Picasa 3.0 released

Bigger news than Chrome to me: Google released Picasa 3.0, the latest version of their photo organizer and editor. Download link here.

After playing with it a bit I’m impressed (but see the bad news below before you install). Here are some of the new features:

• There’s a new Retouch tool similar to Photoshop’s spot healing brush for correcting facial blemishes, stains on scanned photos, and dust on sensors. This was the one feature I wanted most, and version 3 has it.
• The new Picasa has a snazzy text tool for adding styled and colored text to a picture. That was a gaping hole in the feature set that’s been filled.
• You can attach music to slideshows under the folder properties.
• There’s a new face recognition technology. With one click you can filter your pictures to show only pictures with faces.
• Picasa is better-integrated with Picasa Web Albums. I don’t use them, so I didn’t test that feature.
• The redeye tool doesn’t require you to select the eyes as in version 2.7. Now it works with just a click and you can use it as a batch operation on an entire folder.
• Geotagging is officially supported.
• Cropping is improved.
• You can perform basic edits to videos and upload them to YouTube. I haven’t tried this yet, but it sounds wonderful. I have a bunch of videos that need editing.
• The import feature is smarter and can group pictures by date taken for easier sorting into folders, which is something I’ve been doing manually by eye. Sweet!
• Picasa keeps a folder of your screen captures and allows you to edit them. I use screenshots all the time, so I’m sure to use this feature.
• Here’s a Google video demonstrating the new features.

Now the bad news

Picasa 3 has an incredibly oppressive end user license agreement that makes it sound like they get to use your content however they want. The relevant part is below:

11. Content licence from you

11.1 You retain copyright and any other rights you already hold in Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services. By submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive licence 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 licence 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.

11.2 You agree that this licence includes a right for Google to make such Content available to other companies, organizations or individuals with whom Google has relationships for the provision of syndicated services, and to use such Content in connection with the provision of those services.

11.3 You understand that Google, in performing the required technical steps to provide the Services to our users, may (a) transmit or distribute your Content over various public networks and in various media; and (b) make such changes to your Content as are necessary to conform and adapt that Content to the technical requirements of connecting networks, devices, services or media. You agree that this licence shall permit Google to take these actions.