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Picasa vs. iPhoto

K

Khryz

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 7, 2007
940
1
Can someone help me with some Pros & Cons of each?

Why do you like iPhoto or Picasa, what features are in either one that distinguish them?

I just DL'ed Picasa but I'd like other people's opinions first before I dedicate it to be my default photo app.

Thanks!
 
Can i ask what you went with in the end?

I'm in the same situation. I have iphoto 09 and have downloaded picasa but unsure which to use...

At the moment i have all my photo's stored on an airdisk in folders i created at the time.

Which photo app do you prefer?
 
I haven't used picasa but I will give you my $.02 or at the very least a couple of points to ponder.

iPhoto is one of Apple's "killer" apps, it continually gets updated and like many other apple apps, it integrates very nicely to other apple programs within iLife, iWork, OSX, iTunes, and of course mobile me.

There's something to be said about that, and while picasa may have benefits I'm not a fan of google especially when they say that once you upload stuff, they can use it. Picasa isn't any different they're service agreement states that they now have a right to your images.

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.
Click to expand...

Am I being paranoid, probably a little, but I choose not give my life over to google and they're marketing machine.
 
thanks maflynn,

I think I am leaning towards iphoto but i'm just worried about putting all my photo's in one library.

I guess its just because i'm used to the Windows way of things.

I believe i can backup my iphoto library to an external hard drive without issue?
 
jamin100 said:
thanks maflynn,

I think I am leaning towards iphoto but i'm just worried about putting all my photo's in one library.

I guess its just because i'm used to the Windows way of things.

I believe i can backup my iphoto library to an external hard drive without issue?
Click to expand...

Understood, but that's what backups are for and Time Machine works well in this case. I don't use iPhoto anymore (I use LightRoom) but the concept works the same. I backup my library all of the time, and if something happens, I can go back.

Besides, regardless of google being evil or anything, I do not ever trust my photos to any online service (I use smugmug). I ALWAYS have all of my images on my computer and backed up.

They're my images and my responsibility. If something happened to the service's servers and you lose your images. They'll issue an apology and move on. You'll be up the creek if you didn't have the originals anywhere.
 
Using Picasa doesn't require you to upload anything to Google's servers. It's just an optional thing.

If you don't like using Picasa Online, then use Flickr or something else.

All of your photos still reside on your HDD.

One other point to ponder ... unlike Picasa for Windows, Picasa for Mac was developed with iPhoto in mind. In fact, it was designed so that you could use both simultaneously. Picasa will just point to your iPhoto library and allow you to use Picasa's features without disturbing your iPhoto library. (disclaimer - I've never used Picasa for Mac, so this is from reading the Google page).

I've only used Picasa for windows, so I will say that it's good ... only different than iPhoto. I like some of the Picasa features ... like the collage. I wished that iPhoto would get that feature.

Just use both and decide if you want to keep it or not.

ft
 
I use both. iPhoto is my primary for all the reasons already listed. It works so well with everything else on mac. I like the ease of a quick (very small) resize in Picasa.. for forums or to send to my cell phone etc.

I love my personalized events in iphoto for example I have nearly 100,000 pics.. I have them in by special event or if it's nothing super special i have them in month-year event folders. In Picasa it goes in one date at a time.. annoys me to pieces when I am hunting for something. I used Picasa on my pc along time ago, so as soon as i got my mac i downloaded it. It doesn't get much use.. but I still like knowing it's there in case I want to.

I would never be without iPhoto.. it's the best:apple:
 
Thanks for your input guys,

i do have quite a good backup plan (I think)

Time machine to Airport Drive
Data > Airport Drive
Data > USB disk A (kept in safe in house)
Data > USB disk B (kept in safe at parents house)
Photo's + Home movies with online storage

I'm just uber paranoid about losing things lol...

I think i'm going to try Iphoto and give it a good go.
 
I eventually got over being accustomed to the Picasa for Windows way of photo organization and now let iPhoto handle everything. I used to like having all of my photos stored in individual folders that I controlled, but it's nice not having to worry about where things are stored. Being able to dig into the iPhoto Library and find the actual photos themselves offers some peace of mind as well.
 
