Photoshop Elements 8 for Windows: The Missing Manual

Chapter 2. Importing, Managing, and Saving Your Photos

Now that you've had a look around Elements, it's time to start learning how to get photos into the program, and how to keep track of where these photos are stored. As a digital photographer, you don't have to deal with shoeboxes stuffed with prints, but you've still got to face the menace of photos piling up on your hard drive. Fortunately, Elements gives you some great tools for organizing your collection and quickly finding individual pictures.

In this chapter, you'll learn how to import photos from cameras, memory card readers, and scanners. You'll also find out how to import individual frames from videos, open files already on your computer, and create a new file from scratch. Then you'll be ready for a quick tour of the Organizer, where you can sort and find pictures once they're in Elements. Finally, you'll learn about photo preservation: saving and backing up your precious files.

Importing from Cameras

Elements gives you lots of different ways to get photos from camera to computer, but the simplest way is using Adobe's Photo Downloader. Even if you don't like the Downloader, read on. Later in this section, you'll learn about other ways to import your photos.

Note

Take a moment to carefully read the instructions from your camera's manufacturer. If those directions tell you to do something differently than anything you read here, follow the manufacturer's instructions.

The Photo Downloader

When you plug your camera or memory card ...