Digital Photos Basics

Digital cameras have largely replaced film cameras and are built into many mobile phones and other mobile devices. However what do you do with all those photos once you've taken them? You can leave them on the memory card of the camera or the mobile phone but if you want to save them to ensure they don't get lost or stolen, print them or share them with others then you generally need to copy them to your computer.

Digital cameras often come with software which you can install on your computer and then use to transfer photos from your camera to your computer. Some cameras or mobile phones can also be connected directly to your computer via a USB cable and will act in the same way as an external storage device such as a memory stick. The method will depend on the camera or mobile phone but if you can't work out how to do it, sign up for one of our training sessions and we'll see whether we can help.

One of the easiest ways of transferring photos is to take the memory card out of your camera and to insert it into your computer. Most laptops and some desktop computers have built in slots for memory cards but if not you can buy a card reader for just a few pounds and this can be connected to your computer via a USB cable.

To transfer photos from a memory card to your computer, follow the following steps.

1. First of all create a folder on your computer where you will store the photos. [Right click where you want the new folder, select "New" then "Folder". Type in a name for the folder, press "Enter" to confirm.]

2. If you have an external card reader then plug it into your computer.

3. Take the memory card out of your camera and insert it in the appropriate slot in your card reader or the built-in slots in the computer.

4. The computer should now recognise the memory card.

5. Select "Open folder to view files" (you might need to look into a sub folder to find your photos).

6. Select the photos which you want to copy to your computer. [Use "Edit" then "Select All" or choose specific photos to transfer. It's usually easier to transfer all photos and then delete them from your computer after viewing them]

7. Drag them to the folder which you created at step 1.