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Google Picasa 3 manual

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  • Page 1

    54 Pages ©2009 Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 Windows Google Picasa 3: The Basics[...]

  • Page 2

    About IT T raining & Education The Uni versity Information T echnology Services (UITS) IT Training & Education program at Indiana Uni versity of fers instructor-led computing w orkshops and self-study training resources to the Indiana Uni versity community and beyond. W e deli ver training to more than 30,000 participants annually across al[...]

  • Page 3

    Contents W elcome and Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 What You Should Already Know . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 What You Will Learn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 What You Will Need to Use These Materials . . . . . . 1 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 T oday’ s Project . . . . . . . . . . . [...]

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    [...]

  • Page 5

    Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 1 W elcome and Intr oduction Welcome to Google Picasa 3: The Basics . What Y ou Should Already Kno w You should have already attended Windows: The Basics or have the equivalent skills. Specifically, you should be able to: • use a mouse fluently, including press and drag functions • create folders and manage fi[...]

  • Page 6

    2 Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 Getting Star ted These materials presume you will begin work from the desktop, and have any required exercise files located in an epclass folder there. Getting the Exer cise Files Most of our workshops use exercise files, listed at the bottom of page 1 of the materials. In our computer-equipped classrooms, these[...]

  • Page 7

    Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 3 T oda y’ s Pr oject With recent advances in digital photography, a growing number of hobbyist photographers are now using digital cameras. Since most people take simple pictures to share photos of family, friends, and vacation spots, the appeals of digital photography are many. We appreciate the ability to ins[...]

  • Page 8

    4 Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 2. Open the following location in the browser: http://ittraining.iu.edu/workshops/picba/comparison.htm The file opens. There are small images on the right and corresponding en - larged images in a larger pane: We are looking at the first image we will correct. The original on the left is dark and crooked, and th[...]

  • Page 9

    Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 5 Accessing the Exer cise Files The exercise files we will use today are located in a folder named Digital Pho - tos , which is on a network server. Before we begin, we will use Windows Explorer to access the location of these files and place them on our local com - puter. Launc hing Windo ws Explorer Let’s open[...]

  • Page 10

    6 Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 The Class window is displayed. The Digital Photos folder is in the folder area. Now that we see the Digital Photos folder, we need to move it into the cor - rect folder on our local hard drive. Cop ying the Exer cise Files to the Har d Drive We’ll copy the Digital Photos folder from the open window to the epcl[...]

  • Page 11

    Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 7 Choosing Picasa Options If this is the first time Picasa has been launched, there may be a series of setup options. 1. Launch Picasa from the Start menu. Depending on whether this is the very first time Picasa has been launched, you may see the following window. The first time Picasa opens, it will offer you the[...]

  • Page 12

    8 Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 Next, also depending on whether this is the first time Picasa has been launched, we may see a dialog box that asks if we want to help improve the product by sending anonymous usage statistics to Google: NOTE: If Picasa has already been opened once, this option may not appear. We will choose not to send statistic[...]

  • Page 13

    Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 9 4. If necessary, to decline the Picasa Photo Viewer, ™ Don’t use Picasa Pho t o View er , ™ We are now ready to get started with Picasa. Using Folder Manager to Add and Remo ve Folders To keep the organizational structure of your photos simple, it is best to keep photos in a main photo folder, and then org[...]

  • Page 14

    10 Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 The left side of this dialog box contains the Folder List, which offers us a list of folders. On the right are three radio buttons that will set Picasa to scan or remove whichever folders we select on the left. There are three states we can set for each folder location: The files we want to work with are in the[...]

  • Page 15

    Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 11 4. To remove My Pictures from the scanned photos, in the Folder List, ™ My Pic tur es, ™ R emo v e from Picasa, ™ We see the large red X appear next to the My Pictures folder. Now, we want to quickly give instructions not to scan My Documents. 5. To remove the My Documents folder, in the Folder List, ™ [...]

  • Page 16

    12 Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 9. To tell Picasa to scan it always, in the right side of the Folder Manager dia - log box, ™ the “Scan A lw ay s” r adio butt on The path of the folder appears in the Watched Folders section, beneath: 10. To finish and view the photos, ™ We are returned to the Picasa window. As Picasa scans all the pic[...]

