How to rename picture files in Picasa-desktop

This article is about re-naming files from within Picasa-desktop, to provide SEO benefits for your blog.

Picasa's desktop software is a good tool for organizing and editing photos on your local computer.   And it is still available for you to use, even though Picasa-web-albums has been replaced by Google Albums + Google Album Archive.

For pictures that are important in your blog, I still recommend preparing them in a tool like Picasa-desktop and then uploading the finished versions to Google Photos before putting them into a post, because:

• The desktop tool has better editing tools (cropping, zooming, auto adjustment, adding watermarks) and Picasa-web-albums does.

• It lets you control the size of the uploaded file

• It's easier to ensure sure that you still have full-size files on my local machine for printing etc, as well as smaller, more optimized, copies to use on web-pages.

Picasa-desktop folders have a very nice relationship with files and directories with the Windows file system:

Each Picasa folder = one directory on your computer
Each Picasa photo = one file on your computer.

And this means that you can set various properties (eg file name) from either inside Picasa or from Windows.

Ways to associate keywords with photos in Picasa-desktop

Picasa-desktop has two tools for adding keywords to photographs:

• You can enter a caption for each photo. This is basically some text, which is stored "inside" the photo, in a hidden-field that is only visible when you are using a software tool that displays the captions. (In technical terms, the caption is stored inside the  IPTC/XMP Description field inside the JPEG etc file that you have.)

• You can enter one or more tags for each photo - again, text (individual words or phrases) that is stored in the  IPTC/XMP Keyword field.

Unfortunately captions and tags aren't shown when you put a photo in your blog.

This means that the captions and tags are possibly not used by Google in understanding what the photo is about: I've never heard any SEO experts recommending that the  IPTC/XMP fields should be keyword optimized.   For some bloggers this won't be an issue - but it is if SEO is important for you blog.

Another approach is to put the keyword(s) into the file-name, because file-name is one of the factors that Google looks at when it is indexing images.   And this has a nice spin-off for you as well - it means that they keywords are available to any file-search tools that you use on your computer, not just to specialised ones that work with images.

For a long time, I believed that to change the name of a file, I had to go out to my Windows files (using Windows Explorer or similar, and rename them there) - and then wait for Picasa to catch up with the change that I'd made in the file system.   But one day I accidentally hit the F2 key, and found that it opens up a very useful dialog box indeed.

How to Change the name of a file in Picasa desktop

Navigate to the picture that you want to change the file-name for, using the Picasa-desktop software.

Press the F2 key. This opens a Rename Files window.

Type in a new name for the file, for example    concrete-pig-outside-butcher-shop-in-ireland

Click the option buttons if you want to include today's date or the file-resolution in the name  (I don't usually do this, because I organise my photos into folders according to the date they were taken)

Click Rename to save the change


Job done!    The file has a new name in your computer's file system, and is still loaded in your Picasa database.

How to change the name of a file in Google Album Archive or Google Photos

Currently there is no way to change the name of a file after it is uploaded it to either Google Album Archive or Google Photos:  .

One option is to download the photo, rename the file on your desktop, and re-upload it.   But if you change the name in this way, you also need to change the link to the file in every place that it has already been used.   That said, if you only use your photos in one place each, then making a new copy with a different name, uploading it and changing all the existing links can be a good way to deal with copyright theives who have hot-linked directly to your photos.

How to choose "good" names for your picture files

Early SEO advice was to use:

• Lowercase letters only (some computers don't like uppercase)
• Only hyphens between words (not spaces, underscores, etc)
• Regular characters only (no á é etc)

Today, I'm not sure if it matters so much. In most cases, it's probably more important to use rich, descriptive key words  that describe all the aspects of the photo, than to worry about how they're laid out.   But I do tend to follow the advice anyway - just in case.

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Related Articles

How to show your photos in a slideshow from Picasa

Does SEO matter for your blog?

How to put a picture into your blog.

Understanding Picasa-desktop vs Picasa-web-albums

Taking action when someone has copied your blog without permission

How to use Picasa-web-albums without being re-directed - August 2016 update

This article explains what has happened to Picasa-web-albums, why it is now re-directing to Google Album Archive, and what you can do about it.

Back in July 2013, I described how many people who started Picasa-web-albums were being immediately re-directed to Google+ photos and what they could to to return to using PWA again without being re-directed.

Quite a few things have changed in the last three years - and especially in the last six months or so.   In particular, Google have:

• Changed their strategy around Google+
• Released Google Photos and retired Google+ Photos
• Changed the Picasa-web-albums re-direct to go to Google Photos instead of Google+ Photos
• Stopped supporting Picasa (announcement)
• Stopped supporting Picasa-web-albums (announcement)
• Released a new tool called Google Album Archive, which gives you access to photos, photo-albums and data about photos that you created in Blogger (and other Google tools) - which isn't available in Google Photos.
• Changed the re-direct on Picasa-web-albums, so that it goes to Google Album Archive instead of to  Google Photos.

