Picasa 3, the free image browser, from Google has been released (as a beta). I personally prefer to use other image browsers, but I've had it installed for one main feature. The Auto collage function! Even though you can duplicate the effect in Photoshop, picasa's collage feature is by far the simplest I've used. Literally, it takes 10 seconds to create a collage. You select the photos you want to collage and then select "photo collage" from the menu. Then save the result. The only issue with it was the ability to fine tune or edit the collage before saving it.
Well, with version 3 of Picasa, the developers have included more collage styles, including mosaics, thumbnail pages (of course), and some interesting ones like the multiple exposure collage.
But what is really great with the new update, is the ability to fine tune the images themselves. For the picture pile collage you can specify borders or the old Polaroid framing they had in v2.7
You can adjust the placement of individual images and change the rotation and scaling, simply by clicking on the image and using the dial to adjust. grab the handle on the dial and move it up or down to alter the rotation or drag it to the left or right to resize the image.
If that wasn't enough, Picasa now includes the ability to make movies from photos with a variety of transition effects. Similar to Microsoft's photo story, but with the ability to upload your finished movie to Youtube within the picasa application.
The only thing I wished they included in the movie tool was a bit more control for the audio. Options to fade out audio or record audio while the movie is playing in draft mode would be handy. Also linking more than one audio file would be nice too. As it is, the audio component is crude and is only meant for background music. If you want a free photo to movie tool with more control, check out Microsoft Photo Story.
Picasa 3 is still in beta, but I've found it stable and worth the upgrade if you're using older versions of Picasa. There are other enhancements for Picasa users including automatic synching to web albums. Well done Google! Find out more about the changes HERE.
You can also give feedback about the beta HERE.
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