Picasa 3 Features.pdf

7/25/2019 Picasa 3 Features.pdf

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Lynne M. Hoffman, Technology ConsultantEmail: [email protected]

Picasa 3 Features

Two things to know:The Picasa software provides a simple way to view, edit, and organize thephotos on your computer. As you get started, there are two things you should

always remember: Picasa does not store the photos on your computer.

When you open Picasa, it simply looks at the folders on your com tell it tofind, in the folders that you tell it to search.

Your original photos are always preserved.When using editing tools in Picasa, your original files are never touched.The photo edits you make are only viewable in Picasa until you decide tosave your changes. Even then, Picasa creates a new version of the photowith your edits applied, leaving the original file totally preserved.

Add photos to Picasa

Use Picasa to view photos already on your computer, or to import photos fromyour camera.

Add photos already on your computerOnce you've downloaded and installed Picasa, you have total control over thephotos that Picasa displays. Picasa shows you the photo and video file types thatyou tell it to find, in the folders that you tell it to search.

Control the folders that display Control the file typesthat display

Click Tools > Folder Manager to control whichfolders are displayed:

Click Tools > Options (PC) or Picasa >Preferences (Mac) tocontrol which file typesare displayed



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Import new photosOf course, not all your photos reside on your computer. You can import photosinto Picasa from many sources, including cameras, CDs, memory cards,scanners, webcams, and more. Photos you import are saved on your computer

and displayed automatically in Picasa.1. In Picasa, click Import.2. Select the source of your new photos (e.g. your camera) from the 'Import

photos from' drop-down menu at the top.3. Select the destination folder on your computer for your new photos, from

the 'Import to' drop-down menu at the bottom.4. If you'd like to upload the photos you're importing to Picasa Web Albums

at the same time, select the 'Upload' checkbox.5. Select the specific photos you'd like to import and click Import Selected, or

click Import All to import all the photos displayed.

Organize your photosThe folder list on the left is the hub for Picasa organization. By scrolling throughthis list, you can access all photos displayed by Picasa. To understand Picasaorganization, you need to understand the following three collections:

FoldersFolders in Picasa represent the folders on your computer. You control thefolders that are scanned and displayed by Picasa. (See Managing PicasaSettings) Changes you make to folders in Picasa affect the correspondingfolders on your computer's hard drive. For example, if you delete a photoin a Picasa folder, that photo is also deleted from the computer.

AlbumsUnlike folders, albums exist only in Picasa. Albums allow you to createvirtual groups of photos taken from multiple folders on your computer.

Albums display those photos without actually moving the photo -- it's like aplaylist for photos. When you delete or move photos from an album, theoriginal files remain in their original folders on your computer.

PeopleIn this collection, you can organize your photos by what frequently mattersmost -- the people in them. Picasa uses facial recognition technology tofind and group similar faces together across your entire collection ofphotos. By adding name tags (see Name Tags) to these groups of faces,new people albums are created. These people albums are just like thealbums above: when you move or delete faces, the original files stay put.

Managing Picasa Settings: Controlling how folders are monitoredPicasa scans your computer to find folders containing compatible photo filetypes, and then displays photos from these folders. The photos stay in theiroriginal folder locations. You can use the Folder Manager to control the folderlocations on your hard drive that the Picasa monitors.



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Follow these steps:1. Click the Tools menu in Picasa.2. Select Folder Manager .3. Select a folder from the folder list on the left that you want to add or

remove from Picasa's watch list.4. Select one of the following monitoring options on the right:o 'Scan Always': Picasa views all compatible image types in these

folders, and it automatically adds new photos. Picasa activelyscans this folder for changes.

o 'Scan Once': Picasa accesses all compatible image types in thesefolders only once. It doesn't detect new photos added to folderswith this setting.

o 'Remove from Picasa': Picasa doesn't look in folders that aremarked with this status.

5. Click the OK button to save your changes.

The folders that you've set Picasa to continuously scan are listed in the 'WatchedFolders' section.

Name Tags: Add name tags in PicasaPicasa's face-matching technology lets you organize your photos according tothe people in them. The first time you open Picasa, it will scan your photos fornew faces, since name tags are turned on by default. It can take some time toscan all your photos; however you can start adding name tags whenever you'dlike. Follow these steps:

1. Sign in to Picasa Web Albums. Click Sign in to Web Albums in the upper right corner of Picasa. This lets youuse your Google contacts when adding name tags.(Name Tags: Name tags and Google Account contacts)Picasa and Picasa Web Albums use your Google contacts to auto-complete the names of yourfriends and family during the name tagging process. Your Google contacts are shared by severaldifferent Google products, including Gmail. This means that changes you make to your contactsin one product will be reflected in all other products that use Google contacts.With this in mind, please be aware of the following:When name tagging in Picasa and Picasa Web Albums

If you create new contacts in Picasa or Picasa Web Albums, they will automatically beadded to your Google contacts.

If you edit, merge, or delete Google contact information in Picasa or Picasa Web Albums,the action will be reflected in all products that use your Google contacts.

