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Picasa and Picasa Web Albums Tutorial

Picasa is a good free photo editing app and I would recommend it over the default Windows Photo App in 8, 8.1 and 10. (You can download fore free here https://picasa.google.com/)

Add or delete photos

You can use Picasa and Picasa Web Albums to organize your photos.

Add photos to Picasa

From a computer

Add one photo

  1. In Picasa, click File.
  2. Select Add File to Picasa.
  3. Select the photo to add.
  4. Click Open.

Add photos from multiple folders

  1. Click Tools > Folder Manager
  2. Select the folders with photos you want to display.
  3. Select the file types to display.
From cameras, memory cards, etc

You can import photos from cameras, memory cards, and devices to Picasa.

  1. Connect the device to your computer.
  2. Open Picasa and click Import.
  3. Under “Import photos from,” select the source of your photos.
  4. Under “Import to,” select the destination folder.
  5. Select the photos to import.
  6. Click Import Selected or Import All.

After copying, you can delete copied photos or all photos from your memory card or camera.

Delete photos or albums in Picasa Web Albums

You can delete single photos or online albums in Picasa Web Albums.

Delete individual photos
  1. Select the photo to delete.
  2. Click Actions > Delete this photo.
  3. Click OK.
Delete multiple photos
  1. Click Organize.
  2. Select the photos you’d like to delete.
  3. Click Delete.
  4. Click OK.
Delete albums
  1. In the “My Photos” tab, click the album to delete.
  2. Click Actions > Delete album.
  3. Click OK.

Related information

Choose a storage size

You can choose a photo size or file size to suit how you use your photos online.

There are two options:

  • Best for web sharing (larger photos are resized to 2048 pixels)
  • Original size

The storage size can affect the image quality. To preserve image quality when you store at “Best for web sharing”:

  1. Click Tools > Options (Windows) or Picasa > Preferences (Mac).
  2. Click Google Photos.
  3. Check JPEG Quality: Preserve original image quality.
Account upload limits
  • Maximum photo size: 75 MB
  • Maximum video size: 10 GB
  • Maximum number of web albums: 20,000
  • Maximum number of photos and videos per web album: 2,000
  • Total storage space: 15 GB for photos and videos.
See photos that might interest you

In Picasa Web Albums, you might see photos from different sources:

  • “My Recent Albums” shows your recent uploads.
  • “Recent Activity” keeps you updated with recently uploaded public albums from people you follow and any photos that have been shared with you.
  • “Featured Photos” shows high-quality photos across the Picasa community

Edit photos in Picasa

Picasa provides a variety of fixes and effects so you can improve photos or create something unique.

Basic edits

To make simple edits, click Basic fixes .

  • Crop: Frames or cuts parts of a photo.
  • Straighten: Straightens photos taken with an off-kilter camera.
  • Redeye: Corrects red eyes.
  • Auto contrast: Sets brightness and contrast to optimal levels.
  • Auto color: Removes color cast and restores balance.
  • Text: Adds or edits text.
  • Fill Light: Adds light to the foreground of photos.
  • Undo and redo: Deletes or restores changes.
  • Retouch: Removes blemishes and improves photo quality.
  • I’m feeling lucky: Adjusts the photo’s color and contrast.
Adjust color & lighting

Use the sliders to adjust the color and lighting aspects of your photo. To use this tool, click Tuning .

Photo effects

To sharpen, tint, and do more with your photos, click Basic effects .

Use the next two tabs to add more filters and effects.

Rotate or flip

Rotate photos

Use “Rotate” to turn your photos by 90 degree increments. To use, click Rotate or.

Flip photos

To flip an image, use these keyboard shortcuts:

  • Horizontally: Ctrl-Shift-H
  • Vertically: Ctrl-Shift-V
Change the size of a photo

There are multiple ways to resize photos.

Resize by exporting

  1. Select the photos to resize.
  2. Click Export.
  3. In “Resize to,” adjust the size slider.

Resize by emailing

If you’re sending pictures by email, you can reduce the size so they won’t be too large. To change the size of photos you email from Picasa:

  1. Click Tools > Options (Windows) or Picasa > Preferences (Mac).
  2. Select Email.
  3. Use the slider and button to set the size for emailing single and multiple photos.
  4. Click OK.

Resize by uploading to Picasa Web Albums

You can resize your images when you upload images from Picasa.

Add watermarks

You can protect your images by adding a watermark to your photos. To add a watermark:

During export

  1. Select the photos to export.
  2. In the photo tray, click Export.
  3. Check Add a watermark.
  4. In the watermark box, enter your watermark text.
  5. Click OK.

