USING PICASA TO EDIT YOUR DIGITAL PHOTOS YOU control your uploads! For uploading photos from a camera or card to the PC, I prefer to let Windows import/upload the photo files then to use Picasa to edit, Email, etc. You can specify which program on your computer will be the choice for importing/uploading the photo files in the Control Panel/ Default Settings/ Auto Play Settings:

***If you later install another photo editing program, it will likely select itself as the default for importing/uploading photos. You may find that you need to reconfirm that Windows is still selected as the tool to import/upload.

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The import/upload process

When you connect your camera/card, Windows will detect that there are photos to be transferred and present you with this option window. You can add a tag to help identify the photos here and change or verify the location that the photos will be saved to by clicking on IMPORT SETTINGS.

Here you can select the location for the photos &/or videos that you are transferring. The lists will contain locations that you have previously saved to or you can select the BROWSE button to select a new or different folder for your new files. The tag and folder name is important to help you later FIND your photos! Do not underestimate the value of having well organized files & folders…someday you’ll thank me!! Add a new folder in the MY PICTURES folder at the beginning of each year and make sub-folders for your favorite topics. Additional options include…  being reminded to add a tag to describe a set of photos  erasing photos from your camera/card after the transfer  rotating photos to the upright position automatically  opening the folder that the photos ACTUALLY live in (ex: C:/Users/Jody/My Pictures/2012/dogs/2012-09-21) 24 September 2012

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Once the import process has completed the Windows Explorer folder that actually contains my photos or videos will open…

I could open (double click) and view the files from here, but Picasa is the easiest tool for editing IMHO. Please train yourself to become aware of the ACTUAL location of the photos via the path shown above in Windows Explorer. One day you may want to find them again! If you prefer to use a different editing tool ( canon, kodak, Photoshop, Paint.net, etc.) you can simply RIGHT CLICK on the photo and select OPEN WITH to chose which program to use or you can set the DEFAULT program too. After a brief look around, I close this window and then launch Picasa so I can start having fun! 24 September 2012

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Managing Picasa

***Photos do NOT live in Picasa – Picasa builds an index of all photos on your computer each time it runs. It can see every photo and video file on your machine and it presents you with a convenient list of folders that contain every photo on your system. You should specify which folders Picasa should examine to build the index each time it opens. Go to Tools/ Folder Manager. Picasa will also monitor these locations for any new files while it is running. I sometimes place photos (from the web, etc.) onto my desktop for temporary use. I want Picasa to detect them automatically so I can then edit them. So I tell the Folder Manager to always scan the DESKTOP folder too.

Where to download Picasa: http://download.cnet.com/Picasa/3000-2193_410160334.html Picasa 3.9 guide Picasa online help: http://support.google.com/picasa/bin/answer.py?hl= en&answer=93773

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