The user interface

Let me first go over what we see when Picasa is opened.

At the top we have the menu bar.

In the menu bar, we find many menu names, which we call assignments or commands.

Clicking on these commands, gives us a drop-down menu from which we can choose any function. If you choose a function and there is an arrow next to it, a second drop-down menu appears.

Under the menu we find the toolbar. All of these buttons will be discussed in a later lesson.

Below that we have the library.  The library is divided into two parts, on the left side, we have the folder list (1), and on the right side, we have the working space (2).

In the folder list, we have various folders on our computer that are scanned by Picasa photos.

In the workspace, we find the different pictures back in miniature form, which are located in the selected folder in the Folder List.

We use the scrollbar on the right to view the individual pictures in the workspace, or the various folders in the Folder List.

The same happens when you click the upward or downward pointing arrow keys on your keyboard.

At the bottom of the application window, we have the Photo Tray on the right with different function buttons.

Select a photo in the workspace, it will appear in the Photo Tray.

By means of the slider in the art of photography, we’ll change the size of the photos in the workspace.

What you should know and remember is that all the folders that are located in the folder list are folders that were scanned by Picasa and located on your computer.

Picasa does not in itself create folders. The only thing Picasa does is to make a ‘library’ of existing folders containing pictures.

This does not mean that we cannot create new folders in Picasa. But more on that later in one of the following lessons.

To move a picture in Picasa from one folder to another, click and drag the picture in the workspace to another folder in the Folder List, then the original picture is really moved from one folder to another on the hard disk.

To change the name of a folder, right click it in the folder list and select “Edit Folder Description” in the drop-down menu, then the changes to this folder reflect on your hard disk.

 

By default, the folders are sorted on creation date in the folder list.

You can change this by the downward pointing arrow button in the toolbar, and choose “Sort by Recent changes”, “Sort by size”, or “” Sort by name “.

A second way is to click the “View” button in the menu bar, select “Folder” in the drop-down menu and click on one of the four options listed above.

By clicking on the folder at the top of the workspace, it open the corresponding Windows pane.

This shows where these pictures are located on your computer.

The same is accomplished by right clicking the folder in the folder list and choosing “Locate on Disk” in the drop-down menu.

.When one or more photos are selected in the workspace, they are displayed in the Photo Tray.

You select multiple photos by holding the Ctrl key on your keyboard and selecting indivial pictures when they are not adjacent pictures or hold the Shift key on your keyboard and select the first and last pictures if they are adjacent pictures.

If you wish to keep your pictures in the Photo Tray, click the button “Hold Selection”.

If you wish to remove the pictures in the Photo Tray, click the button “remove selection.”

Once a photo is in the Photo Tray, we can use the function buttons on the right side of the Photo Tray.

All these buttons are discussed in the next lesson.

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