Google’s Picasa Version 2.5 is out

Using Picasa I am currently managing some 60.000 photos on my disk – and that’s only the “selected” stuff…. I personally like this software a lot (hey, I gave up my own PhotoMeister Software for this!). Fast, easy to use, has the right features and no overload. Just great. And now the latest version 2.5 of Picasa adds some nice features.

What’s new in Picasa 2.5

• create web albums (Picasa Web Albums)
• geotag your photos using Google Earth
• make time-lapse sequences into movies
• search photos by color
• Nested Folder View. Now you can choose how to display folders in Picasa, whether they’re nested or sorted by date.
• Larger thumbnails. The thumbnails are slightly larger, so images are clearer.
• New RAW features. Picasa supports more cameras and RAW formats (including the Canon 30D, Nikon D200 (Isn’t that nice!), and DNG).
• Save edits to disk. When you edit photos in Picasa, you can choose to save those edits as you go, replacing the original photos with your newly edited versions. The save feature is even undoable, so you never lose your original files.
• Screensaver. Show starred photos in a collage, or pan and zoom your Web Album photos. Choose between four presentation options to display your best shots.

Get it now
It’s not available as the “standard download” from the Picasa website yet and the automatic update function of older versions may delay the download, but this link will do it.

This official post on the Googleblog says more. Or checkout this post on the Google Operating System Blog.

Testing
While playing with the new version I noticed an updated and slicker interface. The software feels faster than the previous version. The new features mentioned above are all nicely done.

Right away I created an album with some of my photos on the new Google Gallery website. Takes only seconds to send photos there from Picasa! It is no replacement for my flickr account but it is a nice alternative, especially the option to add “private” albums which can only be accessed if one knows the URL from the publisher.

Conclusion: This one is a winner!