| Digital Photography: Transferring Images to Your Computer |
From "Digital Photography"
episode DPG-101 |
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Once you've taken a batch of digital photos, you'll want to transfer them to your computer. This will allow you to use your pictures as you wish (for printing, e-mailing, archiving, etc.), and at the same time allow you to free up memory in your camera for taking more pictures. There are a couple of methods for doing this.
Transferring Pictures Directly from Your Camera
To move images directly from your camera, without removing the memory card, you'll hook your camera up to your computer using the USB ports and a USB cable (provided with your camera). - Plug your camera into a power outlet using an AC power-adapter. The adapter will allow you to preview and download your images without draining your batteries during this opeation.
- Plug the USB cable that came with your camera into the USB port on the camera. Plug the other end into the USB port on your computer (figure A).
- Turn the camera on. With the camera-reader software already preloaded on your computer, when you turn on the camera, a "digital-camera" icon (figure B) will appear on your computer's desktop.
- Double-click the mounter icon to open the camera's memory card and access the images.
- Open the DCIM (digital camera images) folder to see all of your images (or a folder containing those images).
- Select and drag the images folder onto your desktop to copy the images to your computer. It may take a few moments for all of the images to copy over (figure C).
- The images are now on your computer, and you can file them somewhere on your hard drive as you would any other computer files. Once you've successfully transferred the images to your computer, you may delete the image files from your memory card to free up space for new pictures
Transferring Pictures from Your Memory Card Using a Card Reader
A faster method of transferring your pictures to your computer is through the use of a memory-card reader (figure D), an external accessory that hooks up to your computer via the USB port just like other peripheral devices. - Once the reader is hooked up to your computer, the memory card containing your images can be removed from your camera and inserted into the reader (figure E), much like a floppy disk would be inserted into a floppy drive.
- With the reader's software already preloaded on your computer, and a disc inserted into the reader, a memory-card reader icon will appear on your desktop (figure F).
- Simply double-click on the icon to open up the memory card and access the images. The images can then be copied over to your hard drive, just as described above in connection with transferring images from your camera.
Tip: Always back up your photos to a reliable storage medium. If you have CD-burning capabilities on your computer, periodically back up your photo files to a CD for archiving purposes. In the event that your computer ever has a fatal hard-drive crash and you lose your data files, you'll have your photos backed up, stored safely and ready for retrieval. Photos can also be stored onto a Zip disc, although the storage capacity is not as great.
E-Mailing Photos and Image-File Size
Once you've loaded digital photos onto your computer, you can e-mail selected ones to friends as e-mail attachments. Most e-mail programs have capabilities for attaching documents and sending them along with an e-mail message. It's a simple procedure, and photos can be e-mailed as attachments just like text or other documents. Check the software manual that came with your e-mail program if you're not sure how to send attachments.
Important: Do not send large files as e-mail attachments. When sending attachments, it's important that the attached files are small -- i.e., one megabyte (or 1,000 kilobytes) of memory or less. Large files may have trouble being transmitted and received, and they may take a long time for the recipient to open. The key factors that affect file size include file format, image size and image resolution.
Digital pictures may be large files or small files depending on their file format and the other settings at which they were shot. You can reduce the file size of an image by saving a copy as a compressed file such as a JPEG. The JPEG format allows the picture to be displayed at high quality on computer monitors, but at a substantially reduced file size. These smaller files can be sent via e-mail much more effectively.
To compress an image to a JPEG (figure G) for sending via e-mail, follow these steps. - Using your image software, open the image you want to send.
- From your menu bar, choose the "File...Save as..." command.
- When the "Save" interface appears, you should have several options for File Format. From the menu choices, select the JPEG format.
- Rename the new file if you wish, and click "Save."
- The newly saved file will be a compressed JPEG file, rather than a larger, uncompressed file (e.g., TIFF or PICT).
There are other compression schemes and formats you can use, but JPEG is one that is commonly used.Image size (i.e., the actual dimensions of the digital picture in inches) affects file size as well. Bigger images mean more megabytes. Though large image files are desirable for printing, image size is usually not critical for the purposes of emailing simple snapshots.
