The normal way that you see folders in Picasa is called 'Flat Folder Structure.' In the Flat view you won't see that certain folders are within other folders. If you want to see what folders are nested within other folders, you need to view the folder list in 'Tree View. To get there, just click the 'Tree Structure' button in the top toolbar. It's right under the word 'Picture' in the menu.
Take a look at the images below. On the left is the Flat view, notice the Grand Canyon folder. It's listed in the Flat view along with every other folder in your Pictures. On the right is the Tree View where you can see that the Grand Canyon folder is within October, and October is within 2004.
Geeks on Tour
members can view a detailed
tutorial video on this flat folders vs. tree view.
That's fine if you have only gone to Grand Canyon once, but what if you go there each even-numbered year, and want to keep all your Grand Canyon pictures handily in one folder, with sub-folders for each year you were there? Of it you want North Rim, South Rim, Yavapai Point, the Watchtower, and the mule trip each in its own sub-folder?
ReplyDeleteWill everything still have to depend on what year you took the picture?
(We do like Picasa 3, except for that folder structure! We trained ourselves under another system, and old habits are hard to break!)
Jerry,
ReplyDeleteActually, the folder structure is a Windows thing - Picasa's way of organizing is with albums. I put all my photos for each month into one folder, but then I mark each picture with different album designations. So, all your Grand Canyon pictures from *all* your windows folders can be marked as part of the Grand Canyon 'album' so you can view them all together. Albums will be a future tip and video!
I received this email response for Jerry from Barb - she asked that I post it here. Cool tip Barb - I do talk a little bit about 'collections' in the Picasa Tutorial Video called 'Folders.' I still like Albums better.
ReplyDelete_________________________________________________
Suggestion for Larry about Grand Canyon Visits. For use in Picasa, how about establishing a Grand Canyon Collection. Store any related folders with whatever names you want on the folders and Move them into the Grand Canyon collection. Picasa will store them by dates within the collection. Where they are located in Windows will not be disturbed by the Collection organization. The collection of folders can be closed so only the collection name shows. In Picasa. Open the collection for folder viewing only when needed. Neatens up the folder list a lot and makes photos easier to find.
Barbara Resnick
I keep 95% of my photos on an external hard drive. Since I do not work with photos everyday, I don't always have the hard drive plugged in. When I do plug it in, it may have drive letter E, or F, depending whether I have anything else plugged in to my USB ports. How do I get Picasa to scan the hard drive when I do plug it in--regardless of what drive letter it might show up as?
ReplyDeleteooooh ... good question Bob. All the photos on my external hard drive usually just reappear when I plug it in, but once in a while they don't. I just take a deep sigh and go into my Tools Folder and re-check the 'Scan Always' setting for the appropriate folder. That takes a while! I never noticed, but I'll bet you're right that the reason is because it's being seen as a different drive letter.
ReplyDeleteI notice that you got a couple answers to this question in the users forum. I'd like to see a test of the theory to 'watch' the same drive as two different drive letters. I think it's probably best to just check the drive letter in Windows before opening Picasa. Next time it happens to me, I'll experiment.
The users forum also mentioned that your albums may get messed up - that makes sense, but I haven't noticed it happen. When I re-scan, my albums all seem to be in place.
Using such a hdd will definitely save my data in safety :)
ReplyDelete[...] covered this before in the article Nested Folders. There is also a members-only Show-Me-How video that goes into depth on Tree [...]
ReplyDeleteHere's how I deal with that. The following procedure eliminates the drive letter randomness. These steps are for Win7, may be a little different for other versions.
ReplyDelete1. OPEN the Disk Management Console:
Start > Computer [right click] Manage...
(or Right-click on My Computer] > Manage...
In Computer Management console, select Disk Management
(alternatively, Start > Run... mmc.exe diskmgmt.msc )
2. ASSIGN a permanent drive letter:
Right-click on the drive your photos are on
> Change Drive Letter and paths...
Select a drive letter further up in the alphabet
e.g. M: (as in Media) or P: (as in Photos)
OK everything
Windows should recognize that drive whenever you plug it in and assign it that drive letter if it is still available (which undoubtedly, it will be).
--Sal
If you are novice domainer, then you are definitely a Domainbie
ReplyDelete