Moving your images from the camera to your computer

Most cameras come with software and a cable that allows you to connect your camera to the computer and download the images. These days the connection is usually through a cable to a USB port. The process of moving your images from the camera is fairly straight-forward:
- Connect the cable to the camera and the computer.
- Turn the camera on, and in Windows Explorer a new “removable disk” drive will appear.
- Just use Windows Explorer to select all the files on your camera, then cut and paste them onto your hard drive.

If you want to access the images in your camera, but you don't have a cable, then you can copy the images from the storage card with a USB memory card reader. This process is also straight forward:
- Take the memory stick or Compact Flash or other medium out of your camera and plug it into the card reader.
- Plug the card reader into the USB port on your computer.
- When you open Windows Explorer you will see the “removable disk” drive in your list of drives. Use Windows Explorer to select all the files, then cut and paste them onto your hard drive.

Managing the files on your Hard Drive

I have a folder called images. In that I create a new subfolder for each time I copy the images to the hard drive. If you are going to rename you files, it is probably best to do it at this stage.

You should make copies of your images so that if your hard drive fails you won’t lose them. I suggest that you copy your images onto CDs as soon as you can. As well, it is worth making at least two copies of everything because CDS are so easily damaged. At least then you improve your chances of retaining your images if a problem arises.

Viewing your Images

WIthin Windows you can use Explorer to navigate to the folder that has the images and then choose to view the files as thumbnails. Then you will be able to quickly scan the thumbnails to find any image you are interested in viewing. By selecting the image, it will open up in image viewing software. Almost all software that can be used for photo manipulation will have a browse funtion that will let you see thumbnails.