While uploading

  1. Before you upload, click Tools > Options (Windows) or Picasa > Preferences (Mac).
  2. Select Google Photos.
  3. Check “Add a watermark for all uploads.”
  4. In the watermark box, enter your watermark text.
  5. Click OK.

Picasa preserves your original photo. When you save your edits, Picasa creates a new version of the photo with your edits.

Select multiple photos

Add photos to the photo tray to make changes to multiple photos at once. Here’s how:

  • Press and hold Ctrl (Command on Mac) while selecting multiple photos.
  • To select all photos in a folder or album, click Edit > Select all or Ctrl+A (Command+A on Mac).
  • To keep your selected photos in the photo tray, use Hold.
  • To remove all photos from the photo tray, click Clear.

Edit photos side-by-side

To compare 2 photos side by side:

  1. Double-click a photo.
  2. Above the photo, choose how you want to compare photos:
    • A|B: Compare two different photos. To select the photo to compare, click the second photo and choose from the carousel at the top.
    • A|A: Compare edits to the same photo, or view the original as you apply edits.
  3. To edit, click the photo.

You can also swap your view from side by side to above and below.

Saving photos

When you save your photo, its location on your hard drive may change.

Find your original photo

Picasa creates a copy of your photo with all edits and moves the original to a hidden subfolder called ‘.picasaoriginals’.

  • Use Save to Disk when you edit multiple photos included in an album.
  • Use File > Save for individual pictures (or a group of pictures that you select).
Keep your original photo in its current folder

You can make a copy of a photo and save it where you want.

  • To create edited copies of a large number of pictures, export your photos.
  • Use File > Save a Copy to export a copy of the photo with all edits, into the same folder. The new version will have “-1” added to its original name.
  • To specify the filename and location, use File > Save As.

Photos are saved as JPEG files.

Organize photos in Picasa

Picasa organizes photos and groups people into folders and albums.

  • Folders in Picasa are the same folders on your computer. Any changes you make on Picasa will affect folders on your computer.
  • Albums exist only in Picasa, not on your computer. When you delete or move photos from an album, it doesn’t affect folders on your computer.
  • Picasa groups similar faces together to create albums.

Organize photos in folders and albums

Create an album

You can combine photos from multiple folders into a single album. To create an album:

  1. Select the photos to include in the album and put them in the photo tray.
  2. In the photo tray, click Add Selected Items to an Album.
  3. Select “New album.”
  4. Name the album and click OK.
Move photos to an album or folder

To move your photos:

  1. Select the photos to move.
  2. Click a photo and drag your photos to a new folder or album.

If you have a large collection of photos, drag the photos to the folder list on the left. Drop them when the desired folder or album is highlighted.

Organize photos by faces

You can organize and tag your photos according to the people in them with Picasa’s face grouping technology. To tag people in your photos:

  1. Sign in to your Google Account or Web Albums.
  2. Add names in bulk or individually.
    • In bulk: In the left menu, under “People”, click Unnamed People. Type a name under a photo and it will be added to all photos of that face.
    • To see the faces that appear in the photo, open a photo and click People .
  3. Picasa will create an album for each face tagged in “People”.

To delete a tag, select a photo and click Remove.

Manage duplicate photos

If you have photos in multiple folders, here are a few ways to manage them:

  • Click Tools > Folder Manager. Remove folders that may have the duplicates from your library.
  • Right-click (Control-click on a Mac) duplicate photos and select Hide.
  • Find duplicates and delete them from your computer.
  • Rebuild your photo database.

To exclude duplicates while importing, select “Exclude Duplicates” at the bottom of the import page. A red X on a photo means the photo is already in Picasa.

To automatically exclude duplicates:

  1. Click Tools > Options (Windows) or Picasa > Preferences (Mac).
  2. Select General.
  3. Select Detect duplicates while importing.
  4. Click OK.

Share photos & albums

You can share photos and albums using Picasa or Picasa Web Albums.

Picasa

Share to Google+

To share photos on Google+:

  1. Select photos to upload and share.
  2. At the bottom, click Upload to Google Photos.
  3. Select an album or create a new one.
  4. Choose an image size.
  5. Add Google+ circles, individual people, or email addresses.
  6. Click Upload.
Upload and share to Picasa Web Albums
  1. Select photos.
  2. Click Upload.
  3. Select an album or create a new one.
  4. Choose a privacy level and an image size.
  5. Add email addresses of people you want to share with.
  6. Click Upload.

