You have taken the plunge and bought a digital camera. You’ve learned how to take those pictures, but now you’re trying to figure out how to download them to your computer and send them to your friends and family. Well, read on – for help is on the way!
The easiest way to download those pictures is to allow your “Windows” software to automatically detect that you’ve plugged in your camera. Use the USB cable that hopefully came with your camera to connect to the USB port on the CPU (main box.) The USB port is about ½” in width and can be on the front or back of your CPU. Plug the cable into your camera and also into your computer and then turn your camera on. It should automatically detect it and prompt you to upload the photographs into a photo file. It is important to pay attention where this file is located so that you can go to the photographs once you are finished. Follow the on screen instructions until it tells you that your pictures have been uploaded. You may then remove the cable and turn off your camera.
Now, go to the file location where your pictures are. Right click on the first photo and choose Preview to view the picture full screen. Use your arrow keys or cursors to maneuver back and forth through your photographs. When you are finished viewing, click “escape.”
A common mistake people make when sending photographs is to attach the picture to the email. Although this does work and gives the best quality of photo for printing, it often makes the file SO HUGE that anyone with an older model computer or dial up service cannot even view the photograph. Imagine your friends and family seeing only the elbow of your beautiful new grandchild. You want them to see the whole picture!
If you want to share your photos with someone on the internet, follow these easy steps. First determine which pictures you want to send. To select a single photo, right click on it and select “send to – mail recipient.” A box will pop up asking if you want to make all your pictures smaller. Yes! You do! This will only be for the purposes of THIS email. It will default with the photo “name” in the subject line. You may change this to read something more interesting like “the most beautiful grandbaby in the world.” Wanting to send several photos at once? You will need to group them together. To move photos, click and drag in one area so that you can select them all at once. Once you have “drawn a box around them with your mouse”, go to File and Send to – mail recipient. The specifics are the same as with a single photo.
Fill in the email of the recipient of this email. You may send it to multiple recipients by putting a semicolon after each email address and typing the next. Don’t forget to fill in the body of the text, which explains to your friends and family what your picture is about. It’s a good idea to put multiple addresses in the BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) field. If BCC is not an option on your email screen, choose Tools and Select. Choose a recipient using BCC here and it will put the option on your emails in the future. Using Blind Carbon Copy prevents the email addresses from being viewed by a zillion people. Why a zillion? Remember… they are seeing the most beautiful grandbaby in the world. Of course, they will forward it on to everyone they know!
