Olympus® PEN E-PL1 For Dummies®

Chapter 5. Downloading, Printing, and Sharing Your Photos

In This Chapter

• Choosing photo software

• Transferring pictures to your computer

• Processing Raw (ORF) files

• Preparing pictures for print

• Sharing photos online

For many novice digital photographers, the task of moving pictures to the computer is one of the more confusing aspects of the art form. Unfortunately, providing you with detailed downloading instructions is impossible because the steps vary widely depending on which computer software you use to do the job.

To give you as much help as possible, however, this chapter starts with a quick review of photo software, in case you aren't happy with your current solution. Following that, you can find information about downloading images, converting pictures that you shoot in the Raw (ORF; Olympus Raw Format) format to a standard format, and preparing your pictures for print and e-mail.

Choosing the Right Photo Software

Programs for downloading, archiving, and editing digital photos abound, ranging from entry-level software designed for beginners to high-end options geared to professionals. The good news is that if you don't need serious photo-editing capabilities, you can find free programs that should provide all the basic tools you require, including two offerings from Olympus. The next two sections offer a look at the Olympus programs along with two other freebies; following that, I offer ...