Picasa Tip: Picasa Web Albums

1. Picasa is free software for managing your photos on your computer.


2. Picasa Web Albums is a free online photo-sharing website.

These two are both made by Google but they are completely separate.  People can upload photos to Picasa Web Albums even if they don't have Picasa on their computers.  And people can use Picasa to manage their photos without ever knowing about Picasa Web Albums.

BUT ...

They work together SO beautifully!

If you want to share your photos by putting them online, you have lots of choices: Flickr, PhotoBucket, Snapfish, Smugmug - to name just a few.  But, using Picasa to upload to Picasa Web Albums is by far the easiest way to do it.  You will need a Google account in order to use Picasa Web Albums.  It is your Google account that identifies your photos as yours.

Picasa Web Albums is located at www.Picasaweb.google.com.  Your web albums will be located at www.Picasaweb.google.com/youraccountname.  If you don't already have a Google account, the easiest way to do that is to sign up for Gmail.  Gmail is Google's free email system.  If you have a gmail account, that is also your Google account.

So ... if you have Picasa and you have a Google account, here's how you upload a photo to Picasa Web Albums:

1. Select the photos you want to upload


2. Click the upload button


3. Review the options: name of web album, visibility of album


4. Click Upload

You're done.  You should be able to go to www.picasaweb.google.com/youraccountname and see these photos.  And, as long as you selected 'Public' in the Visibility option, anyone else in the world can also see your photos at that location.  All you have to tell them is the web address: www.picasaweb.google.com/youraccountname.  If they can't see it, then it's probably because you left the Visibility option set to 'Unlisted.'  Unlisted is the default for that particular option.  See a previous GOT Picasa Tip on how to change the default options.

You can fix that.

While viewing the Web Album in question, click on Edit / Album Properties.  here is where you can change the option for Visibility.



 

Members may want to view the following tutorial videos.  Not a member?  Join now.

• Upload Photos to the Web


• Exporting Pictures for Use in Another Program


• Embedding Web Album Photos Elsewhere on the Web


• Removing Google Plus to Use Picasa Web Albums

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Geeks on Tour is a membership website with hundreds of Tutorial Videos on topics of interest to travelers, such as managing digital photos with Picasa, Route-Planning with Streets and Trips, and sharing your travels with a website using Blogger or with friends on Facebook. You can subscribe to our free e-newsletters, or become a paid member and be able to view all of the videos in the Learning Library.