Use Picasa Uploader to Share IPhoto Library on the Web

Google's Picasa photo application carries on Google's tradition of creating great user-friendly products that are absolutely free. But Picasa is simply a desktop application however Google's Picasa Web Album is a powerful and unique way to share your photos online because you can give the URL address for any given photo album on Picasa Web to your friends and family and they can view your photos from anywhere in the world. Also Picasa Web albums will generate code for you so that you can put photos and slideshows easily on your blog or social networking site (e.g. Facebook, MySpace). However the editing capabilities of Picasa Web are almost nonexistent and the uploading mechanism leaves much to be desired. But if you are a Mac user with Apple's iPhoto then editing your photos in iPhoto and then uploading them to Picasa Web is simple with Picasa Uploader.

Siging Up and Getting Started

If you already have a Google account then signing up for Picasa is really already done for you. Simply go to the Picasa Web homepage (picasaweb.google.com) to get started. Once you have entered any information that is needed for your Picasa Web account, then download the Picasa Uploader application (http://picasa.google.com/mac_tools.html). Once installation is complete launch the application and enter your Google username and password. This will take you into the main Picasa Uploader interface.

That is all there is to set up. You are now ready to upload some photos from iPhotos.

Uploading Your iPhotos

To begin uploading your photos from the iPhoto application you must determine where you would like Picasa Uploader to place the photos. In other words, you can tell the application to create a new album for the photos you are going to upload or you can tell it to place the photos in an existing Picasa Web album. Select the appropriate tab for which ever of these actions you wish to take. If you are creating a new album then enter a name for the album in the Title field. You may also enter a description if you like. To add photos to an existing album select the album from the drop-down menu on the Existing Album tab.

In iPhoto you can edit your digital photos in just about any way you like. Once you have a photo or group of photos edited the way you want, getting them to Picasa Web is simply a drag and drop function. Make sure to have both iPhoto and Picasa Uploader running. Now highlight the photos or albums you want to upload; now drag and drop them over to Picasa Uploader into the left-hand field. You will see your photos show up in the list. Now each photo will retain its title from iPhoto but if you want to change it you can right in the Picasa Uploader interface. Just select the photo or group of photos you wish to change and type your text into the Caption field. Also prior to uploading you can scale down larger photos to increase the upload time.

Finally, click the Upload button at the bottom of Picasa Uploader when you are finished. In a matter of minutes (depending on the size of the photos and the speed of your Internet connection) your photos will appear as a new album (or in an existing album) on your Picasa Web page. Now you are free to share them, blog about them, post them or whatever you choose to do with your Picasa Web photos.

I hope this tutorial has been helpful to you and that you will find Picasa Web and iPhoto a useful combination for getting your photos to the web. Good luck!