Picasa and Picasa Web Albums

Help home

Picasa Release Notes

Read the release notes below to discover the latest features, improvements, and bug fixes in Picasa and Picasa Web Albums.

Mac
Version 3.9

Build 3.9.5.573 - March 12, 2012

  • Fixed various crashes based on crash reports.

Build 3.9.2.539 - January 4, 2012

  • Fixed various bugs.

Build 3.9.1.535 - December 15, 2011

  • Fixed various crashes.
  • Fixed name tags and contacts issues.

Build 3.9.0.522 - December 8, 2011

  • Added ability to upload to Google+: share with circles, post pictures to your stream, and upload images at original size.
  • Social Tagging: name tag people in your Google+ circles and notify them via G+.
  • New photo editing effects, including:
    • Infrared
    • Lomo-ish
    • Holga-ish
    • HDR-ish
    • Cinemascope
    • Orton-ish
    • Sixties
    • Invert Colors
    • Heat Map
    • Nightvision
    • Cross Process
    • Posterize
    • Duo-Tone
    • Boost
    • Soften
    • Vignette/Matte
    • Pixelate/Focal Pixelate
    • Focal Zoom
    • Pencil Sketch
    • Neon
    • Comic Book
    • Border
    • Rounded Edges
    • Drop Shadow
    • Museum Matte
    • Polaroid
  • Side by side editing: compare two pictures side-by-side, or compare different edits on the same picture.
  • Updated RAW support for pictures from newer cameras.
  • Support for WebP files.
  • On the Tools > Experimental menu, we've added support for migrating your database to another local drive.
  • Improvements to Face Movie maker: number of photos included, chronological ordering.
  • Sync now uploads unshared albums privately.
  • Improved restoring of virtual albums when you uninstall and reinstall, or move to a new computer. Album data is written to the picasa.ini file now, along with all of your other edits.
  • OAuth support: use 2-factor accounts without getting an application-specific password.
Version 3.8

Build 3.8.9.390 - March 30, 2011

  • Fixed facial recognition crash.

Build 3.8.8.383 - March 1, 2011

  • Fixed an issue with ‘My Contacts’ groups.
  • Made improvements to decrease overall memory usage.
  • Improved support for network drives.

Build 3.8.7.261 - December 7, 2010

  • Fixed the 'Picasa is moving My Contacts to Other Contacts' issue.
  • Updated various translations.

Build 3.8.5.349 - November 16, 2010

  • Fixed various translation issues.
  • Face Movies now correctly display captions.
  • Fixed broken imports via iPhoto ‘11.
  • English detection now working when creating Gift CDs.

Build 3.8.5.326 - October 20, 2010

Build 3.8.2.274 - September 29, 2010

  • Fixed "Manage Online Contacts" 403 errors.
  • Fixed a corrupt metadata bug.
  • Fixed various Face Movie crashes.

Build 3.8.1.267 - September 15, 2010

  • Fixed problems upgrading facetags from 3.6 and several other issues with cropped/rotated files.
  • Fixed screensaver issues with cropped pictures and captions not displaying.
  • Create a Face Movie from a selection of photos in the tray (instead of using the entire Person Album).
  • Original file jpeg quality preserved when saving from Picnik.
  • Color Management is now turned off by default.
  • Increased stability through multiple crash fixes.

Build 3.8.0.240 - August 17, 2010

  • Added Face Movie to create face-aligned movies for named contacts.
  • Added Batch Upload (via Tools > Batch Upload) to allow you to take bulk actions on your photos: upload, change options, and remove online photos.
  • Added Picnik online photo-editing to the Basic Fixes tab.
  • Added Color Management to support color profiles.
  • Added the Properties panel to view EXIF data and improve support for XMP metadata.
  • Added support for uploading photo order to Picasa Web for manually re-ordered photos.
  • Added an option to upload people album thumbnails to Google Contacts.
Version 3.6

Build 3.6.7.262 - June 21, 2010

  • Fix to various crashes during initial scan/startup as a result of Quicktime.
  • Translation fixes.

Build 3.6.6.241 - May 5, 2010

  • Drag and drop in Collage Maker for Mosaic, Frame Mosaic, and Grid.

Build 3.6.5.230 - April 13, 2010

  • Increased stability through multiple crash fixes.
  • Fixed translation errors.
  • Several backup fixes including:
    • Disk-to-disk backup
    • Filtering previously backed up folders
    • Selecting the correct backup set in list

Build 3.6.5 - March 30, 2010

Build 3.6.1 - December 15, 2009

  • Made a stability fix to Timeline.
  • Fixed an issue where Picasa would only show the face thumbnail when a new album is created from a 'People' album.
  • Fixed several issues in the import process.
  • Fixed an issue where dragging and dropping into another folder didn't actually move the photo.

