Digital Photography: The Missing Manual

Chapter 8. Organizing and Backing Up with Elements

If you read the previous two chapters, you know how tricky it can be to cobble together your own photo organization/backup system using Windows XP and other software. But if you own Photoshop Elements—rejoice! Your life just got a little easier. In addition to a powerful image-editing program, you’ve got tools that make quick work of organizing and backing up your digital photo collection. You don’t have to open your My Pictures folder again (unless you really want to). Elements can even help you download shots from your digital camera.

This chapter first takes you through importing photos into Elements from cameras and digital card readers using Elements’ Photo Downloader component.

Next, you’ll learn how to get your photos off of your camera and into Elements. From there you’ll learn how to use Element’s Organizer feature to find and sort your pictures. Finally, you’ll get a tour of the program’s easy-to-use options for backing up your photo collection to a CD/DVD or backup drive.

Importing with the Photo Downloader

Once you install Photoshop Elements, a helper program called the Photo Downloader automatically appears whenever you connect a camera or card reader—even if Elements isn’t running. The Downloader window is divided into two main parts (see Figure 8-1). On the left side are the thumbnails of your photos. The little checkmarks next to each image indicate which photos the Downloader will import; just turn off the checkboxes ...