In the Picasa software, it is possible to prevent the changes you make to your Google contactsfrom being reflected online:

1. Go to Tools > People Manager .2. Select the contact you'd like to change.3. Uncheck the box next to 'Sync with Contacts and Web Albums.'4. Click OK.

When managing Google contacts in other productsDeleting a contact from your Google Account contact list (for example, in Gmail) will erase allrelated name tag information from Picasa Web Albums for those contacts. Learn more aboutmanaging your Google Account contacts.



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2. Add name tags in bulk or a few photos at a time. In bulk: Click on the 'Unnamed People' album in the 'People' collection.Unnamed faces across all of your photos are grouped here. Each face thumbnailin the album represents a group of similar faces, so adding a name to a facethumbnail applies the same name to all the faces in the group. To see all thefaces in a given group, click the People button (next to the Photo Tray) to openthe 'People' tab on the right.

A few photos at a time: Click the People button next to the Photo Tray whenviewing any folder, album, or photo. The resulting 'People' tab on the rightdisplays all the faces that appear in the selected photos, including those withoutname tags.

3. Click 'Add a name' under any face and type a name .



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As you type a name, Picasa searches your Google contacts and displaysmatches. Select a name from the suggested matches to add it as a name tag.Or type the name and press Enter to create a new contact -- this name tag willbe added as a new contact in your list of Google contacts.When you add a new name tag, Picasa creates a corresponding people album in

the 'People' collection. Use the button in the album to zoom in on thefaces you've identified or to view the photos in their entirety.

You don't have to name everyone. Deleting an unnamed face or clicking theicon on a photo will place that photo in the 'Ignored' album. You can view thephotos you've ignored at any time by clicking Show ignored faces at the top ofthe 'Unnamed People' album.

4. Confirm Picasa face suggestions. Picasa uses the names you add to automatically add face suggestions to your

albums. If you see an orange question mark next to a people album, go to the

album and confirm these suggestions. Click to keep the photo or toremove the photo from the album. If there are multiple suggestions, you can clickConfirm all at the top of the album to mark all the suggestions as correct. Toggle

at the top to see just the suggested faces.Don't worry if you make a mistake when adding name tags -- if a face winds up inthe wrong people album, select the photo and click the Remove button at the top(or press the Delete key on your keyboard) to send it back to the 'UnnamedPeople' album. Learn more about deleting name tags. Tips:

Add name tags manually: If Picasa misses a face in your photo, you can

add it by clicking the Add a person manually button at the bottom of the'People' tab when viewing the photo. Change profile photos: You can change the photo displayed next to

each album in the People collection. Just right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac) the face you'd like to use and select Set as AlbumThumbnail.

Download name tags from Picasa Web Albums: In Picasa, go to Tools> Download Name Tags from Picasa Web Albums to take advantage ofthe name tags you've previously added online.

Choose which folders to scan for faces: Just click Tools > FolderManager and toggle face detection on/off for any folder.

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Edit your photosPicasa provides a range of one-click fixes to help you improve almost any photo,adjust its color and lighting, and add effects like black and white or sepia toning.Double-click a photo and use the three editing tabs on the left.

Basic Fixes Tuning Effects

Make simple edits --such as cropping,straightening, removingredeye, retouchingblemishes, or adding text-- to your photos. Orclick I'm Feeling Lucky to try Picasa's all-in-onelighting and contrast fix.

Learn more about BasicFixes

Use the sliders to adjustthe color and lightingaspects of your photo toproduce a more visuallyenhanced image. Learnmore about Tuning

Choose from 12 effectsto make your photosmore interesting:Sharpen, convert tosepia or black and white,warm the photo, applytint, saturate the colors,and more. Learn moreabout Effects

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Don't worry -- Picasa always preserves your original photo. The photo edits youmake are only viewable in Picasa until you decide to save your changes. Eventhen, Picasa creates a new version of the photo with your edits applied, leavingthe original totally preserved.

Saving Edits: Saving photosPicasa is designed to keep your original photos safe when you save your photoedits. This is done by creating a new JPEG file that's a copy of the original withyour edits applied. The original photo is never altered, but depending on how yousave the file, its location on your hard drive may change. Here's a brief overviewof the different save options in Picasa, based on how they affect the location ofyour original photos.

Move your original photo

When you use the Save to Disk and the File > Save options, Picasa creates

a copy of your photo with all edits applied and moves the original to a subfoldercalled '.picasaoriginals'. This subfolder is hidden on your computer and isn'tvisible in Picasa. This automatic backup lets you undo or revert your saves.

Save to Disk The Save to Disk button appears in the folder or album header when you'vemade edits to a photo included therein. This option is useful to save changes toall photos in a folder or album at one time.



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File > Save Alternatively, use the Save option to save changes on an individual picture (or agroup of pictures that you select). To save your edited photo, you can select thephoto and then select File > Save.

Keep your original photo in its current locationUnlike Save to Disk and the File > Save function, the following options don'tmove your original photos. These options create and save a new copy of yourphoto with all edits applied, leaving your original photo unmoved. The new copywith edits applied is saved to a different location depending on the option youchoose.

