David Pogue's Digital Photography: The Missing Manual

Chapter 8. Camera Meets Computer

OK, the Ansel Adams part of your job is over. Your camera's memory card is stuffed with photos and videos. You've snapped the perfect graduation portrait, captured that jaw-dropping sunset over the Pacific, or compiled an unforgettable photo essay of your 2-year-old attempting to eat a bowl of spaghetti. Now comes the payoff: dumping them all onto your Mac or PC so that you can organize, edit, and share them with the rest of the world.

And sharing doesn't just mean printing or emailing. You're electronic now, baby. Your photos can become slideshows, posters, movies, Web pages, desktop pictures, screensavers, bound books, blankets, mugs, t-shirts, calendars, and just about anything else you can think of.

But before you start organizing and publishing those pictures, they have to find their way from your camera to the computer. This chapter explains how to get pictures from camera to computer and introduces you to the software you'll need.

Picasa and iPhoto

For the rest of this book, you'll be hearing almost exclusively about Picasa (for Windows) and iPhoto (for the Macintosh). These are digital shoebox programs. They let you organize, touch up, and then send or present your pictures, so that your adoring fans can enjoy them.

Why Picasa and iPhoto? There are plenty of digital-shoebox and photo-editing programs. Why not Photoshop ($600 online), Photoshop Elements ($80), Aperture ($160), Lightroom ($272), or another big-guns program?

Well, listen: Those are ...