Automatically Save Screenshots Camera Uploads to Google Photos

By now, you've almost certainly heard how good Google Photos is. Your friends, family, and coworkers are probably using information technology and singing the app'south praises. It makes backing up your photo library effortless. It can identify people — even babies — in your images with freakish accurateness. Information technology automatically creates GIFs and movies that the people in your life will cherish. Hooray.

Simply there's really no slap-up manual or user guide for Google Photos. Google's FAQ site is nigh every bit close equally the visitor comes to a "getting started" handbook. And so I've compiled some how-tos and tips here and plan to update this article to continue up with any large changes that Google makes to the app.

MOVING TO GOOGLE PHOTOS

Few tasks feel as daunting as transferring your unabridged photo library from one service to some other. And few things experience worse than accidentally losing images or videos that y'all can't supplant. So as peachy as Google Photos might be, switching to it won't be a small undertaking for everyone.

Apple tree Photos: If all of your pictures and videos are on your phone or Mac, this should exist relatively straightforward. Just install Google Photos app on your iPhone or the desktop app for your Mac. On iOS, Photos will automatically start backing up your photograph library. On Mac, you'll need to bespeak it to the binder where your photos are stored.

There's only i potential snag to exist aware of if y'all're using Apple tree's iCloud Photograph Library. Depending on your settings, some of your images could be in the cloud and visible on your devices — but not actually stored on them. This might be the case if you got tired of warnings about depression storage on your phone and decided to buy more space with iCloud. If yous're using iCloud Photo Library, Google Photos might be unable to see or upload your photos and videos. The easiest solution is to make sure every file is really saved on your smartphone or estimator. To do that, just enable the options below:

• iOS: Settings > [your name at the top of the screen] > iCloud > PhotosSelect "Download and Keep Originals"
• Mac: Open Photos app. Cull Photos > PreferencesSelect "Download Originals to this Mac"
• Windows: Apple tree explains how to download iCloud photos to your PC hither.

Flickr: Glenn Fleishmann put together a thorough step-by-step guide at Macworld for relocating from Flickr to Google Photos. I wish I could say it'south a quick, easy process, simply that'due south not the case. It takes some work to bring everything over — especially if you want to save things like image titles, descriptions, and other details that some photographers will insist on preserving.

Glenn goes the manual route using Flickr'due south own export procedure, which is sure to test your patience since information technology involves downloading multiple, big zip archives of your entire Flickr library to a PC or Mac. You might be able to find third-political party apps that tin can assist with that arduous step. Pictogo is ane I've had some success with on macOS. In one case yous've got all the files, using the Google Photos desktop app to send them to their new home in the cloud is the piece of cake part. Thankfully, Google Photos makes it painless to edit critical data for photos (ie. when they were taken) in example some of that gets lost during the motility.

My best communication is this: tough information technology out. Don't let the distressing procedure make you abandon the unabridged mission. You'll simply have to do this once. Endure the grunt work and be washed with information technology.

Windows / Mac: If yous're got a traditional photo library (folders upon folders), the Google Photos desktop uploader should get the job done adequately well.

Photo by Vlad Savov / The Verge

CHOOSE WHAT TO Back up, WHEN, AND AT WHAT QUALITY

Google Photos automatically backs upwards the pictures and videos you capture with your smartphone. When y'all first set up the app, you'll exist given ii choices on backup quality: optimized or original. Optimized is an enticing selection since it offers unlimited storage for free. And it'southward a fine option if you plan on sharing your images generally online — via email, on social media, etc.

Merely if you're a semi-serious lensman, potentially come across yourself making a photo book, or only want to archive everything without any quality degradation, it's best to selection "original." Still, original backups will eat into your Google business relationship storage, so yous'll likely need to upgrade at some betoken to get more room in the cloud for your library. By default, Google accounts come up with 15GB of storage.

The fill-in options in Google Photos are pretty flexible.