Export If you'd like to easily create edited copies of a large number of pictures, you canexport your photos to a location of your choice. When you export your photos,you can resize your photos and control the JPEG compression level when

applying photo edits.

File > Save a Copy This option automatically exports a copy of the original photo, including all editsapplied, into the same folder. The photo's filename will have '-1' appended to theend to distinguish it from the original. Select the photo, and click File > Save aCopy.

File > Save As This option is similar to Save a Copy by creating a copy of the original photo withall edits applied, but lets you specify the filename and location of the new copybefore saving the file. To access this option, select the photo, and click File >Save as.

When you save a copy, Picasa tries to match the JPEG quality level of theoriginal photo. Picasa's default JPEG quality level is 85%, and will be applied ifit's unable to determine JPEG quality. If you are saving a non-JPEG photo, it willbe converted and saved as a JPEG.

Share your photosYour photos take on more meaning when you share them with friends and family.Here are two ways to quick share your photos:

Upload photos to the web Use the Upload button in Picasa to upload all selected photos toPicasa Web Albums. Don't feel like picking through your photos? The

Share button uploads an entire folder or album, andsends email invitations to your friends and family.











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Email photos Click the Email button in Picasa to quickly send all selected photos tofriends and family, using the email provider of your choice. Keep inmind that email doesn't accomodate a large number of photos, so ifyou want to share a lot of photos, consider uploading them to Picasa

Web Albums, where you can take advantage of the free one GB ofstorage that's available.

Upload to Picasa Web Albums: Upload using PicasaUse the Upload button in Picasa to share your photos online in Picasa Web

Albums. To upload your photos to a new or existing web album, follow thesesteps:

1. Select the photos you'd like to upload.Using the Photo Tray: Selecting multiple photosThe Photo Tray located in the lower-left corner of Picasa displays the photos that you'veselected in the Library view. By gathering photos in the Photo Tray, you can easily apply one

action, such as email or upload, to multiple photos at the same time. Use the following tips toefficiently select multiple photos:

Press the Ctrl key (Windows) or the Command key (Mac) on your keyboard whileclicking photos to select multiple photos from the same folder or album. As you selecteach photo, it'll appear in the Photo Tray. To select all photos in a folder or album, clickEdit > Select all or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-A (Windows) or Command-A (Mac).

Use the Hold button to secure your selected photos in the Photo Tray. Afteryou've click the Hold button, you can then select photos from other folders or albums.

Use the Clear button to remove all photos from the Photo Tray. If you changeyour mind about including a particular photo, select the photo in the Photo Tray and clickthe Clear button. This will remove the selected photo from the group.

2. Once you've selected all of your photos, click the Upload button in thePhoto Tray.

3. Sign in to your Google Account for Picasa Web Albums.4. Choose your upload settings:

o Select one of your existing online albums or click the New button tocreate a new one.

o Click the areas under 'Album Title' and 'Description' to edit thosefields.

Choose your preferred upload size.

From Picasa: Choosing an upload size

Picasa Web Albums offers several upload sizes to suit the various ways you use youronline photographs. 'Size' can mean both the dimensions of the image (the heightand width of the image measured in pixels) and the amount of space the file takes upon a drive ('file size'). The sizes below refer to the dimensions of the image.Original Size: Uploads the image at the original image resolution (e.g. 4288 x 2848).Learn more about using this as a backup.

(Backing up your Pictures: Back up with Picasa Web Albums)Picasa Web Albums can be used to backup your original files under the followingconditions:







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1. The original file is a JPG.2. The image can be no larger than 20MB and is restricted to 50 megapixels or less.3. The image doesn't have any unsaved edits.4. You upload the image at 'Original Size.'

In all other cases Picasa will create and upload a new copy of your image saved inthe JPG format. Examples of when your original file would not be uploaded include:

The original file is anything other than a JPG (TIF, PSD, any RAW format, etc). You have made edits such as I'm Feeling Lucky, Redeye, Crop, etc.

You select to upload at any resolution other than 'Original Size.'JPG is a lossy file format, meaning each time you save an image as a JPG some ofthe image information is irrevocably lost. This is perfectly fine when you're sharingonline with friends or making normal-sized prints. If your goal is to preserve theoriginal state of files that don't meet the above conditions for backing up to PicasaWeb Albums, you should consider using Picasa to backup to an alternate drive orCD/DVD.

Recommended (1600 pixels): Great for prints, sharing online albums, or for use as ascreensaverMedium (1024 pixels): Good for sharing online albums with friends and familySmall (640 pixels): Use this option for publishing images on blogs and webpagesChoosing your upload size affects the quality of the image you store online. Smallerupload sizes come at the cost of reduced image quality - especially important as thesize at which you upload is the largest size at which your photo can be downloaded.Picasa gives you the option to preserve original image quality for smaller sizeuploads to Picasa Web Albums (e.g. 1600, 1200, 640) as well. This means that whenPicasa creates and uploads a smaller sized JPG, it uses the quality settings of theoriginal image to maximize image quality at the smaller resolution. From the Tools menu, select Options. On the Web Albums tab, just check the box next to 'Preserveoriginal image quality.' This option is automatically enabled when uploading at'Original Size.'

