correctmyphotos

Let’s continue with the Digital Camera Basics presentation with the topic “How do I get photos from my camera to my computer?” This was the first question my friend, Bill, asked when his memory stick filled up and he couldn’t take any more pictures. Or, was it when his wife wanted to email pictures of the grand kids to a friend.  Whatever the reason, this is usually the first obstacle the new digital camera owner encounters. Fortunately, it really isn’t that complicated.

You probably already know a bit about the Windows Explore File Management system and how to create and name a folder for email and Word documents. Maybe you have even downloaded a file from the internet.  Well, downloading (yes, it’s called downloading when you are putting something into your computer and uploading when you are taking something out) from a digital camera is basically the same. Windows XP and Vista even have a special folder for your pictures, My Pictures in XP and Pictures in Vista. The first thing to do is to create a new folder within the My Pictures folder.  For example, “Rotary Chili Cookoff-2008″, where you want to put the photos.

The basic steps are outlined in this slide, however, an excellent step by step guide written by Tony Northrup can be found on Microsoft’s website at, http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/takeit/transfer.mspx

Transfer Pictures from Camera to Computer

When I first started using a digital camera I used the camera USB cable to transfer picture files, but that got to be a pain. Since my computer didn’t have the card reader for the CompactFlash media compatible with my Canon camera I bought a Card Reader and would suggest you do the same. I would also suggest that you do not install the software that came with your camera or use another photo editor or photo organizer to download or manage your photos, at least not initially. They tend to be complicated and will take over your computer.  It drives me nuts when I insert the card reader into my computer and Elements wants to take control.  It took me a while, but I finally figured out how to stop that from happening. Just use the Windows utilities to download and organize and you will be much happier.

Now a word about archiving. It is a good idea to make an archive copy of the original photo files because you never know when you might want to retrieve a photo or if you have a computer or disk crash and lose your edited photos. We will talk more about editing and organizing photos in upcoming posts, for the time being here are the basics of archiving.

Create and Archive File of Original Photos

If you are interested in the complete presentation you can view or download the pdf file at http://www.correctphoto.com/publications/Digital_Camera_Basics-1.pdf

 Wayne www.correctphoto.com