That is why you see this:

Instead of this:

when you go to www.picasaweb.google.com.

How to stop Picasa-web-albums from re-directing to Google Album Archive

Bad news:    As Google's Album Archive product is turned on around the world, and specifically once it is turned on for your, there is no way to to use Picasa-web-albums, without being sent to Google Album Archive.

Our only option is to use to Google Photos directly, or to work with pictures only through Blogger's post-editor.

Is there a problem with using Google Album Archive and Google Photos instead of Picasa-web-albums?

There are posts on help-forums etc from people who are unhappy about this change:   Picasa-web-albums and Picasa-desktop had a number of features which Google have simply decided not to provide in Google Photos.   These features include:

• Making slideshows and putting them into blog-posts or websites.
• Embedding Picasa Web albums and photos in blog-posts or websites.
• Linking to photos, albums, and Public Galleries which an URL that contains your usename 
• Photo tags, tagging people, likes, +1's, and Picasa Web comments. 
• Making slideshows.
• Following people based soley on their photo collection
• Viewing public galleries.

People who used those features didn't want to lose them, and they certainly see a problem with the changes.  Personally, I think that things are a little more nuanced.  

• There is one particular missing feature (not listed above that I'm annoyed to have lost - but I've found a work around, and will be writing a post showing how to use it as soon as I've finished this one.
• There is a lot of detail behind what you can and cannot do in Album Archive - and why certain actions are and aren't available.   This isn't always consistent with the documentation - eg the documentation says that we can delete photos in Album Archive, but I've got at least one album / photo with no delete icon showing.   Other people have reported that they had albums which aren't showing up in their Album Archive.     Some are unhappy because they cannot create new albums, only work with ones that they've already made.    

But for all that, I haven't yet found a total show-stopper issue that stops me from using the Google tools to work with images for my blogs.    Have you?

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Related Articles

Using Picasa-web-albums without being re-directed to Google Photos.

What was Picasa vs Picasa-web-albums - a basic introduction

Options for showing photos in Blogger

How to find the URL for a picture in Google Photos

This article describes how to get the URL or internet address of a picture in Google Photos, and the difference between Google's shareable links and URLs.

Google Photos is a tool that help bloggers (and everyone else) to manage their picture collections. It replaces Google+ Photos, and works alongside Picasa-web-albums.   You can read more about it here.

In Google Photos, there are two different types of web-address for a photo.

• One is the URL, and this can be used to refer to pictures from Blogger, or from other tools that want a link that just shows the photo, eg Twitter, Google Maps.  This is the traditional style of internet-address for a photo.

• The other is the shareable link.   This is what Google Photos provides from the Share function.   Shareable links can be used in Facebook, and other places where the photo that is being shared is displayed within a web-display, rather than just as a picture.   (Ref:  How to make and manage shareable links in Google Photos.)

Unfortunately shareable links cannot be used in many applications.  This is because they don't just show the picture.   Instead they load a display showing the picture-date, the name and picture of the person who is logged in to Google at the time, and any other pictures that you have included in the same shareable link.

If you want to use an image from Google Photos in a tool which cannot use shareable links, you need to find it's URL, instead.   At the moment, Google Photos doesn't have a way to get this - but luckily it's easy enough to find.

How to get the URL or web-address of a photo in Google Photos, using your computer

Log in to Google Photos

Navigate to the picture that you want to get the link for.  

Click on the picture, so you see it in full screen mode.

Right click on the body of the photo and choose the "copy link" command from the menu that pops up where you clicked.  

The exact wording of this command varies between browsers on operating system.   For example in Chrome / Windows 8, it is simply "Copy Image URL"

In Internet Explorer 11 / Windows 8, you need to choose Properties from the pop-up menu, and then copy the value from the URL-field in the window that opens

Job done! The URL for the photo which you were looking at is now in your computer's memory, and you can paste it (with ctrl/v or Edit > Paste) into any other place that wants it - for example Blogger's photo-insert wizard, or an email message or discussion forum or chat window.

The URL from your address bar doesn't work

You may be tempted to just copy and paste the URL from the address-bar in your browser. And this will work for you.

But if someone else (or you, when you are not logged in to the same Google account) tries to use it, they will get either:

• A 404 error (if you are logged in to a different Google account), or

• Invited to log in to your Google account - followed by a 404 error if the Google account you log in to is not the one that owns the picture.

How to get the URL or web-address of a photo in Google Photos, using your phone (Android or iOS)

Unfortunately I have not managed to find a way to get photogrpah URL (rather than the shareable link) from my smartphone as yet.

