Looking for an alternative to Picasa

[mikeymikec]

After this issue wasted a lot of my time*:
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/picasa/RJ_FeogA4-Q

So, I'm looking for an alternative to Picasa. Not so much for my personal use, (I mostly use XnView for image browsing and do image transfers manually), more for giving the average user a nice and simple interface, mainly for Windows 8x, but actually giving them some choices like "where do you want your pictures to go?" and "do you want to copy or move the pictures from your camera?" rather than Win8x's Photos app saying "our way or the highway".

I had a quick look at Windows Live Photo Gallery, but beyond accepting the default settings it seems to be asking if I want to specify a different location for almost every image, which is a bit odd.

* - Picasa problems: And even installing 3.8 then letting it update simply results in a slight variation of basically the same problem (before it was that autoplay wasn't appearing on Win7, does on Win8x but the picasa option does nothing, after on win7 the autoplay option appears but clicking on picasa from the list simply opens picasa and freezes the autoplay window).

 

[corkyg]

I do all my post shot transfers and initial editing with Irfanvu.

 

[mikeymikec]

ie. http://www.irfanview.com/ ?

I just wanted to be sure as I'm under the impression that its installer is loaded with crapware (though I can't remember the last time I tried it).

 

[balloonshark]

ie. http://www.irfanview.com/ ?

I just wanted to be sure as I'm under the impression that its installer is loaded with crapware (though I can't remember the last time I tried it).

Marjorgeeks doesn't say it comes with crapware but softpedia says: "Users are advised to pay attention while installing IrfanView for the following reasons: Offers to download or install software or components (such as browser toolbars) that the program does not require to fully function."

The portable version on softpedia says its freeware.

Edit: I installed the version from majorgeeks in my default sandbox. I had to put my HIPS in learning mode because it wouldn't listen to my allow command. During the installation it didn't ask to install any crapware. After it was installed it opened a browser to a FAQ's page. If any crapware was installed I didn't see it because I was only looking for the offer to install crapware.

Edit 2: I just installed this outside the sandbox. It couldn't create a directory the first time I tried installing so I ran it as admin. When doing so I did get the offer to install Google Chrome. I had to untick the bottom 'make it your default browser' box and then the top 'install Chrome' box to make sure both boxes were unticked.

 

[mikeymikec]

IrfanView - It doesn't appear to integrate itself into the autoplay list, nor can I see an option in the app to import digital camera photos. Am I missing something?

https://irfanview-forum.de/showthread.php?t=4656

 

[Binky]

Puresync for the auto camera sync (by month/year)

Faststone for basic image viewing

 

[Paul Williams]

Adobe Lightroom is much better than picasa...

 

[balloonshark]

IrfanView - It doesn't appear to integrate itself into the autoplay list, nor can I see an option in the app to import digital camera photos. Am I missing something?

https://irfanview-forum.de/showthread.php?t=4656

It has an option in settings that says "add Irfanview as application for USB events". I can't get the darn thing to work and I have a feeling it has something to do with a setting in Windows' control panel - default programs or some other Windows setting.

 

[jhansman]

Adobe Lightroom is much better than picasa...

This. Easy to learn (relatively), and really, the only way to go if you shoot RAW. Affordable, too, if you keep you eye out. Still, AFAIK, the only stand alone app Adobe offers, and it just keeps getting better.

 

[mikeymikec]

Please bear in mind I'm looking for free software to recommend to customers for the purpose of taking over the job of digital camera photo importing on Win8x because the Photos app can't even do simple things like giving you a choice where the images go or to delete them off the device after the transfer (and recent versions of Picasa appear to be broken wrt autoplay import).

 

[OlyAR15]

Please bear in mind I'm looking for free software to recommend to customers for the purpose of taking over the job of digital camera photo importing on Win8x because the Photos app can't even do simple things like giving you a choice where the images go or to delete them off the device after the transfer (and recent versions of Picasa appear to be broken wrt autoplay import).

All that can be done through file explorer. Don't really need a 3rd-party program to do it. I use Irfanview for my graphics viewing. Tried Picassa but didn't find it any better than Irfan for viewing pics, and I prefer using File Explorer for file handling anyway.

 

[Binky]

Faststone is better than infranview for image viewing and management. It's what ACDSEE used to be before they bloated the crap out of it. It quickly switches between viewing a single pic, and an explorer-like view for image management. For simple users, it's a FAR better choice than lightroom, and slightly better than infranview (same for viewing, better for management).

I'm not sure why people are suggesting lightroom when the OP appears to be aiming at non-technical users. Lightroom is a great piece of software but its not nearly as simple as basic image viewers. Faststone is not a hardcore image editor but it can do simple edits just fine.

Puresync is free for home use. It's a separate program, which sucks, but it works well for auto-importing.

 

[lucia]

Studioline classic - more editing and backup options than Picasa. Certainly not for somebody with professional ambitions however. Quite a lot faster than previous versions.

 

[Prohance]

Adobe Lightroom is a good one! For more option you can use this site http://alternativeto.net/software/picasa/?platform=windows

 

[corkyg]

RTFP! While a great choice, Adobe Lightroom ain't FREE!

 

[Rowland]

FastStone Image Viewer is much more than that... It's free, fast (lightweight only 5MB), easy to use and has many features (viewing, resizing, cropping, editing, rotating, watermarking, batch processing etc..).

 

[ejl20]

Go for Adobe Lightroom!
I've tried using it, great alternative to Picasa.

 

[mikeymikec]

I've found (though I think I found it before and forgot about it) that Win8.1 has a virtually identical camera image import system to the Win7 one if you go into 'my pc' then right-click on the camera and click on 'import pictures and videos'. All the same options are available (though in slightly different places). The fact that the 'erase after import' option is available puts it head and shoulders over the Win8x Photos app.

I hope it's the same on Win10 as well. If anyone can confirm this...?

 

[Zahid Iqbal]

I thinks give a try to Irfan View

 

[lucia]

For viewing photos and doing resizing, etc. I use FastStone Image Viewer. It's fast and has a good set of tools for fixing images. Plus, like the Photo Viewer in Windows 8.1/10, it natively supports RAW image files.

 

[sonitravel09]

Well, Lightroom is in a way the professional equivalent of Picasa (catalog and raw converter) and it can do what you want (Photo>edit in ...)

You could also try Exifpro (90sec nagware, $20 to register), it is a great browser with tagging features, and it can Open in an external application the selected pictures.

Although I have not tried to send multiple pictures, so you test yourself...