Author: Brian Miller

– Upload using a Mac Computer and Picasa iPhoto Plugin

Select the photos you want to use and drag them into an iPhoto Album.

Click File > Export and then click Picasa Web Albums in the dialogue box.

Add a name for the Album, fill in the description and decide if the photos are for public viewing or not. Decide if you want Better Quality photos or Faster Upload or Actual Size

There are many ways to file images and many software programs to help you, however I think it is best to  make up your own hierarchical folders using a range of topics that suit your photography and lifestyle.

If you use one particular software to organise your photos it can be very hard to extract your photos from that software system at a later date. Picasa is a popular editing / filing system however it tends to take over your computer and over sort your photos in ways that make it difficult to find them. I recommend you take Picasa off your system, make your own image folders and use Photoshop Elements for editing.

When sharing photos with family and friends you have to set up  email groups so that when you click SHARE you can send an email to each person with a link to your album.

If you join Google+ you can then develop networks (called circles) of friends, family of any other group you decide to setup. Then when you want to share your photos you just click on an album in Picasaweb, click on the SHARE button, add a comment, click on ‘+add more people’ and then click the groups or ‘Circles’ of friends that you want to send the photos to.

This is a much quicker way to contact people HOWEVER at this stage you may not have many friends who have joined Google+. Perhaps you could encourage your family to join Google+ and your family circle to speed up the transfer of photos. Just one word of warning – Google+ does make your photos a lot more public since they can be resent by your family or friends to other circles. Read this article

click here to join Google+

1 – GOOGE ACCOUNT – Picasa Web Albums is owned by Google so to setup you need to first have a Google account. Go to www.google.com If you need help setting up your account got to http://support.google.com  To set up your account you need to select a google name. Choose your own common name or if that is not available choose a close variation so that people who search for you will recognize the name.

Google Profile.

– Gmail – Once you have a Google Account you will e provided with a gmail name which allows you to send emails via the online Google email system. Gmail is very useful as you can access your emails from any computer anywhere in the world and also set up gmail GROUPS which can automatically inform the group of friends or family selected when you have added new photos to your Picasaweb.

– You Tube – is also owned by Google and so your google account also allows you to set up You Tube and upload movie

– Google for Weddings is another service you can use from your Google account so set up your own Wedding website and contact service.

 

2 – PICASA AND PICASA WEB ALBUMS

Picasa is a software system that you can download using your Google account and use to organize and edit all the photos on your computer. I recommend you do NOT download or use this system. After running camera classes for years I have people in every class who have problems with Picasa. It tends to take over you photos and orgaise them to much with the result that images and copies are hard to control and locate. I RECOMMEND you set up your own manual photo files independent of any software and add keywords.

Picasa Web Albums is separate from Picasa itself and is the online system for sharing photos.

3 – Go to www.picasaweb.google.com  to sign up for your Picasa Web Album account. Using your Google name and password, follow the instructions to set up the account.

Once you have your own Picasa Web Album you are given your own URL name such as –

www.picasaweb.google.com/yourgooglename

This is the link to give to friends who you would like to view your photos. Place a bookmark in your favourites so you can access your page quickly without having to type in the lengthy URL each time.

UPLOAD PHOTOS _________________________

Select copies of the photos you want to upload put them into a folder. Resize them to make upload quicker. by dragging the photo into Photoshop Elements – click image > Resize > Image size. Then click resample and change the resolution to 72 and the width to about 600 pixels. Click ok Then click File > save as,  into a second folder selecting medium quality. Or Click file > save for web and select a medium quality file size.

This will reduce the size of the image making it quicker to upload while still providing a suitable image on the screen. If you have many photos to upload you can resize a batch of photos. See page 57 in the book Digital Cameras the easy way for this technique.

Click into your Picasa Web Albums using your URL

e.g. www.picasaweb.google.com/yourgooglename

Click ‘Upload’ – Then EITHER ‘Create a new Album by giving it a name OR ‘add to an existing album. Then click ‘Select Photos from your computer’ and select the appropriate folder of photos. Wait for them to upload then give them individual captions if you wish.

UPLOAD PLUGINS ________________________

You can make the process of uploading much quicker by searching for and downloading a plugin to upload photos directly from iPhoto (Mac) or from Windows Live Photo Gallery to Picasa Web Albums. The plugin allows you to make albums on your computer and upload them directly and quickly to Picasa Web Albums.

VIEW PHOTOS

Click on your Picasaweb name to open your Albums

Eg www.picasaweb.google.com/yourgooglename

ADJUST COVER PHOTO _____________________

Click Home> Click on the album, Click Actions > Album Cover – Then Click on one of your best photos, that is representative of the album and it will become the Album cover.

ORGANIZE YOUR ALBUM ____________________

Click on the album then click Organize and you can then rearrange the sequence of the photos.

SHARE _________________________________

Click on an album and click the SHARE button.  If you belong to Google+ you can then add the circles of friends that you would like to share the photos with. If you want to share by email click the Share via Email only link at the base of the box.

When you share by email click the TO: link and then the Most Contacted drop down menu to bring up your lists of groups. These groups are lists of friends emails that you have made within your Gmail system. How to make Gmail groups.