Picasa Getting Started Guide
Picasa is free photo management software from Google that helps you find, edit and share your photos in
seconds. We recommend that you print out this brief overview of Picasa’s main features and consult it as
you use the program for the first time to learn about new features quickly.
Organize
Once you start Picasa, it scans your hard drive to find and automatically organize all your photos. Picasa
finds the following photo and movie file types:
• Photo file types: JPG, GIF, TIF, PSD, PNG, BMP, RAW (including NEF and CRW). GIF and PNG
files are not scanned by default, but you can enable them in the Tools > Options dialog.
• Movie file types: MPG, AVI, ASF, WMV, MOV.
If you are upgrading from an older version of Picasa, you will likely want to keep your existing database,
which contains any organization and photo edits you have made. To transfer all this information, simply
install Picasa without uninstalling Picasa already on your computer. On your first launch of Picasa you will be
prompted to transfer your existing database. After this process is complete, you can uninstall Picasa.
Library view
Picasa automatically organizes all your photo and movie files into collections of folders inside its main
Library view.
Layout of main Library screen:
Picasa Getting Started Guide Page 1 of 9 Folder list
The lefthand list in Picasa’s Library view shows all the folders containing photos on your computer and all
the albums you’ve created in Picasa. These folders and albums are grouped into collections that are
described in the next section. By default, the folder list is sorted by creation date. To change the way the list
is sorted, go to “View” > “Folder View”
Photo Tray and output options
The “Photo Tray” is used to collect photos and movies from one or more folders or albums so that you may
work with them as a group. The “Add To” button and all of the output options buttons (“Print,” “Email,”
“Collage,” “Hello,” “BlogThis!” “Order” and “Export”) perform their respective actions using the photos
currently in the “Photo Tray.” By default, your current selection in the lightbox is placed in the “Photo Tray.” To
keep these items in the “Photo Tray” while you select more, press the “Hold” button. You can also drag and
drop items into the “Photo Tray” and they will automatically be held. To remove a held item, select it in the
“Photo Tray” and press “Clear”. Once you are satisfied with the contents of the “Photo Tray” you can press
any of the output options buttons or the “Add To” button to perform the corresponding action on all the items
in the “Photo Tray” at once.
Lightbox
The righthand side of the Library view displays visual thumbnails of the photos (and movies) corresponding
to the folders and albums in the folder list. To change the thumbnail size, use the slider at the bottom right of
the lightbox or use the “View” menu to select a common thumbnail size. Doubleclick on any folder or album
header to edit its title, date, place taken or description. For folders, you can click on the large folder icon in
the header to open the corresponding folder in Windows Explorer. Press the up and down arrow keys on
your keyboard or use the far right scroll bar to move through the lightbox. NOTE: Only folders and albums
that are visible in the folder list will appear in the lightbox. Folders inside of a closed collection will not be
displayed.
Collections
Folders
This collection displays the folders on your computer that contain photos or movies, sorted by date, with the
original folder names as they appear on your computer’s hard drive. Changes you make to the folders in this
collection affect the matching folders on your computer’s hard drive. Renaming a folder in Picasa will also
rename it in Windows Explorer.
• Adjust which photos and folders appear. Only folders that Picasa is set to scan appear in this
collection. To modify what folders on disk Picasa scans for photos, select “Folder Manager” on the
“Tools” menu. Use the settings there to select or deselect the folders Picasa scans, choosing from
these options: “Scan Once,” “Remove From Picasa” and “Scan Always.”
• Move photos between folders. Select a photo. With your mouse, drag and drop the photo to its
new folder. To select more than one photo, hold down the Shift key on your keyboard as you select
photos. If you move a photo into a different folder on disk, Picasa will remind you that you’re about
to move the actual file on your computer’s hard drive. Click the “OK” button to move the photo to it's
new location. Note: Moving photos between folders in the “Folders” collection will affect their
physical location on your hard drive.
• Edit a folder description. Doubleclick on the title of any folder to open the Folder Properties box.
Enter a description. You can also modify the folder’s date, place taken, or description. Any
descriptive information you add will be searchable in Picasa. Click the “OK” button. Changing the
name of a folder in Picasa will change the name of the actual folder on your computer’s hard drive.
Picasa Getting Started Guide Page 2 of 9• Delete a photo from a folder. Select a photo, then go to “File” > “Delete from Disk,” or just hit the
Delete key on your keyboard. Picasa will remind you that you’re about to send that file to your
computer’s recycle bin. Click the “OK” button to remove the photo.
Albums
This collection contains albums that you create in Picasa. You can use albums to group and organize photos
based on your own criteria and identified by a simple word or title. For example, you can create a album
called “Flowers” to group all of your photos of flowers, or you might create a album like “Trip to The Grand
Canyon” to arrange all of your latest vacation photos. Unlike the “Folders” collection, which matches exactly
the folder locations on your computer, albums do not correspond to physical folders on your hard drive.
