How to Transfer Images from a Digital Camera to a Computer

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Are you having trouble transferring your pictures from your camera to your computer. It's easy! And pretty soon you'll be able to do it with your eyes closed.
Many cameras come with a lot of software. Depending on your choice, you may use it to transfer the data. However if the camera software does not run on your operating system, you are using your friends computer or you do just not want to install and learn an extra software, it is usually possible to transfer pictures using only that comes with the computer operating system.

Steps

Transfering using camera software

1. Run the software that came with your camera. Pop the CD into your computer and go through the setup steps. The only way you'll be able to transfer is if you have the software installed. If you bought the camera used or, for one reason or another, just don't seem to have the CD, you can probably find a used or maybe even a new one on eBay. You might be able to find it somewhere else as well.
   
2. Connect the camera to the computer. Let's face it, the pictures aren't going to the computer if there is no cord to connect them. Most of the time, you'll hear a sound or something will pop-up if the camera is connected properly and working.
   
3. Sync the camera to the computer and transfer the pictures. With most camera software, as soon as you connect the camera to the computer and it recognizes it, something will pop up asking if you would like to sync the pictures to the computer. After that it's pretty self-explanatory. If nothing pops up or it never was supposed to pop up in the first place, open the camera program. Most likely you'll be able to find your way from there. If not, read your camera manual. It should tell you even more than this how-to.
   
4. Another option is to buy a Memory Card Reader. They will go by the name " 6 in One, 12 in one, USB Reader Writer or Flash Memory Card Reader Writer. They allow all memory sticks and cards to be recognized by your computer. On Windows XP, you just plug it in and find it as another drive on My Computer.
   

Transfering using the operating system software

• If camera has the USB connection, just connect it to computer. If your computer has a memory card reader, it is even move convenient to put the camera card into it instead.
  
• If the manufacturer did not try to lock-in you to their software on purpose, many operating systems (Windows XP and all recent Linux distributions) will detect camera and mount for you as a memory stick.
  
• Enter the camera folder, find the image files to neded location.
  
• After you are sure the files are safe in a new place, remove them from the camera folder (use shift+del not to move into recycle bin). Some cameras allow you to transfer files but do not support writing changes to the memory card. In this case you need to clean the card using camera controls (the most of cameras have a button or a sequence of buttons to clear the card).
  

Tips

• If you have Windows XP, usually all you have to do is plug your camera in and when Windows asks you what you want to do, choose Transfer Images To Computer or Run Camera Wizard. This makes it much easier to transfer images and movies from your camera.
  
• If you use a Mac you will not need to install the camera software. Simply plug in the camera, and use iPhoto to manage your pictures if you want. The iPhoto program starts up automatically. All you have to do is push the blue button in the bottom right corner of the window.
  
• Under the recent distribution of Linux (SuSe, Fedora and so on) the best is to have USB card reader connected to the computer. The system is usually capable to detect and mount the inserted card and either show the folder icon on desktop or open the file explorer immediately. All you need is then to move the contents where you want and you can use the Windows software CD that comes with camera to decorate your lamp instead.
  

Things You'll Need

• Camera
  
• Computer
  
• Connecting cord
  
• Camera software (for the proper camera, this should be optional)
  

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