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Introduction
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| In this category there is one outstanding product and that is Picasa3 and in my efforts to assess other photo organizers I have used this as my benchmark. The three main contenders that came the closest are DigiBookShelf light , Studio Line PhotoBasic3 and finally as it was a joy to use was Album Burger. These were all different in the way they represented and organized your photos. |
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Discussion
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| When you first run Picasa 3 it offers to scan your whole hard drive (or designated locations) for photos and videos. Scanning is surprisingly quick and when finished you'll have all your shots neatly organized into folders on a time line basis. Now you can view your shots one at a time, in slideshow or traversing the time line.
The editing features are limited compared to professional image editors yet they provide you with every function amateur photographers need including one click red eye reduction. Similarly adding labels to photos is a cinch while a simple but effective star rating system allows you to flag favorite snaps. Individual folders can also be password protected. Facilities are provided to import your images from your camera in multiple formats including RAW. You can send photos to your choice of web printing services, cut a CD, print to a local printer or share with others via your own blog or instant messaging. It is also worth noting that you can create web albums with free online storage, backup, and automatic resizing when exporting or email etc. Simply sensational. DigiBookShelf has been around since 2004 and it appears it has been left that way. This is no in-detriment to the software as it is in a class of its own and I enjoyed the virtual library. You do have to register to use all of the facilities, this is free. The surround of the bookshelf seems stark and cold, but don't let that put you off as you can download new skins and new books ends. Tutorials are available on the website. Not only can you catalog your photos, you can edit them manually or automatically, resize, reformat (although limited) and download pictures from your camera straight into an album. Editing is quite comprehensive and there are filters for you to work with and if you wish you can add links to your photographic editor anyway. There are options to email, transfer to disk and print, but not just print the photo as you can make cards (very limited, but if the photo speaks volumes then you only need that picture) and create calendars. Still not enough? Well okay, you can save your albums as an executive file which is handy when creating your disks or pen drive and add text or sound to your pictures or album. You can even create a slide show or a webpage. Being a bookaholic I just love the way I can view each album on a book shelf, sad I know, but its creative and wonderful to use. The software can add descriptions to your images, send photos per email in just the right size, print, display slide-shows, publish web-galleries, safe-keep your images on CD or DVD. Download your photos from your camera and organize them into files and back up your images. The image edit facility has all that you would require to ensure that the photo is edited to your demands with the added bonus of some excellent effects. There is one more I should mention, but I am not considering it as an organizer, more of a wonderful presentation of your special photographs and is well worth downloading. Have a look anyway, http://www.scrapbookflair.com/
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3 
Unrestricted Freeware 
Windows Operating Systems Supported: Me/NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista/Mac OsX/Linux
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No one says much about support for Windows7! Many of the tools mentioned here do not have Win7 support as far as the system requirement info on their websites is concerned.
Picasa could be THE choice only if it had the option to choose a particular location on the HD.
TristanDee
I don't use any of these "photo organizers". I just put any pertinent information in the EXIF and IPTC data and use Irfanview or XnView, both of which can sort images according to EXIF data and both of which can be set to not create a database of thumbnails etc.
I have to admit I use Xnview for all my work, but Picasa is excellent for those who wish to organise simply asking the computer to so all the work is excellent. I have been assessing lately Photology. For finding, tagging and viewing its excellent although it has many limits. If anyone else would like to try it and assess it for themselves
http://www.getphotology.com/
Tony
The beef I have with Picasa is that not only will it offer to scan *all* your drives, but it will also go ahead and do so even if you told it to scan only designated locations. As I wrote in the feedback form when I uninstalled Picasa: THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE.
Really like Picasa. I've been using it since version 1. I really like the "picture viewer" it integrated in explorer - when in a folder with images, double-click on one and it opens up the viewer very quickly, then just use the left and right arrows to flip through the images in that folder. Reminds me of when ACDSee was small and fast. The only thing is that you cannot change folders while inside the viewer, but just press Escape, change folder, and double the image in the other folder. All is done so fast that I don't mind that missing feature. And if you want to do more, well just fire up Picasa...
Using under Windows 7, 64bit version without any problems.
MrBabou
Not sure how compared products, but Picassa is known for antoher (beta?)desing flaw [that may not be significant for majority of users]: you can't set the location of the databse(which can grow quickly). It vedges firmly onto your system disk, in user-profile-data.
