picasa 3.9 :: organize, edit, and share your photos {free download}

Did I have you at FREE?  I honestly am having a hard time organizing my thoughts to effectively tell you how great Picasa 3.9 is.  I’ve been using Picasa since 2007.  I seriously squeal when I see there is a new version because it only gets better and better.  I appreciate companies that keep up with technology.

It’s a great program for every day photo users.  CNET Download.com put together a quick little video that explains the newest features best.

My Top Five Reason I choose Picasa are:

• My photos are set to sync to my online albums every time I upload new pictures to my computer so I never have to worry about my pictures being lost in a computer crash or house fire.
• Photos can be accessed the “old fashioned” way through START, My pictures, etc. (that worried my mom that she couldn’t find her photos the way she previously knew how…they are still there.) “The files are in the computer”- Zoolander
• Organizational benefits are endless with tags, search abilities, collages, movies, etc.
• I can post directly to Facebook (with captions included), email a photo within Picasa, order photo prints and pick them up at your favorite 1 hr. retailer, and create/publish blog posts.
• Cool editing tools that are beyond the basic ones such as crop, red eye, auto color.  How would you like to make photos HDR, lomo-ish, round corners, posterize, focal black and white, pencil sketch, ETC?!?

Here is a screen shot off my computer of Picasa and the filing/searching capabilities.  It’s very basic and user friendly for those who may not be 100% comfortable on the computer, but it has great options for users of all speeds.

With just a few simple clicks I was able to rescue my Mother’s Day photo shoot and edit a photo to my liking.  No more colorless photo of Annabelle’s foot over her head showing off her princess pull-up. (That’s completely our Annabelle by the way!) 

Have some fun with your pictures and download Picasa 3.9.

*All opinions expressed in this review are my own*