PICASA 2.0 INSTRUCTIONS

TO IMPORT THE PICTURES FROM A DIGITAL CAMERA:

Note: The Picasa program automatically searches through your hard drive and organizes the pictures and video clips it finds into folders under the years (such as 2009) they were taken.

Use this procedure to import the pictures on your Digital Camera’s memory card.:

1) Open the Picasa program.

2) Connect the USB cable to the camera and the computer.

3) Click on the Import button at the upper left-hand corner of the Picasa window.

4) Next to the Select Device button, it should say, Removable Disk (F:\) or Removable Disk (G:\), depending on how many CD, DVD, or other drives you have.

Note: Drive letters are assigned automatically depending on which devices are connected and turned on. However, the internal hard drive is always the C: Drive. The CD-ROM Drives can be any letter from D: to Z:. Since you have two CD-ROM Drives (actually DVD-ROM and DVD±RW Drives), they take the D: and E: Drive letters. When a DigitalCamera is then connected and turned on, it becomes the F:Drive.  

5) Wait a few moments for the pictures to appear in the Import Tray and the Preview area of the Picasa window.

6) If any pictures have a red   X   on them, which means that they will not be imported, click once on them, then click on the Exclude X button to remove the X if you do want to import them into the computer.

7) Click on the Finish button.

8) Type in a title for the folder where these new imported pictures will be found, such as 2008 Vacation Pictures.

9) Click on the Finish button.

TO REMOVE A FOLDER:

1) Right-click on the folder you want to remove on the left-hand side of the Picasa window, then click on either:

1) Remove from Picasa, then click to put a black dot next to:  ¤ X Remove from Picasa and click on the OK button. This will remove the folder from the Picasa program, but will keep the folder on your hard disk.

or

2) Delete folder, then click on the Yes button. This will delete the folder from your hard disk and move the folder to the Recycle Bin.

TO EDIT A PICTURE:

1) Double-click on the picture you want to edit.

2) Click on the Basic Fixes tab.

1) Click on Crop.

2) Click & drag a “Selection Rectangle” around the area of the picture you want to keep.

A Selection Rectangle:

 

 


 

3) Click on Preview if you want to see what the cropped picture will look like.

4) Click on the Apply button to crop the picture for real. (If you are unhappy with the results, immediately click on the Undo Crop button, then start over again from step 1 above.)

3) Click on the Tuning tab.

1) Click & drag the sliders to the left or right for:

1) Fill light  = to change the overall brightness of the picture.

2) Highlight  =  to change the brightest areas of the picture.

3) Shadows  =  to change the darkest areas of the picture.

4) Color Temperature  =  to change the hue of the picture – i.e., to make the picture warmer (yellower) or cooler (bluer).

4) Click on Make a Caption! under the picture, then type a title for the picture, such as Hawaii Vacation 7-2008.

5) Click & drag the slider under the caption to make the picture larger or smaller (this will only change the size of the image on the screen, not how large it will print out).

6) To return to the Folders, click on the Back to Library button at the upper left-hand corner of the window.

TO PRINT THE PICTURE:

1) Click on the Print button at the bottom of the screen.

2) Click on the size of the print you want, such as Wallet,  3.5 X 5,  4 X 6,  5 X 7,  8 X 10, or Full Page.

3) Click on the + button under Copies per page to increase the number of copies of the picture on one piece of paper for, for example, Wallet size prints or 3.5 X 5 prints.

Note: Be sure to watch the number of pages under the preview of the picture as you increase the number of copies to be sure that it doesn’t say “ 1 of 2” or “1 of 3” if you want to print out only one page of prints.

4) Click on the Shrink to Fit button to make the pictures fit on the page.

5) Click on the Printer Setup button, then on the Paper/Size tab to change the size and type (Plain Paper, Glossy Photo, etc.) of the paper you will be using.

6) Be sure your printer has enough paper in the paper tray, then click on the green Print button at the bottom of the window to print your picture(s).

TO E-MAIL A PICTURE:

1) Click on the Email button at the bottom of the Picasa window.

2) Click on the large Microsoft Outlook or Microsoft Outlook Express button depending on which program is your default e-mail program. This will bring up a new e-mail composition window.

3) Address the message in the usual way.

4) Type a subject and a message [optional].

5) Click on the Send button.

TO CREATE A COLLAGE:

1) In the main Folders window, hold down the Ctrl key on the keyboard, then click on the pictures you want in the collage.

2) You can select pictures from different folders by clicking on each picture in the Picture Tray, then clicking on the Hold button next to the Picture Tray. Then go to a different folder and click on the picture you want there.

3) You will then see all the pictures you selected in the Picture Tray in the lower left-hand corner of the screen.

4) Click on the Collage button at the bottom of the window.

5) Click on the Down Arrow next to whatever is in the Type box, then select one of the following:

1) Contact Sheet  =  to print out small “thumbnails” of the selected prints (you can usually fit about 30 thumbnails on a letter-size piece of paper).

2) Picture Pile   =  randomly scattered pictures on a page.

3) Picture Grid  =  pictures are organized in neat rows and columns.

6) Click on the Down Arrow next to whatever is in the Options box, then click on one of the following:

1) Current Folder  =   the folder you are currently in.

2) Screensaver Picture folder  =  the collage will go into the sub-folder in the Windows folder which contains custom pictures that you can use for your screen saver.

3) Choose Folder, then click on the Choose button. You can then select one of your pre-existing folders, or click on the Make New Folder button and type in the name of a new folder, such as Hawaii Collage.

7) Click on OK.

8) Click on the Create button. The collage will go into whatever you selected in step 6 above.

TO PRINT THE COLLAGE:

1) Click on the Print button at the bottom of the Picasa window.

2) Click on the Shrink to Fit button to make the pictures automatically fit within the margins of the size of paper you selected.

3) If it says, “Bad Quality” and shows a yellow warning sign that looks like a “Yield” sign on the highway on the Review button, this means the pictures in the collage will print out with very low resolution (i.e., they will be fuzzy).

4) Reduce the number of pictures in the collage (you may have to start over again), or click on the Wallet, 3.5 X 5, or 4 X 6 button to make the pictures smaller (with higher resolution).

5) Follow the instructions in the Print section above to print the collage.