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The other part of the equation is software. Readers of this blog know I am a fan of Picasa 2 from Google. It’s a great freebie and version 2.7 includes backing up to CD or DVD. The coolest thing is that it remembers which files have not been backed up, so it’s easier to stay current.

That’s where most people stumble. It takes discipline to make sure you do regular and consistent backups. That’s why I suggest an external hard drive as your backup system. Most of them come with software to do the backups for you. Set a schedule in the software and tell it what folders to backup and you’re all set. Just be sure to verify that your scheduled items works.

You’ll never have to worry about backups again once you have a good system in place.

The canned items in Lightroom aren’t bad, but don’t give enough flexibility for my tastes. Fortunately, there are some folks out there who are designing their own Galleries and sharing them with the world. One such place is LightroomGalleries.com and they’ve got a few nice templates.

One of the templates, LRG FlashSlideStrip with PayPal incorporates a Paypal button for each image so that you can easily take orders for prints. Really slick.

Also check out the TTG Polaroid Gallery and the TTG FlashNifties Gallery. Both of these provide a more casual or fun way to present images. I especially like the Polaroid one as it looks like a bunch of Polaroid pics scattered on a desk. Very cool looking.

Give these a try in Lightroom and maybe you’ll be inspired to create some of your own.

You’ll need the Picasa software and a Google account to get started. Picasa is only Windows based, but there’s an addon for iPhoto to post to a Picasa Web Album. Hat’s off to Google for not leaving out the MAC crowd.

** Get the Picasa User Guide pdf too. It will help you get started quickly.

Picasa automatically catalogs your My Pictures folder. Go to Tools - Folder Options to have it scan other folders. Create a new Album and add photos to it. Then click on the Album name and hit the Web Album button on the bottom of the Picasa screen. All the images in the Album will get uploaded to the Picasa Web Album you specify.

When the upload is done hit View Online to go directly to the Album on Google. On the left is a link titled Embed Slideshow. From the popup window you can set the image size and caption display. copy the code into your webpage or blog post and you’re done.

Here’s a little sample slideshow.

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In late April of this year Picasa v2.7 was released. It incorporated a new RAW processing engine with better color conversions. They also reworked the color engine for the Tuning fixes. It now has better support for Vista. The more I use it the more I’m impressed.

Since Picasa ties in with Google Albums and Blogger you can easily send images to either of these services. Makes it real easy to share photos with family and friends. And you can put individual images or full slideshows on your Blogger blog via Google Albums.

If you’ve never tried it you can go grab it from Google as part of their Google Pack. If you’re so inclined, you may want to download other parts of the Google Pack to make your computing life easier.

All the normal color correction tools for color, contrast, hue and saturation and more are present too. Fixing redeye is a snap. There’s even templates you can get from their website for making photo gifts. Mouse pads, coffee cups, T-shirts, puzzles and tote bags are all available.

Overall, this looks like a very nice piece of photo editing software. You should give it a try. Grab a copy from their website.

Get the lowdown on naming, cataloging, archiving and searching methods and software tools to make your life easier. There’s even free photo software that can do all of this for you.