12 useful Google Photos features every user should know about

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

From smart keyword searches to uploading all your photos in one archive.

1. Animation creation

Google Photos is perfect for creating simple animations from several images. Sometimes the service does this automatically, offering you options for its creativity, but you can create a-g.webp

To do this, you just need to go to the "Assistant", select the creation of animation from above and mark the necessary photos. You can use from two to 50 images. The finished-g.webp

2. Making collages

This function is also found in the Assistant menu. In collages, you can use from two to nine pictures, which will be automatically glued and distributed to different parts of the image.

3. Quick photo editing

"Google Photos", of course, will not replace a serious image editor, but it still has basic image editing tools. Various filters, cropping, rotation, as well as brightness, saturation and detail settings are available to users.

To access these functions, you need to open the photo and click on the sliders icon located at the bottom. You can also use standard smartphone tools for editing. You can go to them by selecting the appropriate item in the image menu at the top.

4. Slideshow

For viewing a whole bunch of photos, for example from vacation, the slideshow mode is perfect. When it is turned on, the pictures are automatically changed after a few seconds. This feature will be especially useful in the case of the web version of "Google Photos", which allows you to turn your PC screen into a photo frame.

The slideshow mode is turned on from the menu of any photo, you just need to click on the three dots in the upper right corner and select the desired item. This is relevant both for the web version of the service and for the mobile application.

5. Scanning Printed Photos

Through the side menu of the Google Photos mobile client, you can go to the Photo Scanner application, which allows you to scan printed photos and create digital copies of them. It automatically crops, corrects, removes highlights and rotates the photo to the correct position.

The resulting photos are automatically saved in Google Photos, from where they can be easily shared with other users.

6. Freeing up space on your smartphone

"Google Photos" stores all pictures from a smartphone in the cloud, so they can be safely deleted from the device's memory if you have constant access to the Internet. The service's mobile application even has a special “Free up space” function.

It allows you to delete all pictures that have already been uploaded to the cloud from the gadget. Google Photos will first estimate their number and total weight by requesting confirmation of deletion.

7. Disable hints

Google Photos can automatically apply filters to pictures, create movies and animations, and remind you of what the day was like a year ago. The results of such a creative can be saved or deleted, and if necessary, you can refuse such prompts.

To do this, you need to open the side menu of the service, go to "Settings" and click on the item "Assistant Tips". There you can choose which recommendations to keep and which ones to remove.

8. Smart search

Through the use of artificial intelligence, Google Photos can recognize what is shown in the uploaded images. For example, it can be food, document, sunset, mountains, building, and so on. You can quickly find the desired frame among thousands of other photos by specifying in the search what is captured on it.

Similarly, the service will be able to sort photos by events and cities. This will already allow you to go to the pictures taken on last year's vacation or on some of the past holidays.

nine. Synchronization with "Google Drive"

Photos and videos from Google Drive can be viewed and edited in the Google Photos application. To do this, you need to enable synchronization in the settings. This can be done in any of the services.

In Google Photos, the toggle you want is at the bottom of the main settings. In the settings of "Google Drive", which open after clicking on the gear, you must put a tick in front of the item "Create a folder for Google Photos".

10. Auto-loading of folders with images

Many images on your smartphone are automatically saved in separate folders, especially for images from instant messengers and simple downloads. By default, they don't all end up in Google Photos, but it's easy to fix.

In the settings of the service in the section "Startup and synchronization" there is an item "Folders on the device". There, for each folder where there are at least some images, a switch is available. It is he who allows you to start the automatic download of all images contained in them.

11. Uploading all photos in one archive

All photos from Google Photos can be downloaded to any device in one large archive. There is a separate web service for this. With it, you can download all the data associated with you from all Google services. If necessary, you can limit yourself to just one photo.

To do this, go to a special service, click on the "Deselect" button and activate the switch just opposite "Google Photos". It remains to click "Next" at the bottom of the page, select the format of the archive, its size and method of receipt. It can be uploaded to cloud storage or sent to you via a link.

12. Sending a photo to anyone

Google Photos has a very convenient sharing function that allows you to share a picture using any other application, email or even SMS.

You can also create a direct link to a photo or a shared album for sharing. All these functions are available by clicking on the Share button.