Getting to know how the camera works with your computer is essential. Much of what we work with is stored on the “cloud” in today’s modern age. Though, a closer connection exists between what you shoot pictures with and what you edit pictures with.

If the cloud is unavailable, the tried-and-true method of direct connect is always an option - and in some ways, the better option.

Some of the reasons that directly connecting your camera to your Windows PC/Apple Macintosh (Mac) computer is a good idea

• Transfer of your images from camera to your computer is much faster than transfer to/from the cloud
• Sometimes the cloud is unavailable – meaning that we can’t do a transfer even if we wanted to.
• You are able to hand select which images you want, instead of just importing all of them (let’s face it, some of the pictures we take really aren’t worth saving
• The issues of “Syncing” can give a false sense of hope when saving to the cloud. For instance, if you un-sync certain folders or images, does that mean they get removed from your cloud storage by accident?

There are some things that are benefited from cloud storage though

• Images are immediately conveniently backed up to a cloud drive
• No cables or extra hardware needed
• Cloud storage is typically much larger than SD cards or internal camera data storage

Format Your Camera SD Card\

Method 1 (Camera to computer)

1. Plug the USB Cable into your computer and then connect your Digital SLR Camera.
2. Open File Explorer and locate the D3200, D3300, D3400, or D3500 drive in the left-hand Drive Pane
3. Locate the drive labeled Removable Storage
4. Right click on the Removable Storage and select Format (Warning!!! THIS WILL DELETE ALL CONTENT ON YOUR CAMERA'S STORAGE!!!) 

Method 2 (Card reader to computer)

There are card readers (little black boxes connected to your workstation/PC. If there is no card reader available, then usually you can locate one in the black container on top of the cabinet underneath the big TV). You can plug one of those into the Computer and then insert the memory card that is in your camera. 

1. Open File Explorer and locate your memory card
2. Locate the drive labeled Removable Storage
3. Right click on the Removable Storage and select Format (Warning!!! THIS WILL DELETE ALL CONTENT ON YOUR CAMERA'S STORAGE!!!) 
4. Rename the card so that it has your First initial and last name (example: CGarner)

Transfer Your Images

1. Take 10 photos of anything you want (as long as it is school appropriate, of course). Yes...you can venture out into the hallways. Please be considerate of other classrooms, students, faculty, and administrators. 
2. Your phone/tablet/camera should have come with a USB (Universal Serial Bus) cable – it’s probably tucked into one of the pockets in the camera bag (if you were issued a digital SLR camera). Double check to make sure this cable is with your camera. If there is no cable or your camera will not connect in this way, there are USB Card Reader cables already connected to your workstation/PC or they are in the black container underneath the TV that can be used. Remove the memory card from your camera and insert it in one of those in order to read/write to it.
3. Create a new folder in your Digital Photography folder and call it "From Camera to Computer" (only if you have not done so already)
4. Connect your phone/tablet/camera to your Windows PC/Apple Macintosh computer using the USB cable
5. Turn the camera/tablet/phone “ON” (if it isn’t on already)
6. When Windows displays the message “What would you like to do with this device,” select Open Files or Browse.
7. When Windows Explorer/File Explorer (most people simply refer to it as Explorer or Files) double click on Removable Storage
8. Click on DCIM (Digital Camera Images) or (Digital Camera Image Memory) and then click on the next folder My digital SLR camera calls it “100D3300” – this is usually the model of the camera but your Phone or Tablet may call it something different.
   Windows Explorer should open up your files and images that you have saved.
   
   *If you have any issues connecting your phone/tablet/camera to your Windows PC/Apple Macintosh computer, please see your teacher for assistance.
   
   My folder looks like this:
   
9. Click on View (on the top Menu) and choose Preview Pane it will display a side-bar where you can get a better view of the image
   
   This is what you should see:
   
10. Now, click on the View (on the top menu) and choose Extra Large Icons it will “blow up” the images in the Windows Explorer so that you can see them better.
    
    
11. Click on View and then select Tiles
12. Hold the right Alt button (on the keyboard) and then click on an image you can hand select which images you want to keep.
    
13. Right click on one of the highlighted files and select Copy
14. Now, find your From Camera to Computer folder in Windows Explorer and open it I up (it should be empty)
15. Right click in the white folder area and choose Paste. This will paste your images into your folder.
16. When you are done, you can close out the folder or continue working on something else.

On your computer, inside of your Digital Photography folder you will need to create the following folders. More folders will be created as the course continues. So, be prepared to create even more folders. 

• From Camera to Computer
• A Focused Lens