Peggy K's Creator News

Today Google announced that the Album Archive will shut down July 19. You likely received an email notice if you used Google's Picasa Web Albums or Photos, shared images in Hangouts, have a Blogger blog or otherwise uploaded images to your Google account.  It may sound worrying, but it's likely you won't even notice the change. Email notice from Google with the subject "An Update to Album Archive":  You're receiving this email because you've viewed Album Archive recently or you may have some content that is visible in Album Archive. Starting on July 19, 2023, Album Archive will no longer be available. We recommend that you use Google Takeout to download a copy of your Album Archive data before then.  There are currently a number of different Google services that let you upload images, including: Google Photos Google Drive Google Sites Google Docs Google Slides Blogger  YouTube Cha...

If you are looking for a sweet (and easy) Valentine's Day gift, consider making a Valentine's movie in Google Photos. The movie can feature any two "faces" in your Google Photos library, so you can create one for your parents, your best friends, or even your pets.  You can create and edit your movie in the Google Photos mobile app or on the web on a desktop computer. No special video editing skills needed! Note: As of 2024, the option to create a holiday-themed highlight movie is only available on desktop. You can create a highlight movie with selected people or in a selected date range in the mobile app.  The only advantage of picking a holiday theme is that sets the tone for the selected music and video. Google Photos creates a movie that may be anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute long, in vertical (not landscape) orientation, and set to music. There are two Movie themes that are especially suitable for Valentine's Day: Love Story  ...

This week Google Photos told participants in its monthly photo print trial that it would not continue after June 30th. They are considering feedback from participants and it may "evolve" into  Back in February, Google Photos offered me the chance to participate in a free trial of a monthly photo print subscription . The idea was simple: Google Photos would choose 10 of your best photos uploaded during the previous month. You then had 3 days to edit the photos or swap them for different images.  Google Photos would then make 4x6 prints and mail them to you. The cost was set to $7.99 per month, but was free during the trial period. As there was no obligation to continue the subscription after the trial, I jumped at the chance.  I did enjoy receiving photos every month. It is fun to have prints, and to be able to share with family and friends. In general the print quality was good. The colors weren't as vibrant as they could be, but I think that is to be expected with matte,...

The Google Arts & Culture app has a new Art Transfer  tool that lets you add the style of famous works of art to your photos. And the app lets you explore art from around the world up close on your phone.  You can select from recent images on your phone, or from other apps like Google Drive, Google Photos, or Dropbox to create a new "masterpiece". You can then download or share the results to social media.   It's not as "smart" as apps like Prisma, and the images are low resolution, but it's fun to play with.  The Arts & Culture app offers other toys as well that lets you explore art from around the world at home: Art Selfie  lets you find portraits that look like you Color Palette  helps you find art using the colors of your photo Art Projector uses augmented reality to display art masterpieces full sized in your room Pocket Gallery  uses AR to let you walk through galleries and view art up close Tours in Google Street View  to...

Google Photos is trialing a monthly photo print subscription service. Every month Google Photos selects 10 prints (which you can change), and then prints them and mails them to you. During the trial period, this is free. If your Google Photos is invited to the trial, you should see a banner across the top of the page on desktop. This banner does not appear in the Google Photos mobile app. Not every account is invited. Once a month Google will automatically pick 10 photos from the previous month, based on the theme you have chosen (people, landscapes, or a mix). You can review the photo selection and have three days to make changes. The photos will then be printed on 4x6" matte card stock, and mailed to you. The usual price is $7.99 per month,  but is free for the duration of the trial. The trial is through the end of May or June, depending on where you read (I'm trying to get clarification on that date). You can see the details at  photos.google.com/printsubscripti...

Google announced today that  Google Photos will no longer be integrated with Google Drive . Youtube is also updating its desktop video uploader, and the new version (currently in beta) does not include the option to import videos from Google Photos. Also, the new YouTube desktop uploader no longer includes import from Google Photos. Google+ Photos were made available in Google Drive  in March 2015, shortly before the independent Google+-free  Google Photos launched . That integration has been been useful in a number of ways: Photos and videos uploaded or synced to Google Drive appear in Google Photos and so can be added to Photos albums and shared via Photos. You can use Google Drive file embedding options to embed Google Photos videos on your blog or website. You can import videos from Google Drive into your personal YouTube channel using the "Import from Google Photos" option . Photos and videos backed up or uploaded to Google Photos can be accessed by third p...

When consumer Google+ shuts down on April 2, your Google+ "Photos from Posts" and "Photos of You" albums in your  Album Archive will be deleted. Google Photos is a separate product, and will NOT be shutdown. Any of your photos that are in Google Photos will NOT be deleted. Photo upload, editing and management were a major draw to Google+ from its launch in 2011. Google+ offered "Instant Uploads " to back up the photos on your phone to the cloud, Creative Kit , which let you easily edit your photos, and later " Auto Awesome" enhancements . (See the timeline at the end of the post for the highlights.) Then in 2015  Google announced that Google Photos would be a standalone product, split away from Google+.  That was a harbinger of doom: just two months later Google announced that Google+ would no longer be a social layer across Google+. The new Google+ no longer included any special photo features, and had a new design where Profiles no long...

