Picasa vs. Lightroom - the main differences

If you cannot choose between the "Picasa" or "Lightroom" software, we will show you the noteworthy differences in our "Picasa vs. Lightroom" comparison.

Image management with Picasa & Lightroom

Both "Picasa" from Google Inc. and "Adobe Photoshop Lightroom" are an application with which you can easily manage, edit and convert images. Despite numerous similarities, both competitor programs are characterized by serious differences. Below we go into the special features of the software products.

Picasa: Comprehensive picture management for beginners

• "Picasa" is free software that you can use on any Windows and OS X system.
• The "Picasa" program only covers basic work areas of image management. For example, you can catalog pictures, organize or edit them in so-called albums. You can access your image database at any time and create individual collages.
• "Picasa" is aimed primarily at beginners and is extremely easy to use due to its manageable possibilities. The application is supposed to be an image management system that can be used by any user without any prior knowledge.
• Keep in mind that "Picasa" is free and will limit your management and data volume options. As a user, you have one gigabyte free of charge for the Picasa Web Albums. As the owner of a Google+ account or through paid offers, you can expand your storage space.

Lightroom: management software for professional requirements

• You can also use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom with a Windows or Mac computer once you've purchased the application.
• The range of tasks of "Lightroom" is much larger than that of "Picasa". In addition to similar or even identical options, you can also use the software to create digital photo books, edit images more effectively and assign geographic information to the photos using drag & drop.
• Unlike "Picasa", "Lightroom" is looking for an audience in professional photographers and committed beginners. As a professional, you are adequately cared for, starting with the management of large image file inventories and their processing, through to their presentation on screen, printer and on the Internet.
• With "Lightroom" there are hardly any restrictions in your project visualization due to numerous tools. A special feature is the integrated RAW converter. This enables you to get the original image file even after editing. The desired changes are only effective when converted to JPEG or TIFF.

In addition to "Picasa" and "Lightroom", you have other options for editing your images as you wish. In our comparison of Gimp and Picasa we clarify the differences between the two image editing programs.