4 Traps To Avoid When Using Picasa

It's Easy To Avoid These Issues When Using Picasa

Picasa provides one of the best interfaces for bringing all your images into one place so you can upload them to the Internet. There are a few things that might delay how quickly you get your account set up and your images loaded.

1. Google, which owns Picasa and Blogger. For each account you'll need a different login so it's important to keep track of them all.

When you register with Picasa Web Albums, you'll end up with two logins. One is for your generic Google account, which you'll join separately, and the other is for Hello. Your Hello account allows you to send your photos while you chat online. It also lets you send your photos by email using Picasa Mail.

When you use the Picasa software "Web Album" button to upload your images into your web albums, a login window will pop up. This can be confusing considering all the logins you'll have for your different Google accounts. In this instance, enter your Google login details to gain access.

Without this login information, you will not be able to transfer your photos using Picasa, or take advantage of some of the other features in Picasa's software. Be sure to note your login information as you register for Picasa Web Albums. Don't rely on getting it in an email.

If you plan to use the "Blog This!" feature in Picasa's software, you'll need to register for a Blogger account, which means you'll have even more login details to jot down.

2. You'll notice that while in your Picasa Web Albums account trying to upload your photos from your computer, you'll be given the option to download the Picasa Web Albums Upload Control. If you already have Picasa installed, you do not need this other control. Simply go directly to the software and upload from there using the "Web Album" button.

3. Uploading your images to Picasa can be time consuming, especially if you have a lot of large images. If you don't take time to resize your photos before uploading the upload can take awhile, especially if you're on a slow Internet service.

Keep in mind that online, your photos don't need to be more than about 500 kb (and that's pretty big) to produce an excellent image on screen. If you reduce all your images to this size or smaller, you'll not only save on upload time. You'll also be able to get many more images into your account.

4. Google would like you to use their software for all your photo sharing needs, but the decision is all yours. Deciding whether to make Picasa your default import program will depend on how you'll be using your images online.

Picasa will work with your digital camera, much the same as the special software that comes with digital cameras. If you have accounts with other photo sharing sites besides Picasa, you might want stick with your camera's software program for downloading images to your computer.

Take note of these points while registering and using Picasa, and your experience will go smoothly.