Picasa Web Albums

To share photos:

  1. Open an album or photo.
  2. Click Share.
  3. Add email addresses of people you want to share with.
  4. Click Share to share on Google+ or Send Email if you haven’t signed up for Google+.

Album Privacy

Album visibility lets you control who can see your albums. There are three options:

  • Public
  • Limited, anyone with the link
  • Only you

Changing album visibility

To change the visibility level:

  1. Click My Photos and open the album to change visibility.
  2. Select Actions > Album properties.
  3. In “Visibility,” select your visibility option.
  4. Click Save changes.

Public gallery URL

Your public gallery URL is the unique web address where your photos are located.

To find your public gallery URL:

  1. Click My Photos.
  2. Above your albums, click Public Gallery.

Your web URL is in your address bar.

To see your public gallery URL and unlisted gallery URL:

  1. In the top right, click Options .
  2. Select Settings.
  3. Under the “General” tab, you’ll see your public gallery URL and unlisted gallery URL.

The unlisted gallery displays albums that are marked “Limited, anyone with the link.” The unlisted gallery link has a secret key that makes the address difficult to guess. Reset your secret key to revoke access to this gallery.

Share links to albums and photos

You can share links of specific photos or albums with anyone from Picasa Web Albums.

Link to an album
  1. From the “My Photos” tab, click your album.
  2. On the right, click Link to this album.
  3. Under “Paste Link in email or IM,” copy the URL to share.
Link to an individual image
  1. Open the photo to link to.
  2. On the right, click Link to this photo.
  3. Under “Link,” copy the URL to share.

Download, email, or move photos

You can download, move, transfer, email, and export photos and albums.

Picasa Web Albums

Download photos and albums

Photos

  1. Open the photo to download.
  2. Click Actions > Download photo.
  3. In the window that appears, select Save File.

Albums

  1. Open the album to download.
  2. Click Actions > Download to Picasa.
  3. In the window that appears, click “Download.”
Copy or move photos to a new album

To copy and move photos from one web album to another:

  1. Open the album to move photos from.
  2. Click Organize.
  3. Select the photos to copy or move.
  4. Click Copy or Move.
  5. Enter the details for a new album or choose an existing album.
  6. Click Continue.

To copy or move individual photos:

  1. Open a photo and click Actions.
  2. Select Copy to another album or Move to another album.
  3. Enter the details for a new album or choose an existing album.
  4. Click Continue.

Picasa

Export photos

To export copies of your photos:

  1. Select the photos to export.
  2. In the photo tray, click Export.
  3. In the “Export to Folder” window, select your export settings.
  4. Click OK.
Email photos

To email photos:

  1. Select the photos to email.
  2. In the photo tray, click Email.
  3. Choose Gmail or your default email program.
  4. Sign in to your email account.
  5. Add your recipient’s email address and a message, then send the email.

To set your default email application:

Windows XP

  1. On your computer taskbar, click Start.
  2. Select Control Panel > Internet Options.
  3. Click Programs.
  4. Choose your default email application.
  5. Click OK.

Windows Vista / Windows 7

  1. On your computer taskbar, click Start.
  2. Select Default Programs > Set your default programs.
  3. Under “Programs,” select your default email application.
  4. Click Set this program as default.
  5. Click OK.

Mac

  1. Open Mail.
  2. Click Mail > Preferences.
  3. At the top, click General.
  4. Next to “Default email reader,” select your default email application.
  5. Exit the application to save.

Slideshows, photo collages, and movies

You can create slideshows, photo collages, and videos in Picasa and Picasa Web Albums.

Slideshows and photo collages

Create a slideshow in Picasa
  1. Create a new album with the photos for the slideshow. Open the album.
  2. At the top, click Play Fullscreen Slideshow
  3. Set your slideshow settings.

To continuously play your slideshow, :

  1. Click Tools > Options (Windows) or Picasa > Preferences (Mac).
  2. Click Slideshow.
  3. Select Loop slideshow.
Create a slideshow in Picasa Web Albums
  1. On an album, click Slideshow.
  2. At the bottom of the slideshow, use the controls to adjust settings.
Create a photo collage in Picasa
  1. Select the photos for the collage.
  2. At the top, click Create Photo Collage.
  3. Use the collage creation page to control the appearance and content of your collage.
  4. Click Create Collage.

In your computer, collages are saved in “Collages,” under My Pictures > Picasa (Windows) or Pictures > Picasa(Mac).

