If you have any pictures stored in your computer and you are still using built-in Windows picture management applications you are missing out on all the features available with Google’s free photo management application, Picasa. The guide below will explain some of the differences between Albums and Folders in Picasa, a fundamental understanding that will help you avoid headaches in the future. If you have any comments or questions, please post them below.
Before we install Picasa on your computer or begin walking you through some of the features, lets first understand how Picasa works. Once installed Picasa performs a scan of all the pictures stored on your computer. It normally searches the My Documents and My Pictures directories found on your computer.
Note: If you have any "personal" pictures that you would like to keep from showing up when you are running slide shows for your family to view or simply prefer to keep them private make sure you follow this guide and avoid the embarrassment.
Once Picasa locates all of the files on your computer it will list the scanned folders in the Library pane located on the left portion of the screen. Notice that the scanned folders are located in the Folders (#) section. The # indicates the number of folders indexed by Picasa.
Folders are simply the listing of the folders containing pictures in your computer that have been indexed by Picasa. Any changes made to files in folders, moving of files, creation of new folders, deletions, etc. will affect the original files.
Note: If you delete files from the folders within Picasa you will be asked if you would like to remove the file/folder from Picasa or if you would like to remove from Picasa and delete the original picture. Your choice.
You will also notice that Picasa lists Albums and Projects in the left pane right above the Folders section.
Albums are collections of pictures from different folders that make it easy for users to access several pictures that have been put together. The neat thing about Albums is that they only exist in Picasa which means that if you delete an album your pictures will remain in their respective folders. This also means that pictures deleted from an Album will remain in their respective folders, but will no longer appear in the specific Album. Albums only reference the pictures from your Folders they don’t store them.
An example for the use of an Album would be creating a compilation of all pictures of your family during the holidays for the past ten years. Instead of creating a folder and copying files from different directories and having to deal with duplicate files and other issues arising from this method of compilation, you would simply create an Album, name it Family Holiday Pictures and then you would drag pictures from the various Holiday folders located on your computer into the Family Holiday Pictures Album.
The Albums section will contain a listing of folders that have been uploaded to Picasa Web Albums (more on this in future articles). the compilations you’ve created and Recently Updated files.
The Projects section is created when users generate Movies with Picasa and/or perform screen captures that are automatically categorized as such. There are other Project types and they will be discussed in future articles.
As an avid user of Picasa I find myself bombarded with questions from friends and family about how Picasa works and the tasks that can be performed. This is kind of a repository of this information for my family and friends that will also serve as an easy-to-follow set of guides for all GilsMethod.com visitors.
I hope that you have found this introduction to Picasa useful and that you have a better understanding of the differences between Folders and Albums in Picasa.
Article posted on 08 22nd, 2009
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I organize files from a variety of folders into slide shows and I am looking everywhere for the way to save this new order of photos. Also, I want to then download this folder in order to a CD or memory stick. How do I do these tasks? Thanks!
@Nancy Keith: Can you please elaborate on what you mean by, “…way to save this new order of photos.” I’m not sure what you are trying to say here. Once you clarify that I think I can answer all of your questions. Thanks.
Thanks for responding. I have moved files from various folders into a new folder (not an Album!) and arranged them in an order different from the date they were originally made. I can see them in in that sequence in Slide Show mode in Picasa by running that folder, but when I tried to burn that same folder to a CD, the order is jumbled on the CD.
@Nancy Keith – This probably has to do with the file name. I believe that when burning a file onto a disc you will encounter this issue. Example, file names 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 – will be burned in that order. The only thing that I can think of is trying to rename all the files in the order in which you wish them to appear. You can do this by selecting the files to rename ) CTRL + A or drag a box around the files and hitting the F2 key on your keyboard. When you rename the one file all other files will be renamed in sequence.
Note: Please create a backup of the files prior to renaming should the renaming not work as intended. Keep us posted.
Ok, this is my question. I put names on the people in the picture right? OK, now how do I send that picture via email to someone that can see the names that I have put on the faces? When I send a picture thru e mail to someone, all they get is the picture. They cannot see the names when the cursor passes over the faces. Help
@Tom Alloway: Unless they have Picasa, the picture information will not be accessible via other software in the manner in which it is available in Picasa. Hope this answers your question. Please let me know if you find that it works differently. Thank you.
Gilberto, I understand what you are saying, but I can send tagged photos via email to “myself” and those photos don’t show names when I move the cursor over them, and I have Picasa installed. I am confused.
@Tom Alloway – So you have sent yourself files from one computer using Picasa (the files were tagged) and you received the files on another computer with Picasa, but the pictures are no longer tagged? Is this correct? Please let me know. Thanks.
No Gil, I sent and recieved the pictures to myself on the “same” computer. I wanted to test it out before I sent taged pictures to my friends. And, the pictures do not show names of people when I move my cursor over their faces.
@Tom Alloway – I’ve attempted what you have just described and it does not appear to work…I’m not sure if it’s something we are missing or the feature is not available. Have you tried sharing the files using Picasa Web Albums ( ) it appears to work when you use Picasa Web Albums as the intermidiary to transfer the files. Let me know if it helps. Thanks.
http://picasaweb.google.com
I have selected various photos from lots of folders in picasa and copied them into one new folder. How do I move this folder to my desktop for easy uploading? I have tried copy & paste but this doesn't appear to work. I want to send these photos off to a website but I cannot find the new picasa folder anywhere on my system.
Also, I have photos in Picasa3 and the same in Windows Photo Gallery, does this take up double the space on my harddrive? Can I delete the files from Windows Photo Gallery?
Many Thanks, Malouco
@Malouco – Picasa and Windows Gallery both reference existing pictures in your computer so they are not creating duplicates. Regarding your question about the missing folder. Have you tried right-clicking on the folder and clicking on Locate on Disk from the drop-down menu? This should help you locate your folder on your hard drive. Let me know if you need help with this feature. Thanks for stopping by.