Google Power Tools Bible

Use the tools and features in Picasa2 to showcase your photos in interesting ways. Some of the types of output are used on your computer while others can be shared with the rest of the world.

Producing a Web Album

A Web Album is a separate online account stored at Google that you use for loading and displaying albums of images. The first time you attempt to upload a set of images you see a dialog box asking you to register for the service.

Follow these steps to create your Web Album:

1. Select the images you want to use and click Web Album on the Photo Tray. The Send [xx] photos to a Picasa Web Album dialog box opens, as shown in Figure 21.48.

   Figure 21.48: Configure the appearance for the Web Album in this dialog box.

2. Choose an option to Create a new Web album or Add to an existing Web album.

3. Type a name for the Album Title. The default name uses the folder’s name where the selected images are located on your computer.

4. If you want, add information in the Description and Place Taken sections.

5. Choose an Upload Setting. The default setting, Optimized: Large size, fast upload (default) -1600 pixels, is used in the example. Click the down arrow and choose Medium size, fastest upload, or Slowest upload, largest size option, if you prefer.

6. Choose a Visibility option. The default is to make the album Public. If you prefer, you select Unlisted and restrict access to the album.

7. Click OK to close the Web Album dialog box. The Upload Manager dialog box opens, and shows the progress of the upload process.

8. Click View Online in the Upload Manager dialog box to open your Web Album. On the main page for the Web Albums, named My Public Gallery, click the name of the Web Album to open it, as shown in Figure 21.49.

   Figure 21.49: The Web Album is accessed from your Picasa Web Albums site.

9. Back in Picasa2, close the Upload Manager dialog box. In the Lightbox, images that have been uploaded to a Web Album are identified with a green arrow at the corner of the thumbnail.

Creating a poster

Some images are made to be very, very large. You can create a poster from within Picasa2 and specify the tiling pattern. A poster can be sized up to 1000 percent larger than the original image.

To create a poster, follow these steps:

1. Select the image you want to use for the poster and choose Create Make a Poster to open the Poster Settings dialog box.

2. Choose the Poster size from the drop-down list. The percentage options range from 200 percent to 1000 percent.

3. Click the Paper size down arrow and choose either 4x6 or 8.5x11 as the paper size.

4. To allow for overlap, click Overlap tiles.

5. Click OK to close the dialog box. The image tiles are processed and added to the folder containing the original image, as shown in Figure 21.50.

   Figure 21.50: The original image of the rose at the upper left is reproduced as a set of four tiles to print as a poster.

Turning your photos into a movie

You can produce your own movies, rather than storing and sharing your images as static pictures.

Follow these steps to create and configure a movie:

1. Select the images you want to include in the movie.

2. Choose Create Movie to open the Create Movie dialog box.

3. Click the Delay between pictures down arrow and choose a time. The choices range from 1 Second to 5 Seconds, or choose Just Raw Frames.

4. Choose a Movie size. You can select Small, Large, or Widescreen. Small is the default movie size.

5. Click OK to close the Create Movie dialog box and open the Video Compression dialog box. The Full Frames (Uncompressed) option is used as the default Compression setting.

6. Click the Compression down arrow and choose either the Cinepak or Indeo codecs, as shown in Figure 21.51.

   Figure 21.51: Select the type of compression and how it is applied in your movie.

   Choose from these options:

   • Specify the movie quality by dragging the Compression Quality slider from 0 to 100 percent.

   • Select the Key Frame option and type a number for the Key Frame Every x frames value. The default option is to use the key frame set at every 15 frames.

   • Click Data Rate and type a number to specify the minimum number of KB of data that can be transmitted per second of video.

   • Click Configure to open further configuration settings to specify how the codec deals with transparency, color, and so on.

7. Click OK to close the Video Compression dialog box when you have finished choosing settings. The movie is rendered and saved in your default folder location.

Using a slide show as a gift CD

If you have a large number of images to assemble, consider using a slide show. Picasa2 includes a feature to create a slide show Gift CD.

Create a Gift CD following these steps:

1. Click the Gift CD task button below the main menu on Picasa2 to open the Create a Gift CD dialog box.

2. In Step 1 on the dialog box, choose folders to include in the Gift CD.

   Also in Step 1, click the Photo Size down arrow to choose from a list of image sizes if you don’t want to use the default Original Size.

3. In Step 2 on the dialog box, type a name for the Gift CD. The name must be 16 characters or less.

4. If you don’t want to include Picasa2 on the Gift CD, deselect the Include Picasa option.

5. Click Burn Disc. Your files are processed and passed to your CD or DVD program for production.

Assembling a collage

Any number of images can be assembled as a collage-no scissors or glue are required! The collage is based on a selected group of images, and can be used as either a single image or as a screensaver.

Follow these steps to produce a collage:

1. Select the images you want to include in the project.

2. Click the Collage button on the Photo Tray or choose Create Picture Collage to open the Make Collage dialog box.

3. Choose the collage template. Click the Type down arrow and choose Picture Pile, Picture Grid, Contact Sheet, or Multi-Exposure. The four types of collage are shown in Figure 21.52.

   Figure 21.52: Choose one of four different ways to produce a collage image.

   Note

   If you select the Picture Pile template, you can specify a background from the Options dropdown list, and change the order of the images by clicking the individual images.

4. Choose a storage folder from the Location drop-down list. The options include:

   • Save as Desktop Picture

   • Current Folder

   • Screensaver Picture Folder

   • Choose a Folder, which then prompts you to locate a folder location on your hard drive.

5. Click Create to build the collage.

Creating a Web page

You can export any of your folders or Albums as a Web page. Using the method in Picasa2 is a convenient way to produce Web pages for your Web sites. Follow these steps to produce a Web page:

1. Select an Album and choose Album Export as HTML Page, or select a folder and choose Folder Export as HTML Page.

2. In the Export as HTML Page dialog box that opens, choose the features of the Web page. You can choose from these options:

   • Choose a size from the Export pictures at this size option, ranging from the Original Size to 320 pixels.

   • Type the name for the Web page’s title if you want to use a name other than the folder’s or Album’s name.

   • Click Browse to locate a folder to store the Web page if you want to use a location other than the default location. By default, the Web page and its pictures are stored at My Documents\Picasa HTML Exports\[Album or folder name].

3. Click Next at the bottom of the Export as HTML Page dialog box to open the Select a Web Page Template dialog box.

4. Select one of the seven templates from the Template Name list. Read the short description below the list of templates, and view a preview. The choices include:

   • Template 1, 2-page grey background; Template 2, 2-page black background; and Template 3, 2-page white background. These choices use different colored backgrounds, and all include two separate pages. The first page shows thumbnails linked to a full-size image shown on a separate page.

   • Template 4, 1-page grey background; Template 5, 1-page black background; and Template 6, 1-page white background. These choices use different colored backgrounds, and all include a list of thumbnails at the left and a full-sized picture at the right of the page.

   • XML Code. This template converts the Web page into simple XML code to be used in another page or application.

5. Click Finish to close the dialog box and process the files. When the Web page is created, it opens in your browser automatically, as shown in Figure 21.53.

   Figure 21.53: The Web page shows a thumbnail index of the folder’s images and adds slide-show controls above the full-sized image.

One new feature included as experimental in Picasa2.5 allows you to upload files from Picasa2 to your FTP server. Choose Tools Experimental Publish via FTP.

Required information for the upload process includes:

• The size of the image

• The title for the Web page

• The folder where the Web page and photos are to be saved

• The template to apply

• Where to display the Web page