48ca645676893a15e49405  picasamac39.dmg
Won't somebody think of the hamsters!

Re: Alternatives to Picasa
« Reply #20 on: 23 March, 2017, 12:18:49 am »
Thanks.

I dug out an old laptop, retired last yr, which only works in safe mode (due to graphics card failure), and found this exact version of Picasa (3.9 Build 141.259) in the downloads folder.  So have installed this on to the Win10 machine.   :)
Cycle and recycle.   SS Wilson