Google API makes it easier to share photos

Google says the "BlogThis!" button in Picasa uses the button API.

(Credit: Google)

Adobe Systems is getting all of the attention today in the digital photo world with the launch of Photoshop Express. Google, meanwhile, continues to add features to Picasa, Adobe's main online rival.

Google has released a new application programming interface (API) for Picasa that makes it easier to transfer pictures from Picasa to other applications, both online and offline.

Developers can use the Picasa Button API to make custom buttons that can open image files in local applications and upload selected image files to the Web via Google's Picasa Web Uploader service.

"Using the web uploader, you can make user interfaces that feel more like sending an email and less like 'Wait an hour to upload...'," Michael Herf of Google's Photos Team wrote in a blog posting Wednesday.