Organise digital photos with Picasa

To download Picasa 3, launch your web browser, type www.picasa.google.com into the address or location bar and press Enter. Click on ‘Download Picasa 3’, save the file (picasa3-setup.exe) to the Windows Desktop, then double-click the icon to install the program. Follow the prompts, accepting the default settings, and click Finish to launch the program. Picasa will scan your PC to automatically organise all your images. This could take a while if you have a large collection of digital photos.

A dialogue box will appear, prompting you to set up the new Photo Viewer tool, which is included with Picasa 3. Photo Viewer allows you to preview images quickly, without having to open a photo-editing application. You will see a list of image file types and the programs that your PC currently opens them with. Choose which image file types you want to preview with Photo Viewer, then click Finish. You can always change these options later by going to Tools in Picasa, then choosing ‘Configure Photo Viewer’. To disable Photo Viewer completely, select the ‘Don’t use Picasa Photo Viewer’ radio button, then click Finish.

Picasa displays images organised by folder and date down the left-hand side of the screen. Clicking on a folder displays the images contained in it. To open an image in edit mode, double-click on it. There are three tabs down the left-hand side of the screen –­ Basic Fixes, Tuning and Effects. The Basic Fixes tab can be used to quickly perform various changes, including straightening, amending contrast and removing colour casts. The Tuning tab allows you to adjust highlights, shadows and colour temperature, and the Effects tab allows you to apply effects such as sepia, tints or film grain.

You’ll find a Crop tool in the Basic Fixes tab, which offers three crop suggestions. If you prefer to crop manually, click and drag over the part of an image you want to keep. This selection area can then be moved or resized easily. There are 10 different pre-determined sizes to choose from (such as 10x15cm, 13x18cm and A4), so you can get your crop proportions just right. Click on Preview to see the cropped image. If you are happy, then click Apply; if not, click on Reset or Cancel.

Click the Red-Eye tool to automatically detect and fix red-eye in a photograph. For manual control, click on Reset, then click and drag over each eye separately. A new Retouch tool allows you to apply some basic restoration techniques, such as removing blemishes or repairing scratched photographs. Click on Retouch, then select a brush size. Click on the area you want to retouch, then click on the area you want to replace it with. Remember, the mouse wheel can be used to zoom in and out of an image.

Picasa 3 allows TEXT to be overlaid on images. Select the new Text tool in Basic Fixes then choose the font, size, style (bold, italic or underlined), colour, outline colour and thickness, and transparency settings. Click on the image and type in the text. If it’s not perfect: you can edit the options later. Simply make sure it is selected (it will have a box around it), then change the options (for example, a different font). It will be automatically previewed on the screen so you can see straightaway how your changes look. You can add more than one piece of text to an image.

Click and drag the text anywhere on your image. If you place the mouse pointer in the middle of the text, a control wheel appears ­– use the red button to resize and rotate. Click Apply when you’ve finished. Use the Show Text checkbox next to the Text tool to view your image with or without the text. To add the same text to multiple photos, click on the photo containing the text in the library. Click Edit, then Copy Text. Select the photos you want to copy to (hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard and click on each image), then select Edit, then Paste Text.

It’s possible to add tags (keywords) to images to make them easier to manage later. Select a photo, then click on the Tag button in the Photo Tray, or press Ctrl with the T key on the keyboard. Tags are used to group pictures based on your own descriptions and don’t need to correspond to existing folders. Photos in different folders can be given the same tag, so you can search for them easily. For example, you can tag all photos taken over many Christmases (saved in different folders) with the word ‘Christmas’. Then, when you search for ‘Christmas’, they will all appear in the list of search results. Here, we’re tagging a picture of the Tyne Bridge.

The Collage feature has been completely updated in version 3 of Picasa. To create a collage from the photos in a folder, click on the Create Photo Collage button under the folder name at the top of the screen. To choose photos from different folders, place them all in the Photo Tray (do this by clicking on a photo, then clicking on Hold). When you have selected all the images that you want to use, click the Collage button in the Photo Tray.

Use the Settings Tab to choose a collage type and set other options. Depending on the chosen collage, you will be able to change different features. All collages have the Page Format setting; other options are only available for specific collage types. For example, with the Picture Pile collage, you can change the background, choose borders, and click on an image to reposition, resize and rotate it. Use the Clips tab to insert more images. You can save your collage and amend it later by clicking Close and saving a draft.

Double-clicking on a video in Picasa’s library will set it playing. Videos can be rotated or played in full-screen mode. It’s also possible to capture a still image from a video by pausing it (use the full stop and comma keys on your keyboard to move frame by frame) before selecting Take Snapshot. It will be saved as a JPEG in the Captured Videos album. To trim your video, use the In and Out buttons to set new start and end points. When finished, click on Export Clip and a copy will be saved in the Exported Videos folder. There is also a useful Export to Youtube option.

With Picasa’s new Movie tool you can create movies from images or video clips. Select a folder and click on Create Movie Presentation under the folder name. Alternatively, hold individual photos and videos in the Photo Tray (as in Step 9), then select the Movie button. Use the Movie tab to add music, and choose slide transitions and duration. Use the Slide tab to add text and the Clips tab to add more images. When done, click on Create Movie. You can save your movie for amending later by clicking Close, and saving a draft. It will be saved in the Movies album. Click the Edit Movie button when viewing it to make more changes.

The Magnify tool is next to the slider in the Photo Tray. Click on Magnify, hold down the mouse button and drag it over a photo. Let go and the magnifier will disappear. For a quick full-screen view, hover the mouse pointer over a photo, hold down Ctrl and press Alt on the keyboard. Picasa can also perform screen captures. Press the PrtScn button on the keyboard to capture a screenshot of your entire screen. Holding down the Ctrl key while pressing PrtScn will capture the active window. The screenshots will be saved in the Screen Captures album.

To import images, attach the device containing them (a digital camera or a memory card reader, say) and click Import. Select the device from the dropdown menu. Picasa now groups the photographs according to the time when they were taken. Each group of images will be marked by a clock icon. Hovering your mouse over the group shows the date and time, clicking on it will select the group. You can then import all images, or just selected images. Finally, be sure to explore the printing options. Click on Print, then select Border and Text Options to choose whether to print an image with text (such as its filename) and/or a border.