How To Download Pictures From Camera

In this digital age, information, media, and even memories can be shared with the blink of an eye (or the click of a shutter), so knowing how to download pictures from a camera to a computer is critical.  Digital photography offers a new kind of freedom for shutter-bugs – the freedom to take as many pictures as you want, delete the ones you don’t, and share the ones you love!

It’s easy to download the pictures, you just need a few items:

• A mini-USB cord
• A card reader, or a camera with Pict Bridge
• An SD Card

Many digital cameras are able to take and store a minimal amount of pictures on their own, however, if you want to take more than, say, five to ten photos, you’ll need the SD card.  Transferring images from the SD and from the camera take different approaches.

Direct from the camera: (MUST have PictBridge technology or similar with mini-USB slot)

1. Find the camera’s mini-USB slot.  It’s usually on the side of the camera or on the bottom and is covered by a small rubber piece that pops off to reveal the slot (a small trapezoidal-shaped hole).
2. Insert the mini-USB end of the cord into the slot and insert the full size USB end into your computer’s USB slot.
3. Turn the camera on and wait for your computer’s photo software to come up.  The computer should recognize the camera and immediately launch its photo program. 
4. Once launched, the screen will allow you to review the pictures and upload the desired photos.  Check any photos you want uploaded (“Select All” if you want them all) and hit “Start” or “Upload.”  **It may ask you if you want to delete the photos once they are transferred to the computer.  It is up to you, but it is always safer to keep the copy on your camera until the transfer is complete and then delete them from the camera manually.
5. If your computer doesn’t launch a photo program, open up “Finder” (for Mac users) or “My Computer” (for Windows users).  Select the camera from the list of devices and drag and drop the files onto your desktop.  You can save them individually, or as a folder.  From there, you can transfer them to any editing program you wish.
6. Make sure to right-click on the camera from the list of devices and select “safely remove hardware” before disconnecting the USB cable to ensure no damage is done to the camera, the files, or the computer program.

From the USB Card:

Cameras with PictBridge or similar software allow you to download the pictures through the camera, as well, just like the instructions above.  Just make sure SD card is still inserted in the camera.

1. For cameras without a built-in mini-USB, use a card reader device along with the mini-USB cord. 
   
2. Insert the SD card from the camera into the card reader slot (make sure to insert into the correct size slot as there are different sizes of SD cards). 
3. Insert the mini-USB end into the corresponding slot on the card reader.  Insert the other end – the standard USB – into your computer’s USB slot.
4. Follow steps three through six from above (using the “card reader” instead of “camera”).

Warning:

• Disconnecting without using the “safely remove hardware” option could cause you to lose your photo files permanently, could damage the cameras operating system, or mess with the program on your computer.  Be sure to carefully include this step.

Tips:

• If you choose to leave the images on the card after downloading them to the computer, many cameras allow you to easily delete them all at once after making sure they’ve transferred properly to the computer.  The next time you turn on your camera using that SD card, simply select “format SD card” from the camera’s menu of options to safely delete ALL images from the card and start fresh.