  • Page 17

    Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 13 The Library gives us previews of images and provides a number of tools. The Library is separated into several sections: Now, we want to organize these pictures. Vie wing the Flat Folder Structure In the Folder List, Picasa is showing us six folders with names of countries. They are divided into sections accordi[...]

  • Page 18

    14 Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 Vie wing the Folder T ree Structure Since our dates are all out of order and because most people are comfortable with the Windows folder structure, we will use Picasa’s conventional folder structure to work with our photos. Picasa can organize folders in various ways. We can view our photos using either the f[...]

  • Page 19

    Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 15 5. To scroll down to the next folder, on the keyboard, press: ‰ 6. To return to the previous folder, on the keyboard, press: ´ 7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 as many times as it takes to view the contents of sev - eral folders. NOTE: To scroll the view a shorter distance, ™ a picture and press ´ or ‰. With a s[...]

  • Page 20

    16 Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 1. T o create a People Alb um, in the Library T ools section, ™ An Album Properties dialog box appears: 2. To name the new album, in the Name field, type: P eople Here, we could type in some more characteristics, but in this case the sub - ject matter is explanatory enough. 3. To create the new Album, ™ Now[...]

  • Page 21

    Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 17 Assigning a Picture to an Alb um This set of pictures contains several photos of people we met in Europe. Because we will be editing some of these pictures, we want to find a way to quickly access them. Therefore, we will put all the pictures of people into the People Album. Let’s find the first person in the[...]

  • Page 22

    18 Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 3. To assign the picture of the father and son to the People Album, in the Lightbox, µ , ™ A dd t o A lbum, ™ P eople We cannot see any change in the picture, but soon we will see that it will be viewable by activating the People Album. Mo ving a Picture in Picasa Now that we have assigned the father and s[...]

  • Page 23

    Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 19 2. To finish moving the picture, ™ We believe the picture is now in the Switzerland folder. Let’s make sure it landed there. 3. To move to the Switzerland folder, in the Folder List, ™ These preview pictures are so big they prohibit us from seeing them all. We need to fit more pictures in this window. 4. [...]

  • Page 24

    20 Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 6. To select the last three pictures in the folder, press and hold: ƒ an d ™ the las t thr ee pic tur es in the folder All three pictures are selected, as indicated by the strong border around them. NOTE: The pictures to be selected are a leopard, a dark image of a woman in front of water, and the father and[...]

  • Page 25

    Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 21 3. To find the next instance of a person, in the Folder List, ™ 4. If necessary, scroll down to see more pictures in the folder. Here is a picture of a friendly woman posing in front of the River Tyne. Let’s move it to the People Album. Now, we’ll assign the picture of the woman to the People Album. 5. To[...]

  • Page 26

    22 Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 Changing Picture Names in Picasa All the workshop pictures have names that have been automatically assigned by our camera. These automatic file names consist of a confusing jumble of letters and numbers. However, it’s easy to rename them in Picasa. Before we edit each picture, we will also assign a more memor[...]

  • Page 27

    Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 23 3. To get naming information about the picture, from the Menu Bar, ™ File, ™ R ename. . . We see the Rename Files dialog box: 4. To rename the file, type: Barcelona fount ain There are some other options here, but since Picasa already includes that information in the Status Bar, we don’t need to append th[...]

  • Page 28

    24 Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 1. T o temporarily see the picture in full screen vie w , § , pr ess and hold: ƒ an d « The picture completely covers the screen. Now that our view is enlarged, we can see that this picture has been taken with the camera positioned in a vertical orientation, but the image here is horizontal. 2. To return to [...]

  • Page 29

    Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 25 1. T o rotate the photo, in the Output Options section, ™ The picture is now oriented in the proper direction: Now, we can better see that this image is crooked and dark. We can correct these problems using Picasa’s View and Edit tools. Vie wing and Editing Pictures in Picasa Picasa lets us fix lots of prob[...]

  • Page 30

    26 Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 1. T o open the photo in V ie w and Edit mode, from the Menu Bar , ™ Pic tur e, ™ View and E dit The View and Edit screen appears, with the enlarged photo on the right and some buttons and tabs on the left: The left part of the window contains three sections with tabs that are labeled Basic Fixes, Tuning, a[...]