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Choose the visibility level for your album.(Album Privacy: Album Visibility)Picasa Web Albums makes it easy to share your photos with the world -- or you canchoose to keep your photos as private as you'd like. Use album visibility options tocontrol the privacy of your albums. You can set your album visibility options duringthe upload process and change them at any time in Picasa and Picasa Web Albums.

PublicSet your album visibility to "Public" to make them viewable to anyone who knows theURL of your public gallery. Your public albums may also appear in public search.Learn more about public search.

UnlistedSet your album to "Unlisted" to limit who can see your album. All unlisted albumshave an authorization key in the web address; the key is a combination of letters andnumbers which make the web address very difficult to guess. Anyone that has theexact web address will be able to see your unlisted album.

Sign-in required to viewSelect the "Sign-in required to view" option to set the highest level of privacy for youralbum -- you specify who has permission to view it, and those viewers must sign in totheir Google Account to verify their identity. Users without a Google Account will beprompted to create one. Anyone not included on the album's "Shared with" accesslist will be unable to view the album.You can use the Share buttons in Picasa and Picasa Web Albums to explicitly addyour visitors to an album access list -- the "Shared with" list. This allows them to view



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the album on your public gallery regardless of a change in the album visibility. Learnmore about adding and removing visitors from your "Shared with" access list.

5. Click the Upload button. The Upload Manager will appear and show youthe status of the upload.

When the upload is complete, click the View Online button in the UploadManager to go directly to the web album in your browser.

Album Privacy: Manage album access As the album owner, you decide exactly who has access to your album. Inaddition to the different levels of album visibility, Picasa Web Albums lets youkeep track of the users you've shared an album with. Adding people to the"Shared with" list has the following benefits:

Easy access. The people on this list are the only ones that can seealbums set to the "Sign-in required to view" access level. Plus, everyoneon this list can see the album on your public gallery regardless of changes

you make to album visibility. Email notification. Everyone you invite using the Share button is added

to the list and will receive an email invitation to view your photos. Theyalso get notified when new photos are uploaded to the album in the future.

Collaboration. You can choose to let people on the list add photos toyour album.

Sharing - Granting album accessUse the Share button in Picasa or Picasa Web Albums to add people to the"Shared with" list and to send them an email invitation to view the album. Followthese steps:

1. Click the Share button in the Picasa software or Picasa Web Albums.

Picasa Picasa Web Albums

2. Add your friends and family. You can add both individual users and entireGoogle contact groups to the "Shared with" list.

o Share with individual people Add the email addresses of the people you'd like to share with in



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the 'To:' field of the sharing dialog. Sending email invitations togroup aliases won't add each member of the group to the "Sharedwith" list. Read on for more information on sharing with Googlecontact groups.

o Share with Google contact groups

You can also share directly with your Google Account contactgroups -- collections of Friends, Family, Coworkers, etc -- ratherthan with every individual person. This gives access to all membersof that group. Don't have any contact groups? Create them in Gmailwith a few clicks.

Picasa : In the sharing dialog, click the

button to add entire the contact group.

Picasa Web Albums: In thesharing dialog, check the boxnext to the contact group.

3. Click Send.The Share button is the most direct way to share your photos, but there areseveral other convenient ways to invite your contact groups to view your photos.In Picasa Web Albums, you can share with contact groups when creating a newalbum or editing an existing album. In the Picasa software, you can share withcontact groups when uploading or importing new photos. When sharing in thisway, members of the group won't get an email invitation; however, they'll benotified if they're opted into the Picasa Web Albums email digest.Managing album accessYou can remove an individual or a Google contact groupfrom the "Shared with" list at any time. Just click the iconnext to the email address or contact group to remove albumaccess. Click Edit next to the contact group to add andremove users from the group and therefore the 'Sharedwith' list. Keep in mind that changes made to Googlecontact groups will affect all products that use your Googlecontact groups.



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Basics: Emailing basicsYou can email your photos directly from Picasa in a few easy steps:

1. Select the photos you'd like to email.2. Click the Email button.3. Select from the following email options:

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Google Mail Gmail: Gmail is ideal to use for sending pictures in Picasa.

Attach up to 20 MB of photos in a single email. You can signup for Gmail in a few easy steps.

Google Account email: If you want to use a non-Gmailaddress to send photos, this option may be for you. You canassociate any email address with a Google Account and usethis address to send mail through Picasa.Non-gmail Google Accounts have an attachment limit of tenitems.

o Use your default email program: By setting your email program

as the default on your computer, you can use this email provider inPicasa.4. Sign in to your email account.5. Enter your recipients' email addresses, type a message to accompany the

photos, and send the email. If you need additional help, consult your emailprogram's help resources.

