Picasa , from Google, has matured into a phenomenal digital photo manager. Not only is it easy to use and contains tons of great features, but it is also free to use. In the upcoming week, we will present you with a series of video tips explaining how to get the most out of Picasa.
This video may take a few minutes to get started (even on a broadband connection), but be patient, and you will be happy you have seen the video.
It's fun for me to share my limited knowledge with people to help them get just a little more out of technology. I had the opportunity today to help a basketball mom learn how to use the continuous mode (burst mode) with her new digital camera. One of the great complaints about digital cameras is their slow shutter response. Fortunately, most digital cameras have improved that feature. One feature that many digital cameras have that can help you get the perfect shot is the continuous shooting mode or burst mode. This mode allows you to hold down the shutter of your camera and have it take a rapid fire of photos. This is known as burst or continuous shooting and it allows you to take 2-3 pictures each second!
I mentioned in yesterday's Shotgun that I took nearly 900 photos on my recent vacation. You have read and heard us hype the free Picasa digital photography software from Google many times. The features and execution of the features are nothing short of wonderful. I use Picasa to upload and organize my photos after a trip. Then I usually upload the photos I want to print to my favorite online photo developer (Shutterfly ) and get a bound book made of my favorite 100 or so photos for less than the cost of developing three rolls of film.
My daughter ‘graduated’ from middle school today. During the ceremony, a group of ambitious students put together a 60-75 slides, using Microsoft PowerPoint, documenting their 8th grade year. PowerPoint and other slideshow making programs give us great flexibility in putting together our pictures like never before.
Does anyone use the old slide projectors anymore?
These students had a minimum slide time of 20 seconds and some slides were on screen for almost 30 seconds. Needless to say, the impact of the program was dramatically reduced because of the extremely long time the audience had to stare at the same picture. The students also put the slideshow to music. Being of the video and Internet age, I would have thought these students would have questioned the length of slides, but I also expected their tech teacher to point it out as they were putting it together. The kids showed some gumption in doing the slideshow, so I have no fault with them at all…I just wish the teachers would have helped guide them.
We discussed Picasa 2 late last year, but since then I have discovered many more wonderful things that can be done with the program. In fact, I now use it more often than any other program for my day-to-day digital photography.
HOW TO GET PICASA:
1. 
Either click on this button, or go to www.picasa.com and click on the Free Download button.
Computer users are always grateful to learn new tricks of the trade. One ‘trick’ that was implemented with Windows XP more than five years ago continues to escape many computer users…send pictures via email efficiently. Sure you might be sending digital photos as attachments, but can you send more than one at time? Are you resizing your photos before sending them so they don’t require horizontal and vertical scrolling? Do they travel quickly through the Internet or do they take a long time to transmit?
No matter now…this tip will get you sending multiple, appropriately sized photos quickly with Windows XP.