[Schwabby]

So I read this thread this morning and decided to give Picasa a try. I own bridge but was tired of tagging items. Well in 15 minutes I knew that I would never go back to bridge. Picasa just does what it is supposed to! I installed it on my laptop and my desktop for all of my work files as well as for scrapping files. Thank you for the thread and now I have more time to hang out in the forums! ha ha!

[jenrou]

One thing I do like about Picasso is, you can have it load things from your EHD or a disk, then when you take that away from your pc, Picasso doesn't show it until you plug it in again. Sure, you have to wait for it to reload, but not too long. I change things around so much, I like that. Of course if you keep yours on your pc, then it will only add your new stuff, and keep the old.

Some of you gave me the idea of making project folders with copies of what I think I will use in that folder, then delete when done. This helps, because I can browse through all of my stuff in Picasso, copy what I want to work on into a folder, then close Picasso so it won't slow my pc down. I try not to be envious of those who have faster pcs and macs and can keep both programs open all the time.

I don't tag anymore, either.

Jean

[Smiles]

Schwabby, on 26 November 2011 - 08:32 PM, said:

So I read this thread this morning and decided to give Picasa a try. I own bridge but was tired of tagging items. Well in 15 minutes I knew that I would never go back to bridge. Picasa just does what it is supposed to! I installed it on my laptop and my desktop for all of my work files as well as for scrapping files. Thank you for the thread and now I have more time to hang out in the forums! ha ha!

We are all about enabling hanging out on the forums! Glad it's working for you. I love Picassa!

[mimes1]

Yep - I love Picasa also. I haven't tagged a thing since Ro turned me onto it two years ago. My scrapping abilities have improved also because I can find things so quickly and easily now!

[candyK]

Picassa problems:
I added a new EHD and moved my scraps mega folder onto it. I re-opened Picassa and directed it to the new drive. It scans just fine. PNG snd small files are already checked. I didn't change any of my settings.
However...when I click on a smaller item to bring it up and get a closer view in the cente panel I get a grey square and the item only appears way up at the top in a teeny tiny panel of a slide show. I don't want the slide show, and can't get it to play anyway.
How do I get the item itslef to enlarge and appear in the center panel?
TIA,
candyK

[Smiles]

you have to tell it to find tiny things.
Go to View and check "Small files."
I hope this is all you need to get you going again!

[candyK]

Thanks. I already had that checked. I was having trouble getting the center view panel to show a larger vie when I clickd on a single small item--such as a staple. The center panel would just turn gray. I gave up , shut down and today all is well again. Reminds me how Picassa dependent I am!
candyK

[Sandy McClay]

DDecker, on 23 October 2009 - 01:35 PM, said:

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.

I am a newbie for sure...I just went to Picassa and downloaded it and it started scanning all of my photos BEFORE I could even tell it where to look! Help, I just want it to scan my new EHD I got for Christmas, that is where I have all of my digital files....any ideas? Again, I am a newbie so please go slow... I uninstalled it until I can figure this out.... Sandy

[Sandy McClay]

I am so new at this...I just went and downloaded Picassa and it began grabbing all of my photos before I could tell it what I wanted....I uninstalled it! LOL I JUST want it to grab my new EHD, that is all I want it to do, HOW do I do this when I first install Picassa? Help!!!! I am so frustrated....I feel stupid....Picassa for Dummies, I need a Video! :) Sandy

[Belle]

I've said it before, Picassa is a demon program. It does what it wants. I deleted it 3 times until I thought, well just do what you want. I have all my photos in differenat folders on my computer as well as my stash. Picassa keeps it there. I just use the search function if I look for something. I don't like it very much. Sorry I'm not any help.

[jenrou]

Well, I like Picasso, but I think I need to do something. I'm getting so many items I can't find anything anymore. There has to be a better way. I still plan to use Picasso, but unless I search, I could spend all day looking for something, and never get anything done.
How do you all decide what to use? I've put things in folders when I had an idea, but still am missing out on a lot of goodies I have.
Jean

[beckaroonaz]

I am in need of some Picasa Help! I there was a Picasa wall I would be banging my head on it! I had to uninstall and reinstall Picasa..long story. Now, when I have Picasa view the folder that I want, It does not keep my folders in the correct order...I organize like Ro. What am I doing wrong! Also, when I click on a folder, it is only showing me the first few items, if I choose and item I cannot get back to my main screen that shows everything. Do I have some magic boxed checked?....Help me please!

[mimes1]

I'm sorry that you are having problems with Picasa. I use it all the time and love it. I haven't had the problems that others are reporting.

If you go to the menu bar at the top, and click on "Tools" > "Folder Manager" you can tell Picasa exactly what you want it to see. You can tell it to scan each folder once only or always, or you can tell it to remove things from Picasa. You can also turn off or on the Face Detection feature here also. I leave that off. I have it watch only my Scrap Girl folder and my photograph folder.

If you look at the search bar at the top of your field, you can type in what you are looking for and it will find it fast, regardless as to where you are storing on your hard drive. Think of Picasa as a search enging. Google for your desktop! Lets say you want a blue flower. Type in "Blue Flower" in the search bar and all your blue flowers will show up. Lets say you want a blue flower by Durin Eberhardt, you would type in "DEB_Blue flower" and all those items would show up. Scrap Girl items have a nice neat naming convention that allows this work fast. If you want everything you have by Durin to show up, type in "DEB" and everything you have will show up. If you want a particular colletcion, type in the name and it will pop up - fast. You can search any which way you like.

