[DDecker]

After the Alpha class today some of us stayed to talk about using Picasa instead of ACDsee. Some of the questions that came up were about Tagging, sorting, and finding items to use on layouts.

Picasa can search by color, tag, keyword, face recognition and many other ways.

If we use Mandy Stewart's Live Merry collection as an example here are some ways you can search for them.

Search for - MST - this is Mandy's unique file sku - everything on your computer that starts with MST will come up

Search for LiveMerry - Which is part of the file name brings everything up with LiveMerry in the file name

Search for Red or Scratch and her RedScratch Paper comes up.

You can also search by color - Search for Red and you will get all items that contain RED even if the WORD red is not in the file name.

If we search for Key word -Berries MST_LiveMerry_Berries come up among other items.

Search for Key word -Paper - and all papers come up

All this and with no tagging!

[DDecker]

When you first start with Picasa you need to tell it where to look for your files and let it scan. I set up a folder just for Scrap Girls and have it scan this folder each time I open Picasa so it finds anything new. I also have Picasa scan my pictures file, I do NOT have Picasa scan my entire computer as that finds things I do not want to have to search through.

To add a folder to Picasa go to File>Add Folder. A folder manager opens. Click to add a blue circle arrow to any folder you want Picasa to check all the time, a red X removed a folder from being scanned and a green arrow will have Picasa only scan it one time.

You can add a red x to folders inside of other folders you want scanned to not scan them.

[bjc]

thanks dee for your help and starting this thread...i just went to picasa to check it out and try it as you suggested...here is my issue or concern with picasa vs acdsee

first if i did a search for "brad"...i got all kinds of things beside just the png that are brads... like if i had used one in a lo then i got that lo...( i guess it sees it in my description in the lo) .. i got faces too???? dont know why... i got anyone named brad so that is a bit much to look thru some are called brad some are called brads...so the ones called brads wouldnt come up i would have to do that one too...

second....if i got only brad png they still all show up it the indiv file they are in...so that i have to keep scrolling down to see many different brads

in acdsee i would get a page of all the brads...then i can compare the size, shape, color cause i see them all together and pick the one that i think would be the best one for my lo...

hope this makes sense and maybe there is a better way within picasa

cause the best part of course is no need to tag...and that is worth something..but i think acdsee is far better to view and choose your stuff, albeit once you have tagged stuff

i do think picasa would be good in a pinch...like if i didnt have acdsee on my computer

would love to hear from everyone on how they use picasa or if they can comment on picasa vs acdsee and what they have found helpful

here is a screen shot of what i got when i did black paper.... as you can see there are lots of things...more than i could show you in the screen shot...but most of them arent black paper...there are photos etc...why is that ? is there a way to do this better?

Attached File(s)

•  ScreenHunter_02 Oct. 23 15.08.jpg (187.49K)
  Number of downloads: 43

[MargotW]

Bobbie - I'm having the same trouble you are! Plus I know I have a ton more ie flowers than are showing in Picasa. I think I need a step by step Picasa Class for Dummies! lol I just don't get it. Maybe I need a nap for brain renewal!!!

Also, since I switched to Win7 I don't have my emotion icons to insert. If I did it would be a monster cry

[scrappinchar]

I was playing with it last night, too.
Got confusing for me. lol
For a while, it didn't seem like it was showing any png files. Now I don't remember if I ever did see any.
It was late, I was tired, now I don't remember. But...it seems like I had most of the same "issues" as mentioned above. Lots of things I did NOT want to see, and not enough of what I DID want to see.

[scrappinchar]

Well...I just found where to tell it to include PNG files.
Boy, wonder how long that will take to scan. lol

[Smiles]

I just found this thread - so glad to hear Picasa will search for file names.
Now to figure out how - I echo about a Picasa for Dummies!

[teecee]

I also vote for Picasa for Dummies!

[DDecker]

hmmmmmmmmm Picasa for dummies...........

[mimes1]

OK - here is what I know. I was a die hard ACDSee user, complete with tags. I had it down to a system; download the collection, and tag it right away. And cross tag also. I had tags coming out of my ears. Well, at the convention, Ro sang the praises of Picasa. Ro's commented that your operating system is going to be faster at finding things than anything, and also that Google people really have the search thing down. So I tried it,and I am sold.

For some of the questions/concerns above, here are some suggestions:

Use Parenthesis for searching - that will narrow your search. For instance, if you want only black papers from Mandy, type in "MST" "Black" "paper". Before you can finish typing you will have all of Mandy's black papers at your fingertips.

