You can use Picasa's export feature to create copies of your photos with all edits applied, leaving the original photos untouched. Exporting your photos allows you to precisely control the image size and quality of the exported files. Follow these steps to export copies of your photos:
- Select the photos you'd like to export.
- Click the Export button in the Photo Tray.
- In the 'Export to Folder' window, select your export settings:
- Choose an export location and enter a name for the exported folder.
- Customize your exported image size and quality:
- Image size options: You can choose between using the photo's original size or selecting a custom pixel size using the slider. The number of pixels you select with this slider determines the length or height of your photo (whichever is longer). The other dimension is determined automatically to maintain the aspect ratio of the photo.
- Image quality: Select the desired image quality for your photo using the Image Quality drop-down menu
- Automatic: Preserves the original image quality
- Normal: Balances quality and size
- Maximum: Preserves fine detail for large file sizes
- Minimum: Yields some quality loss for small file sizes
- Custom: Enables you to select your own value
- You can choose to add a watermark to all of your exported photos.
- Click OK.
Your exported images are now saved on your hard drive in the location you specified. In Picasa, you can find these photos in the 'Exported Pictures' collection.