Albums exist only in Picasa and are like a virtual "playlist" of photos you have grouped together. If you delete
or move photos inside the Albums collection, the original files remain in their original locations on your hard
drive. You can add the same photo to multiple albums without creating multiple copies of the same photo on
disk. Any edits you make to a photo in an album will be applied to every instance of the photo in Picasa,
including the original in your Folders collection.
• Create a new album. First, select one or more photos (you cannot create an empty album). Select
“File” > “New Album” to create a new album in Picasa containing the selected photo(s). You can do
the same thing by choosing a photo, clicking the “Add to” button to the right of the Photo Tray, and
selecting “New Album” on the popup list.
• Add a photo to an existing album. The same photo can be assigned to many albums in Picasa.
Select a photo, click the “Add to” button to the right of the Photo Tray, and select an existing album
from the popup list.
• Change an album description. Doubleclick on the title of any album to open the “Album
Properties” box. Enter a new description for the album. You can also modify the album’s date, place
taken, or description. Any descriptive information you add will be searchable in Picasa. When you’re
done, click the “OK” button.
• Delete a photo from an album. Select a photo. Rightclick with your mouse and select “Remove
from Album” in the context menu or press the Delete key on your keyboard. Note: Deleting a photo
from an album does not delete the original file from your computer’s hard drive.
• Rearrange photos in an album or between albums. Click and drag a photo to change its order
within a album or drag it into another album to add it to that album. This doesn’t affect the order in
which the original files are stored on your computer.
• Note: An album in Picasa is not the same as a Picasa Web Album. The Album collection does not
show you the photos you may have uploaded to the web.
Library tools
At the top of the Picasa main library screen are several buttons that help you add photos to the Library, view
and find photos in additional ways, and burn photos to a CD.
Import
To import photos from a digital camera, plug the hardware into your computer using its usual connection
device, such as a USB cable or your camera cradle. Open Picasa. Click the “Import” button and select your
device or folder from the dropdown menu (your camera should automatically be detected). Your photos will
Picasa Getting Started Guide Page 3 of 9automatically begin to appear in the “Import Tray.” After your photos have finished loading, click the “Finish”
button. Picasa will save the folders on your computer (in the My Pictures directory under a folder name you
create) and display them in the “Folders” collection.
Slideshow
Select a folder or album and click the “Slideshow” button. This will open the slideshow player. Click the
onscreen “Play” button to start the slideshow and make the player’s controls disappear. You can hit the
spacebar key on your keyboard or simply move your mouse to make the slideshow controls reappear at any
time while your slideshow is playing. You can rotate photos in the slideshow mode, add a star rating, and
change the time duration that each slide is displayed. You can even choose to display captions during your
slideshow by selecting the captions checkbox. Hit the Escape key on your keyboard to stop the slideshow
and return to the Picasa main library screen.
Timeline
The timeline view in Picasa is another way to look at the photos in your collections. Click the “Timeline”
button and sweep back and forth through your photos using your mouse to navigate.
Gift CD
Insert a blank CD into the writeable drive on your computer, select photos or an album and click the “Gift
CD” button. On the “Create a Gift CD” screen, photos with a checkmark will be included on your gift CD. De
select any photos you don’t want included. Under Step 1, click the “Add More” button if you’d like to add
photos to the CD. If you’d like your photos displayed as a slideshow on the CD, check that box. Finally,
choose a size for your photos. Under Step 2, name your CD. (Note: by default, a copy of Picasa software will
be included on the CD.) Click the “Burn Disc” button to create your CD.
Search
If you type any text into the search box at the top right corner of the main Picasa library screen, Picasa will
search your photo files’ EXIF/camera data, keywords, albums, and any additional properties or captions
you’ve entered inside the program.
• Starred button. Use this button to find only photos that you’ve tagged with a star rating.
• Movies button. Use this to find only movie file types in your library.
• Date slider. Move this slider left and right to quickly reduce the number of search results based on
the date of the photo.
• Uploaded button. Use this button to find only photos that you’ve uploaded to Picasa Web Albums.
Edit
With Picasa’s advanced photo editing, you can use basic oneclick fixes to improve almost any
photo, adjust color and lighting, and add any of twelve effects.
A few general editing tips:
• Doubleclick on a thumbnail in the Library to open the “Edit Photo” screen. This will show
you the photo you’re currently editing. To the right of the photo are three tabs, “Basic
Fixes,” “Tuning,” and “Effects.”
Picasa Getting Started Guide Page 4 of 9• While on the “Edit Photo” screen, use the thumbnail arrows on either side of the filmstrip
at the top of the photo to navigate through the rest of the photos in that album.