One other thing I discovered is that it seems to search to the top level of what you have highlighted over on the left hand side. I keep it on "MyScrapbookLibrary" for all my searches then it finds everything. It also seems to search chronologically by origination date - not date that it was put on your computer necessarily. There may be a way to change that, but I haven't worked that hard to find it just yet.

I Seeing all my layouts doesn't bother me. The cool thing is, if you put your data into the meta data file, if you look closely when your LO's show up, all your metadata is listed right below your layout. If you need to know what you used in a layout, that is a much easier way to find out as opposed to opening your LO in Photoshop to read the metadate. I love this feature.

If I want brads - I type in "Brad" - they all show up. Brown paper? I type in "Bro" and before I can finish typing its on my screen. I have found this to be way more efficient than ACDSee, and believe me, I did not want to leave ACDSee. But, Picasa brings things up in an instant. ACDSee has to sit and think - for a while.

For those of you who are reluctant - give it a chance. For me, finding Picasa alone was worth the trip to SLC!

[sheriL]

I love using my tags in pse, it just fits the way my brain works, and not all my files have names that are as "searchable" as they could be. With everyone singing praises for picasa, I'm curious - can I tag with it, or is searching files my only option?
And, if I can tag with it, can I import my tags for pse or do I have to start fresh?

[Smiles]

OK, I'm blaming this on the muscle relaxants I've been on...
My frustration was I could not find the search feature.
I went back to the website, searched for "search" and discovered it's been there staring me in the face all this time.
I do love the facial recognition software (much faster than tagging was) and how easy it is to tag from the library view.
I'm definitely glad I got started with it!

[mimes1]

Yes - you can tag in Picasa. it's even easier to tag in Picasa than in PSE. All you have to do is to click a button that you name. Then, when you search, anything with that tag comes up.

As far as PSE tags showing up, I don't know for sure. I suspect they do. It seems to me that files that I have tagged previously do show up. I can't test it right now, but when i get home I will and let you know.

[mimes1]

sheriL, on 03 November 2009 - 05:55 PM, said:

I love using my tags in pse, it just fits the way my brain works, and not all my files have names that are as "searchable" as they could be. With everyone singing praises for picasa, I'm curious - can I tag with it, or is searching files my only option?
And, if I can tag with it, can I import my tags for pse or do I have to start fresh?

Oh - and the search option will identify parts of file names.

[SilverSwanMama]

I've been using Picasa for over a year for scrapbook supplies and photos. I used ACDsee for about 2 weeks and it drove me batty. It was so slow compared to Picasa. It has revolutionized the way I scrap. So much faster and easier. I find that you don't have to tag much with Picasa if you're using SG stuff. It's all in the file name and Picasa finds it.

One thing you need to be sure you check is under View. Make sure that "small pictures" is checked. If this is not checked you won't be able to view very small things like brads, etc. It took me a while to figure out why I wasn't seeing those.

[DDecker]

Just thought I would let you know I am working on some Picasa screen shots. I hope to have them up as a tutorial soon. One of the BEST things I just found is that you can set a Tag to show as an album so if you tag all your papers and then create a Paper album there they all are!

Tools>Experemental>Show tag as album. Type tag into box that opens. Wait a few minutes and there it is!

[MargotW]

mimes1, on 03 November 2009 - 03:24 PM, said:

OK - here is what I know. I was a die hard ACDSee user, complete with tags. I had it down to a system; download the collection, and tag it right away. And cross tag also. I had tags coming out of my ears. Well, at the convention, Ro sang the praises of Picasa. Ro's commented that your operating system is going to be faster at finding things than anything, and also that Google people really have the search thing down. So I tried it,and I am sold.

For some of the questions/concerns above, here are some suggestions:

Use Parenthesis for searching - that will narrow your search. For instance, if you want only black papers from Mandy, type in "MST" "Black" "paper". Before you can finish typing you will have all of Mandy's black papers at your fingertips.

One other thing I discovered is that it seems to search to the top level of what you have highlighted over on the left hand side. I keep it on "MyScrapbookLibrary" for all my searches then it finds everything. It also seems to search chronologically by origination date - not date that it was put on your computer necessarily. There may be a way to change that, but I haven't worked that hard to find it just yet.

