quick? picasa question

[jessjgh1]

My PSE organizer 'died' and i dont think i can work out a fix, plus i knew people seemed to have probs w it and many recommended picasa (among others) so I figured I'd switch to Picasa
I had been using picasa for JUST my scrapbook kits and the PSE organizer for my photos... can i somehow keep files "separate" like this if I just use Picasa? I seem to remember trying to figure out a way to do this before on my old laptop.

Is there a way to have 2 Picasa Files? Like one for just photos and one for just kits?

I could see if I had a home business and used my laptop for work and personal photos I'd probably want to maintain 2 separate "databases" so I don't think this is a crazy question?
Thanks!

Jessica

[lmilgram]

I use Picasa for both my photos and scrapping supplies.

To "separate" them, I utilize the Collections.
In the Folder Description I keep the url info for crediting and add specific keywords (CTRL+K) to elements as needed.

Doing this, I can search by color, designer name, designer number, kit number, element type etc...

I also try to name my photo folders in a meaningful way...usually the date "2009 09 10" and additional information in the folder description...location, event, people etc...

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_3NkHVlSDxTc/SqmPX9Ra-NI/AAAAAAAAEJg/-F9b1-mkcx8/s800/Picasa%203%209102009%2074332%20PM.jpg

[jessjgh1]

lmilgram
Thanks!
So do you manually assign each kit to a 'collection'... I can see many ways that could be useful- and endless ways to organize by collection for both kits and photos. from the screenshot it looks like your collections are kits, overlays, groupies, fonts, etc??? Is that right?
Unfortunately I really never played around with picasa when it was on my old laptop... I kinda liked it because I was able to find so much by just a simple search.

I apologize for having to ask and not playing around with picasa, but I'm stuck at the moment. I just installed picasa and it won't let me go any further w/o scanning. I'm wondering if I should temporarily move all my "kits" off the main drive so Picasa doesn't "find" them all when it runs the initial scan.
I wanted to delay the scan till I figure out what I'm doing.... I hit the wrong button after I installed and can't close the screen.
Figures, just something I'd do.
Jessica

[lmilgram]

lmilgram
Thanks!
So do you manually assign each kit to a 'collection'... I can see many ways that could be useful- and endless ways to organize by collection for both kits and photos. from the screenshot it looks like your collections are kits, overlays, groupies, fonts, etc??? Is that right?

Yes, it is a manual process and depending on how much "stuff" you have it could take a while to get set up initially. To add a folder to a collection, right-click on it and choose "add to collection" You can always reassign if you change your mind. I also use key words to find items...for instance I keep a collection for Word Art, but there is often word art included in a kit so I use a tag on the particular item to tag it as wordart and also the basic theme of the quote. I never separate items from a kit. Searches will help me find what I'm looking for.


Unfortunately I really never played around with picasa when it was on my old laptop... I kinda liked it because I was able to find so much by just a simple search.

I apologize for having to ask and not playing around with picasa, but I'm stuck at the moment. I just installed picasa and it won't let me go any further w/o scanning. I'm wondering if I should temporarily move all my "kits" off the main drive so Picasa doesn't "find" them all when it runs the initial scan.

You can choose which folders Picasa scans. go to Tools and Folder Manager. You might want to bring in your scrapping folders first so you can categorize them and then bring in your photos.

I wanted to delay the scan till I figure out what I'm doing.... I hit the wrong button after I installed and can't close the screen. (CTRL + ALT + DELETE and end the task)
Figures, just something I'd do.
Jessica

It's a bit of work to get organized but totally worth it.. Once you have a system it's easy to maintain as you add new items.