Build 3.6.0.127 - December 8, 2009

  • Added support for collaborative albums in Picasa:
    • The ability to make your own albums collaborative.
    • The ability to upload to a friend's album.
  • Added better name tag recommendations.
  • Added the ability (in the Folder Manager) to remove folders from being scanned for faces
  • Added the ability to create (and save) custom crop sizes.
  • Added an option in Settings to preserve the original JPG compression value when uploading to Picasa Web Albums.
  • Imports can now be saved automatically by date taken, today's date, or a custom folder name. If date taken is selected, photos will be saved in separate folders by date.
Version 3.5

Build 3.5.2.90 - November 3, 2009

  • Improved stability when downloading photos from Picasa Web Albums.
  • Added RAW support for the following cameras:
    Canon EOS 7D Olympus E-620
    Canon EOS 500D Olympus E-P1
    Canon PowerShot A530 Pentax K-7
    Canon PowerShot G11 Panasonic DMC-FZ35
    Canon PowerShot A470 Sony DSLR-A230
    Kodak EasyShare Z980 Sony DSLR-A330
    Kodak EasyShare Z1015 Sony DSLR-A380
    Nikon D3000 Sony DSLR-A8
    Nikon D5000

Build 3.5.2.78 - October 15, 2009

  • Stability improvements.

Build 3.5.1.68 - September 30, 2009

  • Fixed an issue where editing contact information in Picasa altered the formatting of contact information at http://contacts.google.com/
  • Added a progress bar when batch editing with 'Auto Red Eye Correction.'
  • Fixed an issue where the 'Tools' < 'Clear Geotag' menu item was disabled for geotagged photos.
  • Fixed a memory leak on Mac that occured while uploading.
  • Increased stability through multiple crash fixes. Thanks for reporting!

Build 3.5.1.60 - September 22, 2009

  • Note that this is an English release only.
  • Added name tags in the Picasa software.
  • Improved geotagging: You can now geotag in Picasa using Google Maps in the 'Places' tab.
  • Improved keyword tagging:
    • New 'Tags' tab for easier tag management.
    • New Quick Tag buttons to make tagging easier.
  • Import changes
    • Added the ability to upload and share while importing.
    • Added the ability to add stars and upload only starred images during the import process.
  • Added the ability to modify the date and time on pictures. 'Tools > Adjust date and time.'
  • The Sharpen slider is now more responsive.
Windows
Version 3.9

Build 135.87 - March 12, 2012

  • Fixed various crashes based on crash reports.

Build 135.83 - January 19, 2012

  • Fixed various bugs and crashes.

Build 135.81 - January 4, 2012

  • Fixed various bugs.

Build 135.80 - December 15, 2011

  • Fixed various crashes.
  • Fixed name tags and contacts issues.

Build 135.78 - December 8, 2011

  • Added ability to upload to Google+: share with circles, post pictures to your stream, and upload images at original size.
  • Social Tagging: name tag people in your Google+ circles and notify them via G+.
  • New photo editing effects, including:
    • Infrared
    • Lomo-ish
    • Holga-ish
    • HDR-ish
    • Cinemascope
    • Orton-ish
    • Sixties
    • Invert Colors
    • Heat Map
    • Nightvision
    • Cross Process
    • Posterize
    • Duo-Tone
    • Boost
    • Soften
    • Vignette/Matte
    • Pixelate/Focal Pixelate
    • Focal Zoom
    • Pencil Sketch
    • Neon
    • Comic Book
    • Border
    • Rounded Edges
    • Drop Shadow
    • Museum Matte
    • Polaroid
  • Side by side editing: compare two pictures side-by-side, or compare different edits on the same picture.
  • Updated RAW support for pictures from newer cameras.
  • Support for WebP files.
  • On the Tools > Experimental menu, we've added support for migrating your database to another local drive.
  • Improvements to Face Movie maker: number of photos included, chronological ordering.
  • Sync now uploads unshared albums privately.
  • Improved restoring of virtual albums when you uninstall and reinstall, or move to a new computer. Album data is written to the picasa.ini file now, along with all of your other edits.
  • OAuth support: use 2-factor accounts without getting an application-specific password.
Version 3.8

Build 117.43 - April 20, 2011

  • Fixed importing from scanners.
  • Fixed Backup and Restore creating duplicate .ini files.

Build 117.41 - March 30, 2011

  • Fixed facial recognition crash.

Build 117.38 - March 1, 2011

  • Fixed various camera importing issues in Windows 7.
  • Picasa Photo Viewer process now works correctly with files opened on a network drive.
  • Fixed an issue with ‘My Contacts’ groups.
  • Made improvements to decrease overall memory usage.

Build 117.29 - December 7, 2010

  • Fixed the 'Picasa is moving My Contacts to Other Contacts' issue.
  • Updated various translations.

Build 117.24 - November 16, 2010

  • Fixed various translation issues.
  • Face Movies now correctly display captions.

Build 117.16 - October 20, 2010

Build 115.66 - September 29, 2010

  • Fixed "Manage Online Contacts" 403 errors.
  • Fixed corrupt metadata bug.
  • Fixed various Face Movie crashes.
  • NEF files appear again for mass storage devices on Windows 7.