One problem that I have run up against from time to time is when I forget that I have something in the search bar. When I do that, I am only seeing what the search engine turned up, not my whole collection. Also, sometimes I have to remind it to look in a particular folder. If I want a picture from a certain year and I have typed in the year and month, if I"m on my scrap girl folder all my scrap stuff from that year and month pop up. To fix that, I just highlight in the tree view on the left side of the screen the drive that I want looked at and it goes right to it. Does that make sense?

Remember, Picasa isn't rearranging your folders. It is only linking to them. When you put in an item to look for, it's only going to show you your folders that have that item in it. Don't be intimidated by that tree on the left side. You can change that view totally if you wish by going to the buttons just above your folder structure and just below the file menu. One view is the flat view and one is the tree view. Make sure your search request bar is empty when you want to see your entire folder structure, whichever view you choose.

Also, I don't tag anything - the SG naming convention takes care of it as I described above.

[jorunswithscissors]

Thanks for the detail guide for Picasa! I'm fairly new to Picasa myself & eager to explore its capabilities further.

[beckaroonaz]

Thank you for the encouragement! It seems to be operator error. Hopefully, I can figure it out. I loved Picasa when it was doing what I wanted, now it has become my problem child. Next stop, Google - Picasa!

[beckaroonaz]

mimes1, on 03 January 2012 - 08:01 PM, said:

I'm sorry that you are having problems with Picasa. I use it all the time and love it. I haven't had the problems that others are reporting.

If you go to the menu bar at the top, and click on "Tools" > "Folder Manager" you can tell Picasa exactly what you want it to see. You can tell it to scan each folder once only or always, or you can tell it to remove things from Picasa. You can also turn off or on the Face Detection feature here also. I leave that off. I have it watch only my Scrap Girl folder and my photograph folder.

If you look at the search bar at the top of your field, you can type in what you are looking for and it will find it fast, regardless as to where you are storing on your hard drive. Think of Picasa as a search enging. Google for your desktop! Lets say you want a blue flower. Type in "Blue Flower" in the search bar and all your blue flowers will show up. Lets say you want a blue flower by Durin Eberhardt, you would type in "DEB_Blue flower" and all those items would show up. Scrap Girl items have a nice neat naming convention that allows this work fast. If you want everything you have by Durin to show up, type in "DEB" and everything you have will show up. If you want a particular colletcion, type in the name and it will pop up - fast. You can search any which way you like.

One problem that I have run up against from time to time is when I forget that I have something in the search bar. When I do that, I am only seeing what the search engine turned up, not my whole collection. Also, sometimes I have to remind it to look in a particular folder. If I want a picture from a certain year and I have typed in the year and month, if I"m on my scrap girl folder all my scrap stuff from that year and month pop up. To fix that, I just highlight in the tree view on the left side of the screen the drive that I want looked at and it goes right to it. Does that make sense?

Remember, Picasa isn't rearranging your folders. It is only linking to them. When you put in an item to look for, it's only going to show you your folders that have that item in it. Don't be intimidated by that tree on the left side. You can change that view totally if you wish by going to the buttons just above your folder structure and just below the file menu. One view is the flat view and one is the tree view. Make sure your search request bar is empty when you want to see your entire folder structure, whichever view you choose.

Also, I don't tag anything - the SG naming convention takes care of it as I described above.

I am doing the happy dance! Thank you...my problem was the way it was sorting and I needed it to be in tree view. It was sorting my date rather than folder name! YES...Yes...yes...my old picasa is back! Thank you again for the encouragement and guidance!

[mimes1]

YAY! I am so happy to have been able to help! Happy Scrapping! When I discovered Picasa it opened a whole world to me of mixing and matching.

[mimes1]

I just had a major breakthrough on search options using Picasa that I wanted to tell you all about right away. I was searching for "green paper" the way I have explained before, and I wasn't happy with the results. I just have soooooooooooooo much stuff. So, as I have seen others when searching Google, and put in "green" + "Paper". The parenthesis and the + sign made all the difference in the world. It was fast, I was amazed, and I am seeing stuff I forgot I had.

Give it a try. I think you'll be amazed also.

[Smiles]

Amy - thanks! I have been missing out on stuff I knew I had also.

[Eden]

Well, I've just had my "there goes an *** moment" for the day. You ask why? After nearly 9 months of using Picasa and really quite liking it, I just come across this thread and found that all those colour tags I've created and conscientiously applied to new supplies were totally unneeded! WHAAAW! I want those hours back! On the upside ...COOL!

[April Showers]

Eden, on 20 January 2012 - 04:43 PM, said:

Well, I've just had my "there goes an *** moment" for the day. You ask why? After nearly 9 months of using Picasa and really quite liking it, I just come across this thread and found that all those colour tags I've created and conscientiously applied to new supplies were totally unneeded! WHAAAW! I want those hours back! On the upside ...COOL!

just think of all the time you'll save now though... lots more scrapping time!

[Sherry Lynn]

Gosh it's been such a long time since I downloaded Picasa that everything has just always been there. But now I have a question - how do I tell it to show items from my EHD? I've never used my EHD when I scrapped but today I have moved over a bunch of files and want to still be able to use my Picasa preview. Thanks in advance.

[PBarnes]

Sherry Lynn, got to Tools (in the menu bar across the top) and click on Folder Manager. It should show all drives connected to your computer. Click on the EHD and then tell it to scan Once or Scan Always.

[Belle]

Pat, I just tried this and Wow, it works great. I think I will be using my Picasa a lot more.Thanks.

[Sherry Lynn]

PBarnes, on 28 January 2012 - 08:47 PM, said:

Sherry Lynn, got to Tools (in the menu bar across the top) and click on Folder Manager. It should show all drives connected to your computer. Click on the EHD and then tell it to scan Once or Scan Always.

Pat thank you so much for the information - I appreciate it!