Moving Pictures from a PC to a Mac for Picasa

Question from a subscriber:

I love Picasa and I am grateful for the service you provide.  I want to get a Mac computer and I want to know how to transfer all my pictures from Picasa (with edits) to Picasa for Mac.  I know (from you ) that the pictures are really in the files in My Pictures but they are not with the edits.  I have been to the Apple store and a computer Tec department in a computer store and nobody seems to know the answer.  I can’t seem to find an answer on the Web either.  Can you lead me in the right direction?  Thanks for you great work. Linda J

Great question!

Picasa keeps the edits in the file called picasa.ini. This file is located in the same folder as the pictures. So … if you just copy the complete folder of all your pictures from your PC to your Mac, then tell Picasa where those folders are with Folder Manager – you’re all set.

Step by Step

1. Copy complete folders of pictures from PC to an External Hard Drive
2. Connect that hard drive to your Mac
3. Do NOT “Import” pictures from the Hard Drive to your Mac using Picasa – that will get the original pictures
4. DO either 1) copy complete folders to the Mac using Finder OR 2) Leave hard drive connected to Mac and use Picasa Folder Manager to work with them there

Here’s the member video I recorded that shows exactly how to do it:

357. Picasa: Transferring your Picture Library from Windows to Mac (this was recorded for members, but I really want you to see it, so I’m making it free for the first 10 days)

See this video on Folder Manager. It was recorded on Windows, but it works just the same on Mac:

1. Folder Manager #233 Free

Picasa Tutorial Videos

If you are a Geeks on Tour member, we have nearly 100 videos – over 10 hours worth of training – on all aspects of using Picasa. Here is the complete list of videos, even non-members can watch the ones n the Free section.