Quick Digital Layouts using Picasa

Top 3 FAVORITE reasons I use Picasa (not in order)

What it is: Picasa is free photo editing software & host site from Google.

download it here: http://picasa.google.com

#1) I don't have TIME to Scrapbook!

With 3 boys, and 1 husband,  I cannot seem to find much time to do anything. Fancy Schmancy scrapbook layouts are fun, but slim these days. 

We took a family trip back in April. I snapped around 500 pictures (with an Olympus Point and Shoot... 3rd one that has fallen in water). I still haven't *gasp* printed or scrapbooked any of these, it just seems so overwhelming. I don't want to only pick a few pictures, there are so many great ones to choose from! Welcome Picasa with open arms...

• First of all, when you download Picasa, it starts reading your entire Hard Drive. You don't have to upload or import anything!

• You can create a 12x12 scrapbook page in under 60 seconds. Not kidding!

Once you learn about all of the little buttons and tools, it is easy. Anyone can do it, and it's Free!
Here is how I QUICKLY scrapbooked our Family Vacation using Picasa:

First - I open up My Picasa, choose about 10-15 photo's, and create a Picasa "Collage".
Picasa automatically lays it all out for you. I used the Mosiac Collage option. You can choose your grid size, colors, even add your own background papers. I just wanted to fit as many pictures as possible, so I kept it simple.

Kenny is going to kill me when printing these layouts. The outside border is very small, of course he can do it, but I don't want him mad at me. Plus, I really like double page layouts in my book.
So.....
 I found a cute scrappy QuickPage in my stash. With Photoshop Elements, I added my one vacation"highlight" photo.

 

This QP Freebie from Iowan was offered during the Weeds and Wildflowers summer sale, and you may still be able to access it here.

I exported my collage from Picasa. In Photoshop Elements, I placed my collage over the .png QP, made the outside border thicker, and now I have a double page spread that flows much better, and Kenny will be happy.

TIP:

TIME is the number ONE reason why people don't archive their memories, and if you are even still reading this post... hooray! I could go on and on with tips on how to create your digital layouts with Picasa. Instead, for those of you that are interested, I will link up some places to find some. Once you play around with Picasa, you will fly through those pics that are stacking up on your hard drive!

• New Features in Picasa 3.8 (ie, Face Movie, Batch Upload, Properties)   
• Google Storage
• Getting Started Guide
• Organizing + Name Tags
• Scrapbook Collage Video Tutorial

#2) Printing Picasa Layouts
This is the best! Life needs to be simple! Check this out... create your Picasa layout, send it to your Picasa Web Account, and just click Print! It will send your layout straight to us!
OR
While in your Persnickety Prints account, you can import photos from Picasa and order prints!
No need to export, import, blah, blah. In fact, you aren't even touching your own hard drive space!

#3) The Properties Panel

One of my new favorite features in Picasa 3.8 is the Properties Panel. 

When you take a photo with any kind of camera, Picasa will read it, and let you know what settings you used. You can now tell someone "how you did it" by reading your camera settings.

       Nikon D90     focal length 90mm.     ISO 320   1/25s    f 5.6

Ok.. just one more favorite..
#3.5) Face Movie

Say you want to create a slide show for a birthday party or wedding. Maybe you have only have two days and all you have is a bunch of group photos. Don’t panic! With the new Face Movie, you can quickly create a slide show featuring that special someone, centered around that special someone, complete with transitions, music and captions. Picasa face tagging does all of the hard work for you! 

Watch a Face Movie made from Picasa Here.

Face Movie analyzes the faces in your selected photos to find the smoothest transitions across facial expressions and poses. Unlike a movie presentation, Face Movie overlays the most similar facial expressions in each photo on top of each other to create the smoothest transitions. To create a Face Movie, follow these steps.

Thanks for reading the longest post ever! The best thing about Picasa, is anyone can use it! No more excuses for family and friends to not TRY digital!

As always, you can email us with any questions.   info@persnicketyprints.com