Scanning, transferring, and previewing digital images used to be complicated enough that even someone like Charlie Russel, an information and technology director at a software development firm, declared that managing digital images used to require "the better part of a day and a skilled technology team" to figure out.
All of this has changed with Windows® XP Pro.
Now the processes surrounding digital imaging are built directly into the XP Pro operating system. Instead of a day and a skilled technology team, you only need yourself, a digital camera, a USB cable, and a few minutes.
Back to the Windows® XP Pro home page.
No compatibility worries
When Charlie Russel first transferred images from his digital camera using the new Windows® XP Pro, he was floored. "It just worked," he said.
And that's because Windows® XP Pro is compatible with a wide variety of digital cameras. What's more, it's designed to be "smart" — to recognize the requisite drivers and provide the necessary support automatically. Once you plug the USB cable from your digital camera or scanner into the USB port of your computer, XP Pro takes it from there.1 The Windows Image Acquisition Wizard immediately appears to guide you through the process, from downloading and organizing your pictures, to retrieving, printing and sending them to your friends.
Finding, emailing, and printing your photos
In addition to putting basic compatibility concerns to rest, Windows XP Pro simplifies core image management processes. With XP Pro, digital images are:
- Easy to find and easy to organize. Whenever you save a photo using XP Pro, it will be automatically stored in a folder called My Pictures. XP Pro also creates a subfolder with thumbnail–sized images of the contents, which enables you to preview images without opening a file. If you wish, you can store the photos that you receive via email or over the Web in these same folders.
- Easy to email. Emailing photos to friends and family simply requires going into My Pictures and clicking Email this file from the folder task. Windows XP Pro takes it from there — automatically compressing your photo files so they'll be easier for your recipients to open.
- Easy to print. Windows XP Pro's Wizard automates photo printing. All you need to do is go into My Pictures and click on the photos you'd like to print. (You can select multiple photos by holding down the CTRL key as you click each photo.) From there, simply go into XP Pro Wizard's Picture Tasks and click Print this picture. The only worry is deciding what kind of printing paper to use. (See a selection of photographic printing paper). As an added benefit, XP Pro provides you with a layout tool to ensure that, when printing, you can maximize the available space on your sheet of photographic paper.
Publishing and storing photos
Advanced digital imaging management is also made easier with Windows® XP Pro. Interested in publishing your photos on the Web? XP Pro Provides a clear click–path. After going into your My Pictures folder and selecting the photo or photos you'd like to post, you need only go into File and Folder Tasks, select Publish this file to the Web, and then follow the basic instructions that appear on your screen.
Worried that your digital images are gobbling up too much of your computer's memory? Windows XP Pro simplifies the process of backing up and saving your digital images to CD. Once you've inserted a blank CD (either a CD–R or a CD–RW disc) into your CD–RW drive, right–click on the images in your My Pictures folder that you'd like to save, point to Send to in the menu bar and select Writable CD. After you've saved photos to a CD, you can safely delete them from your computer.
Faster, clearer digital imaging management is just one the benefits of Windows XP Pro. If you're interested in learning more, be sure to read about networking, and CD burning with Windows® XP Pro.
Back to the Windows® XP Pro home page.
1Depending on the model of each, there may be another way to transfer digital images from your digital camera to your computer. Some cameras allow you to remove the memory stick from your digital camera, insert it into a floppy disk adapter, and then plug the floppy disk into your computer's floppy drive.
