To add customized buttons to the Picasa program, your computer needs to have a PicasaScripts folder for .BAT (batch command) files and an ExifTools.exe file, plus a separate Picasa database "buttons" folder for .PBZ (PicasaButtonZipped) files. Follow the directions below to set it up on your computer.
Customized button were created at the PicasaStarter website by Picasa TCs, Pieter (in March 2010) and Earl (in May 2011). See "Custom Picasa Buttons" in the left panel of Pieter's website. Normally, anyone wanting one or all of the custom buttons could go to the website and follow the directions for installing each button. However, Google discontinued their Google Code site where the PicasaStarter developers developed code, causing the links at the site to no longer work. The developers may at some point host the buttons on another site. For those who can't wait, below are directions for getting the buttons now.
The 10 customized buttons are:
AddDate: the date taken is added to the file name in YYYY-MM-DD format
Albums: a list of albums that contain the select images is shown in a command window
AllInfo: all info embedded in an image is shown in a command window
CleanFileName: characters (dashes and periods) in file names are replaced by an underline
ExportCaptions: captions (XMP) and file names of photos in a folder appear in a text document named Captions. How to use the button is here.
ExportCleaned: the image is exported to "%UserProfile%\Pictures\Picasa\Exports\Cleaned" folder and stripped of metadata (the original photo is not harmed)
ExportCsv: info from the following fields are exported to a text file: file name, date taken, caption, keywords/tags, name tags if embedded
Filename2Caption: captions (XMP: description and IPTC:caption-abstract) will be OVERWRITTEN by the file name causing the original caption to be lost.
Info: Embedded info (caption, date taken, keywords/tags, face tags, geolocation) will be shown in a command window:
Pano: images with overlapping scenes are stitched together as a panorama with Microsoft ICE to create a panoramic picture. Works good with scanned books/newspapers when the text is overlapping. Install the button from here. Note that the PicasaStarter website links to the wrong download page for ICE, so one could download that program from here then install it on your computer (until January 2021 when the installation files were removed from the Microsoft website). You can also use ICE to stitch and make panoramic photos without using Picasa.
Create a "Tools" and "PicasaScripts" folder under the C drive so you have the path: C:\Tools\PicasaScripts\
Inside the PicasaScripts folder you will place .BAT files and an exiftool.exe file
Get the BAT files from the "PicasaScripts folder contents (BAT files)" folder here
In that folder are PDF files that describe the function of each button
There is another folder named "ExportCaptions (IPTC and XMP) under construction" with bat files that aren't set up yet to use as buttons
Get the exiftool.exe from Phil Harvey's website; download the "Windows Executable" zip file
Unzip the file
Inside is the executable file named exiftool(-k).exe
Remove the (-k) from the file name so that you have the name exiftool.exe
Note: If you ever need to rebuild your Picasa database, the PicasaScripts folder will still exist
Navigate to the Picasa database at C:\Users\<YourUserName>\AppData\Local\Google\Picasa2\ and look for a "buttons" folder (yes, the folder is named Picasa2 rather than Picasa3)
If there is no buttons sub folder, create a new folder called buttons, so you have the path: C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Google\Picasa2\buttons
Place .PBZ files into the buttons folder
Get the .PBZ files from the "Picasa buttons folder (PBZ)" folder here
In the rare event that you are running Picasa with the "PicasaStarter" program, the database folder is at this path (you would place the .PBZ files into this buttons folder): \<Database Folder Name>\Google\Picasa2\buttons
After opening Picasa, if the new buttons are not in the bottom area, you'll need to configure the buttons:
Click Tools > Configure Buttons
Under "Available Buttons" in the left panel, select a button name
Click "Add" to move the button to the "Current Buttons" list
You can move the button down or up by clicking the "Move Down" or "Move Up" buttons. This moves the location of the button in the lower area of Picasa
Click OK
Buttons can also be removed by accessing the Configure Buttons window.
To go back to the default buttons that came with Picasa, click the "Reset to Defaults" button in the Configure Buttons window.
At this location on your computer is the Picasa program: C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Picasa3\buttons
Inside the buttons folder you may already see this file: core-lh2.pbz
The core-lh2.pbz file contains the standard buttons that came with the Picasa program, such as Email, Print, and Export, Shop (Order Prints), Collage, BlogThis!, SlideshowMovie
You may also see a file: geotag.pbz (for geo-tagging photos in Google Earth)
You can pick up the final Picasa version following directions here or, at your own risk, from Filehippo. Google retired the Picasa program on Feb. 12, 2016 but as of 2021, it still works fine on Windows 10 computers except for online functions which no longer work.