Since Google's Guides are Lacking for using GP for the computer, I figure I'll fill in some of the blanks. Google's Guide can be seen here.
Google Photos is a fantastic tool for archiving and saving all your photos. Don't be afraid to click around and figure some stuff out on your own. In fact, if you hover almost anything, it will tell you what it is!
In the meantime, below you will find some of the basics:
Google has an uploader for Mac and PC which can be installed from the app downloads button in the sidebar on the left (of Google Photos). If you don’t see the sidebar, try clicking the three lines in the upper left corner.
From the Upload button in Google Photos. To the right of the search bar, you will see an up arrow that if you hover over it, will show the word Upload.
You can also drag a photo from Windows Explorer or Finder into the Google Photos window. So if you have GP open in your browser, drag a photo to it and it should start uploading.
From your iPhone, iPad or Android Device. Install the Google Photos app, and let it walk you through the auto backup process. When photos are still uploading, they have a syncing icon (circle type icon) over them. When they are uploaded, they will have no icon and you will see them from your computer.
There are a couple ways of sharing. You can share individual photos, you can share multiple photos (outside an album) or you can share an album, story or collage (I won’t be going over the Stories or Collages).
Sharing Individual Photos
Click the photo to enlarge it
Move your mouse towards the upper right, and you will see a Less than Sign which will say share when you hover over it. Click it.
From here you can share to an already created Album, A new album, Get the link (direct link to copy and paste anywhere), or share to Google Plus, Facebook or Twitter Directly.
Sharing multiple photos
As you are hovering over photos, you should see a check box in the upper left of each photo you hover over. Clicking one of these will enable select mode. From here you can select multiple photos one by one, or hold shift and select a range of photos.
Once your photos are selected, you will see the same sharing button above on a bar in blue. Clicking the share button will yield the same results as above.
Sharing an Album
If you open the sidebar from your main view, you can click Albums.
Click the album you want to share.
In the upper right you should see the same sharing button. Click it and choose your option.
Notes:
Sharing icon in iOS is a little box with an out arrow.
I always recommend sharing the link when presented the option
Multi-selecting on Android or iPhone, hold your finger on a photo until you get the check marks.
Google Drive Access from drive.google.com Used for storing any type of file Organized by Folders Varied prices for storage Google Photos Access from photos.google.com Storage of Photos and Videos Organized by Albums Free unlimited photo/video Both ...
When it comes to photo backup, sharing, and syncing. There are two giants in this realm. Apple and Google. I want to share some key differences between the two. I’ll look at a few categories: Overview Pricing and Storage Features Organizing Overview ...
Google is a great company offering a lot of amazing services for free or low cost. Though sometimes, for the non-techies, they can be difficult to navigate and there are a lot of helpful services they offer. I wanted to provide a little intro into ...
Bookmarking Pages You can easily save a page by bookmarking it. There’s a star at the top of the address bar that will light up blue when you save the bookmark. You can read more about organizing bookmarks here. Finding a Page you Saved My ...
Two big names in technology. Which do you prefer? We know who wins in our mind! You likely use a product of each of theirs daily. Today, they go head to head in a lot of areas. Whether it's Operating Systems, search, maps or cloud services. Who ...