Build 115.53 - September 15, 2010

  • Fixed problems upgrading facetags from 3.6 and several other issues with cropped/rotated files.
  • Fixed importing from scanners issue in Windows 7.
  • Fixed screensaver issues with cropped pictures and captions not displaying.
  • Fixed broken EXIF rotation and zoom in Photo Viewer.
  • Create a Face Movie from a selection of photos in the tray (instead of using the entire Person Album).
  • Original file jpeg quality preserved when saving from Picnik.
  • Color Management is now turned off by default.
  • Increased stability through multiple crash fixes.

Build 115.45 - August 17, 2010

  • Added Face Movie to create face-aligned movies for named contacts.
  • Added Batch Upload (via Tools > Batch Upload) to allow you to take bulk actions on your photos: upload, change options, and remove online photos.
  • Added Picnik online photo-editing to the Basic Fixes tab.
  • Added Color Management to support color profiles.
  • Added the Properties panel to view EXIF data and improve support for XMP metadata.
  • Added support for uploading photo order to Picasa Web for manually re-ordered photos.
  • Added an option to upload people album thumbnails to Google Contacts.
Version 3.6

Build 105.67 - June 7, 2010

  • Fix to various crashes during initial scan/startup as a result of Quicktime.
  • For Windows 7 & Windows Vista, fix for a question mark icon that displays in the Library list for photo folders with 1,000 or more photos.

Build 105.65 - May 5, 2010

  • Drag and drop in Collage Maker for Mosaic, Frame Mosaic, and Grid.

Build 105.61 - April 13, 2010

  • Increased stability through multiple crash fixes.
  • Fixed translation errors.
  • Several backup fixes including:
    • Disk-to-disk backup
    • Filtering previously backed up folders
    • Selecting the correct backup set in list

Build 105.56 - March 23, 2010

  • Increased stability through multiple crash fixes.
  • Fixed translation errors.

Build 105.41 - February 23, 2010

Build 95.25 - December 15, 2009

  • Made a stability fix to Timeline.
  • Fixed an issue where Picasa would only show the face thumbnail when a new album is created from a 'People' album.
  • Fixed several issues in the import process.
  • Fixed an issue where dragging and dropping into another folder didn't actually move the photo.
Version 3.5

Build 95.18 - December 8, 2009

  • Added support for collaborative albums in Picasa:
    • The ability to make your own albums collaborative and invite collaborators.
    • The ability to upload to a friend's album.
  • Added better name tag recommendations.
  • Added the ability (in the Folder Manager) to remove folders from being scanned for faces.
  • Add the ability to create (and save) custom crop sizes.
  • Added an option in Settings to preserve the original JPG compression value when uploading to Picasa Web Albums
  • Imports can now be saved automatically by date taken, today's date, or a custom folder name. If date taken is selected, photos will be saved in separate folders by date.

Build 79.81 - November 3, 2009

  • Improved stability during import.
  • Fixed a crash related to Quicktime.
  • Improved the migration process for users upgrading from XP to Windows 7.
  • Added RAW support for the following cameras:
    Canon EOS 7D Olympus E-620
    Canon EOS 500D Olympus E-P1
    Canon PowerShot A530 Pentax K-7
    Canon PowerShot G11 Panasonic DMC-FZ35
    Canon PowerShot A470 Sony DSLR-A230
    Kodak EasyShare Z980 Sony DSLR-A330
    Kodak EasyShare Z1015 Sony DSLR-A380
    Nikon D3000 Sony DSLR-A8
    Nikon D5000

Build 79.74 - October 15, 2009

  • Stability improvements.
  • Fixed an issue that displayed Israel incorrectly in the 'Places' panel.
  • Fixed an issue affecting 'Refresh online status.'

Build 79.69 - September 30, 2009

  • Fixed an issue where the Universal Terms of Service displays garbled text when installed on non-English versions of Windows.
  • Fixed an issue where certain scanners weren't recognized when importing.
  • Fixed an issue where the Retouch edit was not applied.
  • Fixed an issue where editing contact information in Picasa altered the formatting of contact information at http://contacts.google.com/
  • Added a progress bar when batch editing with 'Auto Red Eye Correction.'
  • Returned the 'Copy full path' option to the right-click menu.
  • Increased stability through multiple crash fixes.

Build 79.67 - September 22, 2009

  • Note that this is an English release only.
  • Added name tags in the Picasa software.
  • Improved geotagging: You can now geotag in Picasa using Google Maps in the 'Places' tab.
  • Improved keyword tagging:
    • New 'Tags' tab for easier tag management.
    • New Quick Tag buttons for easy access to commonly used tags.
  • Import changes
    • Added the ability to upload and share while importing.
    • Added the ability to add stars and upload only starred images during the import process.
  • Added the ability to modify the date and time on pictures. 'Tools > Adjust date and time.'
  • The Sharpen slider is now more responsive.
  • Improved reliability for CD burning

Tell us how we're doing - Answer five short questions about your help center experience