• To reverse any edits you made, click the “Undo” button at any step along the way.
• Any edits you make to photos in Picasa are not saved to the original file on disk until you
click the "Save Changes" button in the album header. Saving your changes this way will
overwrite the original file, while retaining a backup in a new "Originals" folder. Click the
"Undo Save" button to revert a file to the backed up version.
• For more information about the edit screens, refer to the Picasa Help menu in the
software.
Basic Fixes tab
Crop
Use the “Crop” button to cut out parts of a photo that you don’t
want to see. In the “Crop Photo” view, you can select a pre
determined photo size (for instance, 4x6) or manually select the
part of the photo you’d like to keep. To crop a photo, drag and drop
the bounding box directly over the photo. Click on and drag the
corners of the box to change the cropped selection while
maintaining the same proportions. Click “Apply” to save your
changes in Picasa or “Cancel” to return to the “Basic Fixes” tab.
Straighten
Use this feature to fix photos taken with an offkilter camera.
Select a photo and click the “Straighten” button. In the “Straighten
Photo” view, use the slider at the bottom of the screen to align the
photo against the boxed grid. Click “Apply” to save your changes in
Picasa or “Cancel” to return to the “Basic Fixes” tab.
Red eye
Use this feature to remove red eye from any photo. First, click the “Red Eye” button. In the “Red
Eye” view, click and drag the mouse around each eye separately to select it. As you do this, a
selection box will appear over the area. Release the mouse to complete your selection. The photo
will automatically be displayed with the red eye removed. Click “Apply” to save your changes in
Picasa or “Cancel” to return to the “Basic Fixes” tab.
I’m Feeling Lucky
Click the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button and Picasa will change your photo’s color and contrast to
produce what it thinks is the ideal photo. You’ll see a change only if your photo isn’t already color
balanced. Click the “Undo I'm Feeling Lucky” button below to remove the change.
Auto Contrast
Click the “Auto Contrast” to adjust the contrast in your photo in Picasa. Click the “Undo Auto
Contrast” button below to remove the change.
Picasa Getting Started Guide Page 5 of 9Auto Color
Click the “Auto Color” button to adjust the color in your photo automatically in Picasa. Click “Undo
Auto Color” button below to remove the change.
Fill Light
Use the fill light slider to add light to the foreground of photos with toobright backgrounds, making
them more balanced. Click the “Undo Fill Light” button to remove the change.
Tuning tab
Fill Light slider
Use the “Fill Light” slider to add light to the foreground of photos
with toobright backgrounds, making them more balanced. Click
the “Undo Fill Light” button to remove the change.
Highlights slider
Use the “Highlights” slider to add to or reduce the brightness
spots, or highlights, in your photo. Click the “Undo Tuning” button
to remove the change.
Shadows slider
Use the “Shadows” slider to add more shadows to your photo.
Click the “Undo Tuning” button to remove the change. Hint: you
can use the oneclick button to the right of the “Fill Light,”
“Highlights,” and “Shadows’ sliders to make fixes to your photo’s
lighting without using the sliders.
Color Temperature slider
Use the “Color Temperature” slider to make your photo warmer (to the right) or cooler (to the left).
Neutral Color Picker
Use the “Pick Color” dropper to tell Picasa which part of your photo it should consider as gray or
white. Picasa will color balance the colors surrounding that selection according to the selected
color.
Effects tab
The “Effects” tab contains twelve effects that you can apply to any
still photo. Effects are added in progressive layers, and you can
always undo or redo the last effect you made at any time. Here
are the effects you can use to improve your photos in Picasa:
Sharpen – Make the edges of objects in your photos crisper and
less fuzzy.
Sepia – Create an “oldfashioned” effect by changing the photo to
a reddish brown tone.
B&W – Turn any color photo into a black and white photo.
Picasa Getting Started Guide Page 6 of 9Warmify – Warm up a cool photo, improving skin tones.
Film Grain – Add a “grainy” film look to any photo – looks great when you print.
Tint – Use the dropper to pick a color and apply that duotone or tint to the entire photo.
Saturation – Increases color saturation.
Soft Focus – Soften the focus around a center point that you select.
Glow – Give photos a gauzy glow.
Filtered B&W – Make a photo that looks like it was taken with black and white film and a color
filter.
Focal B&W – Desaturate color around a center point with adjustable size and sharpness sliders.
Graduated Tint – Add a graduated filter from a color you select. Useful for making gray skies
blue.
Captions
You can add a caption to any photo while you’re in the “Edit Photo” screen. Underneath the
individual photo, click on the text that says “Make a caption!” Type in your caption. You can show
or hide a caption from the photo using the button on the left in the caption bar. You can delete a
caption by clicking the trash can icon on the right.
