Images From Camera to PC
Your photos will most likely be in JPEG format unless your
camera is capable of capturing and storing images in uncompressed
raw or TIFF format and you programmed the camera to save images
in this format.
In either case there are three methods of getting your digital
photos from the camera into your PC:
1 Direct via a cable into the USB port
2 Using a memory card reader
3 Using a docking station ? if your camera supports this
accessory
Which method you use is a matter of preference and convenience,
but all end up with the same result ? transferring image files
from your camera?s memory card to a folder on your computer?s
hard drive. Using a memory card reader is the quickest way to
transfer files ? especially if there are a large number of files.
In all cases, your PC treats the device connected to it (the
camera, the card reader, or the docking station) as an external
drive. When you click the ?My Computer? icon on Windows
desktop, the external device (camera, card reader, or docking
station) will appear as an additional drive (note: the device
must be turned on to be recognized as a drive). Using Windows
Explorer, you can drag and drop files from your camera or memory
card to a folder on your hard drive (usually under the My
Pictures folder).
Your camera or docking station most likely shipped with some
proprietary software that attempts to simplify the process of
transferring images into your PC. These programs can be
configured to launch when they recognized your camera turned on
or the docking station set to transfer images. Typically these
programs provide a basic image viewing and editing capability. If
you are comfortable with it?s operation, continue using it but
make sure the images are transferred to an appropriate folder
under My Pictures, and not some folder buried within the Program
Files folder of your C drive.
Once the images are transferred, erase the images on the memory
card either in the card reader or in the camera. This is usually
a check-box option in the software provided with the camera, or
if you choose to transfer images using a utility like Windows
Explorer, you will have to delete the image files from the memory
card, just as you would delete files from an external drive or
floppy drive (select files then delete). Of course, only do this
after successful image file transfer to your hard drive folder is
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