So far the only way to go around this issue is through symbolic directory linking [or whatever it's called in different filessystems], if you need it, simply google it.
PS> I always appreciated Picassa's quick, SMOOTH, SEAMLESS picture-browsing - you can literary check hundreds of pictures per minute, without temporarily going cross-eyed. Can anyone recommend similar product with this particular quality?
Can anyone recommend an organizer that allows assigning multiple tags to both individual images and whole folders, then efficiently displaying by tags (regardless of the directory structure)?
Saving the tags in ITPC folds is a plus.
Thanks.
Don't think this quite makes it but may be worth a look.
Pictomio http://www.pictomio.com
I'm sure it was mentioned favourably here before the rewrite.
I found a program called Xibit:
http://www.klingebiel.com/tempest/hd/Xibit.htm
Has anybody here tried it?
Interesting reviews, I have been trying to find software that will back up photos to disc but also create a webpage? or equivalent index of thumbnails on your computer that will tell you what disc it is on (so I can get gigs of data off the PC)- will any of these packages provide that function?
Dale
Picasa is great except the smooth scrolling which makes me dizzy and there is no way to disable it. I tend to look away from the screen when I scroll.
Picasa has one huge problem. It forces you to choose between scanning all HD or the Windows standard directories.
I only want to use it to catalogue specific directories on selected HD because I have hundreds of thousands of images, many of which I do not want listed. (e.g. clipart,email attachments, maps, scanned documents, WIP renders etc.). Until they fix this, it is totally unusable for my purposes.
We are developing the Ezypic photo Organizer--------- your comments would be welcome ------------------------------ www.imagingassociates.com.au-- regards Andrew
Re #1 Picasa 3: By going to Tools > Folder Manager you can select the specific directories you want to scan.
Dave
I recommend to check out these ones as well:
Free software, worth to have a look at: (besides the mentioned apps)
Emphasis on Organizing
Pictomio http://www.pictomio.com
Realy great 3D user interface
Magix http://www.magix.com
Great program, though some features require purchase of additional packages.
Emphasis on Album:
PhotoMeister http://www.photomeister.com
Realy realy simple to use, with a wealth of output options.
PhotoZig http://www.photozig.com
Simple to use, un-usual though very clear and simple interface
Some options require purchase of commercial version.
MKraats
I have tried most of these programs, and I keep coming back to Picasa. I hate how it displays folders, with any folder that doesn't have an image file in it disappearing. Just my personal pet hate, but the key thing that keeps me with it is that the key word and caption functions write standard IPTC data into the file. That means it goes with the file, and any program that reads standard IPTC metadata will see it. Microsoft's excellent Windows Live Photo Gallery gets a thumbs down from me for the same reason its predecessor did - the tag and caption fields are non standard, and not the internationally recognised IPTC ones. So for maximum future proofing it's Picasa for me, and I still hate the folder display. Oh well.
I keep looking to see if this can be updated and changed, but as yet nothing has. Which is a shame, you would think there would be some contenders out there. Thanks for your input
Tony
What about Adobe Photoshop Album Starter Edition 3.2 ? Any opinions anyone?
It's free. http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopalbum/starter.html
"Find any photo in a snap with automatic organization that lets you view all of your digital photos in one place using a familiar calendar view.
Fix common photo flaws — like red eye, color, and brightness — in a single click.
Easily share your memories! Attach photos to e-mail, send them to mobile phones or easily create a CD. Make your own prints, or order prints, photo books, and more online."
deemarie
Hi, I constantly look at the ones I have chosen and O keep coming back to them as they are 'Organisers'. Thats the key word and yes I have the Adobe Photoshop Album starter on my list to keep looking at. My list is a massive list and as things change I re-examin the software each time. Thank you for your input
Tony
I've got Picasa 3 but from what I can tell it can't actually resort the photos on my hard drive automatically (into, say, folders for years and months).
Can anyone recommend a good simple program to do this? Thanks a lot in advance.
Try Amok Exif Sorter 2.5.2 This will rename and sort into folders to criteria that you specify. I'm using it at the moment to sort 10000+ photos.
www.amok.am/en/freeware/amok_exif_sorter
Your link doesn't work, for me.
This should work:
http://amok.am/de/freeware/amok_exif_sorter/
Anupam Shriwatri, India
Take a look at My Photo Indexer. Haven't used it. I, too, am still looking.
Fastone (reviewed on this site) - http://www.faststone.org/ does an amazing job of this.
