Picasa & iPhoto The Dynamic Duo

First, activate your Picasa account if you have not done so already, click here:

https://picasaweb.google.com/home

Yes you can ignore iPhoto and upload directly to Picasa/Google Photos (web address https://picasaweb.google.com/home) but this does not RESIZE the images, so you will eat up your storage limit very quickly... Fine for students, not so much for teachers.

Short and simple - the best way to do this is using iPhoto with the Picasa Web Album uploader, here, which bypasses iPhoto, and lets you drag and drop images for upload, all resizing options are available as above.

1. Import the images to iPhoto (drag and drop on the icon on the dock) 
2. Remove the photos that you don't want 
3. Select the photos you want to share (select individual images, a whole album, or event) 
4. Drag and drop to the uploader 
5. Choose 'Unlisted Album' (this is automatically 'anyone with the link' in Picasa = perfect for our purposes) 
6. Choose 'Faster Upload' 
7. Click Export 
8. When it's done, you'll get a 'View' option, click that 
9. Share the album via the Share button. 
10. Click the box "Let people I share with contribute photos" if you want that option, they will need a Google account to be able to contribute, comment or like images in your album. 

PS

Easily confused: Picasa Web Albums vs Picasa the application:


Images can can only be downloaded one by one from a Picasa album, unless you download and install Picasa the application (free) which basically does the same job as iPhoto (image management and editing) but will also allow you some other options, like downloading entire albums, and syncing your albums with Picasa (as opposed to just uploading to Picasa).


Your parents cannot download video, or an entire album from a Picasa web album, only view, unless they 'upgrade' to Google+ then they can. If you wish to share video that you want the recipients to be able to download, (without using Google+) then share it via Google Drive.

Why use ONE screen, when you can use TWO?

Most of us use a second screen for presentations and display purposes, but often with mirroring switched on - which can be helpful, especially in a teaching situation. mirroring means you have the exact same content on your screen as you do on the second screen.

BUT.

If you are presenting, it makes more sense to use the 2nd screen for your audience , and your laptop screen for yourself, your desktop clutter, and your awful desktop wallpaper.

Once Mirroring is switched off applications like Keynote (and even PowerPoint) will automatically 'know' this and and present this way automatically. You might have to adjust some preference settings if it doesn't do this automatically.

Much better.





But what if you're using Google Presentations because you want to collaborate on a presentation because you have several contributors? Well for starters, BRAVO for using ICT the way it SHOULD be used, now everyone can work on the same presentation, and you can avoid all the headaches with people trying to merge PowerPoint and Keynote presentations, different slides/sizes/versions/templates ... Using an online presentation tool is a much better way to manage this (Prezi, and SlideRocket are great as well).


... and when you're all finished, download the Google Presentation as a PPT file, open it in Keynote, make a few tweaks to font size, polish up rough edges etc. And run it as a Keynote.



But you can run a Google Presentation on a 2nd screen, like Keynote, here's how:

First make sure you are utilising the 2nd screen you have to have a 2nd screen plugged in for this to work. When you've done that, you're ready to proceed...

Now make sure that Mirroring is OFF: System Preferences > Displays > Arrangement (tab) > Mirror displays should be unticked...

Drag the 2nd display where you feel it makes most sense to the left, above or to the right of your Mac screen (that's the one with the white bar at the top) - in this example it's to the left.

Now to control anything on the 2nd screen just move it to where you positioned it, in my case I just drag it off the left of my Mac screen and it appears on the 2nd screen, usually via a projector.

Now You're ready to go. Open the presentation in your browser as normal, and view > start presentation.

Now grab it by the menu bar at the top and drag it over to the 2nd screen... Don't use full screen, instead use the green maximise button - and maybe drag the edges to fit... 

Almost there... on the 2nd (presentation) screen, click on the gear wheel and choose 'Open speaker notes'

Now grab that window and bring it over to your Mac screen ... 

Done, now you can use the speaker notes to control your presentation, and view notes on your Mac screen, while the presentation displays on the presentation screen.

Share your presentation with the world, but first...

Maybe there are people who missed your awesome presentation for very good reasons, (other than the prospect of boredom) but who would still like to see what they missed.

It's also possible that the those who did attend would appreciate being able to recap the basics.

So put that work you put into your presentation to good use and share the love, but and it's a big but.

Always avoid sending original documents if possible - it's generally a bad idea. As a rule, with all things digital, avoid sharing anything with an audience that can be misappropriated, messed up and/or monstrous (in size), such as an entire Keynote or PowerPoint presentation itself - why?

• Firstly the attachment is likely to be gargantuan (too big for email = anything larger than 1 MB IMHO) especially if you haven't resized the images*...
• Secondly you can't assume that the intended recipients will have the necessary software to run the presentation - or of they do, it may look like a canine's dinner, especially if they are missing certain fonts etc.
• Thirdly you are opening yourself to the possibility of recipients editing your presentation to say things you didn't, or passing it on to others who could/might...

Both Keynote and Powerpoint have the option to Export as images or video, which can then be easily shared as a slideshow with parents via Picasa, or iPhoto etc.

Keynote > Export > Quicktime (Movie) or Images or PDF (the PDF is still likely to be a hefty attachment though)

PowerPoint > Save as Pictures or Save as Movie

In a nutshell.

• Rather than sending Word or Pages Docs, use PDFs
• Rather than sending presentations, create a slide show or video.

How do I make it a PDF?

Any document on a Mac can be turned into a PDF, if you can print it, you can PDF it, Just chose Print, then Save as PDF.

PS

*To resize all the images in a presentation is easy as well:

Keynote > File > Reduce File Size

PowerPoint > File > Reduce File Size

How to use Picasa here.

Images

http://www.presentermedia.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/keynote_powerpoint-400x354.jpg

Simple Slideshows in Preview

Sure you can spend hours constructing a visual masterpiece in Keynote, Prezi, SlideRocket, or even, if you insist, PowerPoint... 

If you do want a slide show with images and video, import it all into iPhoto and run the slideshow from there. 

But what if you just want to create a slide show, no transitions, no titles, no fuss, no faff? 

What if this slideshow can contain all sorts of visual media, images of course, but also PDFs, text documents but ... not video. Well not yet. 



So, you have a folder stuffed full of the slide show content, (including content in sub folders) how does this magic work?

Easy, open Preview if it isn't open already - Grab the folder and drop it on the Preview icon in the dock.

Or, if you're drag and drop dysfunctional, go to Open, and browse to the folder you want to use, just click on the folder (not its contents) and click open.

Now all you do is choose View > Slide Show from the main menu.

If you have got something you want to include in the slideshow that Preview does not like, eg, an Excel spreadsheet - just 'print' it and save it as a PDF. Sorted.

To loop a slideshow, and include video. 

Dump all the media (video/image/pdf) in one folder (no sub folders)

Select it all, and press the spacebar to launch Quickview

Then go to full screen and press play.

Finally, make sure any media you want to use for a presentation is on your local hard drive (on your computer), not on a shared drive, unless you like the spinning beach ball of death that is.

Keynote simplicity

If you really want to use Keynote, this can be quite painless as well—not as quick as the methods outlined above, but maybe only few minutes longer...

Just select all the media (including PDFs, but it will only display the first page) and drag and drop it into the navigation panel on the site. Keynote will place each separate item on it's own slide, it will resize large images to fit, but smaller images will be left at original size.