The notification bell on the desktop Google navigation bar will disappear on March 7th. You can switch to browser notifications for Google Photos, Hangouts Chat, and Google+ for G Suite.  You will see a message with a Learn More link when you click the notification bell starting today. The notification bell on the Google navigation bar first appeared in 2011, allowing you to access your Google+ notifications anywhere you are signed in to Google. As Google+ was integrated with other Google products, you could get your notifications for Google+ comments on Blogger and YouTube and for activity on your Photos. Peak Google+ integration was in 2013. In 2015, as Google+ split away from other Google products, the notification bell was updated so that Google+, Google Photos and YouTube notifications could be managed separately. And in 2017, shortly after the shutdown of Classic Google+, the notifications under the bell got a redesign, and Mr. Jingles - the Google+ notificati...

Tomorrow, January 8th, the new free Flickr account limit of 1000 photos goes into effect.  In 2013, Yahoo increased the storage available to free accounts from 200 images to 1 terabyte of storage (or 200,000 5MB photos).  While it brought users, it was to the detriment of the site itself . "... , the free terabyte largely attracted members who were drawn by the free storage, not by engagement with other lovers of photography. This caused a significant tonal shift in our platform, away from the community interaction and exploration of shared interests that makes Flickr the best shared home for photographers in the world. We know those of you who value a vibrant community didn’t like this shift, and with this change we’re re-committing Flickr to focus on fostering this interaction." SmugMug is in the process of making changes at Flickr that are meant to increase engagement and more sustainable as a business. The most significant change is that free accounts will be limit...

If you have a business, organization, band or brand you can use Google's products to post content and interact with your customers, colleagues, members and fans. Currently you can use a Brand Account identity on YouTube and if you have an older Brand Account, for Google Photos. Update May 2023: Before you decide to use a Brand Account, note the updates since this article was originally published in 2018. The signs are that Google is likely moving away from using Brand Accounts for brand and business identities. Brand Accounts are currently useful for managing multiple YouTube channels with a single Google account, but not really anything else. Update September 2022: Brand Accounts with direct sign-in using Hangouts will not be able to use Google Chat, so will lose access to conversations when Chat completely replaces Hangouts on November 1, 2022.  Update July 2022: Business Groups will no longer be able to own or manage Brand Accounts as of August 1, 2022. Members of the Bus...

Blogger removed all Google+ gadgets added to blog layouts on February 4, 2019. Manually added Google+ Badges, Buttons, and embedded posts  stopped working on March 7, 201 9. Google+ Communities let you create a space to interact with other people with shared interests. On Google+ itself, Communities are promoted on the Recommended Communities page and in Topics . However, you might also want to encourage people who aren't already on Google+ to join your public Community. You can do that by embedding a Google+ Community Badge on a web page, blog post or sidebar. It can have different looks: If the Community's cover image is changed, the badge should update automatically. Note that the button on the badge just opens the Community, where the viewer then needs to click the Join  or Ask to Join  button to actually join. If they do not yet have a Google+ Profile, they will be prompted to create one. How to create a Google+ Community Badge 1. Get the...

You create a Movie from your videos and photos in Google Photos, then add your own music or audio track with just a few clicks. If you have a  supported  device, all you need to do is select from your images and video clips to create a Movie. The app offers a number of songs you can add, but you might have trouble finding just the right track. YouTube offers a much larger variety of music in the YouTube Audio Library which can be used for any project.  And you can add those tracks to your Google Photos Movies. The following instructions explain how to do that on your supported Android device. Note that this works for any audio file downloaded to your device. Just keep in mind that if you plan to share the Movie publicly, any music needs to be licensed for use. How to add music from the the YouTube Audio Library to your Google Photos Movie 1. Create your Google Photos Movie on your Android device ( Instructions ) 2. Find the YouTube Audio Library tra...

When you block someone in Google+, Google Photos, Hangouts or YouTube Contacts, you block them across Google. You can view and remove blocked users in your Google Account settings ( myaccount.google.com/blocklist ). Get detailed instructions on how to manage your Google Blocked Users Related articles:  How to block someone on Google+ How to block someone in Google Photos How to block someone in Hangouts How to block someone on YouTube Learn more:  Google Accounts Help: Block or unblock people's accounts

If someone is harassing you, spamming you or you otherwise don't want them to contact you or see your content you can block them on Google+, Google Photos, Hangouts or YouTube Contacts. Blocking them in one product will block them across Google. What happens in Google Photos when you block someone You won't be able to see each others photos, videos, or comments in Google Photos. If you own the album and you block a contributor, any content they’ve added will be removed from the album. If you block the owner of an album, any content you've added will be removed from the album. If you block someone from an album you don’t own, you and the person you block won’t be able to see each other’s content. Read on for detailed instructions  how to block (or unblock) someone in Google Photos Related articles: How to block someone on Google+ How to block someone in Hangouts How to block someone on YouTube How to manage your Google Blocked Users Learn mo...

Hey there reader! You may have noticed the blog's new name and layout. This is no longer the "YouTube - Google+ Integration" blog. Instead it's " Peggy K's Tips & Tricks (for Creators, Collectors and Curators) ". It was long long overdue for a change. My posts haven't been exclusively about YouTube integration with Google+ for a long long time, and now that integration has largely been undone. What's different?  A new header  that better reflects the content of the blog. Out with the old! In with the new! A new template. I'm using a customized version of the new Blogger "Notable" theme . It's designed to "adjust to any screen" and load quickly. Old Theme - based on Simple New Theme - based on Notable Gadget spring cleaning. My old sidebar had gotten a bit cluttered with gadgets that were out of date. Blogger comments only.  I had been using comment code from blogger xpertise that l...