Your photos in a safe place. Backup strategies.

In the digital realm nothing exists unless it is in two places at once  This was one of the first things they told us in our first year of studies in computer programming in 1991.  Ask anyone who has had a hard drive crash and lost his photos and work, if it isn't in two places at once it is as good as not existing at all.  I've learned how true this statement is many years ago, and try to avoid loosing information at all cost.

One thing that comes up continually is people asking me about how exactly you would back up all your photos.  If you want to save your 10-15 mega pixel photos this post is probably not for you as in Picasa you can save for free up to 2048*2048.  This for me is big enough for backup purposes   This post is aimed at families that want to save and backup their photos to a safe place.


This post would be my attempt to explain it in the easiest terms.
Please not that I am going to update this post when I get my new Samsung galaxy phone.

So how does it work?
Up to date I have only found Picasa from Google to be really effective and fully free if you use it the way I explain here.  So I am only to discuss Picasa. If you do want to look at paid options there would probably be many, the easiest of one would be something like Box or DropBox. I have around 50 gigs worth of photos, and it is growing daily all backed up on Picasa.

What are you going to need?
1.gmail account (if you don't have one, just type in gmail in google search it would take you to a place where you can sign up very quickly.)






2.log into Picasa with your Gmail account.
   - where to find Picasa? Just type into google search Picassa Google, this will give you the URL link to Picasa
   - or click on this link http://picasaweb.google.com

3.download Picasa for your PC or Mac from this link :http://picasa.google.com/


4.install Picasa on your computer
5.let Picasa find your photos on your computer
   -Before you go any further I would suggest that you read the following it would take you about 5 min.
   https://support.google.com/picasa/answer/156338?hl=en&ref_topic=23911

   -How to tell Picasa what folders to look at for the photos on your computer: https://support.google.com/picasa/answer/156341?hl=en&ref_topic=23911

   -This overview tells you how Picasa is working with photos. Folders Albums and People.  I generally use my folders on my PC as it is much less confusing.  So what I see on my PC is what is on Picasa on my PC and Picasa on the web.  https://support.google.com/picasa/answer/156339?hl=en&ref_topic=23911

    -More features Sync to web is the main one..

Sync to Web: When you enable Sync to Web in Picasa for a folder or album, edits made to your photos in Picasa are reflected immediately in the corresponding album in Picasa Web Albums.

Please note that Picasa will not sync more than 1000 photos per album. So I suggest you divide directories per part of year. Ie. - 2012 Jan - Apr

6.log into Google via Picasa your PC - you sign in at the top right corner of the program.  You will see there is an option to sign into Google +. Here you put your Gmail account and password.  This will then automatically sign you into Picasa web.
7.once you have logged in, I picasa your PC when you click on the folder it will give you an option on the main streets sync to the web. Put the folders Sync to web "on" if you want them uploaded.  Because you are signed into Google+, Picasa will automatically sync this folder with Picasa on the Web.
8.Picasa will now ask you to change the size to max of 2048 by 2048 which is more than big enough for reprints. Select yes. If you want bigger than that Picasa would not be the right option as you only get 1 gig for free for larger than 2048 by 2048

One other great feature to keep in mind is that if you have a smartphone and have the Google+ app you can automatically sync every photo you take to your Google+ (Picasa) account.  This is great.  You set it to only upload when you are in a Wifi area to conserve bandwidth.  This is one of the easiest ways to get the photos off your camera, and backed up without you even having to do a thing.

What I do like about Google + is the way that you can share photos with people even if they are not part of Google + this means that you are in control and can do what you want. Just keep in mind that should you share one photo in a directory, that whole directory is open to the person you've shared with.  Hopefully Google will change this in the future.  There are other ways you can share photos depending on what you want, and what your needs are.  This article as I've stated before is more aimed at getting your photos backed up.

One of the great features of Picasa on your PC is the fact that it does facial recognition   This is great and scary and I would suggest that you try it out as it really simplifies life should you be looking for someone in your 20 000 photos.  You will be amazed at how accurate it becomes after a while.  I might put up a video about this at a later stage but I think people probably already put something up about this on Youtube.  Just type in Picasa 3 Tutorial Youtube in the Google search engine.

Should you follow this article and backup your photos you will be one of the few who actually have their digital photos in more than one place.

Some extra info on the software Picasa on your computer.

These are the other interesting stuff you can do with Picasa

If you've read this far, you're familiar with the basics of Picasa. As you become a power user, here are some of the features for you to explore:

	Resize photos: One of the most popular -- and most hidden -- features of Picasa is the ability to resize photos. Use the Export button to quickly resize your photos.
	Make a collage: Make a collage and share it with your friends and family. Experiment with six different types of collage, and maintain total control over your collage content and layout. To add this button to your photo tray, click Tools > Configure Buttons.
	Use Movie Maker: Combine your photos, videos, and music into a movie and upload it directly to YouTube. You can also trim existing video files. To add this button to your photo tray, click Tools > Configure Buttons.
	Upload to Blogger: Use the BlogThis! button to post photos directly from Picasa to Blogger. To add this button to your photo tray, click Tools > Configure Buttons.
	Print photos: Use the Print button to print your photos at home.
	Add tags: Tags are like keywords. By applying single or multiple-word tags in Picasa, you can quickly search and locate photos. The Tags tab offers quick tags, tag counts and the ability to manage your tags.
	Map photos: Use the Maps tab in Picasa to embed latitude and longitude information into the EXIF data of your photo file. This geographic data accompanies your photo when you upload it to Picasa Web Albums.
	Sync to Web: When you enable Sync to Web in Picasa for a folder or album, edits made to your photos in Picasa are reflected immediately in the corresponding album in Picasa Web Albums.
	Add captions: Adding captions can help tell the rest of the story. While editing a photo, click the text below that says 'Make a caption!'. Captions are displayed in Picasa, Picasa Web Albums, and other IPTC compatible programs.
	Back up your collection: Protect those precious memories. Use Picasa to back up your photos to an alternate drive or back up your photos to a CD or DVD.