Originally published January 25 2005
Google expands free photo software
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Lars Perkin decided to make it easier to use digital cameras, and created Picasa, a program that organizes photos on a hard drive. Internet behemoth Google liked the idea, bought the company, and hired Lars. Now he is a happy entrepreneur, evangelizing new versions of Picasa and adding new features to the free product. This is an Internet success story - someone creates something of value, and putting it on a network makes it more valuable for everyone.
Lars Perkins, general manager of Google's Picasa software division, shows off the company's free (and remarkably feature-packed) imaging program.
A camera enthusiast, he figured digital photography was a lot of fun but way too complicated.
So he dreamed up Picasa, a software program that takes the pain out of finding photos stored on a computer hard drive.
Has taken the plane as far as Ireland and Guyana.
On Tuesday, Google unveils a major upgrade that could chip away market share from leaders Adobe and Microsoft.
Danny Sullivan, editor of online newsletter SearchEngineWatch, says Google's free policy is in line with its evolution as a kind of "Internet operating system" that strives to keep users spending most of their time at Google.
It can convert photos to black and white and add filtering effects --- such as turning a light sky into an Ansel Adams-like black hue.
You can also use Picasa to burn images to a CD, something rarely seen on other free photo-management tools, such as Adobe's "light" version of Photoshop Album and Kodak's EasyShare software.
Still, the works won't include certain standard tools serious photo editors love on Adobe's $90 Photoshop Elements --- such as being able to wipe away wrinkles or morph someone's head onto another body.
From Picasa, you can also e-mail pictures (automatically making the images smaller, so as to not to clog e-mail boxes) or print them.
"Some of the new features, especially the black-and-white filters, are pretty rare for a program like this," says Philip Ryan, associate editor of Popular Photography & Imaging magazine.
He got a job as a salesman/technician at a Boston-area computer store, which led to some networking with local computer executives.
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