Captions in Picasa are stored in each photo’s EXIF data, so they stay with your photos. That
means if you upload to a Picasa Web Album, your captions will also appear on the website.
Captions are also searchable inside Picasa.
Share and Print
Sharing, printing and more ways to enjoy photos outside of Picasa
The Photo Tray and controls
Any photo you select in the folder list appears as an active selection in your Photo Tray on the
lower left corner of the main library screen. Photos in the “Photo Tray” are affected by the buttons
to the right of the tray.
Picasa Getting Started Guide Page 7 of 9Hold
Use the “Hold” button to keep a photo in the tray as you add more photos. You can add multiple
photos to the tray by holding down the Shift key as you select photos.
Clear
Click the “Clear” button to empty the “Photo Tray” of all photos on hold.
Add to
Click the “Add to” button to add a new or existing album to the photo(s) in the tray.
Star
The star button adds a small gold star to any photo in the tray. These stars are searchable ratings
that help you find favorites quickly. Any photo to which you add a star can be easily accessed
when performing a search in Picasa.
Rotate Left and Rotate Right
The two rotate buttons will rotate the selected photo clockwise or counterclockwise inside Picasa.
Web Album (Internet access required)
Picasa's newest feature, Picasa Web Albums, allows you to post and share your
photos easily online. Simply select photos (they'll appear in the "Photo Tray")
and click the "Web Album" button to upload them to your album. Once the
upload is complete, press the "View Online" button to view and manage photos
in your Web Albums account. If you don't have a Picasa Web Album, you'll be
prompted to create one the first time you use the "Web Album" button.
Print
The “Print” button lets you print the photos in the Photo Tray using a local or networked printer.
Click “Print” to open the print screen and select a print layout size. Picasa will automatically size
the photos in the Photo Tray to those proportions. These buttons make it easier to print multiple
photos on one page. For example: if you have four photos in the tray and select 3.5x5, Picasa will
fit all four of the photos on a standard 8.5 x 11 page.
The “Review” button in the lower right corner of the print screen helps you review all your print
settings before you print. Click “Print” to send the photo(s) to your printer.
Email (Internet access required)
The “Email” button in Picasa lets you email the photos in your “Photo Tray” several ways:
Default Email
Select this to send photos using your computer’s default email client.
Gmail
Works with an existing Gmail account from Google (not included with
your Picasa software). Sends up to 10MB of photos, including the
message, compressed perfectly to a size that your friends will be able
to open.
Picasa Mail
If you don’t have Gmail or Outlook, you can use this option to send photos using another email
Picasa Getting Started Guide Page 8 of 9address or your Hello username. You’ll need to register for a free Hello account using an existing
email address and a password that you create.
Collage
Click the “Collage” button to quickly make personalized photo collages from a variety of templates
including picture pile, picture grid, or contact sheet. You can also create a filmstyle multiple
exposure effect. To save your new creation, pick a background for your collage (use a photo or
the colors black, white or gray) and specify how you want it created (as a screensaver, as a
desktop background, or as a folder you select).
Blogger (Internet access required)
A blog is an online web journal. You can publish photos to the web for free using Picasa and a
blog that you create on Blogger.com. Select up to four photos (they’ll appear in the “Photo Tray”)
and click the “BlogThis!” button. Your photo(s) will be uploaded to your blog as the newest post. If
you don’t have a blog, click the “BlogThis” button in Picasa and follow the instructions to sign up
for a free account (it only takes a few minutes). Once you have an account, you’ll be able to click
the “BlogThis!” button in Picasa at any time to post photos to your blog in one step.
Order Prints (Internet access required)
Click the “Order” button to order prints from one of Picasa’s online print providers. Chose a
provider by clicking on the logo or link. You’ll be prompted to sign in, using the username and
password you normally use to access that provider’s website. After you sign in, Picasa will
automatically upload all the photos in your “Photo Tray.” (to the print provider website; Note: any
photos you order via Picasa are processed through the print provider’s website and are covered
under that company’s privacy and shopping policies.) Picasa does not disclose any information
about you to the merchants listed on the “Order” page. For more details on what information
Picasa shares with these websites, please click the “Privacy Policy” link at the bottom of the this
website.
Export
Click the “Export” button to save any photos in the “Photo Tray” as new JPG files. Export is like
"Save As" on your computer. For example, if you make an album containing photos of your dog
from various folders and then edit them to all be black and white, you can export that entire album
and create new files on your hard drive that reflect those edits. You can choose the JPG quality
and saved photo size during this process. Note: Picasa never overwrites your original file on disk;
any edits you make to a photo are only saved inside Picasa until you decide to either export or
click the "Save Changes" button in the album header.
Picasa Getting Started Guide Page 9 of 9