If you're sharing a large number of photos, you may have to watch out for emailattachment size limits. Picasa lets you reduce the size of your photos whenemailing, so you can send more photos in a single message. The resizingprocess attaches new resized copies of your photos, leaving the original photosuntouched. When selecting photos in Picasa, the total size of all selected photosis displayed in the blue bar above the Photo Tray.The captions for your photos are also sent when you email your photos. Howeverrecepients will only be able to view your captions using Picasa, Picasa Web

Albums, and other IPTC compatible programs.

Editing Overview: Resize photosWhen you resize a photo in Picasa, you're creating a new copy with an adjustedimage resolution (pixel count) and with all photo edits applied. The original photoon your hard drive is never altered.You can resize your photos by exporting, emailing, or uploading your photos toPicasa Web Albums.Resize by exportingExporting lets you resize your photos while controlling the JPEG compression(image quality) introduced by your applied photo edits. The result is newlyresized copies of your photos, saved to your hard drive. During the exportprocess, you can adjust both the "Image Size Options" and the "Image Quality"settings in the "Export to Folder" screen.

When selecting image size, choose the "Resize to" option and adjust thesize slider. The number of pixels you select with this slider determines the
















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length or height of your photo (whichever is longer). The other dimensionis determined automatically to maintain the aspect ratio of the photo.

Select the image quality for your photo using the "Image Quality" drop-down menu:

o Automatic: Preserves the original image qualityo

Normal: Balances quality and sizeo Maximum: Preserves fine detail for large file sizeso Minimum: Yields some quality loss for small file sizeso Custom: Lets you to select your own value

Resize by emailingIf you're sending photos by email, you may want to resize them in order to getunder the attachment size limitation. To change the size of the photos you emailfrom Picasa, follow these steps:

1. In Picasa, click Tools > Options (Windows) or Picasa > Preferences (Mac).

2. Select the Email tab.

3. Use the slider to set your desired pixel size when emailing multiple photos.Use the radio buttons to set the pixel size for emailing single photos.4. Click OK.

Resize by uploading to Picasa Web AlbumsIf you're sharing a large number of photos, you may not want to upload all of thephotos at their original size. When you upload images from Picasa, you canchoose the upload size using the "Size to upload" drop-down menu or else youcan set your preferred default size for photo uploads.

From Picasa: Changing default upload settingsTo adjust default upload settings like upload quality or album visibility, followthese steps:

1. Click Tools > Options (Windows) or Picasa > Preferences (Mac).2. Click the Web Albums tab.3. Select your default upload preferences in this window before you share

your photos. You can adjust the following settings:o Choose your default upload size: Pick from original size, 1600,

1024 or 640 pixels.o Set the default visibility or privacy level for albums uploaded to

Picasa Web Albums.o Add a watermark to all uploaded photos.

4. Click OK to save your changes.

Sync to Web: 'Sync to Web' basicsWhen you enable Sync to Web for a folder or album, edits made to your photosin Picasa will be reflected immediately in your online album. To use the syncfeature, follow these steps:

1. Click the Sync to Web button on the right side of the folder or albumheader in Picasa.

2. Sign in to your Google Account for Picasa Web Albums.







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3. You'll be prompted to upload the photos in that folder or album to PicasaWeb Albums. By clicking the Change Settings button, you can adjustyour default upload settings like image quality and album visibility. Whenthe upload is complete, subsequent Picasa edits should automaticallysync to your online album. See a list of the specific edits that can be

synced.(Sync to Web: Changes that sync to Picasa Web Albums)Once you've enabled the Sync to Web feature, you can sync the following changes fromPicasa to Picasa Web Albums:

Photo edits (Basic Fixes, Tuning, and Effects)

Added or deleted photos

Added captions, tags, or geotags

Folder/Album properties (name, description, location)

Edits made in other applications that are saved to your hard driveWhen Sync to Web is enabled, the changes you make will only be synchronized in onedirection, from Picasa to Picasa Web Albums. However, you can manually copy captions,tags, and geo-tags from your Picasa Web Albums to Picasa.

You can disable the sync feature at any time by clicking the Sync to Web button

again, or by selecting Disable Sync in the drop-down menu to the right ofthe Share button in the folder or album header. All your photos and their edits willremain online, but new edits and changes will no longer be synchronized.This feature only syncs changes from Picasa to Picasa Web Albums. You canmanually copy captions, tags, and geo-tags from your Picasa Web Albums toPicasa.

Discover more featuresIf you've read this far, you're familiar with the basics of Picasa. As you become a

power user, here are some of the features for you to explore:

Resize photos: One of the most popular -- and most hidden -- featuresof Picasa is the ability to resize photos. Use the Export button toquickly resize your photos.

Sync to Web: When you enable Sync to Web in Picasa for a folder oralbum, edits made to your photos in Picasa are reflected immediately inthe corresponding album in Picasa Web Albums.

Make a collage: Make a collage and share it with your friends and

family. Experiment with six different types of collage, and maintain totalcontrol over your collage content and layout.

Add captions: Adding captions can help tell the rest of the story. Whileediting a photo, click the text below that says 'Make a caption!'.Captions are displayed in Picasa, Picasa Web Albums, and other IPTCcompatible programs.















