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| MCentral Technology Tip: Google’s Picasa Digital Photo Software |
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As Realtors®, many times we focus so much of our energy on our clients that we don’t have the time to research technologies (products and services) that can help us more efficiently serve our clients. My goal is to introduce a technology that you may not know about and show some real world ways that this technology can assist in our everyday real estate lives.
Many Realtors have discovered the ease of use of digital cameras. After we buy a digital camera, we take pictures, and then we use a method to get the pictures on our computers. Most of us follow this same process. After we get the photos on the computer most of us deviate from a normal process in how we manage the photos. We make corrections using one program and use another program to store the photos and then we attach our pictures to our clients using our email client. There is a much better way to manage, fix, and email your photos. The software program that I think handles these functions the best is Picasa 2.0 from Google. On top of being one of the best programs for managing, fixing, and emailing your photos one of its other great attributes is that its 100 percent free (You can download the application for free here: www.picasa.com.)
When you install Picasa on your computer the application immediately scans your system for photos and collects them into a single library. Your photos can be arranged in a lot of different structures. The default storage method is to store the photos chronologically. As you organize your pictures Picasa also lets you change filenames, key in captions, and add ratings to your favorites. As time goes on and you are having a hard time locating your pictures then you can use functionality that Google made famous: search functionality.
Another key feature of Googles Picasa is the long list of photo editing tools. You can instantly adjust highlights, shadows, fill lights, and color temperature. You also have the ability to crop, straighten, remove red-eye, and more. If you decide you don’t like any of the edits you have made then you are can click a button that takes the photo back to its original form.
Picasa also provides multiple ways to share photos. Many people take digital photos and then e-mail those photos without making any modifications to them. Most digital cameras today take very large and very detailed photos by default. When you email these photos without making any modifications the emails take a long time to send and a long time to download by the recipient. This is because the photos weren’t reduced in size or in quality. Picasa has an e-mail button that when you click it allows you to use your default email program, Gmail, or the Picasa email program. When you e-mail using this functionality Picasa automatically sizes the photo to the proper viewing size. You can also easily upload pictures to popular photo-sharing sites, including Shutterfly and Ofoto, or burn photos onto CD or DVD.
Google’s Picasa is a great application for managing, editing and sharing your photos. The application is great and it is free!
Did you know Management Central has an area dedicated just for technology tips and tools to help you with your business? Each new issue includes at least one article from a technology specialist informing you of the latest gadgets available. The area also offers suggestions for making the most out of your high-tech experience. For more information on the latest in technology for managers visit MCentral online.
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