Picasa Special Interest Group

March 26, 2009

 

The Picasa Puzzle - Where Are They?

Pictures, Files, Folders, Collections

Windows

  • Photos normally stored in My Documents (Documents in Vista) in a sub folder My Pictures (Pictures in Vista).
  • Photos are stored in a subfolder of My Pictures with a name of your choice, chosen at download time.
  • Folders are arranged alphabetically within My Pictures.
  • Your folders may have sub folders.
  • Folders can be viewed by following the path, double clicking on each folder OR by using Windows Explorer.
  • Photos within the folder are arranged alphabetically/numerically

 

What Picasa Does to Organize

  • Picasa will display by default folders by date called a flat folder structure - no subfolders are indicated
  • Picasa can display a tree folder structure - more like Explorer - subfolders visible
  • Picasa can Sort by Size, Name, Creation Date or Recently changed
  • Above the folder column find the buttons to show these different displays Flat Folder icon, Tree Folder icon, and View dropdown.

 

What You can do to Organize

  • Create folders to group related pictures (changes your folders in MyPictures)
  • Move photos to existing folders (changes your folders in MyPictures)
  • Create Collections to group related folders (not visible in MyPictures)
  • Create Albums to display (not duplicate) photos from different albums (Not visible in MyPictures)
  • Use Folder Manager to eliminate pictures you do not need to see (not visible in Picasa)

 

What to do with Photos - Search Options

  • Rename - File>Rename
  • Captions - Edit Mode
  • Tags or Keywords - View>Tags or View> Keywords
  • Create new folders - RightClick photo or photos>Move to New Folder
  • Move to existing folder - Select and drag

 

What to do with Folders Search Options

  • Rename the folder - Double Click
  • Change the date - Double Click (Default date is earliest photo date)
  • Add a description or location-Double Click
  • Move the folder to a Collection RightClick >Move to Collection>Click Name

 

What to do with a Collection Search Options

  • Open or close it as needed to display or hide its folders - See Below

 

What is Collection?

  • A collection is a group of related folders - simplifies finding folders
  • Picasa sorts folders in a collection by date.
  • A special Projects Collection organizes your collages, screen captures and movies
  • A special Albums Collection contains any albums created
  • The name of a collection is on a silver bar in the folder list.

 


When to use: Make a new collection when

  • the folder list is long
  • there are several folders with a common subject.

 

How to make a new collection:

  1. Right click on a folder.
  2. From the drop down menu, put your cursor on Move to Collection. From the next menu, choose New Collection.
  3. Type a name for your Collection
  4. Right click a related folder. Put your cursor on Move to Collection. This time, click on the name of the collection which will appear in the collection list.
  5. Repeat for all folders with photos you want to group together.

 

 

How to use the collection:

The collection silver bar will have a red or green triangle at the left.

Red means the collection is closed and you will not see the folders in the folder list, only the collection name. Saves space in the folder list.

 

Green means the collection is open and you have access to all the folders in the collection.

Change from Green to Red and back again by just clicking the triangle.

 

Hint: To move a folder from one collection to another, right click the folder and choose Move to a new collection. Select the new collection from the drop down menu.

 

 

Arranging folders in Collections in Picasa will in no way affect the arrangement of your folders in Windows. The Collection titles are visible only in Picasa.

 

At any time, compare your Picasa Folder List with the folder where your photos are stored on the C:\ drive.

  • Folders in Picasa sorted by date will be in alphabetical order in Windows.
  • Albums and Collections are not visible in Windows.
  • Photo Exported from Picasa will be in a Picasa Exports folder unless manually stored elsewhere
  • Folders in the Projects Collections (Movies, ScreenCaptures and Collages) will be in a folder called Picasa
  • Folders no longer used or containing unneeded files may be manually hidden from Picasa using Tools>Folder Manager but remain accessible on the hard drive.

 

Moving through your Collections, Folders, and Photos

 

Collections and Folders use a slider bar on the right of the column

Photos use a slider bar on the right of the lightbox

 

This slider bar is not a good indication of your location in the lists since it always returns to the middle.

 

Looking for folders or collections which you know are at the top of the list? Drag the slider toward the top until they are visible. Ditto for the bottom of the folder/collection list.

 

Looking for photos? Try a search. Try to locate photo by clicking on the folder to bring all photos in that folder to the the lightbox. Or drag the slider. With caution. The further away from the center, the faster it moves.

 

 

Photo Activities

    1. Rename - File>Rename
    2. Move to a new folder - (Drag)
    3. Delete from Disk -(Right Click> Delete from Disk)
    4. Not to be confused with Delete from album. (Only removes from album
    5. Edit and then Save - Original is saved on disk but saved copy is no longer edit-reversible Original is in a sub folder of the folder containing the edited picture
    6. Save as - Saves a copy with the ability to change file type
    7. Email - sends as a smaller attachment
    8. Export - resizes and saves a copy of the edited photo
    9. Print or Order Prints