The Picasa software provides a simple way to view, edit, and organize the photos on your computer.

In this topic we give you some tools and methods that will help in arranging your photos.

Some things to remember:

• • The general rule is that Picasa will only see folders that have at least one photo in them or in a subfolder.

  • Remember that you should make a new backup after the reorganization is complete.

Tree View and Flat Folder View

Tree View

It is suggested to set the Picasa Folder View to Tree View while working with folders

• • This view shows the folder tree structure in the same way as Windows Explorer

  • You can see parent folders even if they only have subdirectories.

Setting the Folder View to Tree View before working with and moving folders:

• 1. Find the Folder View buttons in the upper left on the Picasa Screen.

  2. Click on the Folder Tree View button (middle button) to select tree view.

  3. Click on the View Options button (right button) and select Sort By Name so the folder tree will be in folder name order.

Flat Folder View

• • Flat Folder View shows the Picasa special collections such as Exports, Projects, and Hidden Folders.

  • Flat Folder View arranges folders by date or name without regard to where they are on the PC.

    1. Find the Folder View buttons in the upper left on the Picasa Screen.

    2. Click on the Flat Folder View button (left button) to select flat folder view.

    3. Click on the View Options button (right button) and select your preferred sort order.

       • Sort By Name so the folders will be in folder name order.

       • Sort By Date so the folders will be in order by date.

       • You can also Reverse Sort if you want the latest Dates or Names first.

How to move photos between folders in Picasa

Photos are moved out of the From folder and into the To folder

(The "From" folder is the folder where you are moving from. The "To" folder is the folder you are moving to.)

Move pictures using drag & drop

• • 1. Select the photos to be moved in the "From" folder

    2. In the Folders collection on the left side, move the scroll bar up or down so the "To" Folder is visible. Don't click on it!

    3. Left-click and hold one of the selected photos, then drag the photos onto the folder name of the "To" folder.

    4. When the Mouse Pointer is on the To folder release the mouse button.

    5. The selected Photos will move to the end of the "To" folder.

Move pictures by cutting & pasting

• • 1. Select the photos to be moved in the "From" folder.

    2. In the Edit menu, select "Cut" or type the Key sequence Ctrl+X (hold down the Ctrl key and press the X key).

    3. In the Folders collection on the left side, move the scroll bar up or down so the "To" folder is visible, then left-click on the "To" folder.

    4. ,In the Edit. menu, select "Paste" or type the Key sequence Ctrl+V (Hold down the Ctrl key and press the V key).

    5. The selected Photos will move to the end of the "To" folder.

How to copy photos between folders in Picasa

The Photos are copied from the From folder and the copy is placed into the To folder

(The "From" folder is the folder where you are copying from. The "To" folder is the folder you are copying to.)

Copy pictures by the copy & paste method

• • 1. Select the Photos to be copied in the "From" folder.

    2. In the Edit menu, select "Copy" or type the key sequence Ctrl+C (hold down the Ctrl key and press the C key).

    3. In the Folders collection on the left side, move the scroll bar up or down so the "To" folder is visible, then left-click on the "To" folder.

    4. In the Edit. menu, select "Paste" or type the key sequence Ctrl+V (hold down the Ctrl key and press the V key).

    5. The selected Photos will be copied to the end of the "To" folder and the originals will still be in the "From" folder.

Copy pictures by the drag & Ctrl-drop method

• • 1. Select the photos to be copied in the "From" folder.

    2. In the Folders collection on the left side, move the scroll bar up or down so the "To" folder is visible. Don't click on it!

    3. Left-click on one of the selected photos and hold the mouse button down

    4. Start dragging photos and then hold down the Ctrl button and drag them onto the folder name of the "To" folder.

    5. When the mouse pointer is on the "To" folder, release the mouse button.

    6. The selected photos will be copied to the end of the "To" folder.

Copy pictures from multiple folders by selecting them in the tray so they are copied to the "To" folder from various "From" folders

• • 1. Select the photos to be copied in the "From" folder and pin them to the tray with the green stick-pin (thumbtack) to the right of the tray.

    2. Select photos from other folders and pin them into the tray as you wish.

    3. After you have all the photos pinned in the tray, use the mouse to draw a box around all the photos in the tray so they are all outlined in Blue to select them.

    4. In the Edit menu, select "Copy" or type the key sequence Ctrl+C (hold down the Ctrl key and push the C key). The blue outlines in the tray will no long appear, and no additional photos should appear in the tray.

    5. In the Folders collection on the left side, move the scroll bar up or down so the "To" folder is visible, then left-click on the "To" folder.

    6. In the Edit menu, select "Paste" or type the key sequence Ctrl+V (hold down the Ctrl key and push the V key).

    7. The selected photos will be copied to the end of the "To" folder and the originals will still be in the "From" folder(s).

    8. After the photos are copied into the new folder, clear the tray of photos using the red circle to the right of the tray. This is necessary so things are set up properly for next time.

Copy pictures from multiple folders by putting them in a "blue" album, then copying them so they are copied to the "To" folder from various "From" folders:

• • 1. Select photos from a folder and add them to an album (new or existing).

    2. Select photos from other folders and add them to the album as you wish.

    3. After you have all the photos you want in the album, select all the photos in the album you want to copy, or copy all using Ctrl+A to select all.

    4. Go to the Edit menu and click "Copy" or type Ctrl+C.

    5. Go to the folder you want to copy to, then go to the Edit menu and select "Paste" or type Ctrl+V.

    6. The selected photos will be copied to the end of the "To" folder and the originals will still be in the Album and the "From" folder(s).

