On Friday, software giant Google released Picasa 3.9.0.522, the latest version of its photo organization program for the Mac. Once installed, Picasa imports (without moving or copying) photos from the iPhoto library as well as other folders and external hard drives on your Mac. The program also includes assorted editing tools for straightening, text generation, red eye removal, collage creation and Photoshop-like effects and adjustments. The new version, a 33.1 megabyte download, offers the following fixes and changes:
– Added ability to upload to Google+: share with circles, post pictures to your stream, and upload images at original size.
– Social Tagging: name tag people in your Google+ circles and notify them via G+.
– New photo editing effects, including:
Infrared
Lomo-ish
Holga-ish
HDR-ish
Cinemascope
Orton-ish
Sixties
Invert Colors
Heat Map
Nightvision
Cross Process
Posterize
Duo-Tone
Boost
Soften
Vignette/Matte
Pixelate/Focal Pixelate
Focal Zoom
Pencil Sketch
Neon
Comic Book
Border
Rounded Edges
Drop Shadow
Museum Matte
Polaroid
– Side by side editing: compare two pictures side-by-side, or compare different edits on the same picture.
– Updated RAW support for pictures from newer cameras.
– Support for WebP files.
– On the Tools > Experimental menu, we’ve added support for migrating your database to another local drive.
– Improvements to Face Movie maker: number of photos included, chronological ordering.
– Sync now uploads unshared albums privately.
– Improved restoring of virtual albums when you uninstall and reinstall, or move to a new computer. Album data is written to the picasa.ini file now, along with all of your other edits.
– OAuth support: use 2-factor accounts without getting an application-specific password.
Picasa 3.9.0.522 requires Mac OS X 10.5 or later to install and run.
If you’ve tried the new version and have any feedback to offer, please let us know in the comments.
One reply on “Google releases Picasa 3.9.0.522 update, adds social networking features”
It appears that Picasa 3.9 has also converted Picasa Web Albums to Google Plus Photos. Not a bad move unless you are a Picasa Web Albums user and you don’t want a Google Plus account. I see no way to upload now without a Google Plus account.