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Use Movie Maker : Combine your photos, videos, and music into amovie and upload it directly to YouTube. You can also trim existingvideo files.

Map photos: Use the Maps tab in Picasa to embed latitude and

longitude information into the EXIF data of your photo file. Thisgeographic data accompanies your photo when you upload it to PicasaWeb Albums.

Print photos: Use the Shop button to order prints from our online printpartners or use the Print button to print your photos at home.

Add tags: Tags are like keywords. By applying single or multiple-wordtags in Picasa, you can quickly search and locate photos. The Tags taboffers quick tags, tag counts and the ability to manage your tags.

Upload to Blogger : Use the BlogThis! button to post photos directlyfrom Picasa to Blogger.

Back up your collection: Protect those precious memories. UsePicasa to back up your photo collection to either an alternate drive or toCD/DVD.

Collages: Creating a collageYou have total artistic control over your collage content and layout. Experimentwith six different collage types in the hands-on collage creation screen. To createa collage, follow the instructions below:

1. Select the photos you'd like to include in your collage.2. Click the Collage button in the Photo Tray. You can also create a collage

for all photos contained in a folder or album by clicking the Create PhotoCollage button located in the folder or album header.

3. On the collage creation page, use the Settings and Clips tabs to controlthe appearance and content of your collage:

Collage StyleYou can choose from six different styles of collage using the top drop-downmenu on the Settings tab:

1. Picture pile: This collage looks like a pile of scattered pictures. Youcan drag photos around the collage, bring a photo to the top orbottom of the pile, and adjust the scale and angle of each photo.

Click an image in the collage and the wheel will appear on top of your selectedimage. Adjust the scale and angle of the photo by clicking and dragging thewheel button.

2. Grid: All of your selected photos are arranged into regular rows andcolumns.









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3. Mosaic: Picasa automatically fits your photos into the page. Unlikethe 'Grid' collage, the pictures are not aligned into neat rows andcolumns.

4. Contact sheet: Your photos are arranged neatly as thumbnails.5. Multiple exposures: Your selected photos are superimposed over

one another. You'll see the best results for this collage if you usefewer images.6. Frame mosaic: You can create a mosaic of your selected images,

all surrounding one prominent center image. You can change thecenter image by clicking your desired center image, and thenclicking the Set as Frame Center button.

SettingsYou can use various options on the Settings tab to alter the appearance of yourcollage. These options vary depending on the type of collage you choose.

o Grid spacing - Available for 'Mosaic', 'Grid', and 'Frame mosaic'collages. Use this slider to adjust the amount of border space

between photos.o Picture borders - Available for 'Picture pile' and 'contact sheet'

collages. Add a white edge or polaroid edge to each photo.o Background options - Choose a color or a photo as the

background theme for your collage.o Page format - Pick a size for your collage. Picasa will automatically

adjust the appearance of your collage. To fit your collage for yourcomputer desktop, select Current Display from the 'Page Format'drop-down menu.

o Orientation - Orient your design vertically or horizontally.o Draw shadows - You can provide some depth to your collage by

selecting the 'Draw Shadows' checkbox.o Show captions - Available for the 'Picture pile' collage. Select the

'Show Captions' checkbox to add your photo captions on thecollage.

Add more photosDuring the collage creation process, you can add more photos at any time on theClips tab.

Click the Clips tab on the left side of the collage creation page. Thefolder of photos you've been working with will be available under theClips tab.

Select the photos you'd like to add, and click the (+) button toinsert them in the collage.If you want to add photos from a different folder, click the Get More button to find additional photos in your Library.Select the photos from your Library.

After you've finished, click Back to Collage in the Photo Tray. Youshould now see your additional images displayed on the Clips tab.



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Select the images you'd like to add, and use the (+) button to add

them to the collage. You can use the (-) button to remove images

from the Clips tab.4. Use the buttons above and below the collage to help select and arrangethe photos included in the collage. To remove a photo from the collage,select the photo in question and click the Remove button above thecollage.

5. When you're satisfied with your work, click Create Collage. Alternatively,click the Desktop Background button to create the collage and set itautomatically as your computer desktop image. Once you've created yourcollage, you can share it with friends by uploading to Picasa Web Albums,emailing, or printing it in high-resolution.

All completed collages in addition to drafts will be saved in the 'Collages' folder,located under My Pictures > Picasa (Windows) or Pictures > Picasa (Mac). InPicasa, your 'Collage' folder is located in the 'Projects' collection (flat-folder view)or in the Picasa folder (tree view).

Picture Data: Creating and editing captionsWhen you create captions for your photos, they're saved along with the photosand stay with them, even when you upload them, export them, or send them byemail. However, your captions will only be displayed in Picasa, Picasa Web

Albums, and other IPTC compatible programs. To create a caption for a photo inPicasa, please follow these steps:

1. Double-click the photo.2. On the Edit Photo screen, click the gray Make a caption! Strip below the

photo.3. Type your caption in the space provided.

To edit a caption, click the caption text and use your keyboard's arrow keys(rather than your mouse) to change the cursor's position. If you'd like to delete acaption, simply click the trash can icon to the right of the caption text on the 'EditPhotos' screen. Learn how you can control the display of captions when viewingyour Picasa Library.

