Create Picasa Web Albums

The shift from film to digital photography has opened up new ways for snapshooters to store and interact with their pictures, such as Picasa, a Google site that enables users to create Picasa web albums "in the cloud." Picasa was a small start-up firm when it was acquired by Google to form the backbone of its photo offerings. In addition to the Picasa Web Albums, users can also download the Picasa software and work with their pictures offline. Here are the basics on how to create Picasa web albums.

 To create Picasa web albums you will need:

• A personal computer.
• A broadband  Internet connection.
• A digital camera or other sources of digital photos.
• Some sense of organization.
• Creativity and time!

1. Get signed up. In order to make use of Picasa web albums, which offer an easy way to share pictures with friends and family, you will need a free Google account. If you should happen to already use Gmail, then this password and ID will get you into Picasa web albums. You may initially be asked to download the Picasa program.
2. Upload. Before you can create an album, you'll need pictures!  From the Picasa web albums site, locate the folder on your computer that holds the photos you want to place in an album. Then, click "upload" on the Picasa web albums toolbar. You actually have a choices on this step: You can upload directly from the Picasa software, or you can upload from Picasa web albums through the browser.
3. The Name Game. But first you face the hardest of choices - choosing a name for your album. You'll want to choose something descriptive that will make sense to you after time passes and you no longer remember exactly what picture is where. Zero in on descriptive key words, and consider adding a year, such as "Christmas 2010." It will help later when senility sets in.
4. Add photos. Once you have chosen your name, click on "add photos." Go back into the folder that stores the pictures you would like to share. Repeat as many times as necessary to get all photos uploaded. Once you have all the photos you want selected, click on upload.
5. More names. At this point Picasa will give you the opportunity to add information about your photos through the caption process. A good suggestion is to use lots of key words so when you come back later to search you get the best results.
6. Share and share alike. The last step is the most enjoyable. You have three choices - to share them publicly on the web, to lock them but allow anyone with the link to the album to see the photos or to make the photos private. Once you have share them you can enable Picasa web albums to accept comments.

Enjoy Picasa Web Albums to walk through the memories.