Photo Management Software

Manage Your Pictures and Share Them Too

 

Do you find yourself wading though long lists of files in your "My Pictures" folder to find the picture you're looking for or opening folder after folder trying to find which one you put that picture in? Well, there's a solution to this problem. Actually, there are lots of solutions. There are so many different photo manager software options available today that it would be silly to keep sifting endlessly through files and folders trying to find pictures. These programs import images so you can manage, edit and even share them.

There are plenty of photo manager software options out there, but the one I have to recommend is Picasa. This is the program I will use to describe the features photo manager software has. This software is fairly extensive and easy to use, but best of all it's free from Google. It takes just minutes to download and install, and just a few more to find all your pictures so you're ready to get started. It searches your computer (or just document and picture folders if you like) and finds all image and video files. You can also import images from a camera or memory card for all the new images you take.

After your images are all in the program, it then displays all your photos as they were ordered on your computer. If you move a file in Picasa, it will move the file in Windows as well. This way you don't have to copy and paste files and navigate through folders. You simply click and drag. It couldn't get any easier. I personally know the frustration of having files all neatly organized one place and a big mess somewhere else; this program takes away all the hassle.

Picasa also allows you to name, caption, and rate your photos for easy searching and sorting, which you can do by tabs in the program. Another feature that's great for file organization is being able to search for pictures. You can search by file name, title, date, or even rating. That way you can easily find a picture to use or share, or quickly find the best you have to offer (so you know which ones to sell, of course). It also has a handy timeline that organizes your pictures in chronological order.

After you have all your pictures sorted and filed, you can then begin editing in Picasa. While it's not a full photo editor, it has a lot of easily accessible and useful options. You can zoom in and pan your pictures to see what needs fixing. It has handy buttons to crop; remove red eye; fix the color and lighting; and much more. It may not have all the high tech tools, but it definitely has enough for most of the quick fixes you'll normally need.

And once your pictures are all ready to go, you can then easily share them with family and friends (or anyone else who wants to see them). You can transfer then to an external drive, burn them to a CD, upload them to a photo sharing website, or email them using your email, Google's g-mail, or Picasa's built in client. This way no matter how you want to do it, you can share your pictures with the world.

Picasa is just one example of photo manager software. Go ahead and download it today so you can start enjoying the ease of photo management.