(Picture Data: Thumbnail Caption) You can choose to display the following information under each photo thumbnail in your PicasaLibrary: filename, caption, tags, image resolution. Take these steps to adjust the display of your

thumbnail caption:

1. In Picasa, click the View menu.2. Select Thumbnail Caption.3. Select the type of information you'd like to appear underneath your photo thumbnails.

If you don't want any information displayed underneath the photo, you can select None.



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When uploading photos from Picasa, all photo captions will be uploaded withyour photos. As Picasa Web Albums has a caption limit of 1024 characters,captions longer than 1024 characters will be truncated appropriately for display inPicasa Web Albums.

Changes made to captions in Picasa can automatically be reflected in your onlinealbums by enabling Sync to Web in Picasa. You can also manually prompt yourcaptions created and edited in Picasa Web Albums to be synced down to yourphotos in Picasa. Learn more about copying your online changes to Picasa.

(Sync to Web: Control online settings within Picasa)

The pull-down menu to the right of the Share button in Picasa has a collection of tools thatallow you to manage your online albums without visiting Picasa Web Albums.Take action on your online albumsYou don't have to visit Picasa Web Albums to change your online album settings. You can makethe following changes from Picasa with these menu options:

Adjust web album privacy

Delete online album in Picasa Web Albums Copy the URL of your online album without visiting Picasa Web Albums. Paste it into an

email to quickly share it with friends.

Control 'Sync to Web' settingsYou can enable the 'Sync to Web' feature for your folder or album. Once it's enabled, relatedsettings that you can control from the menu include:

Adjusting online image size

Syncing only starred photosCopy online changes to PicasaSelect Refresh Online Status in the menu to manually copy your online changes to thecorresponding folder or album in Picasa. These changes include captions, tags, geotags and

photos you've added to your online albums. Photos added to an online album that don't exist inPicasa will be downloaded into the relevant folder when you click Refresh Online Status.

Movies: Creating a movieCombine your photos, videos, and music into a movie, and convert it to a .wmv(Windows) or .mov (Mac) file. Share it with friends by uploading it directly toYouTube. To create a movie, you can follow these steps:

1. Select the photos and videos you'd like to include in your movie.

2. Click the Movie button in the Photo Tray to go to the 'Movie Maker'screen. You can also create a movie for all photos in any folder or album

by clicking the Create Movie Presentation button in the folder oralbum header.

3. Use the Movie, Slide, and Clips tabs to alter movie settings, add text toslides, or insert new photos respectively. Click a link below to getadditional movie-making tips and details about each tab:







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Movie tabUse this tab to adjust the audio, appearance, and flow of your movie:

o Audio track: You can load one supported audio file for use witheach movie.

(Basics: File types supported)You can adjust Picasa settings to control which file types are displayed in your

Picasa Library. Picasa for Windows supports the following file types: Photos: .jpeg, .tif, .tiff, .bmp, .gif, .psd (Photoshop), .png, .tga, and selected RAW

formats.

Movies:o For general playback in Picasa: .mpg, .mod, .mmv, .tod, .wmv, .asf, .avi, .divx,

.mov, .m4v, .3gp, .3g2, .mp4, .m2t, .m2ts, .mts, .mkv. For several of these filetypes, the correct software is required for playback. For use in Movie Maker: .avi,.asf, .wmv, .mpg, .m2t, .mmv, .m2ts

Audio (for slideshows and the Movie Maker): .wma and .mp3

o Choose from three different options to sync your photos to music.(Movies: Include Music)

The Movie Maker allows you to add supported audio files to accompany your moviescreated in Picasa. On the 'Movie Maker' screen, click the Movie tab on the left side.Click the Load button to select the music you'd like to include from your computer. After you've loaded the music for your movie, you have three options for how yourphotos line up with the music:

Truncate audio: Your selected music will be cut-off at the end of your movie.

Fit photos into audio: Your photos will be automatically timed so that they fit within yourchosen audio track.

You will not be able to adjust the 'Slide Duration' using this option; each of yourphotos will be displayed for the same amount of time.

Loop photos to match audio: Your photos will continue to display for the duration ofyour audio track. Unlike the 'Fit photos into audio' option, each photo will display forlength of time you've specified in the 'Slide Duration' section. Photos will loop until theaudio track ends.

o Transition style: Determine how to go from one picture to the nextduring the movie, e.g. wipe from left, dissolve, pan and zoom.

o Slide Duration: Use the slider to adjust the amount of time spenton each slide.

o Overlap: Adjust the amount of overlap during the transition fromslide to slide.

o Dimensions: Control the resolution of your movie. When choosinga dimension for your movie, it's useful to consider the format inwhich your movie will be viewed.

o Show captions: Choose whether or not your photo captions shouldappear in your movie.

o Full frame photo crop: Crop all movie images so that theycompletely fill the space on the slide.

Slide tabUse this tab to add text to the slides in your movie. You can add text on top ofany image or create a text-only slide to serve as a cover slide or a divider in yourmovie.Click the Slide tab on the 'Movie Maker' screen.