If you can suggest any ways to do this, please leave a comment below.

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Where to find more information

Introducing Google Photos:  how does it compare to Google Plus Photos and Picasa-web-albums

How to change the date of a picture in Google Photos

How to get the shareable link for one or more pictures in Google Photos

Putting pictures and text side-by-side in blog-posts

How to share pictures from Google Photos, using shareable-links

This article describes how to get a link to one ore more photos from your Google Photos collection, using the Shareable Link controls.   It also explains how to delete shareable links that you have made in the past

Google Photos is a tool for managing picture collections. It replaces Google+ Photos, and works alongside Picasa-web-albums.   You can read more about it here.

Shareable Links are a new type of linking introduced in Google Photos, which let you easily share one or more pictures at the same time.   You can email them, or use them in tools like Facebook.

When someone opens a shareable link, they see a display with the date, the name and picture of the person who is logged in to Google at the time, and all the pictures that are included in the same shareable link.

If you want to use an image from Google Photos in a tool which cannot use shareable links, you need to find the URL for the photo, instead.

How to get the shareable link for one photo in Google Photos

Log in to Google Photos

Navigate to the picture that you want to get the link for.  

Click on the picture, so you see it in full screen mode.

Hover your mouse towards the top-right of the screen, and you will see some control show up: these are quite small, and are white (so may be harder to see against some backgrounds).

One of the controls is the Share icon:  it looks like a side-ways triangle with one bar missing.     Click it.

In the Share pop-up that opens, click "Get shareable link"

Wait while Photos generates a link.

When it is finished, copy the link text.  
(Ctrl/c on the keyboard is the easiest way to do this, since the text is automatically selected).

Job done! The display address for the photo which you were looking at is in your computer's memory, and you can paste it (with ctrl/v or Edit > Paste) into any other place that wants it (eg Facebook, in an email message, or something that will accept an address which displays the photo inside a "wrapper" of some sort.  s photo-insert wizard, or an email message or discussion forum or chat window).

How to get the shareable link for more than one picture

You can share several (or lots) of photos with someone by just giving them one web-address, which opens up a screen with all the photos.

 To do this:

Click the small selection icon (tick) at the top left hand side of each picture that you want to include.
(Once a photo is selected, the icon shows as blue, and there is a border around the picture).

Hover your mouse towards the top-right of the screen, and you will see some control show up: these are quite small, and are white (so may be harder to see against some backgrounds).

Click the Share control icon:  it is the one that the arrow is pointing to in the picture just above this.

Continue in the same way as for getting a shareable link to an individual photo (ie the section above)

What does the Delete link do

You may have noticed that there is a delete function on the Shareable link screen.

If you click it, then you are given the chance to delete any existing links to the currently selected group of photos.

This doesn't seem to make any sense at the time when you are first making the link.

But it also works later on:  if you have the same photos selected and choose to get the shareable link again, you will get the same link - and you may delete it instead.

This does not delete the photos themselves, just the previous link to the currently-selected group of photos.   If anyone (or anything, eg Facebook) tries to use that link again, they will get an error message instead.

Another way to delete links is from the left-side menu in Photos:  Choosing  More > Shared links shows you al list of all shareable links you have ever made, and then for each one you can either copy the link or delete it.

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Where to find more information

Introduction to Google Photos

How to put a picture into a post in Blogger

How to change the date of a photograph in Google Photos

This article shows how to change the date associated with a picture in Google Photos.

Update- August 2015

There is now a feature to change the date of individual pictures or videos in Google Photos.

To use it:

• Navigate to the picture / video you want to set a new date for
• Click the "information" icon (small "i" currently near the top-right of the photo viewer screen)
• In the right hand panel, hover your mouse over the item in Details which has a picture of a calendar beside it.
• Click on the pen icon which appears while you are hovering
• Enter the new year, month, date and/or time (in 24-hour clock) for your photo or video.
• Click Save.

Job Done!   You have now changed the date stored with your image or video.

There are still some photos that you cannot see through Google Photos (eg ones uploaded directly through Blogger with some settings, or shared in Google Hangouts).   For these you need to use the date-editing features in Picasa-web-albums, which are described below.

Original Article

When you open Google Photos by default you see the All Photos tab, which shows every picture in your Google account, sorted by the date on which the picture was taken, with the newest at the top.

This works well for recent photos that were taken with smartphones, and so most likely have the correct date-time attached to them.

But for older photos, that were added to Google in bulk when you finally uploaded them from your camera's memory card, the attached date may not be right.

It's even possible to have some photos with no date attached to them - and it looks like Google Photos, very confusingly, shows a nominal date figure in 2075 for these.

One way to avoid the confusion caused by these wrong dates is just to use the Collections tab to view your pictures, and to put photos with the wrong dates into appropriate collections (aka albums) yourself.

