Picasa Tutorials

Picasa Tip: Folders and Subfolders

The most common complaint I hear about Picasa is that you don’t like how it organizes your folders. I keep explaining that Picasa doesn’t do anything to your folders, it just sees the folders that exist in your ‘My Pictures’ area of Windows XP or Vista.

It finally dawned on me that what people objected to is the fact that they made folders and subfolders to organize their photos and yet, when they look at Picasa they don’t see the folders or subfolders in the order they made them.

Aha!

You need to understand the ‘Flat View’ vs. the ‘Tree View’ in Picasa. Although it’s true that Picasa does not *do* anything to your folders – it does display them in two very different ways. And the default way is Flat – which doesn’t look like the nested folders that you see when using Windows.

I’ve covered this before in the article Nested Folders. There is also a members-only Show-Me-How video that goes into depth on Tree View.

If you’ve ever made a collage, or captured a screen using Picasa 3, you’ve probably noticed the collection called ‘Projects.’ Collages are automatically saved in a folder called ‘Collages’ and it shows up in the Projects collection in the left sidebar.

That is … it shows up there *IF* you’re using the Flat Folder view. Notice the button that is circled in the screenshot above. If you’re using Tree view (the button just to the right of Flat View) then the Collages folder is forced to show up in it’s nested location under My Pictures\Picasa\Collages. It’s not much different than holding a hand of cards … you can put them in order by suit, or by rank – they’re still all in your hand!

The very first time I used Picasa – I also didn’t like how it flattened my folders. I have since learned to appreciate the flexibility of that view and I use it a lot. But, if I need to find a folder by knowing exactly where it is on my drive structure – all I have to do is click on the Tree View button.

Members can view the following Show-Me-How videos:
(oh and, by the way Membership is on sale for the month of June, 2009. Instead of $39 for one year, it’s only $29. Wow! If we answer one question for you – you’ve gotten more than your money’s worth!)

Working with Folders
Tree Folder View
The Library (*free* anyone can view)
Move folders to External Hard Drive
Make a collage (*free* anyone can view)
Nested Folders

Related posts:

1. Picasa Tip: Nested Folders
2. Backup and Tree View
3. Picasa Tip: How folders get Dated
4. Moving Folders with Picasa
5. Importing and Folders