Google Picasa

Wow! This could be the free picture editor and photo storage site teachers are looking for. Picasa allows 1 GB memory for your photos. A new feature allows you to upload your pictures, then scan them for faces. Picasa then shows you all the faces in the group and you can assign a name to them. This allows you to sort your photos by the people in them. You can add name tags individually or in groups. It's quick and easy. The photo below shows a recent field trip- I've tagged each student and Picasa not only gives me a list, but frames students as I roll over their name on the "People" list to the right.

Since Picasa doesn't actually store the original photo, there is no chance of ruining or losing it while editing.

You can organize your photos by folder, album, or people. Photos in folders are scanned from the hard drive on your computer, so a photo deleted from a folder is also deleted from your hard drive. Use caution when organizing photos in folders. Photos in albums allow you to create virtual groups of photos (not the originals) and you can organize them as you wish. Original photos deleted or moved from albums are not changed. Photos can also be organized by people, through the face scanning software mentioned above.

Along with a great place to store your photos, you can edit them as well. You are able to perform basic fixes, such as: crop, red eye, retouch, and add text. The tuning slide bar allows a more sophisticated fix, such as fill light, highlights, shadows, and color temperature. Lastly, you can add special effects to your photos such as: sepia, grain, black & white, and glow.

Picasa offers two quick ways to share your photos- upload them to the web or email them to friends.

Other interesting applications include: resizing photos, making a collage, adding captions, movie maker, map your photos, add tags, upload to Blogger, or back up your collection to an alternate drive or CD.

If you're looking for a free photo editor with great capabilities, Google's Picasa is for you.