Add Send to Facebook from Picasa

Integrating Picasa and Facebook for Seamless Photo Sharing

If you currently utilize Picasa for photo management and Facebook as your primary platform for sharing images with friends, a more efficient workflow can be achieved.

This guide details how to connect these two services, allowing photos that are organized, modified, labeled, and commented on within Picasa to be effortlessly transferred to Facebook.

Streamlining Your Photo Sharing Process

The integration between Picasa and Facebook simplifies the process of sharing your visual content.

Instead of manually uploading photos to Facebook, you can leverage the connection to automatically share updates from your Picasa library.

Benefits of Connecting Picasa and Facebook

Simplified Workflow: Eliminate the need for duplicate uploads.
Consistent Updates: Ensure your friends on Facebook always have access to your latest photos.
Time Savings: Reduce the time spent managing and sharing photos across platforms.

By establishing this connection, you can significantly enhance your photo sharing experience, making it more convenient and efficient.

Photos that have been carefully arranged, enhanced, and annotated within Picasa can be readily shared with your social network on Facebook.

Integrating Picasa and Facebook: A Streamlined Photo Sharing Process

For users of Google's Picasa, a free photo management and editing tool, who regularly share albums on Facebook, a direct integration offers significant advantages. This tutorial outlines how to connect these platforms for a more efficient workflow.

Benefits of Connecting Picasa to Facebook

Configuring Picasa to directly upload to Facebook provides several key benefits for photo sharing.

Rapid Album Transfers: Entire albums, selected photos, or any grouping within Picasa’s photo tray can be quickly uploaded to Facebook.
Caption Synchronization: Photo captions created in Picasa are automatically transferred to Facebook, preserving your descriptions. This includes captions formatted in XMP, originating from other applications.
Automatic Optimization: Images are automatically resized and optimized to fit Facebook’s display specifications, ensuring optimal viewing quality.

An effective digital workflow aims to reduce repetitive tasks. By linking Picasa and Facebook, the editing and tagging efforts already completed within Picasa can be shared on Facebook with minimal additional effort.

This integration streamlines the process, saving time and ensuring consistency between your photo organization and social media presence.

Further Reading: Techniques for Correcting White Balance Issues in Photos During Post-Processing

Essential Requirements

This guide outlines the necessary components for successful completion. You will require the following items:

A functioning installation of Picasa, version 2.5 or a subsequent release, on a Windows-based operating system.
The Picasa Uploader application itself.
Adobe Air, version 2.6 or newer; this is typically installed or updated automatically alongside Picasa Uploader.

Due to modifications implemented in Picasa for macOS, the integrated Picasa plugin is no longer functional. Furthermore, this plugin was never designed to operate on Linux systems.

However, users on OS X or Linux who desire a more efficient uploading process are still accommodated. The creator of the Picasa Uploader plugin has developed a standalone desktop application built on Adobe Air.

You can proceed with the installation instructions provided herein, but instead of utilizing a one-click function within Picasa, you will employ the Uploader application as a drag-and-drop interface.

Installing Picasa Uploader

To begin the process, navigate to the Picasa Uploader page and select "Install Now". The subsequent page will request the installation of Adobe Air. Even if Adobe Air is already installed and current on your system, proceeding with this step is necessary, as it simply verifies your existing installation.

Adobe Air Installation

Upon confirmation of your Adobe Air installation status, you will be directed to the standard Adobe Air application installation procedure, similar to the prompt shown below:

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Select "Install" to continue. The following screen allows you to choose whether to create a desktop shortcut. This is particularly relevant for users of macOS or Linux, as the desktop application is their primary interface for interacting with the uploader.

After the installation completes, launching the desktop application is required to initiate the integration with Picasa. Locate and run the newly installed application, named "PicasaDesktopUploader", from the Start Menu or your desktop shortcut.

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Adding the Facebook Button

Click "Add 'Facebook' button to Picasa". Your web browser will then open, presenting instructions and prompting you to click the Add button again after reviewing them:

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Clicking the Add button may trigger a browser prompt requesting authorization for a browser-based tool to interact with a system application. Confirm this authorization to proceed.

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Upon launching Picasa, the Configure Buttons dialog will appear automatically. Locate "Facebook" within the "Available Buttons" column on the left and transfer it to the "Current Buttons" column using the Add button.

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Select OK. The main Picasa interface will now display a new button on the toolbar.

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Testing the Integration

Test the new functionality immediately by selecting photos for upload. For example, photos from a recent outing with new ferrets would be ideal for sharing with Facebook friends.

Related: How to Manipulate Depth of Field to Take Better Photos

Ensure the desired photos are added to the photo tray. Note that entire folders cannot be sent directly from the file browser; individual photos must be selected and placed in the tray.

Click the "Facebook" button on the toolbar.

Note: The photo tray queue will then be transferred to the PicasaUploader desktop application. For macOS and Linux users, this represents the convergence of the two workflows. Windows users benefit from the convenience of sending photos directly from within Picasa, rather than through drag-and-drop operations.

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Click Continue.

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For uploading small batches of photos (under 70, the personal profile limit), the basic application version is sufficient. Users managing corporate or organizational Facebook pages, requiring the ability to upload up to 200 photos to Facebook Pages and automatic watermarking, can upgrade to Picasa Uploader Pro for $4.99.

Select "Upload to my Profile" and then enter your Facebook credentials on the subsequent page. After logging in, you will be presented with album options.

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You can create a new album or add to an existing one. Options for adding a location, selecting photo quality (standard or high resolution), and setting privacy settings (Friends, Friends of Friends, Public, etc.) are also available.

After clicking "Send to Facebook", your browser will open and display an uploading progress indicator. Once the transfer is complete, you will be redirected to the newly created Facebook album.

Related: How to Convert Your Color Photos to Stunning Black and White Prints

By default, Facebook requires manual approval of photos uploaded by third-party applications. You will need to review and approve the photos within the new album. You can retain this setting for added security, or authorize the uploader to automatically post pictures without your direct approval via this link.

The integration proved successful. After adding a caption and approving the uploads, the album (including imported Picasa captions) appeared as expected: