SAVING GRAPHICS

Once you have taken those wonderful pictures, you need to take them off the camera and save them where they will be accessible. Saving your pictures onto the computer or network allows you to free up space on your camera's memory device.

Direct Connect to Computer

Most cameras come with a USB cable that allows you to connect the camera directly to your computer to transfer pictures. Locate the cable that came with your camera and follow these steps:

• With the camera OFF plug the cable into the camera and into an available USB port on your computer.
• Turn the camera ON.
• If your computer is running Windows XP, you will probably see this dialog box:
  
  

You can either click OK to use the wizard to download pictures from your camera or click Cancel to close the dialog box and use the My Computer window to transfer the picture files. Both methods of saving your pictures are explained below.

NOTE: Some cameras come with software that will automatically launch when the camera is attached to the computer. You might need to consult the Help files of such a program to find out how to use it effectively.

Download from Memory Card

If you have a card reader on your computer - either internal or external, you can remove the memory card from your camera and insert it in the card reader. The card and its files will then display in the My Computer window as a drive just like a floppy disk drive or CD drive. Instructions for transferring your files in the My Computer window are shown below.

Using the Scanner and Camera Wizard

When you connect your camera directly to the computer, select the Scanner and Camera Wizard from the popup box and click OK.

• Thumbnails of the pictures on the camera will display for your preview.
  
  
• Check the pictures that you want to transfer to your computer. Notice the scroll bar at the right - you may have more pictures available than you see at first.
• After selecting pictures, click Next >
  
  
  
• Type in a name for the group of pictures that is descriptive - ClassParty, DecemberBirthdays, etc
• Browse to the location where you want the pictures to be saved - probably a folder on your network drive (N:)
• Check or uncheck the Delete pictures box
• Click Next >
• Select Other Options and click Next >
  
  
  
• The last screen of the wizard summarizes how many pictures were copied and gives the location of these files. Click Finish to close the wizard.

Using the My Computer Window

When your camera is connected directly to the computer or when the camera's memory card is inserted in a card reader, you can access your picture files using My Computer.

• Open the My Computer window
• Locate the 'drive' designation for either the camera or the removable disk card reader.
  
  
  
• Double click to open the device and view the files - you may have to navigate down into several folders to find them.
• When you have located the pictures, you can click a filename and see a preview of the file on the left side of the window in the Details area.
• Rename the pictures so that the names make sense; delete any pictures that you don't want to keep; copy or move files to a location on your network space, a floppy disk, thumb drive, or burn them to a CD.
• When finished, close the My Computer window.