1 year, 6 months ago
Which software is better for photo management on a Mac: iPhoto 11 or Picasa 3.8?
I'm going to be switching to a Mac soon. On Windows, Picasa was the best (to me anyways) hands down. I'm biased towards to it for this reason as well.
I'm not too concerned with photo editing; though its ability to do so would be a plus.
Another feature I'm highly looking for is duplicate detection. I know some of my sources for photos overlap so when I combine them into 1 gigantic library I want to be able to weed out as many duplicates as possible.
I also plan on using Picasa Web Albums for online storage so integration with it is a must. Facebook Photos integration would be a definite positive too.
I'm looking for opinions that compare and contrast the two products (though throwing in another contender wouldn't hurt if you feel there is one). A pure pro/con bullet list would work.
I'm not too concerned with photo editing; though its ability to do so would be a plus.
Another feature I'm highly looking for is duplicate detection. I know some of my sources for photos overlap so when I combine them into 1 gigantic library I want to be able to weed out as many duplicates as possible.
I also plan on using Picasa Web Albums for online storage so integration with it is a must. Facebook Photos integration would be a definite positive too.
I'm looking for opinions that compare and contrast the two products (though throwing in another contender wouldn't hurt if you feel there is one). A pure pro/con bullet list would work.
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M$2 Answers
As a Picasa (Windows) user, I would imagine that the Mac version of the program is equally as great to use. I have looked online and have found that the Facebook plugin for Picasa is also available for the Mac version.
On the flipside, I see that there is a plugin for iPhoto to allow for uploading to Picasa web albums, and iPhoto natively uploads to Facebook (along with some commenting and advanced album editing features).
Other features to consider are the Face Recognition/Tagging, both features of which I unfortunately have not particularly dealt with in my own experience.
On the flipside, I see that there is a plugin for iPhoto to allow for uploading to Picasa web albums, and iPhoto natively uploads to Facebook (along with some commenting and advanced album editing features).
Other features to consider are the Face Recognition/Tagging, both features of which I unfortunately have not particularly dealt with in my own experience.
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M$Report Abuse
About 4 years ago, I was where you seem to be now - about to switch to a Mac... or at least let one into my household. I was a fan of Picasa for Windows and interested in side-stepping iPhoto completely unfortunately, 4 years ago, that wasn't really an option as the mac version of Picasa wasn't available. Once it was released it was buggy and missing features... but now... NOW, @wizputer, you're in luck! Picasa 3.8 for Mac is a great program. I would recommend that if you're starting fresh, go with Picasa from the start. Here's why:
1.) Both Picasa and iPhoto can edit pictures, but I find Picasa's "I'm feeling lucky" button to be more of what I'm looking for than iPhoto's "Enhance" button.
2.) Picasa obviously has integration with Web Albums. iPhoto has integration with Flickr and Facebook, but if you know Web Albums is more of a priority, then you might as well go with Picasa.
3.) Both have face tagging (seem to work equally well), both have geotagging (iPhoto's is a little prettier, but not as functional as google maps integration), both have notes / rating
4.) If you're use to Picasa on windows, it will be easier to use on a Mac that learning iPhotos
5.) iPhoto has a way of making it difficult to find the actual picture file. While you can get to the file, it's not as intuitive as on windows or Picasa for Mac which is similar to windows.
6.) Picasa has better / more intuitive (for a windows user) tools for exporting pictures.
With all that said, I actually use iPhoto... for 1 major reason. I use my digital camera to record lots of video footage, and because my camera is not natively supported in iMovie, I HAVE to import video into iPhoto and then into iMovie. If not for this, I would use Picasa... but because of the file structure differences between iPhoto and Picasa that I mention in item #5 you'll end up with lots of duplicate photos if you use both iPhoto and Picasa... so I use iPhoto almost exclusively... but once I get a new camera (one that imports directly to iMovie) I think I'll use Picasa only.
1.) Both Picasa and iPhoto can edit pictures, but I find Picasa's "I'm feeling lucky" button to be more of what I'm looking for than iPhoto's "Enhance" button.
2.) Picasa obviously has integration with Web Albums. iPhoto has integration with Flickr and Facebook, but if you know Web Albums is more of a priority, then you might as well go with Picasa.
3.) Both have face tagging (seem to work equally well), both have geotagging (iPhoto's is a little prettier, but not as functional as google maps integration), both have notes / rating
4.) If you're use to Picasa on windows, it will be easier to use on a Mac that learning iPhotos
5.) iPhoto has a way of making it difficult to find the actual picture file. While you can get to the file, it's not as intuitive as on windows or Picasa for Mac which is similar to windows.
6.) Picasa has better / more intuitive (for a windows user) tools for exporting pictures.
With all that said, I actually use iPhoto... for 1 major reason. I use my digital camera to record lots of video footage, and because my camera is not natively supported in iMovie, I HAVE to import video into iPhoto and then into iMovie. If not for this, I would use Picasa... but because of the file structure differences between iPhoto and Picasa that I mention in item #5 you'll end up with lots of duplicate photos if you use both iPhoto and Picasa... so I use iPhoto almost exclusively... but once I get a new camera (one that imports directly to iMovie) I think I'll use Picasa only.
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