Just the thread i was looking for. I have a few questions regarding iphoto vs picasa, id appreciate those frequent users who have used them to answer em for me please.

1. Picasa in windows had a nifty feature , that whenever i copied any pictures from my flash/sd to my computer, it automatically picked it up when i opened picasa, does the mac version do it too...and can iphoto do that?

2. I usually move around with an external hard disk with all my private data/pictures on it. And mostly use them on windows machine. So i had a backup system , through which the My Pictures folder was synced with my pictures folder in my external drive. So all i did on a new machine was open my external drive and browse my pictures folder as it is. I know mac has time machine for backup, but it doesnt serve my purpose. So if i use iPhoto, will i still be able to have that sync feature , so i can use my pictures on windows machines?

3. I have ready in many reviews that Picasa face recognition is better than iphoto, can anyone using this feature enlighten me on this?

Thank you very much for your time!
 
biggy52 said:
Just the thread i was looking for. I have a few questions regarding iphoto vs picasa, id appreciate those frequent users who have used them to answer em for me please.

1. Picasa in windows had a nifty feature , that whenever i copied any pictures from my flash/sd to my computer, it automatically picked it up when i opened picasa, does the mac version do it too...and can iphoto do that?

2. I usually move around with an external hard disk with all my private data/pictures on it. And mostly use them on windows machine. So i had a backup system , through which the My Pictures folder was synced with my pictures folder in my external drive. So all i did on a new machine was open my external drive and browse my pictures folder as it is. I know mac has time machine for backup, but it doesnt serve my purpose. So if i use iPhoto, will i still be able to have that sync feature , so i can use my pictures on windows machines?

3. I have ready in many reviews that Picasa face recognition is better than iphoto, can anyone using this feature enlighten me on this?

Thank you very much for your time!
Click to expand...

1. Yes, picasa for mac can do that, as long as soon as a picture is added to your computer (a file on a flash drive, downloaded from the internet etc) it is automatically added, the same little notification window that is in the windows version pops up to let you know that new pictures are being added.
iPhoto will automatically open when you insert a flash drive and can track changes in folders on your hard drive but will not scan your hard drive on-the-fly for pictures that get added after you started running the program (I think)

2. I don't know much about this

3. YES! The face recognition in Picasa 3.5 is so much better than iPhoto 09, the two can't be compared, I'm amazed by picasa's accuracy, getting the faces right nearly every single time.

All in all I think iPhoto has a better integration with the rest of the OS, and picasa has better performance for large collections of pictures. Personally I prefer picasa but each to his own.
 
Thanks,

Question 1 and 3 loud and clear, picasa wins. I hope i can just get the answer for number 2. I really want to use iPhoto, because i dont like additional softwares if the built in softwares can do the trick. But from the so many reviews ive read of iPhoto, it seems their photo storing is more like iTunes, and as much as everyone likes it, i hate it. Its like denying me to view my own pictures on windows machine.

Most people rave about iphoto being the better option for minor touching and editing, can you tell me about that, or is picasa upto the standard in that area too?
 
maflynn said:
There's something to be said about that, and while picasa may have benefits I'm not a fan of google especially when they say that once you upload stuff, they can use it. Picasa isn't any different they're service agreement states that they now have a right to your images.

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.
Click to expand...
Am I being paranoid, probably a little, but I choose not give my life over to google and they're marketing machine.
Click to expand...

Thx for posting this, I currently use Picasa web for my image hosting, but never knew this. Now, with my new Rebel T1i and me posting "decent" shots, I have to re-consider which hosting service to use.

I'll search in the photography forum here, sure it's been discussed there.
 
biggy52 said:
Most people rave about iphoto being the better option for minor touching and editing, can you tell me about that, or is picasa upto the standard in that area too?
Click to expand...

Both are pretty basic in their photo editing options, allthough yeah, with iPhoto you can change saturation, exposure etc more precisely than with picasa, allthough I do prefer picasa's red-eye removal. For anything more than the very basics you will need another program, regarless of which of the 2 you chose.
 
