Working with Pictures in the Camera

Interestingly, you don't have to copy photos from your camera to your hard disk to work with them. Windows XP includes some basic picture management functionality that can be used with the pictures currently stored in your digital camera.

As you recall, when you connected your camera to your computer you were presented with four different options. (You can also display these options by selecting the camera icon in the Scanners and Cameras utility and clicking the Get Pictures option in the activity center pane.) You choose the Acquire Pictures option to copy pictures to your hard disk, but you can choose one of the other options to work with the pictures while they're still in your camera.

If you want to print selected photos from your camera, choose the Print the Pictures option. All the photos in your camera will be displayed, and all you have to do is choose which photos you want to send to your picture.

If you want to delete or rename the pictures in your camera, select the Open Folder to View Files option. This displays the contents of your camera or media card in a My Pictures-like folder. You can use the commands in this folder to perform a full range of file-management tasks with your pictures.

If your camera contains any movie files, you can play these movies on your PC by selecting the Play the Video Files option. Because many digital still cameras also let you record short MPEG movies, this option is a nice way to view your movies without first copying them to your hard disk.