Don’t delete them unless you want them gone from your computer!  Many people are under the mistaken perception that the pictures you see in Picasa are duplicates of those on your computer’s filing system … e.g. in the My Pictures folder.  Not true.

Try an Analogy

Imagine that you have binoculars that can shoot a laser beam and kill whatever you’re looking at.  So, you’re on safari in Africa with some animal-loving friends.  You’re looking thru the binoculars and see a lion that looks very close and very dangerous, so you press the button to vaporize him with your binocular’s laser.  Your friends are shocked and distraught, “We were watching that lion on the hill and you just killed him!  Why did you do that?”  Just as shocked and surprised you respond, “I didn’t kill the lion on the hill, I killed the lion in my binoculars.”

That’s the same thing that happens when you delete a picture in Picasa.  There is no picture “IN” Picasa.  Picasa is viewing the pictures on your computer.  If you delete a picture with Picasa, you’ve deleted the picture from your computer.

Other Programs May Be Different

Of course, thinking that a lion is in your binoculars is pretty stupid.  Thinking that a picture is in Picasa is not so stupid, because some programs do work that way.  Some programs that work with pictures do make copies for keeping IN the program.  Picasa does not.  Windows Live Photo Gallery is the same – it is just a tool for working with the pictures on your computer.  Therefore, you can have both programs on your computer and use whichever one suits your fancy.  I use Picasa for most things, but there are a few features in Photo Gallery that I like and I’ll use them occasionally – on the same photos.  iPhoto only works with pictures inside it’s own Library container, so you can’t use iPhoto and Picasa interchangeably.  Picasa can view the pictures in iPhoto’s library but it cannot delete them.  If you want to edit an iPhoto picture using Picasa – it will make a copy of it first and store that in your computer’s folder system.

How did I get the Lion in a Circle?

In coming up with an image for this post I had a little fun with Picasa’s border tool, and collage.  On the left is the original picture I took at Animal Kingdom in Disney World.  Then I cropped it to get close up and make it square.  Then I used the Border tool and increased the corner radius to the max.  Lastly, I made a copy of the end result, selected both pictures and put them in a collage.  All in Picasa.

This tip brought to you by Geeks on Tour

Geeks on Tour is a membership website.  There are lots of tutorial videos on editing your pictures with Picasa’s tools.  The first 3 are free for all to view.  To see all of them, you need a Geeks On Tour membership.  It’s only $7/mo or $58/yearly.  Join Today!