Digital Camera Master

Wouldn’t it be great to have a photo filing cabinet with an unlimited number of drawers? Then, anytime you need to create a new category for your photo folders, you can devote an entire drawer to the subject. It doesn’t matter how full or empty any of the drawers are, because you can always create another drawer if you need it. Picasa’s collections let you create an unlimited number of “drawers” to organize your photo folders.

Picasa automatically creates its own collections as needed using names like Labels, Folders on Disk, Exported Pictures, and Other Stuff. You can’t rename or delete these collections, but you can move folders in and out of all of them (except for Labels).

In the Folder List, your collections look like metal bars separating the folders. The number next to the collection’s name tells you how many folders are in it. The triangle icon in the bar is red if the collection is closed and green if it’s open. To expand or collapse the list of folders in a collection, just click the triangle (or double-click anywhere on the collection’s bar).

Use Picasa’s Folder List to manage both your folders and your collections, which are like file drawers that hold folders. You can create new collections and move folders between collections. Use the triangle buttons to expand and collapse collections. With the scroll bar on the right, you can move through the Folder List.

——————————————————————————–
Note: Unlike Picasa’s folders, which match the folders on your computer, collections exist only inside of Picasa. Changes to collections, such as creating and deleting them, only affect the way photos are organized within Picasa.
——————————————————————————–

Collections are easy to use, but for reasons known to only the great minds at Google, Picasa buries the command to make new ones deep in a submenu of a shortcut menu. Here are the secret steps for making a new collection:

1. In the Folder List, right-click the highlighted folder to reveal the shortcut menu.
   The menu shows a number of actions that apply to folders. The Move to Collection action is the last item in the menu’s second section.
2. From the shortcut menu, choose Move to Collection New Collection.
   The Add New Collection box appears.
3. In the Enter Name Here box, type a name for the new collection. Then click OK to close the box.
   Your new collection appears in the Folder List.

You can organize large groups of photos by moving folders into collections. Picasa gives you only two levels of organization: folders and collections. You can’t put folders inside of other folders and you can’t put collections inside of other collections.

Deleting and renaming collections
As you organize your photos and folders, you may find that you no longer need a collection. Perhaps you decide you don’t really need to organize your dog photos by breed, so you can get rid of collections like Golden Retriever and Old English Sheepdog.

To delete or remove a collection, in the Lightbox, right-click its bar, and choose Remove Collection from the shortcut menu. What happens to the folders and photos inside that collection? Picasa moves them to the Other Stuff collectiona handy receptacle for items that might otherwise be lost.

Collection names are there to help you identify photo subjects when you browse. If you can think of a better description, by all means, rename your collection. Picasa won’t let you change the names of the collections it creates, but you can rename the collections you create. To rename a collection, follow these steps:

1. In the Lightbox, right-click the collection’s bar.
   Then, from the shortcut menu, choose the first optionRename Collection. A dialog box appears with a single text box where you can enter a new collection name.
2. Type a new name in the box, and then click OK.
   (If you have a change of heart and want to stick with the old name, click Cancel instead.)
   Once you click OK, your collection now sports its new and improved name in the Folder List.