  • Page 31

    Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 27 1. T o acti v ate the Straighten tool, in the Basic Fixes panel, ™ The Picture now has a grid overlay with a slider and two buttons: 2. To straighten the photo, in the photo editing window, ¢ t o the right until the v ertical ed g e o f the buildin g aligns with a grid line The picture is straightened along [...]

  • Page 32

    28 Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 1. T o change the Fill Light, in the Basic Fixes panel, ¢ t o the right The slider should be about 1/3 of the way into the right half of the slider bar. Although the overall picture is improved and now the Barcelona evening ambiance has come forth, it seems that we have lightened the shadows more than we wante[...]

  • Page 33

    Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 29 2. To return to the Picasa Library, above the Basic Fixes tab, ™ The picture displayed in the library contains all our corrections. Sa ving a Picture in Picasa We have not yet saved this picture. We are simply seeing a temporary preview of our image with our adjustments. Although Picasa will display our unsav[...]

  • Page 34

    30 Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 2. To confirm the changes, ™ The Save to Disk button disappears. Picasa has replaced the original file on our hard drive with the one that con - tains the new adjustments. However, the original file has not been overwrit - ten. Any time we use the Save Changes button in Picasa, a copy of the edited photo is c[...]

  • Page 35

    Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 31 2. To select the picture for renaming, ™ 3. To rename, on the Menu Bar, ™ File, ™ R ename. . . We see the Rename Files dialog box. 4. To rename the file, type: Gene v a friend,™ Now we’ll edit the picture. 5. To open the picture for editing, £ the pic tur e The image opens. This is a photo of a young[...]

  • Page 36

    32 Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 6. To rotate the photo, on the bottom panel in the Output Options section, ™ The picture rotates to the correct position, and its view size is reduced to fit in the window. The severity of problems in this picture may require more than Basic Fixes has to offer. Let’s try using the Tuning tools. 7. To activa[...]

  • Page 37

    Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 33 Increasing the Contrast Using the Shado ws T ool The image looks much better, but since we have brightened the fill light, we have also decreased the contrast; now the shadows are grayish. In our last photo, we were able to use Auto Contrast, but in the Tuning panel we can adjust the shadows manually. 1. T o da[...]

  • Page 38

    34 Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 We are zoomed into the girl’s face, and now the cursor becomes a hand : In close-up view, the mottled and fuzzy appearance of this picture becomes apparent. Although we were able to dramatically improve it by enhancing the contrast, it retains some artifacts of the original photographic mistakes. This exempli[...]

  • Page 39

    Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 35 We can see a roadway and some trees above our friend’s head. Note that as we change the part of the picture we are viewing, the rectangle inside the inset changes. Let’s use this preview rectangle to see a different part of the picture. 3. To view a different part of the picture, inside the picture’s inse[...]

  • Page 40

    36 Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 2. To select the roadway as the neutral color, with the point of the eyedropper tool, ™ the r oadw ay The image changes color slightly. Now let’s look at the whole picture to see what has happened. 3. To fit the picture in the window, in the Output Options panel, ™ The picture is now entirely visible. Let[...]

  • Page 41

    Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 37 7. To return to the Picasa Library, above the Basic Fixes tab, ™ We are returned to the Library, where we see the adjusted picture. The pic - ture displayed in the People Album contains all our corrections. In the Out - put Options tray at the bottom of the window, notice that this picture is in the Photo Tra[...]

  • Page 42

    38 Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 Printing in Picasa We will be sending our friend the picture of herself as a print. Before we print any picture, it must be selected, making it active in the Photo Tray. Since this picture is still selected, it is displayed in the Photo Tray, waiting for us to choose a button in the Output Options panel. 1. T o[...]

  • Page 43

    Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 39 3. To choose the 5 x 7 layout, ™ The preview seems to indicate that we might be able to fit more of these on a single sheet of paper. Let’s print two per sheet. 4. To print another copy on the same sheet, in the window under Copies per Photo, ™ Now, the Preview panel shows two pictures side by side: To pr[...]

  • Page 44

    40 Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 Correcting More Photo Defects The next picture we will revive is the one of the father and son at the Zurich zoo. During our time with them, we exchanged email addresses, we would like to email the picture to the father in Zurich, and we would also like to add it to our own collection of prints. We remember tha[...]