I Seeing all my layouts doesn't bother me. The cool thing is, if you put your data into the meta data file, if you look closely when your LO's show up, all your metadata is listed right below your layout. If you need to know what you used in a layout, that is a much easier way to find out as opposed to opening your LO in Photoshop to read the metadate. I love this feature.

If I want brads - I type in "Brad" - they all show up. Brown paper? I type in "Bro" and before I can finish typing its on my screen. I have found this to be way more efficient than ACDSee, and believe me, I did not want to leave ACDSee. But, Picasa brings things up in an instant. ACDSee has to sit and think - for a while.

For those of you who are reluctant - give it a chance. For me, finding Picasa alone was worth the trip to SLC!

How did you get your Scrapbook Library? Should I set up a separate album for Scrapbooking supplies and another for Pictures? I don't know why I'm so dense on this program. All I know is that I really miss my organized items. Picasa just started loading things automatically without asking where they should go. I think i need to reorganize into albums? I just checked PNG and it started uploading automatically.

[MargotW]

DDecker, on 03 November 2009 - 06:29 PM, said:

Just thought I would let you know I am working on some Picasa screen shots. I hope to have them up as a tutorial soon. One of the BEST things I just found is that you can set a Tag to show as an album so if you tag all your papers and then create a Paper album there they all are!

Tools>Experemental>Show tag as album. Type tag into box that opens. Wait a few minutes and there it is!

OOOOHHHHH! Our Picasa Book for Dummies is coming!

[Smiles]

this thread is terrific!
I probably would have given up finding SG supplies in frustration without it!

[HeidiD]

scrapbooker918, on 03 November 2009 - 07:24 PM, said:

DDecker, on 03 November 2009 - 06:29 PM, said:

Just thought I would let you know I am working on some Picasa screen shots. I hope to have them up as a tutorial soon. One of the BEST things I just found is that you can set a Tag to show as an album so if you tag all your papers and then create a Paper album there they all are!

Tools>Experemental>Show tag as album. Type tag into box that opens. Wait a few minutes and there it is!

OOOOHHHHH! Our Picasa Book for Dummies is coming!

Good. I need one!

[Glorie]

I LOVE using PICASA! I have my things all (well mostly) tagged, gosh does that make finding things sooooooo much more fun! Also, someone said they couldn't see a whole page of things and needed to scroll down to see each item in the file. Well, after you type an item in, then on the left hand side, click "Albums" under that, "Search Results for "whatevernametyped" (along with how many items), is there, click on that and wha-la see them all!

[bikeneday]

Speaking of Picasa for Dummies - I have my scrapping supplies on an EHD - can Picasa find them there? Cause if it can, I am downloadind Picasa in a heartbeat. I had tagged a ton of stuff in Windows Photo Gallery & loved that, but when I moved those supplies to the EHD, the tags no longer show.

[HeidiD]

Sue, it sure can. I have all my scrapping stuff on an EHD, and Picasa can see it all. Just make sure you are telling it where to look if it's having trouble finding things on its own!

[Smiles]

Picasa found pictures on both my EHDs without my doing anything!

[mimes1]

Great news everyone! I just typed in "sleeping" and ALL my photos tagged "Sleeping" came up!.. So what you say? Well, I tagged them in PSE ages ago - so, Picasa is capable of seeing properly saved tags from PSE.

I think something that might help everyone is that Picasa simply sees whatever you have on your system, as long as you tell it where to look. "My Scrapbooking Library" is just what I have named the top level of all my Scrap Girl supplies. I have all my scraps on one EHD and all my photos on a second EHD. It doesn't matter where you have them in your computer (or EHD) as long as it makes sense to you. Picasa will find them. Just think of it as Google for pictures on your home computer. It searches in the exact same manner as you would do a google search on the internet for something off of your computer.

[Smiles]

I'm liking this more and more!

[MargotW]

Well, I think I'm becoming impressed with Picasa. I don't know what I'm doing but I have PNG's uploading now. That is why all my brads and flowers etc. didn't show.

I wanted to open layouts in PSE7 so I tried searching for the title and before I had 3 letters in they all popped up! Amazing to say to least. Now I just need to learn how to tag and get a separate album for my pictures and scrapbooking supplies.

[sheriL]

Ok, I've played a little - it's amazingly fast. Now, I'm having the same problem as a lot of you have had - no png files showing up. Does anyone know how they got them show?

[Smiles]

There's a place you click which files you want to show - I'm not near the program, but try "View"

[scrappinchar]

Go to tools...options...file types.
You can check off png there.