Picasa

Picasa is free photo management software that was originally developed by LifeScape and sold as shareware for $ 25. In July 2004, Google Inc. has bought the company of Idealab, since the software is free.

Since 2006 there has been a complementary selection for the presentation of images on the Internet, the Picasa Web Albums. The trees are not quite free, as are revealed with uploading property rights to the images.

Software

Picasa is an image archiving and management software, which is aimed at beginners and is therefore easier to use compared to other larger programs. The images can be not only organize in folders, but also in so-called albums. These albums allow a thematic sorting of images and corresponding virtual folders. In addition to the administrative functions Picasa also offers image editing software functions, such as scaling, filter or reduce the red -eye effect.

Picasa changes in image management is not the image itself, but the metadata, and even in spite of potentially write protected. So in Picasa specified data such as tags are written with the original image file ( in the IPTC metadata). In image editing Picasa but does not change the original image file, but only makes a copy of it, while it kept the source in the original directory. In order for the program to prevent a loss of quality by repeatedly re-compressing the photos, especially the originals remain unchanged but, so edits can be undone at any time. This concept also use professional photo and video editing programs. For further editing and re-transmitting is an export function available, and there is a quick way to display the picture in the current processing status to export under a sequential number that is appended to the original file name.

The software also provides an own import dialog. This imported photos from a memory card to the hard disk or other storage medium. It also provides a duplicate detection, automatic deletion of the memory card and instant uploading to the Picasa Web Albums.

An image processing functions are, among others, cutting, aligning, red-eye removal, automatic correction for contrast and color, and touch- ready. Many filters can be applied to the photos. The changes can be examined with a before-and- after views. The changes can always be undone, as the original files are not changed by these treatments.

Support for Mac OS X systems not based on native versions, but is instead implemented by means of the compatibility layer Wine, which thereby undergoes extensive support in the form of hundreds of patches by Google. A Linux version was also implemented in 2006 in this way. Their development, however, was set in April 2012.

Advanced Google Picasa version 3.5 to the face ( again) detection and - in conjunction with Google Earth - Geotagging. Picasa automatically finds faces and groups them to shots of the same person. This, the user can then assign names and thus place them in the category " People". A second innovation was integrated Picasa and Google Maps can thus tag photos with geographic information. Picasa supports raw formats of many modern digital cameras.

Picasa Web Albums

Picasa Web Albums are a Web 2.0 service, which (like Flickr) is intended for creating online photo albums. Picasa Web Albums are operated as a web service whose programming available to everyone is open, so that software developers can access the functions provided and content for their own software. There is also the Google-powered utilities to upload images that are supported under Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Linux, but are not available as free software.

After a test phase was a user account for Gmail prerequisite to apply for a User Account for Picasa Web Albums. In the meantime, you can use Picasa Web Albums directly after applying for a user account.

Google offers the following ways to upload the images (February 2008):

• Picasa image management software for Windows and OS X
• An ActiveX control for Microsoft Internet Explorer
• A web form with which you can upload up to five photos at once
• An extension module for iPhoto
• An upload function on Android smartphones
• An e- mail with pictures as an attachment to username. " secret word " @ picasaweb.com
• A special utility for Mac OS X
• Self-developed software that uses the Picasa Web Albums Data API.

Google's rights to the images

Initially, Google took on the use agreement, the permission to market services from Google and uploaded images, was the exact text to:

" By Submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content Which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services. This license is for the sole purpose of enabling Google to display, distribute and promote the Services and 'may be revoked for certain Services as defined in the Additional Terms Of Those services. "

Since 2010, Google has agreed to use the rights granted hereunder only for the purpose of providing the Picasa Web Services:

"Google claims no ownership of the content that you upload, transmit or store, including text, data, information, images, photographs, music, audio, video, or other material in your Picasa account. We will use your content for any purpose except to provide this service. "

In the License Agreement Picasa 3 installation, however, still stands (as of February 2014):

" 11 From you license granted for contents

Up to 1 GB available to every user of Picasa Web Albums free of charge; additional space can be added through its premium offerings. Users of Google get unlimited storage for Picasa Web Albums. This applies if the individual photo files have a maximum size of 2048 × 2048 pixels.