No problem, but since iPhoto is bundled with your mac, and picasa can be downloaded for free, I suggest you just use both for a week or so before making up your mind :)
 
I think people are a little too paranoid when it comes to Google. Seriously, what would Google want to do with your photos? I think Google's services are great.
That said, I primarily use both iPhoto 09 just because I've used it for so long. I recently downloaded Picasa for Mac just to try it. iPhoto is great, but the facial recognition is way better in Picasa. On the other hand, I love how iPhoto integrates with all of my other iLife apps. Picasa can do a lot of the other things that iPhoto can do to, like making slideshows, photo books (much less restrictive than iPhoto) and other features. The Places feature of iPhoto is duplicated in Picasa using Google maps. It's pretty slick.
Give Picasa a try. You might like it. You might hate it. You'll never know unless you try.
 
Installing both a good idea?

I'm new using Mac and can't decide between iPhoto and Picasa. I already have iPhoto 09 so I'm thinking of downloading Picasa for Mac as well in my new MacPro. If I have pictures stored in both programs is that means that I'm using double amount of storage space in my computer? I don't know how these programs use up storage space, so please help me understand. Thank you.
 
I wanted to use iPhoto, but I couldn't handle that I couldn't do my own tree structure folder organizing of my photos. I prefer Picasa because it uses my existing tree folder structure.

I found the editing to be lacking in Picasa though, so I use Aperture to import the photo from my camera, then edit it, and export it to my own folder structure, which Picasa automatically picks up with facial recognition.
 
I personally use Picasa as I am quite a light user and don't want to have to constantly keep iLife up to date (especially as iPhoto would be the only application in the suite I would actually use).

Owning Logic Studio and Final Cut Studio drastically reduces the usefulness of iLife.
 
Cromulent said:
I personally use Picasa as I am quite a light user and don't want to have to constantly keep iLife up to date (especially as iPhoto would be the only application in the suite I would actually use).

Owning Logic Studio and Final Cut Studio drastically reduces the usefulness of iLife.
Click to expand...

Now if only Google made an easy-to-use non-Pro video editing app like iMovie, I could get rid of iLife altogether.
 
i use iphoto for personal photos: family photoes, friends, parties, etc. things i take snapshots of...


and i use picassa for 'work' photos. with work stuff I preserve a normal folder hierarchy for a number of reasons, collaboration being one of them. picassa becomes my image viewer for all of my work image files. (though i wish it saw pdf's...)

the conbination works well for me. I email personal photos, upload them to facebook, create albums, etc from iphoto. with picassa i quickly (it feels faster to me) browse through many variations of work photos and open them in photoshop....

works well... was thinking of lightroom but never got around to it...

r.
 
mayanka89 said:
I wanted to use iPhoto, but I couldn't handle that I couldn't do my own tree structure folder organizing of my photos. I prefer Picasa because it uses my existing tree folder structure
Click to expand...
Aperture (a bit pricey) gives you that hierarchical folder structure so if you're intent on working with images, you may want to try that puppy out. It has some basic editing capability (non-destructive), strong categorization/keywording and organization abilities.

just my $.02
 
Picasa vs. iPhoto

i just got a brand new iMac, one of the things i most want to do with it is deal with my photos. i am a casual family snapshot photographer - i have three young kids and we take tons of photos. i have previously used picasa and been very happy with it. i was excited about using iPhoto mainly because of the beautiful photobooks it produces - with picasa i was having to go through Shutterfly, and the books are ok but not the full flush images offered with the iPhoto photobook. But now that I'm trying it out, I feel like i probably like the feel of working in Picasa more. I don't like that in iPhoto, i can't go from image to image editing and flagging easily like i can in picasa. (I would go through each album in Picasa and "star" my favorites with space bar, then upload the starred to the web to be put into an album.) I wish i could do something similar with iPhoto but it seems more cumbersome and mouse-dependent. Is there a good way I could use Picasa to view photos, do basic edits, and star the photos, and then use iPhoto to make the starred photos into a beautiful photobook? Would appreciate advice. :)
 
Related question: how does Picasa handle photo transfer from an iPhone? iPhoto just opens and treats the phone like a camera. Does Picasa do the same?
 
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