+Jaana Nystrom

Welcome to my Circleverse!

Google+ is my passion: I want to help others to get the most out of it.

Friday, 29 May 2015

Google Photos basics on mobile and desktop


The Google Photos app was announced at the Google I/O keynote on the 28th May 2015.

Things have changed quite a lot, especially the editing (create Stories from scratch) and sharing.  You can share directly to a social network, or choose Get shareable link to send someone a link.
The desktop functions very much like the mobile app.

Now it is very important for you NOT to delete any photos unless you are very sure of what you're doing and where you are deleting them from.


Remember: All your Auto Backup photos and creations are private and visible only to you until you decide to share them!






Goodbye Google+ Photos


Chromebooks will lose the Google+ photos app on the 21st July 2015.

Google will retire Google+ Photos starting 1st AUG: First Android and then Web and iOS version.

+Anil Sabharwal  who leads Google Photos wrote a "clarification". The comments on the post show the feelings of Google+ users.  +Trey Ratcliff posted a video where he shows how things can be done on Google Photos, but did professional photographers use Google+ photo editor or will they use Google Photos editor?  Hey +Adobe Photoshop you have a competitor...

Find your Photos from posts album in Picasaweb, it doesn't exist on Google Photos.


I'm sure there will be more development to Google Photos but at what point? A year from now?
Make sure to send Feedback to Google with your wishes and concerns.






What is new in Google Photos


3 new main tabs:

Assistant app: helps with photos “automagically” (Auto Backup status, Creations,
sharing suggestions)

Photos: stored chronologically and grouped by date, includes videos

Collections: stories, Auto Awesome videos, and albums. NOTE: there's a 30-day limit for creating Stories from scratch.



Changes from the Google+ Photos

Auto enhance must be applied manually. The editing tool is like in Instagram.  Mobile users can edit in Snapseed but must upload photos back to Google Photos.  For desktop users there is no such choice.

There is no way to manually change the date of a photo.  When creating an album, the photos are in a chronological order, there's no way to change that at the moment (goodbye to my screenshot tutorials!).

In an already created album, one can't edit the photo captions / descriptions.
Tagging doesn't seem to work either: On the desktop Google+ photos one can only tag photos in albums.

Auto Awesomes are now Creations: Google Photos will continue to make some of the fun
creations people had in Google+ Photos.

Google+ will continue to upload photos with the old policy (i.e. photos that are uploaded beyond 2048 will use quota unless you choose the old standard policy, where they will be downsampled to 2048 and use no quota).
However if you share a photo on Google+ from Google Photos (which uses the new policy), it will use your Google Photos version and not affect your quota.



Click on the photos to enlarge



New free bigger size for storing your photos online


You can choose between 2 storage sizes to back up your photos and videos to your Google Photos library: the policy does not apply retroactively - previously uploaded photos will stay at either 2048 if they were "Standard", or will continue to consume storage if they were "Full."


High quality: Unlimited free storage at 16 mpx

Regular cameras: Recommended for phones or point-and-shoot cameras that are 16 megapixels (MP) or less.
Uses: Good for typical printing and sharing.
Size: Save high-quality photos and videos while reducing size.


Original:

Limited free storage: Uses at first the Google Account's 15 GB of free storage, even if the photos are smaller than 4096 pixels or 16 mpx. Then you have to start paying for storage.
DSLR cameras: Recommended if you take photos with a DSLR camera and want to maintain the exact original quality.
Uses: Recommended for printing large banners or to store your original files.
Size: Store your photos and videos exactly as you captured them.

Comparison between High quality and Original

NOTE:  Uploading via Drive will always take up storage.






Problems?

I would encourage you to post in the new Help Forum for Google Photos, where you will find the Photos Top Contributors who are most familiar with issues related to Google Photos and they can keep an eye on any possible glitches cropping up.

The new Google Photos Help Forum








Editing

The new editor uses a completely new engine, so you can't mix & match sets of edits. If you edit an image using the Google+ editor and then switch to Photos, or vice versa, your edits will be discarded upon entering the new editor. (You can of course cancel without saving to restore them.)





Deleting photos

If you delete a photo from anywhere except the “Device Folders” section of the Android app, it will
delete elsewhere across your Google account. If you delete it from the “Device Folders” section then
you’ll free up space on your device, but it will remain in the cloud.

If you delete photos from the Google Photos folder in Drive, they will be deleted from Google Photos.

You can remove photos and videos from both Drive and Google Photos by moving them to the Trash. If you delete a photo or video from Google Drive, then it will also be deleted from Google Photos.
Please note: if you move a photo or video to the Trash, then you will have up to 60 days to recover it.

Deleting an image from the All Photos will be deleted from albums!




Photos and videos you move to trash are also removed from:

- Google Photos albums and stories
- Google Photos movies when you edit them
- Google Drive, for photos & videos that are synced with Google Drive
- Google+ if you also shared the item in a Google+ post (not sure about this...)
- Google Maps or Views if you shared the item there

Photos and videos you move to trash are not automatically removed from:

- Blogger
- YouTube
- Gmail








Learn more about deleting photos in the new Google Photos

How to restore a deleted photo










Auto Backup

How do I know if my photo is local or stored in the cloud?

You can check which photos are backed up in the cloud by clicking on the three line menu in the top
left > Photos > check for photos with the crossed out cloud icon. If it a photo has that icon, it means
that it has not been backed up to the cloud.

See your Auto backup photos via this link on a desktop






- Lets try and find our photos in the new system. :-)
It helps a lot to read the help center articles.

The Google Photos desktop view:



Useful links for Google Photos


Learn more about the size and storage

This is the old Google+ Photos interface on Google+ desktop

This is the new interface of Google Photos which is almost the same as the mobile interface

Official Google blog about Google Photos

The Help Center for Google Photos

Send Feedback to Photos team

Google Photos @ Twitter

Download Google Photos for iOS

Download Google Photos for Android

You can also follow my Google+ Photo tips Collection

Mike Elgan blogged about the Google Photos

Share your Google Photos with your family via Google Drive

+Blogger photos reside in Picasa Web Albums



Shortcut links on a desktop:

Find your Auto backup photos on a desktop

Find your videos on Google Photos on a desktop

Find your Google Drive photos

Find your Creations (Auto awesomes)






More about the search for your own photos

Click on the search bar / box when in Google Photos and you will get options. Scroll to the bottom and you can find your Creations (incl. Auto Awesome pics), movies and Google Drive photos.

- Of course you can search for each kind of Auto Awesome or Creations effect by doing a search for:

https://photos.google.com/search/MIX
https://photos.google.com/search/HDR
https://photos.google.com/search/MOTION
https://photos.google.com/search/PANO
https://photos.google.com/search/ERASER
https://photos.google.com/search/SMILE
https://photos.google.com/search/EFFECTS

- Plus you can combine 2 in one search by putting || between them so EFFECTS || MIX in the search box shows both.

This is the resulting link you get when you type a search on the Google Photos search bar:
https://photos.google.com/search/EFFECTS%20%7C%7C%20MIX



- Not to mention you can combine regular searches with a comma (,) in between and it'll show you 2 variables:
If you want sunsets but only at the beach, you type Beaches, Sunset to show you
https://photos.google.com/search/Beaches%2C%20Sunset








I'll be posting more about the Google Photos later, after the dust settles.  I need to rewrite all my old Google+ Photos tutorials, so it'll take some time!


Learn more about deleting and downloading Google Photos


What are your thoughts on the new Google Photos?


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