Moderated by: George Chandler
- Is there a place on the website that gives a little explanation of everything on the club stick for the novice?
- Yes, go to the Brighton Computer Club website, check under 'Software', it explains what it is. Also, under 'Showtime' it may show you how it works.
- Has Panda Cloud had all the kinks taken care of and is it now (or will it be soon) safe to load on my computer.
- Janice said there will always be 'kinks' but yes it is safe to load.
- While working with my computer, it suddenly shuts down. There has not been a power cut. The desk lamp didn't even flicker. This happens whether I am using the internet or not. For some time the fan was very noisy but it seems quieter now. If the fan is defective would it cause the machine to shut down? Could Panda Cloud be at fault? We are on dial up.
- It sounds like your fan has quit working and if the computer heats up it will shut down to save the motherboard. You need to check this out a.s.a.p. Put your hand at the back and top of your desktop. You should feel air. That is the power supply fan. A computer shop can replace for $15 plus labour.
Tom suggested the computer could be dirty - remove the side panel and try blowing out the computer with a vacuum cleaner or spray can for computers. Especially if you have pets, there could be a lot of hair and dust in the computer. There are spray can products which are available for approx. $5.00 to blow air into the computer and help clean them out. - If I wish to save a picture that is part of an email, I place the cursor on the picture, right click, then click on "Save Picture As". I then open Picasa and I see the picture downloading. The picture also appears in FastStone Image Viewer. For the past week or so, the picture no longer automatically goes to these photo programs. Sometimes I will find them by going to My Computer, My Documents, My Pictures. But I cannot transfer the picture to Picasa or FastStone. Any idea what I have done to put a Gremlin in the works? I did uninstall Picasa and then reinstall it from the club memory stick, but this hasn't solved the problem.
- First, a bit of background. Picasa does not copy or move your pictures - it does not "contain" your pictures.
Picasa does not "have" your pictures anyplace. It works with them wherever they are on your computer. It simply monitors and edits pictures you have in folders on your PC. Therefore, for example, if you delete a photo from a folder using Win Explorer, don't expect to find it in Picasa - it's gone from Picasa also.
Picasa will automatically scan specified folders on your hard drive for new images. Once Picasa finds them, it will insert a small thumbnail image in the Picasa Library window. Therefore, to allow Picasa to recognize a new image you must determine which folder(s) Picasa is "watching" and ensure that you download new images to that folder.
How to determine which folder Picasa is "watching":
In Picasa left click on "Tools" in the toolbar, then left click on "Folder Manager" in the dropdown menu that opens.
The "Folder Manager" window opens and gives you several folder options to select for Picasa to "watch".
Write down the full name and location of the folder you have selected 'cuz that is where you will place pictures from emails.
How to download pictures from emails:
I believe this procedure works with both Vista and XP:
Right click on the image in the email or the attachment file.
A window opens titled "Save picture". In the first option box at the upper left select data drive "C" and the name of the folder you have recorded above.
A thumbnail of the downloaded image will now appear in the Picasa Library.
When adding photos from your camera, have them go into that "watched" folder. Charlie's Canon camera has a default to My Pictures. Be sure to check your default settings. - When I edit pictures using Picasa I cannot find the edited image. It does not appear in Picasa next to the original image.
- The original image downloaded from your camera remains in the folder on your harddrive -- where you put it (see question #4).
- The Picasa Library displays a thumbnail of the original image.
- When you edit an image, Picasa stores the edits in a hidden ".ini" file. The Picasa Library then displays the edited image (which it creates by applying the content of the ".ini" file to the original image.
Several forum writers point out that because of this there is no need to "save" an edited image. Saving creates another image file and thus takes up hard drive space. - If you do wish to save an image - see the Saving Edits: Saving photos section below for alternatives.
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There is a lot of confusion about how Picasa handles the original image and the edited image. I'll summarize my understanding of what Picasa does when editing and saving an edited image.
As a result of this method of handling images and edits the Picasa Library shows a thumbnail of the edited image, but not the original.
I strongly suggest you read the help files and questions on the Picasa Forum re edits and whether edited pictures even need to be "saved".
Here are a couple of forum entries --
If you do editing in Picasa, it remembers all the edits you have done for each photo and stores them in a Picasa data file (cute little hidden "ini" files that it stores in your folders).
Whenever you do anything in Picasa, like emailing, printing, exporting, it applies the edits to the originals before doing anything.
Now if you tell Picasa to save the edits, either by using File - Save (CTRL-S) in the Edit screen or by clicking the disk icon next to the folder name in the Library screen, Picasa saves the originals away in a special folder and then applies the edits to your original pictures.
There is no reason to save or export your edited photos to make them "safe". The only reason to do that is if you want to use your edited photos in some other application.
Below is some material from the Picassa Help page.
The Save to Disk button appears in the folder or album header when you've made edits to a photo included therein. This option is useful to save changes to all photos in a folder or album at one time.
Saving Edits: Saving photos
Picasa is designed to keep your original photos safe when you save your photo edits. This is done by creating a new JPEG file that's a copy of the original with your edits applied. The original photo is never altered, but depending on how you save the file, its location on your hard drive may change. Here's a brief overview of the different save options in Picasa, based on how they affect the location of your original photos.
Move your original photo
When you use the Save to Disk and the File >
Save options, Picasa creates a copy of your photo with all edits
applied and moves the original to a subfolder called '.picasaoriginals'.
This subfolder is hidden on your computer and isn't visible in Picasa. This
automatic backup lets you undo or
revert your saves.
The Save to Disk button appears in the folder or
album header when you've made edits to a photo included therein. This option is
useful to save changes to all photos in a folder or album at one time.
Alternatively, use the Save option to save
changes on an individual picture (or a group of pictures that you select). To
save your edited photo, you can select the photo and then select File
> Save.
Keep your original photo in its current location
Unlike Save to Disk and the File > Save function, the following options don't move your original photos. These options create and save a new copy of your photo with all edits applied, leaving your original photo unmoved. The new copy with edits applied is saved to a different location depending on the option you choose.
Export
If you'd like to easily create edited copies of a
large number of pictures, you can export your photos to a location of your
choice. When you export your
photos, you can resize your photos and control the JPEG compression level
when applying photo edits.
File > Save a Copy
This option automatically exports a copy of the
original photo, including all edits applied, into the same folder. The photo's
filename will have '-1' appended to the end to distinguish it from the
original. Select the photo, and click File > Save a Copy.
File > Save As
This option is similar to Save a Copy
by creating a copy of the original photo with all edits applied, but lets you
specify the filename and location of the new copy before saving the file. To
access this option, select the photo, and click File > Save as.
When you save a copy, Picasa tries to match the JPEG quality level of the original photo. Picasa's default JPEG quality level is 85%, and will be applied if it's unable to determine JPEG quality. If you are saving a non-JPEG photo, it will be converted and saved as a JPEG.