You can easily resize images to reduce their file size and make them easier to e-mail. In your image program, from your menu bar, select the "resize image" or "image size" option (figure H). This will allow you to adjust the width and height of the image (usually in either inches or pixels) to create a smaller-sized file -- both in inches and in megabytes.
Image resolution also affects file size. From your image-size menu, check the resolution setting. If it is high, e.g., 600 dpi (dots per inch), the resolution can be reduced for e-mailing since most computer monitors have a resolution between 72 and 96 dpi. Unless your recipient is a professional graphic designer who expects to print the e-mailed photo, an image of about 4x5 inches in size and a resolution of 72 dpi is usually sufficient.
Note: It's important to remember that once you've made changes to the format, size and resolution of an image -- and saved those changes -- the changes are permanent. You cannot go back to the original picture attributes. For that reason, many photographers prefer to retain their original images -- intact in their "raw" form -- in addition to the newly created compressed images. If you need to make changes to a particular image for e-mailing, you may want to follow suit: Copy any image you want to alter and send, keep the original intact, and make changes ONLY to the copy you intend to e-mail. To make a copy, follow these steps: - Open the desired image.
- Select "Save as" from the file menu.
- Give the new file a distinct name indicating that it's being resized or compressed (e.g., "SuzyPortrait_compressed").
- Click "OK."
- Make your changes (size, format, resolution, etc.) to the new new image -- the copy.
- Save your changes.
In this way, you retain your original raw, uncompressed file while creating a secondary, smaller compressed one for e-mailing.
Attaching and Sending the Image
Once you've reduced your picture to an acceptable file size (less than one megabyte -- or less than 1000K), it's ready to be attached and sent. In your e-mail program, open a new e-mail message and compose your greeting or message to your recipient. Now simply select the "Attach" command from your File menu. This should open a window that will allow you to browse for, and locate, your desired image file (figure I). Select your desired image, and click "Attach." Now check your e-mail document. There should be an indication that the file you selected has been attached. Once your message is complete, and you've confirmed that the image is attached, just click "Send." Your recipient should have your picture within a few seconds or minutes.
RESOURCES :
Rick Sammon, professional photographer
Web site: www.ricksammon.com
Learn more about photography with Rick Sammon's new e-book on CD. More than 100 tips and photographs from Rick's travels around the world.
And check out Rick's column on Kodak's site:
Web site: www.kodak.com/US/en/corp/magazine/tips/2001_10
Rick Sammon
Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520
Email: RickSammon@aol.com
Website: www.ricksammon.com
Special Thanks for DIY's Digital Photography workshop, episodes 101-105
Adobe Photoshop
Web site: www.adobe.com
PC Photo magazine
Web site: www.pcphotomag
Kodak
Web site: www.kodak.com
Epson America, Inc.
Web site: www.epson.com
Kinkos
Web site: www.kinkos.com
Ulead Cool 360
Web site: www.ulead.com
The Digital Wallet
Web site: www.mindsatwork.net
The L.A. County Arboretum
Web site: www.arboretum.org
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Systems
Buffalo, NY 14240-1034
Website: www.adobe.com
PC Photo magazine
Website: www.pcphotomag.com
Online version of the magazine devoted to digital photography and related technologies.
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Digital Photography
Model: 002864235X
Author: Steven Greenberg
Order this book from Amazon.com.
Prentice Hall
Paramus, NJ 07652
Digital Photography For Dummies
Model: 0764506463
Author: Julie Adair King
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Hungry Minds, Inc.
Complete Digital Photography
Model: 1584500077
Author: Ben Long
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Charles River Media
Website: www.charlesriver.com/
50 Fast Digital Photo Techniques
Model: 0764535781
Author: Gregory Georges, Cris Rys
To order this title from Amazon, click here.
Hungry Minds, Inc.
WEB-EXTRA RESOURCE: Info on image-file formats
For an detailed article explaining digital image-file formats (e.g., JPEG, TIFF, GIF), check out the Web site:
www.hemera.com/articles/articles01.htm
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