How to Upload to FTP With Picasa

Picasa is a website developed by Google that allows users with a free registered Gmail or Google account to share, organize, edit and host their photographs online. Picasa strongly encourages its users to download and install its compact, free utility to sync and manage their photos between their personal computers and the online file server. The Picasa software also doubles as a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) client to facilitate uploading your photographs from your computer directly to your own private web host.

• 1

  Log in to your Picasa account from the Picasa homepage (see Resources).

• 2

  Download and install the Picasa software. You may be prompted to do so just by logging in to your Picasa account. Follow the onscreen instructions to download and install the application. On a typical broadband connection, this should take only one or two minutes. If logging in takes you directly to your albums, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the small "Launch Application" link in the footer to download, install and run the software. This is also where you can launch the Picasa application if you've already installed it.

• 3

  Select the album you want to upload to your website's server. Browse through your folders in the Picasa application. Click once on the folder you'd like to upload via FTP.

• 4

  Open the Picasa FTP tool. Click "Tools" in the upper menu, place your cursor over "Experimental" and click "Publish via FTP" in the sub-menu that appears.

• 5

  Configure your export settings. Select the upload format of your preference in the pop-up screen. This is the code and interface you'll upload to your server for your photos. Upload your photos coded into an XML document for full programming and customization if you're an advanced programmer, or upload them as a pre-formatted online gallery with thumbnails. There are seven formats from which to choose in the "Template Name" box on the left of the pop-up box. Click the one you desire, and click the "Export" button to begin uploading.

• 6

  Configure your FTP settings in Picasa. If you have already entered the details of your FTP account server in the application, select it from the drop-down menu in the "Select Account" pop-up box. If not, click "Account Manager." Click the "Add an Account" button. Fill in the details of your web host's FTP account. Click "Verify Connection" to ensure the settings are accurate, then click "OK."

• 7

  Export your album via FTP. Click the "OK" button in the "FTP Account Manager" box, then click "OK" again in the "Select Account" box. A small pop-up box in the lower-right side of your screen will show you the progress on the export. When Picasa has finished FTPing your photos to your server, it will automatically redirect your browser to your new gallery on your website.