  • Page 45

    Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 41 by emitting a preliminary flash to constrict the pupils of subjects before the flash picture is taken. However, in some lighting conditions, even this can be ineffective. Since red eye is very common, most digital photo editing applications include a red eye remover. 1. T o acti v ate the Redeye tool, in the Ba[...]

  • Page 46

    42 Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 3. To center the eyes, if necessary, in the tiny navigator pane, ¢ upw ar d All of the eyes should be fully in view. 4. To select the first eye, in the image, ¢ a r ec t an gle ar ound the f ather’s right ey e The screen changes for a moment and then we return to the image. The eye shows no more red. Let’[...]

  • Page 47

    Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 43 Using the T uning T ools in Picasa When we took this picture, it was necessary to use the camera’s flash because it was in a dark area of the zoo. Pictures taken with built-in camera flash mechanisms generally cast off-color light with very dark shadows. We can see that is the case here. In places, the skin o[...]

  • Page 48

    44 Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 5. To save the image, on the Menu Bar, ™ File, ™ Sav e A dialog box opens, asking us if we want to save our changes, and verifying that a backup will be made. 6. To confirm the changes, ™ The image is now saved. Now, we want to get the best shot of just their fac - es so we can email that to the father. T[...]

  • Page 49

    Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 45 2. To begin the crop, in the Basic Fixes tab, ™ A new window appears, offering a panel with some preset size buttons on the left: These thumbnail images suggest various cropping strategies. First, we will manually select an area just around the heads of the pair, and then we will crop to a standard print size[...]

  • Page 50

    46 Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 5. To select a size for the cropped image, in the field above the small image thumbnails, ™ manual, ™ 4 x 6: S mall print The size is now perfect for printing, but we may need to re-center it. 6. To re-center the cropped area, if necessary, § inside the cr op ar ea, ¢ t o the desir ed spo t The area insid[...]

  • Page 51

    Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 47 to download. Given this, we can see that if we were to attach this image in its present state to an email message, it would be likely to cause problems for its recipient. Picasa takes care of this problem by automatically resizing and optimizing images when they are emailed. Resizing involves changing the numbe[...]

  • Page 52

    48 Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 A. The instructor clicks the Gmail choice and logs in. There is an open email message with a thumbnail of the picture. B. In the To: field, the instructor types the address of the workshop demonstra - tion account (ittraining.iu@gmail.com). C. The instructor may also type a new subject line and a body. Embedded[...]

  • Page 53

    Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 49 1. T o acti v ate the Export options, in the Output Options panel, ™ The Export to Folder dialog box appears: In the Location of exported field at the top, we see a path where the file will be exported. We want to put it in the folder on disk where the other work - shop images are. 2. To choose the place to s[...]

  • Page 54

    50 Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 3. To choose the correct folder, loca t e an d ™ , ™ , ™ We are returned to the Export to Folder dialog box. We can see that the “Lo - cation of exported folder” field has added a folder named People. We want our image to be in a folder by another name. 4. To remove the folder name from the “Name of[...]

  • Page 55

    Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 51 Although in some applications this may take some trial and error, Picasa make this easy for us by giving us four choices. 6. To change the Image Quality, in the Image Quality drop-down list, ™ , ™ Normal Under Image Quality, the text now says, “Good balance of quality and size.” Our file is ready to exp[...]

  • Page 56

    52 Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 11. To open the image, £ the ima g e The quality of the image is quite satisfactory, and in the Status Bar we see that this new image is only around 60KB—a tiny fraction of the original file size. We could safely put this image into an email message or post it to the web. We are now done using Picasa for tod[...]

  • Page 57

    Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0 53 Appendix: Getting Y our Pictures fr om the Camera to the Computer Before we edit digital photos, we need to move them from our cameras onto our computers. There are many ways to achieve this. First, you need to connect the camera to the computer. Most digital cameras connect directly to a computer via either US[...]

  • Page 58

    54 Google Picasa 3: The Basics v1.0.0[...]

  • Page 59

    Where to Go Fr om Here You can use the resources listed below to further build your computing skills. T aking Other IT T raining & Education W orkshops UITS IT Training & Education offers hands-on instructor-led computing workshops aimed at a variety of skill levels, covering a broad range of topics. We teach hundreds of workshops on more t[...]