In Picasa, your Collage folder is in “Projects” (flat-folder view) or the Picasa folder (tree view).

Videos and movies

Upload videos to Picasa Web Albums
  1. Sign in to Picasa Web Albums.
  2. At the top, click Upload.
  3. Select the video to upload (maximum 1GB) and click Open.

You can also use Picasa to upload photos and videos.

Create a movie

You can combine your photos, videos, and music into a movie.

  1. Select photos and videos.
  2. At the top, click Create Movie Presentation.
  3. Use the Movie Maker to alter movie settings, adjust audio and transition, dimensions, add and edit text to slides, or add new photos.
  4. Click Create Movie or YouTube to create the movie and upload it to YouTube.

Movies are saved on your computer in the Movies, folder under My Pictures > Picasa (Windows) or Pictures > Picasa (Mac).

In Picasa, the Movies folder is in the “Projects” collection (flat-folder view) or Picasa folder (tree view).

Do more with Picasa & Picasa Web Albums

You can add captions, locations, sync your changes and more to your photos in Picasa and Picasa Web Albums.

Picasa

Sync your changes

Turn on Web Sync in Picasa to sync any changes to Web Albums.

  • On the right of an album, turn on the “Sync to Web” switch.
  • Click the arrow next to the “Upload” button. Select Enable Sync.
Backup for photos and videos
Learn more about backing up your photos.
Change print size options

To select which print sizes appear when you print:

  1. Click Tools > Options (Windows) or Picasa > Preferences (Mac).
  2. Select Printing.
  3. Under “Available Print Sizes,” choose your print size layouts.
  4. Click OK.

The “Full Page” option cannot be removed.

Keyboard shortcuts for Windows

Use these shortcuts to save time in Picasa:

  • Ctrl-A: Select all photos in a folder/album
  • Ctrl-D: Deselect photos
  • Home: Select the first photo in your folder/album
  • End: Select the last photo in your folder/album
  • Ctrl-H: Hold selected photos in photo tray
  • Ctrl-N: Create a new album
  • F1: View Help articles
Keyboard shortcuts for Mac

Use these shortcuts to save time in Picasa:

  • Command-A: Select all photos in a folder/album
  • Command-D: Deselect photos
  • fn-left arrow: Select the first photo in your folder/album
  • fn-right arrow: Select the last photo in your folder/album
  • Command-N: Create a new album
  • fn-F1: View Help articles

Picasa Web Albums

Add captions

To add captions to all photos in an album, click Edit > Captions.

Map your photos

For a single photo

  1. Open a photo.
  2. Click Add Location.
  3. Enter the location and drag the marker to specify it on the map.
  4. Click Save Location.

Map an album

  1. On “My Photos,” click the album to map.
  2. Select Actions > Album properties.
  3. In “Place Taken,” enter the place where the photos were taken.
  4. Click Show location on map. Drag the marker to specify the location.
  5. Click Save Changes.
Embed photos on a website

Photos

  1. Open the photo to embed.
  2. On the right, click Link to this Photo.
  3. Set your image size.
  4. In “Embed Image,” copy the HTML and paste it in the source code on your site.

Albums

  1. On “My Photos,” click your album.
  2. On the right, click Link to this album.
  3. In “Paste HTML to embed in website,” copy the HTML and paste it in the source code for your site.

Slideshows

  1. Follow steps 1–2 above for Albums.
  2. Select Embed Slideshow.
  3. Set the slideshow settings.
  4. Copy the HTML and paste it in the source code on your site.

Albums must be set to “public,” or “limited, anyone with the link.”

Buy more storage

Buy Google storage to store more images and videos.

Follow your favorites

Under a person’s profile photo and name, click Follow to receive updates when they add new photos

Uninstall Picasa

To uninstall Picasa, choose your operating system and follow the steps.

Windows
  1. On your computer taskbar, click Start.
  2. Select All Programs > Picasa > Uninstall.
  3. In the confirmation window, click Uninstall.
  4. To remove your database and permanently remove Picasa, click Yes. If you plan to reinstall, click No.
  5. Click Finish.
Mac
  1. From the Applications folder, drag Picasa to the trash.
  2. To remove your database and Picasa permanently:
    1. Open Finder.
    2. Go to [username] > Library.
    3. Double-click Application Support > Google > Picasa 3.
    4. In the Picasa 3 folder, locate “db3.”
    5. Drag “db3” into the trash.

If you want to maintain your edits, export your photos.