    7. If you wish, you can delete the Album now because it was just a place holder for the photos to be duplicated.

Three ways to create new folders in Picasa

Move pictures to new folder

• • 1. The best and easiest way to create a new folder is to select one or more photos you want to move to the new folder.

    2. Right-click on the selected photo and select "Move to New Folder".

    3. Picasa will give you a folder properties box where you can name the folder.

    4. Give the folder a name (and date it if you want) and select Ok.

    5. The new folder will be created and the selected photo(s) will be moved to it.

    6. Drag and drop any other photos you want to the new folder.

Split folder

• • 1. A folder contains photos that you want to be in different new folders.

    2. Arrange the photos in the folder by date or name or dragging so they are grouped together.

    3. Go to the first photo in the last group and right-click on the photo and select "Split Folder Here"

    4. Picasa will give you a folder properties box where you can name the folder.

    5. Give the folder a name (and date it if you want) and select Ok.

    6. The new folder will be created and the selected photo and all photos below it will be moved to the new folder.

    7. You can then drag and drop any other photos you want to the folder.

Create a new folder from scratch

• • 1. Select a Photo (any Photo) and go to File Menu > "Save a Copy" to create an extra photo at the end of the folder.

    2. Hit the End key to go to the bottom of the folder.

    3. Right-click on the copied photo and select "Move to New Folder" (This photo is a placeholder and may be deleted later.)

    4. Picasa will show folder properties box where you can name the folder.

    5. Give the folder a name (and date, if desired) and select OK.

    6. The new folder will be created and will be visible in Picasa. It will contain just the placeholder photo that was copied earlier.

    7. Drag and drop the other photos you want there to the folder.

    8. The placeholder photo can be deleted if you wish.

Renaming folders

Folder Names in Picasa are the Windows Folder name as seen in the Windows folder manager Windows Explorer. The main difference between the two is that Picasa doesn't show any folders that don't contain at least one photo. If Picasa is running and watching a folder, any changes to a folder name will be instantly updated in the Picasa database.

There are 2 ways to rename folders while keeping the Picasa database updated:

Rename the folder in Picasa

• • 1. Select the folder to be renamed in the Folders collection in the left column in Picasa.

    2. Right-click on the selected folder and select "Edit Folder Description..." or double-click on the folder.

    3. Picasa will give you a folder properties box where you can rename the folder.

    4. Give the folder a name (and change the date if you want) and select OK.

    5. The folder will be renamed both in Picasa and Windows, and the database will be updated.

Rename the folder in Windows File Explorer while Picasa is running and "watching" the folder

• • 1. Start Picasa and make sure it is running.

    2. Start Windows File Explorer.

    3. Select the folder to be renamed in Windows File Explorer using the normal commands for your Windows version.

    4. Rename the folder in Windows File Explorer using the normal commands for your Windows version.

    5. The folder will be renamed both in Picasa and Windows, and the Picasa database will be updated.

Arranging folders into a "tree"

A good way to arrange your photos on the computer is to have a main folder that contains all your photos. Inside the main folder will be subfolders that contain the photos either in further subfolders or as photos. Example:

• Main folder is My Pictures / Picture which is the normal picture folder in Windows.
• My Pictures contains subfolders such as Vacations, Work, and Home
• The Vacations subfolder might contain Trip to Rome 2020, Yosemite Park 1998, etc.
• Some of those might be further broken down. The Trip to Rome 2020 might have a subfolder Vatican Visit, Hotel, etc.

Create the folder tree for the above example:

• • 1. Determine the lowest level folder name (furthest down in the tree). In the above example it is Vatican Visit.

    2. Create a folder called Vatican Visit, or rename an existing folder if necessary with at least one photo.

    3. Right-click on the Vatican Visit folder and select Move Folder.

    4. A "Browse for Folder" box will come up pointed at the last folder you moved or created.

    5. For our example, browse and find the My Pictures folder and click on it to highlight it.

    6. Click the "Make New Folder" button, and a subfolder of My Pictures called New Folder will appear highlighted.

    7. Rename the new folder (for our example) to Vacations, and after renaming click on the folder icon in front of it to select it.

       1. This creates the folder called Vacations in the Pictures folder.

    8. With the Vacations folder selected, click the "Make New Folder" button again and rename the new folder to Trip to Rome 2020

    9. We have now created the folder tree for Vatican Visit and any other folders going inside Trip to Rome.

    10. Click the OK button in the "Browse For Folder" box to complete moving the Vatican Visit folder into the My Pictures\Vacations\Trip To Rome 2020\ path.

    11. Create A Yosemite Park 1998 folder and subfolders for that vacation, then move it to the Vacations folder.

    12. Continue moving folders to whatever branch they belong or create more branches as required.

Cleanup after moving and deleting photos and folders:

When a folder contains no photos and no subfolders, it becomes "invisible" in Picasa. Picasa will not display the empty folder. If you have moved all photos out of a folder in Picasa, the folder will only be visible using Windows File Explorer.

Open Windows File Explorer and browse the My Pictures / Pictures folder (or wherever you store photos):

• • 1. For each subfolder in the My Pictures folder, browse into the subfolders until you reach the lowest level subfolders.

    2. Open each lowest level subfolder and if it is empty, delete it.

    3. If the next level up subfolder is also empty, delete it, too.

    4. Repeat for each subfolder chain.

    5. Don't delete any folders or subfolders that have photos in them.

More information:

How to maintain photo order in folders and albums and how to use the Export button:
https://sites.google.com/site/picasaresources/picasa/how-to-maintain-photo-order-in-folders-and-albums