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Swap online-photo services with Migratr

There are already a lot of useful plug-ins for downloading or uploading from online sites such as Flickr, Picasa Web, Snapfish, Webshots (disclaimer: owned by CNET Networks), and the rest, but most applications only work with one specific service.

If you want to move all of your images from one site to another (if you're one of those unhappy Flickr users, for example), and you're not looking forward to manually downloading and uploading hundreds of pictures, Migratr might be able to help. A home-brewed tool from independent developer Alexander Lucas, Migratr automatically downloads all of your photos from one site, and uploads them to the other.

It sounds great, so what's the catch? Well, Migratr only currently includes support for Flickr, Picasa Web, 23HQ, SmugMug, and Zooomr (which shouldn't even be counted because it has temporarily disabled bulk uploaders). However, downloading and uploading among the four available online photo services worked wonderfully for me. I must admit, however, that I was transferring tens of files, not thousands.… Read more

Google's Earth from above: A 3D look

"Google Maps is changing the way we see the world," journalist Evan Ratliff declares in a June article for Wired magazine. I couldn't agree more. Google's universal mapping project isn't just changing the portals for viewing the world online, it's also changing offline understandings of how the world is best viewed--from Google's services, of course. Google has gained influence fast, by ambitiously developing innovative, interactive mapping software; integrating multiple online services into the majority of desktop and online apps; and familiarizing users with a particular Google-branded aesthetic.

In creating a suite of map apps to encourage users to contribute to Google's greater project and personalize locally-stored versions of a map, Google is not just bringing cartography to the masses, Ratliff points out, but is getting users to help build out its universe. This, of course, makes complete sense. With Google Earth, Google SketchUp, and MyMaps (watch the CNET News.com "how-to" video,) Google's mapping software has surpassed competitors like NASA in digitizing the world. In so doing, Google has captivated the imagination of loyal users who will return to the company's Earth and maps programs to find business listings, explore culturally significant architecture, and plant personal photos and videos.… Read more

Share and organize vacation photos in a snap

Each time I go shutter-happy, I'm reminded of digital photography's beautiful myth. Yes, impressive megapixel loads deliver in-your-face resolution that elevates photos from the usual point-and-shoot quality. However, there's that time-sucking task of cropping, editing, captioning, and distributing the sprawling photo collection, and those are things even the fanciest camera on the market won't do.

The time and effort it takes to process a large batch of photos can be off-putting, but here are a few media-organization tools from the CNET Download.com library to move along the sometimes-arduous process of getting photos from the desktop to your friends.… Read more

Yahoo Photos escape hatch now open

Yahoo Photos will be shut down in 99 days for some users, but Yahoo released tools Wednesday to let members move their pictures to alternative sites.

In a blog posting Wednesday, Tim Anderson, the senior product manager of Yahoo Photos and Flickr, encouraged the Yahoo Photos users to move their photos to Yahoo's other photo site, Flickr. But the company also will let members move their photos to four other sites: Snapfish, Shutterfly, Photobucket and Kodak Gallery.

Look at the options carefully before you switch. Some are offering perks such as free prints, and others don't support some … Read more

News roundup: YouTube rival cometh, Tabblo purchased, Kongregator goes public

NBC and News Corp. push new Web rival to YouTube. If you can't beat 'em join 'em, which is what AOL, MSN, Yahoo and MySpace are doing to combat media juggernaut YouTube. The companies have combined forces and are gearing up to launch a new online video service this summer. Besides user-submitted clips, expect to find full-length TV shows and paid-for movies from two major studios. ( CNET News.com)

HP to acquire photo start-up Tabblo. Photo sharing and printing service Tabblo is being acquired by Hewlett-Packard. In our hands-on we noted the ease and simplicity of its built-in printing … Read more

Scoop: Adobe to offer Web-based Photoshop

Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen, in conversation with CNET News.com Senior Writer Martin LaMonica, dropped a bombshell this morning: Adobe will release a Web-based version of Photoshop within six months. See the News.com story, Adobe to take Photoshop online, for details.

There are other online photo editors already (see our coverage of Fauxto, Picnik, Pixoh, Pxn8 , and XMG), but an online version of Photoshop is sure to capture a lot of users due to name recognition alone. We hope the online product lives up to the standards that the traditional version has set. The service will likely be free, … Read more

Google: you sly dog you

Oh Google, you got my hopes up today.

I logged into my Gmail and there it was, a little surprise at the top called "Photos." I speculated that you had created an integrated photo-sharing service, but clicking on the new link just took me to Picasa's Web Albums site. Sure, it's been eight months (to the day actually), since Picasa's Web Albums was born; I just thought you had finally gotten around to combining it with Gmail and the rest of your office apps...but it was just a tease.

Edit photos sans software with Picnik

Picnik is a really slick piece of Webware for tweaking and editing photos. You can pull in photos from any URL or upload them from your home computer. There are a variety of basic photo editing tools like cropping, resizing, red-eye correction, and a handy auto-fix button to make a picture look better without fussing around with each setting.

When you're done tweaking your photo you've got a few options. You can save it to your hard drive, print it, e-mail it or even publish it if you've authorized Picnik to sync up to your online photo … Read more