Time for another FREE tool from Google for the Monday Hack – Picasa.

Picasa is software for organizing and editing photos. While there are more powerful programs available, Picasa is easy to use and integrates seamlessly with other free Google products.Picasa_1187057475453_2

Here is how I use Picasa in my ministry.

1. I “tag” or “keyword” photos. Suppose I find a great picture that you may want to use in a powerpoint file some day but have no use for right now, What do I do? Using Picasa, I select the photo, push ctrl + K, and add key words to a photo to find quickly in the future via the search box. So, if I find a great picture that communicates anger, I tag it with the word “anger”, and can find it later by typing “anger”.

2. I upload photos to a mission trip blogs. All I do is connect Picasa to my “Blogger” blog, push a button, and they are on the blog.

3. I create slide shows of events for web pages. If you upload pictures to a web album, all you have to do is cut and past a script and you will have your slide show up on a web site. It is a breeze to keep current photos on a web site.

4. I e-mail photos directly from the program. Because it is a visual interface, it is easy to find the photo I want. Picasa has great looking thumbnails that I can browse through quickly and easily…across multiple folders. Picasa connects to Gmail or a desktop e-mail software for push button mailing.

5. I “power sort” pictures. Suppose you have pictures on your camera from multiple events, what do you do to organize them? You can download to one folder and cut and paste between folders. You can download to one folder and then just browse through in a time consuming manner to find the one you want. Or, use Picasa to move them around quickly and easily. I use Picasa.

6. I edit pictures. Recently I was putting together a slide show of our vacation Bible school and had a picture with one kid who looked great and another who looked scared. In seconds I was able to crop the picture, save it, and have a perfect picture to use. Simple editing is a snap.

I use Picasa at home and at the office and have been very happy with it. If you want to do heavy duty editing, this is probably not for you. However, if you editing needs are simple, Picasa is a no-brainer because it sorts and finds with the power of Google.