How to transfer Facebook files to Google+ photos.

To move photo albums from Facebook to Google+ photos, you need to transfer them to Picasa and then share the albums.

One great feature of Picasa’s integration with Google+ is the ability to share specific albums with specific circles. I created an album called ‘Google+’ to post photos I want to share with everyone, and I assign circles to the albums I want to assign to specific circles of people. In this post, I’ll first show how to transfer albums, and then I’ll show how to share.

To capture Facebook albums, you can manually download all your photos, or you can install Google Chrome, and then install the ‘Move your photos’ plug in. The plugin is located at https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/idiebfmmkhaffedkhjhapmagabcadjhc#

Click to install it and log into Google+. Once installed, click on the icon that looks like a bus on the top right-hand corner.

The plug-in will prompt you to allow access to Facebook. Once allowed, the plugin will scan your photos and display all albums found on Facebook.

Each album will show up on the Move your Photos screen. Every album will be checked by default. Uncheck any that you don’t want to transfer. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and click ‘Upload’. This will begin processing the photos and move them into Picasa with the same albums you have in Facebook.

The processing speed will depend on your computer and internet connection. I processed 97 photos in about 5 minutes or so.

Once the upload is complete, go to https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/myphotos

If you are already logged onto Google+, you won’t need a password. Each of your albums will be displayed. Click on an album you want to share to open it.

On the right side of the screen, you’ll see options similar to the image below:

I like to leave the notification option unchecked, but if you are sharing with family or a circle that would want to know when you upload a picture, click to notify.

Click ‘Share’.

The first time you go to share an album, it may default to public. To remove this option, click the ‘x’ beside the circle name.

Click on ‘add more people’. To allow everyone on Google+ to see an album, choose the circle ‘Your circles’. Everyone that you have as a contact in any circle will be able to see the contents of this album.

To restrict an album to a limited number of people, remove any circles showing, click Add more people, and then choose the specific circle you want to share this album with. You can also return to Google+, create a circle with a limited number of people, and return to Picasa and share an album with that circle.

Now when you upload a new photo, it will be posted on Google+, but will only be seen by the people in the circle you’ve shared the album with. Do the same with each album.

To add another circle, open the album and click share again. You can remove or add any circle you have under your Google+ profile.

To move a photo into another album, click the photo, click on Actions, then either copy to another album or move to another album.

You will then be given the option to enter the title of a new album, or you can click on ‘choose an existing album’ and select the album you want the picture to show up in.

This can be helpful to remove photos that you don’t want to share, or move photos to an album that is already being shared.

Uploading Google+ photos 

To upload new photos, there are several options. The web interface is great for uploading from your computer. Desktop software for Picasa can be downloaded and used to manage photos on your computer. There are also phone apps for uploading photos. Pictures located on your android or iphone can upload and manage photo albums through apps. I use the app called Picasa Tool by ColifeR Lab. It’s a free app and allows me to upload to specific albums.

Once photos are posted in shared albums, they are posted online in Google+ in the circles assigned to that album.

Using circles to share photos is a significant improvement over Facebook’s all or nothing option.