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Add text in the text box. The preview of your slide or photo will automaticallyupdate.

Adjust the font, size, style, and color of your text and background. Change thestyle and location of your text using the 'Template' drop-down menu.By default, each movie has a cover slide that displays the title and date of your

album. To create a new text-only slide, click the Add a new text slide buttonlocated below the Play button on the 'Movie Maker' screen.Clips tabUse this tab to add or remove photos, and to retrieve additional photos from yourLibrary for use in your movie.Click the Clips tab on the left side of the 'Movie Maker' screen.Click the Get More button to find additional photos in your Library.Select your desired photos from your Library.

After you've finished, click Back to Movie Maker in the Photo Tray.You should now see your additional images displayed on the Clips tab. Use the(+) and (-) buttons to insert and remove photos.

Other tipsYou can remove slides from your filmstrip by clicking the X button, located belowthe Play button in the lower-left corner of the 'Movie Maker' screen. Change the order of the photos in your movie by dragging and dropping photosin the filmstrip at the bottom of the screen.

4. When you are satisfied with your creation, you have a few options:o Click the Play full screen button in the lower-right corner of the

screen to see a full-screen preview.o Click the Create Movie button to begin the creation process.o Click the YouTube button to create the movie and automatically

upload it to YouTube. All completed movies in addition to drafts will be saved in the 'Movies' folder,located under My Pictures > Picasa (Windows) or Pictures > Picasa (Mac). InPicasa, your 'Movies' folder is located in the 'Projects' collection (flat-folder view)or in the Picasa folder (tree view).

If you're not finished creating a movie, click the Close button and you'll beprompted to save a draft of your work in the 'Movies' folder. You can re-edit adraft or a finished movie at any time. In the 'Movies' folder, double-click yourselected movie, and then click the Edit Movie button to access the moviecreation tools.

Depending on the number of images and size of your audio file, the moviecreation process can take a significant amount of time.



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Geotagging Pictures: Add geotags in PicasaUse Google Maps in Picasa to place your photos on the map. To geotag a photo,follow these steps:

1. Select the photos you'd like to geotag.2. Click the Places button in the lower right corner of Picasa.3. Navigate to or search for your location.4. Click the green marker button to add a new place for selected photos.

Move the green marker to the spot where you took the photos.5. Click the OK button to finalize the geotag.You can also drag-and-drop photos directly onto the map.Picasa will write the longitude and latitude to the photo's EXIF metadata. You canview this data (GPS Latitude and Longitude) by right-clicking (Windows) Control-clicking (Mac) a geotagged image in Picasa and selecting Properties.

Geotagged photos are marked with a icon when viewed in Picasa.

Search and Locate: Tagging photosTags are like keywords. By applying single or multiple-word tags in Picasa, youcan quickly search and locate your photos. To add a tag to a photo, please follow

these steps:1. Select the photos that you'd like to tag. You can only tag photos in one

folder or album at a time.2. Click the Tags button. You can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-T

(Windows) or Command-T (Mac). Existing tags and tag counts forselected photos will be listed in the 'Tags' tab.

3. There are two ways to add tags:o Type the tag manually: Use the text box to enter the tag and click

the 'Add tag' button.o Use your 'Quick Tags': By presetting tags that you frequently use,

you can add them with the click of a button. Manage your 'Quick

Tags' by clicking the 'Configure Quick Tags' icon in the 'Tags' tab.To remove a tag from all selected photos, just hover over the relevant tag in theTags panel and click the 'x' icon that appears.

Once your photos are tagged, you can use the search box in the upper right-hand corner of Picasa to quickly find pictures that you've tagged.



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If you'd like to view your tags underneath their respective photos in the Picasalibrary, adjust your thumbnail captions setting.(Picture Data: Thumbnail Caption) You can choose to display the following information under each photo thumbnail in your PicasaLibrary: filename, caption, tags, image resolution. Take these steps to adjust the display of yourthumbnail caption:

1. In Picasa, click the View menu.2. Select Thumbnail Caption.3. Select the type of information you'd like to appear underneath your photo thumbnails.

If you don't want any information displayed underneath the photo, you can select None.

Blogger: Using 'Blog This'Using the BlogThis! button in the Photo Tray, you can post up to four photos ata time to Blogger directly from Picasa. Please follow these steps:

1. Select the photos in Picasa you wish to add to your blog.2. Click the BlogThis! button.3. Enter your Google Account username and password.4. Click the Sign In button. If you've never used Blogger before, you'll be

prompted to sign up.5. Select the blog where you wish to publish your pictures from the drop-

down menu.6. Select a photo layout and image size.7. Click the Continue button. A Blogger editor page will open displaying your

photos on an HTML page.8. Click the Publish button to complete the upload.

Captions saved in Picasa are not transferred to Blogger with the photo. You canadd captions using the Blogger post editor .

For more information on Blogger, please visit the Blogger Help Center .

http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=42239



http://help.blogger.com/





Documents

Picasa 3 Features.pdf