Google Photos gives you plenty of flexibility about when backups occur. Yous tin can tell the app to only back up over Wi-Fi if you need to be careful near using also much data on your phone. Google Photos can also exist set to only do backups while your phone is being charged to minimize any bombardment drainage. Personally, I've configured Photos to back up pictures at whatever time with cellular information merely to expect for Wi-Fi for video uploads.

Sometimes you might demand Google Photos to support more than but camera roll items, though. You can choose which folders — screenshots, downloads, Instagram, etc. — Photos backs up by going to settings, and so "Support & sync," and so select "Back up device folders" to toggle folders on and off.

If you lot want to support an individual photograph or video that's in a folder not being synced with Google Photos, you can only practice it manually. Open the image, tap the three-dot menu push button in the top right, and choose "Back up now." You tin can select multiple items when doing manual backups, equally well.

THE HELPFUL, Automatic Assistant

One of the best aspects of Google Photos is how much work it does for you lot automatically — without you lot doing a thing. Did you take a weekend trip somewhere? Photos volition recognize that those pictures were taken in a specific location and create an album grouping them all together. If you lot took a sequence of like images (even if they're not technically "burst" shots), Photos will frequently make an animated GIF out of them. It'll likewise create movies (with a music track), collages, and filtered versions of your shots. Once again, this all happens with no work on your function.

These automatic creations show up in the Assistant tab, where you're costless to either save them to your library permanently or swipe them away if Google fabricated something bad. And yes, sometimes there are misfires. Movies are often imperfect when an algorithm is doing the editing, and Google really tends to layer on the effects thick when it randomly applies a filter to i of your photos. And simply like with Facebook, on some days yous'll open Photos and be greeted with photos of an ex or other delicate memories thank you to the "Rediscover this day" feature.

But more oft than not, the Banana produces really not bad stuff that'll crusade y'all a quick outburst of emotion. And whether they're rooted in joy, nostalgia, or wistfulness, those surprises get very addicting.

How to hide someone in Google Photos:

1. Tap the search bar
2. Expand the section with faces of people in your library
3. Tap and hold on the person you don't want to see
4. Select "Hide" in the upper correct corner

Once that's done, Google Photos will avoid surfacing photos featuring that person in "Rediscover this 24-hour interval."

SEARCH IS THE KILLER FEATURE

If you want to sell someone on Google Photos, prove them the app'due south search powers. Yous tin can do the basics similar "selfie" or "photos from last weekend." Simply the wow factor actually hits when you lot search for specific subjects that Google Photos has identified in each of your shots. From private people in your life to animals, objects, events ("concerts") and nearby landmarks, Photos can pull up whatever you lot're looking for in a massive library with amazing speed. Occasionally some odd and not-quite-correct results will appear with the skillful ones, only search is usually far more accurate than not.

You can also ask search to prove specific types of content within your library similar GIFs, 360-degree photos, screenshots, and videos.

Make YOUR Own GIFS

Yous're not only limited to the GIFs that Google Photos automatically makes. The app besides lets y'all create them with any photos yous'd like. Select the sequence of images you want, tap the + icon, choose animation, and you're done. You tin can string together whatsoever photos in your library that y'all'd like, which allows for a little more than creativity than a GIF of burst-shot photos.

OR Brand MOVIES FOR YOUR PARENTS

GIFs might be pop among your friends, just your parents and other family unit members might appreciate the movies feature of Google Photos a little more. They similar that stuff. To accept the app automatically create a movie, select any images and videos you desire to include, tap the plus push, and pick movie. Movies can just be created with the Google Photos mobile app; y'all tin't yet make them from the web.

From there, you can either only go with whatever Google makes or accept control and edit things yourself. To change up the fashion and transitions, tap the clapperboard icon at the lower left of your screen. To switch upwards the music track, tap the music note. And if you want to adapt the club of content in the motion picture — or add together or drop images — choose the motion-picture show strip. Once y'all're washed, you can either share your movie directly or upload it to YouTube for public viewing.