But if you want to keep using the All Photos view, you may want to alter the date for some of your  individual photographs, so they show up in the right order.

How to change the date for a picture in Google Photos

Unfortunately Google Photos doesn't have a feature for doign this (yet).   But you can adjust the date assocaited with with a picture by using Picasa Web Albums - provided you have at least some aspects of a Google+ profile (eg a Google+ Page) associated with your Google account.

Follow these steps:

Go to Picasa Web Albums, using the no-re-direct link: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/myphotos?noredirect=1

Find the album that the photo(s) you want to change are in

Click on the album - this will open the album, and display each picture in it.

Click on the photo you whose date you want to change.

From the menu bar, choose Actions > Edit on Google+.   This opens the photo in Google+'s photo viewer mode.

Click on the drop-down beside Photo Details in the right hand information bar.

Use the options in the pop-up window to choose the correct date, time and even time-zone.

Click Save


Job Done! If you now look at the picture in Google Photos, you will see if with your newly changed date associated with it.

What if you don't have Google+

If Edit in Google+ is greyed out and cannot be selected, then this means you do not have Google+ associated with your Google account.

 The only work-around for this currently is to share the photo (from Google Photos) with another Google account that does have Google+, and use that to change the date.

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Where to get more information

Introducing Google Photos - another tool for managing your photo collection.

Understanding Picasa desktop vs Picasa-web-albums

All about Google accounts

Blogger and Google Photos - what's changed, and what hasn't (yet)

This article gives a brief introduction to Google Photos, and how it relates to both Blogger and Google+ Photos.

Google's recent announcement of Google Photos opens the door for Blogger to make some improvements to how it works with pictures.

Why? Well Google+Photos simply wasn't a way forward.   Too many Blogger users chose not to "upgrade" their Google accounts to Google+ accounts, so it wasn't possible for Blogger to force Google+ features on everyone. And that was even after they removed the rule about one G+ account per person, and allowed Google+ Pages to be turned into stand alone accounts with their own passwords.

However Google Photos is basically Google+ Photos, without the need to have a "plus" account, and with some other nice features, like

• Free picture and video storage (any number of pictures, provided they aren't "too big"), 
• Image recognition and search
• Sorting pictures by date, but giving options for you to group them into albums

Read more about these Google Photos options here.  

This means it will be possible for Google to replace Picasa-web-albums features with Google Photos features at some time in the future, even if they're not ready to do this yet.

What's changed - and what hasn't (yet)?

So far, I haven't noticed any changes to the photo-upload or image-choice features in Blogger.

There's still an upload option, there's still a tab to choose photos from Picasa and one for your phone - and I don't know what the criteria for showing photos in the latter tab is, but it's certainly not listing all the photos I've taken from my phone.

I am expecting they will change to become more Google-Photos-esque, sooner or later.

But for now, though, not that much has changed.

Your Google account still only has one collection of pictures.

Your pictures may be photographs you have taken or other image files that you have created and uploaded (eg like the thumbnail picture that I constructed for this post).

As well as the various mobile phone applications (official ones for iOS and Android, unofficial ones from various other companies), there is now one more (to make six) pieces of desktop software or websites from Google that you can use to manage (aspects of) your picture collection:

• Google Photos: https://photos.google.com (website)
• Google Photos app: https://photos.google.com/apps - and choose Desktop Uploader  (program)
• Google+ Photos: https://plus.google.com/photos/    (website)
• Picasa Web Albums: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/myphotos?noredirect=1   (website)
• Google Drive https://drive.google.com - and choose My Drive from the left-side tab
• Picasa Desktop - get it from https://picasa.google.com

Note:   Even though you only have one photo collection, each tool may need to build it's own "index" (or whatever it calls it) to work with your photos.  Making all your photos (especially the historic ones) available in each tool might take a while to do: For example, not all my photos are visible on Drive yet: when I scroll to the bottom of the display I get a message saying "Stay tuned, your older photos are coming soon" - and looking at what is displayed, it's only photos that I have posted from my current smartphone (not the old one) to one particular blog.

And the tools don't all do the same things. In particular, there are features like albums and slideshows are still best done from Picasa (more info here: http://picasageeks.com/2015/05/google-photos-announcementthis-is-big/) - and  Picasa Desktop's photo editing tools are still vastly better.

Example of a photo editing effect which is possible in Picasa Desktop, but not in Google Photos

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Where to find more information

Google's official announcement

Google support article:  Using Google Drive to manage your photos

LifeHacker's summary of the features in Google Photos

Picasa-web-albums vs Picasa-desktop, what's the difference

Turning a Google+ Page into a stand-alone Google account

Picasageek's detailed description of Picasa vs Google Photos features