Upgrade to Picasa 3.8 on Ubuntu

If you're still stick to old 3.0 version of Picasa on your Ubuntu system (because you prefer it over Ubuntu's own programs, as I do), here are some instructions about how to upgrade Picasa to newer versions which have for example Face Recognition.

Install instructions

These instructions have been tested on Ubuntu Natty, and for Picasa 3.8, in case there's a newer version released you'll have to change it's location (search below for HERE).

## Add Google's testing repository for Picasa
sudo echo "deb http://dl.google.com/linux/deb/ testing non-free #Google Picasa" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-unstable.list
sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 7FAC5991
sudo apt-get update
## Install Picasa 3.0
sudo apt-get install picasa

## Download Picasa 3.8 installer
# If there's a newer version you might to have to change it's name and location HERE
cd /tmp && wget http://dl.google.com/picasa/picasa38-setup.exe

## Install it (will not override your current Linux Picasa 3.0)
# Use default settings
wine /tmp/picasa38-setup.exe

## Copy over Picasa 3.8 files to your Linux Picasa 3.0 installation with backup
sudo cp -r /opt/google/picasa/3.0/wine/drive_c/Program\ Files/Google/Picasa3{,_3.0}
sudo cp -r ~/.wine/drive_c/Program\ Files/Google/Picasa3/* /opt/google/picasa/3.0/wine/drive_c/Program\ Files/Google/Picasa3/

## Uninstall the previous installed Picasa 3.8 (it's not needed any longer)
wine ~/.wine/drive_c/Program\ Files/Google/Picasa3/Uninstall.exe

Now you can run Picasa as usual from Applications --> Graphics --> Picasa --> Picasa
In case that something went wrong, you can find a backup of Picasa 3.0 in /opt/google/picasa/3.0/wine/drive_c/Program\ Files/Google/Picasa3_3.0

Picasa Photo Organizer

Picasa is a very powerful image manager.
It's main features are:

		Organize Manage your photos in one place, and find photos you forgot you had
		Edit Eliminate scratches & blemishes, fix red-eye, crop and more
		Create Turn photos into collages, slideshows and more
		Share Upload seamlessly to Picasa Web Albums to share with friends, family & the world

Install instructions for Linux

Just copy and paste the following instructions into a Terminal (you'll have to do it twice, as the first sudo -v stops the rest of instructions):

sudo -v
# Add Google's public package signing key on your system to prevent warnings or errors
wget -q https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub -O- | sudo apt-key add -
echo "deb http://dl.google.com/linux/deb/ stable non-free #Google repository" > /tmp/GooglePicasa.list
# If you don't want to install the beta testing version, don't paste the following line:
echo "deb http://dl.google.com/linux/deb/ testing non-free #Google testing repository" >> /tmp/GooglePicasa.list
sudo mv /tmp/GooglePicasa.list /etc/apt/sources.list.d/
sudo aptitude update
sudo aptitude install picasa

Photo Organizer

Picasa is a free software download from Google that helps you:

• Locate and organise all the photos on your computer.
• Edit and add effects to your photos with a few simple clicks.
• Share your photos with others through email, prints and on the web: it’s fast, easy and free.

It was developed first for Windows, but nowadays it is supported for Linux using the Wine emulation framework.

Install instructions for Ubuntu

sudo -s
wget -q -O - https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub | apt-key add -
echo "deb http://dl.google.com/linux/deb/ stable non-free # Google software repository" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google.list
aptitude update
aptitude -y install picasa

More instructions on installing Picasa on Linux systems.