SHARED ALBUMS

If you want to share your shots from a wedding or a party with other people that attended, Google Photos makes this relatively simple. Select the anthology that you want to share, tap the share icon, and showtime entering their proper noun or email address. You can also create a new "Shared Album" and choose whether or non people you share it with will be allowed to contribute to the album.

If someone you're sharing with is already a Google Photos user, you'll run across the app's icon on that person's profile image. In this case, you can cull to share via Google Photos and they'll receive an in-app notification. Otherwise, you can just simply share by electronic mail. Recipients must accept a Google account to add their ain images and videos to a shared album, but anyone with the link tin can view the album and download photos — fifty-fifty if they're non in Google'due south ecosystem. In that sense, it'south worth using a bit of care with the shared album link. In that location'due south no way to assign different permissions to specific people yous're sharing with. You tin can cake someone'due south Google account to revoke access to whatsoever shared album. Next to the person's proper noun, tap "More" and so hitting the cake option.

Costless UP STORAGE ON YOUR Telephone

Every bit Google uploads your phone's camera roll to the cloud, you lot might want to erase the copies of those images on your device to free up space. Photos makes this adequately simple:

1. Open the side card
2. Select "Free up space"
3. Google Photos volition know what content has already been backed up and is safe to clear off of your device. But tap the "remove" button to take the terminal stride.

FOLDERS! Plow ON THE PHOTOS Binder IN GOOGLE DRIVE

If for whatever reason yous want or need to dig through the actual folder and file structure of Google Photos, you lot tin do this through Google Bulldoze. Get to Drive, then settings, then bank check the "Create a Google Photos folder" option and you lot get... folders. Like this:

Annal THE UGLY STUFF

Google recently added an "archive" characteristic to Photos. This removes images from the primary view of all your photos — but they're nevertheless accessible in the Archive folder. Photos volition advise some stuff to archive (like screenshots) merely you tin utilise archive for more... sensitive content every bit well.

SATURATE YOUR SKIES

The built-in editing tools in Google Photos are perfectly acceptable if you're making basic touchups. And if nothing else, striking the "Car" filter usually does a very overnice task of improving the white residual of your paradigm.

Google Photos editor

There's also a way to pump upward the blues in your heaven photos — without ratcheting up the saturation of the entire scene. Tap the pencil / edit button, choose the middle icon of setting sliders, and so expand the "color" section. There, you'll meet a slider for "deep blue." Move that up, and your heaven photography volition get a a lot more than popular. Yous can also use it for other bluish subjects, also.

Other random tips and tricks:

• You tin change the look and density of your library as information technology appears on your phone'due south screen with a pinching gesture. Pinching in will increase the number of images shown on screen at once until you get to a month / year view, while pinching outward will zoom in to display just a few photos at a time — merely much larger.
• For the mobile app: if you know when a photo you're looking for was taken, information technology's much faster to use the scrubber on the right side (that appears as you whorl) to navigate your library. One time y'all catch information technology and scroll either up or down, you'll see the month and year popular up next to your finger so you know when to stop.
• You can tell Google Photos to automatically strip out the location data from images and videos that you lot share with a link. Become to settings and toggle on "Remove geo location." Google notes that this doesn't remove geolocation data for photos and videos that you share "by other means" in the app.
• Google Photos is the best cloud photograph service going today, but if you're not a fan of giving Google so much of your information, information technology'south relatively easy to bail on the whole thing. Merely go to Google Takeout and y'all tin choose to download your entire photo collection.

As I mentioned earlier, I programme to update this How-to over time every bit Google introduces or changes Photos features. If you lot've got any questions (or if there's something you lot're dying for Google to add), I'd dearest to hear about all of it in the comments.

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Source: https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/9/15762170/google-photos-how-to-master

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