Here's a quick outline of how to do it (from memory so forgive any small inaccuracies!)
1 - file / download images (this brings up a new box)
2 - select the source folder as where your images are (my documents\images for example)
3 - set the new location (my documents\sorted for example)
4 - choose the sorting mechanism (yy/mm/day gives 2009/01/30 for example)
5 - you can rename the files as well (consecutive 3-digit number = ### for example)
The when you click go, it'll show a preview window first telling you what changes will be made - you confirm this, it goes away and does it, and then asks if you'd like to delete the originals.
Works like a charm every time
Good luck, James
Used Faststone Imageviewer for years now... Love it...
Used ACDSee years ago, but they got too big, and I had to pay to much.
Picassa has a time line data system that should help you, providing the EXIF info hasn't been deleted or changed
Tony
According to Picasa3's website (12-18-08)
System Requirements:
Windows XP/Vista or Linux
256MB RAM
100MB available hard disk space
----------------------------------
not as tony states -
95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista
300MHz Pentium with 128MB memory or better
QUESTION: WILL IT STILL RUN WITH WINDOWS 2000 ?
I don't see any older Picasa versions offered.
How old is tony's review?
Disregard my above post. I found it.
http://picasa.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=26902&topic=1042
Use the following links to download the version of Picasa specific to your operating system:
Windows 98 and ME: http://dl.google[dot]com/picasa/picasa2-setup-1884.exe
Windows 2000: http://dl.google[dot]com/picasa/picasaweb-current-setup.exe
We don't offer Picasa for Windows 95 or NT.
Does picassa really support 95/98. i tried installing it and it gave an error. missing export in kernel.dll.?
It states it does support 95/98. If there is a missing .dll here is a link that might help
http://www.dll-files.com/dllindex/dll-files.shtml?kernel32
Tony
Any software that would make a nice slideshow with zoom in/out, fades and background music?
I should put your comment in the forum. But try Windows Movie Maker or look here http://www.photo-freeware.net/.
Check out 'FastStone image viewer' at http://www.faststone.org/index.htm
I think it is superior to Picasa.
Fastone comes into the category of image views not organiser. Being an Xnviewer fan thats my number one for a image viewer. But its great that we have the choice for our personal needs and they are free
Tony
Picasa 3 is now available, and is an excellent product - now includes a really cool image viewer the displays your JPEGs on double-click.
http://picasa.google.com/
How about Corel SnapFire, its pretty good.
Where does Windows Photo Gallery fit in the scheme of things?
I use Windows Live Gallery, having tried picassa, Adobe album starter and others.
My main criteria was that if I tag a photo I want that tag to stay with the photo and not in a seperate database because if for some reason that database is lost all my hard work is too.
With live gallery I can view and tag photos on any of my pcs and the tags are immediatly viewable from the rest.
Hi, at the time when I did this it didn't. I have to review this as there has been several changes to the software and other softwares.
Tony
I have reviewed Windows Gallery and it hasn't changed my mind. Picasa is a far superior product. When viewing images they were BLUE compared with XnView which was perfect. Windows Gallery has a long way to go to get my vote.
Tony
Thanks Tony, look forward to it. One nice touch is that tags are shared between Windows Explorer and Photo Gallery.
Thanks for the update re Photo Gallery/Picasa, looks like Picasa it is. I see v3 is in beta. so Picasa may become a better editing tools as well.
try xnview at http://www.xnview.com/
veru nice too...
I use XnView for all my images and its the best on the market, but its not an organiser. XnView is in http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-digital-image-viewer.htm.
Tony
Just a note to those who may have lost their camera check this site out
http://www.ifoundyourcamera.blogspot.com/
It show the images you have taken with your camera and all you do is check it out to see if yours is there.
Tony
Also handy to have in your toolbox for sorting your digital photo archives - visipics
Visipics - Main page
Visipics goes beyond identifying identifying identical (duplicate) files, but will also identify very similar files too.
Screenshots
I personally don't like Picasa but agree with Tony that PhotoMeister is very good. PhotoMeister even opens pictures you want to edit in your favorite image editor. See the link in Tony's posting.
Pictomio requires a certain standard of graphics card, so I have been unable to assess this software. I have tried several other organisers, but nothing has made me change the list as yet.
Tony
try pictomio... good photo organiser.. free.. good looking also....!!
http://www.pictomio.com
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