- Import All: It’s just a one-click, no choices method. This way, I know that I’m getting all the pictures from my camera card – I can delete any bad ones later in Picasa. If instead, I selected photos to import into separate folders, I may miss some pictures by accident. Also, after importing all, I let Picasa delete them from the card. This way I always have a fresh card for use in my camera.
- One folder per month: my first import at the beginning of each month requires me to make a new folder. I just enter 201002 (Feb 2010) in the place for folder name. Every subsequent import, I just use the drop-down list to select an existing folder for ‘Import To:’ It remembers the previous folders I have used.
But, not everyone wants to use my system … they may have their own system – go figure! Many people like to have their photos in folders by individual date – sounds like *way* too many folders to me, but to each his own :-). The latest version of Picasa can do this for you automatically, just click on the drop-down by ‘Folder title:’ and choose ‘Date Taken’ – that will automatically create folders for each date on your photos and import the photos into their respective folder:
Make New Folders after you Import
Sometimes I do want specific folders other than my main, monthly folder. After I import my photos, I will select the one(s) I want in a new folder, right click and choose ‘Move to New Folder.’ Clicking on ‘Move to New Folder’ accomplishes two things, 1)it creates the new folder and 2)it moves the selected photos into it. After that first step, you can now drag other photos into that same folder.
New Video on Importing with Picasa 3.5/6:
This tip brought to you by Geeks on Tour
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.
Members may want to view the following tutorial videos. Not a member? Join now.
- Import from Camera
- Delete or Rename Photos
- Folders and Folder Collection
- Make a New Folder
- Moving Folders Among Multiple Hard Drives
Related article
http://picasatutorials.com/2009/02/picasa-tip-picasa-web-albums/
Need to learn the basics? Check out our ‘Beginner’s Guide to Picasa’ complete withshow-me videos
What about the situation where you have both RAW and JPEG on your card? I want to down load and save my RAW files for work later (am on an 18 mo RV adventure). How can I do that?
ReplyDeletePicasa works with RAW files as well, just make sure that file type is checked in Tools / Options / File Types
ReplyDeleteenjoyed your recent article as always...would like to see an article on sending picasa email pics. my aol connection works fine but my friend's comcast internet doesn't... thanks again.
ReplyDelete"Every subsequent import, I just use the drop-down list to select an existing folder for ‘Import To:’ It remembers the previous folders I have used."
ReplyDeletePicasa 3.6 FORCES a folder name even if you select an existing folder. The option to import is greyed out until a folder name (or one of the auto options) is entered. It simply makes the new folder name a sub-folder of the selected one. 3.5 allowed imports into existing folders. I have no idea why it does this, as I do the same as you. However, I have to import into a new folder, then move them... a pain
Something must be wrong - because I import into existing folders all the time using 3.6.
ReplyDeleteclick on the dropdown arrow next to 'Import To: Pictures' and select 'Choose...' Then you can browse to an existing folder and select it. Leave the next field for folder name blank.
So as per your instructions at the top... if i only remember to get photos off my camera every few months how will it know which folder to select for which month? I cant enter 3 or 4 folder names in one go and i cant see a native YYYYMM option? Is this what is needed? Is there any way around this?
ReplyDeletePicasa *doesn't* choose ... you do. You can either:
ReplyDelete1. perform the import process several times, selecting each group of photos and specifying a folder - them 'Import Selected'
or - my preferred method
2. Import All into a current folder, then using Picasa, select each group that should be in separate folders and 'Move to New Folder' ... it's in the video