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New Editing Tools Make Google Photos Even Better

 & Tom Brant Managing Editor

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If you're a Picasa user upset that Google plans to end support for your favorite photo-editing and management app, here's a consolation prize: the already-useful Google Photos just got a lot better.

Its new editing tools make it easier and faster to touch up multiple photos. Instead of having to save each individual photo and exit editing mode once you're done cropping or removing red-eye, you'll now simply move on to the next photo in the album and your changes will automatically be saved.

Should you change your mind (maybe you cropped the top of dad's head off?), just click "Revert to Original."

Speaking of cropping, there's a new aspect ratio selector that lets you get an exact crop. Choose from original, square, 16:9, and 4:3, and then drag the rectangle to wherever you want to crop the photo.

That's about it, which might seem like a fairly small consolation prize for Picasa users until you realize that even before today's improvements, Google Photos was already a very capable photo tool. 

In his review, PCMag analyst Michael Muchmore praised the interface, which is "clean, minimal, and pleasing, with thumbnails of your photos organized by date." One of the best parts is that Google's search technology is built in, making finding the best of hundreds of baby pictures a simple task.

As for remembering exactly where your photos were taken, Google has plans for that too, though they're still experimental and not available to active Photos users, of which there are more than 100 million

This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.

About Our Expert

Tom Brant

Tom Brant

Managing Editor

I’m a managing editor at PCMag.com focused on PC hardware. Reading this during the day? Then you've caught me testing gear and editing reviews of Wi-Fi routers, printers, laptops, and tons of other personal tech. (Reading this at night? Then I’m probably dreaming about all those cool products.) I’ve covered the consumer tech world as an editor, reporter, and analyst since 2015.

I've covered most major consumer tech events, including CES, Computex, Google I/O, and IFA. I've also appeared on CBS News, in USA Today, and at many other outlets to offer analysis on breaking technology news.

Before I joined the tech-journalism ranks, I wrote on topics as diverse as Borneo's rainforests, Middle Eastern airlines, and Big Data's role in presidential elections. A graduate of Middlebury College, I also have a master's degree in journalism and French Studies from New York University.

The Technology I Use

While most people buy a phone or laptop and stick with it for years, I’m lucky enough to use devices based on Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows daily as part of my job. As a result, I cycle through lots of tech in addition to my IT-issue work laptop. (Yes, that's a ThinkPad.) Personally, I’ve also owned a lot of tech products both cutting-edge and cringeworthy, from the Nintendo GameCube and the original MacBook to the Palm m105 and the CueCat.

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