help

[Sophie]

Had an interest in photography for about a year. Just turned 40 so thought it would be an ideal opportunity to buy a camera and indulge in the first hobby that has ever inspired me. Have been spoilt and been bought a canon eos 20 d, couple of lenses, tripod, card reader etc. I have photoshop 7 and a laptop which I intend to add a lacie crt monitor to and color calibrate. But I find myself confused. I have experience of working on images but I just dont know how to download my images into photoshop. I know this may sound like a stupid question but I have the software package which came with camera, windows xp 'pictures' and photoshop 7.0. I would like to know....

A. Do I need to install the software which came with camera?

B. How do I get my photos into photoshop for me to work on them?

Please no laughter!

[srphotography]

You do not need to install the software. I personally use a USB2 card reader built into my 3.5" drive bay, as you are using a laptop I would suggest a USB2 external card reader (£10 12in1 reader from 7dayshop).

This card reader will show up as several removable drives in My computer, you can then copy-paste the files to your chosen hard disc directory, typically My Documents>My Pictures. As for Photoshop it is just a case of File>open and going to the my pictures folder. When saving your modified PSD's or final JPG's for sending to the lab do not save over the original file, this may sound obvious but it can be easily done if not careful.

The main advantage with the card reader is that you will not need to power up the camera to transfer photos, but also you can carry on shooting on another card while one is transferring and you do not have to fill your PC with camera software and extras you are not going to use.

Regarding the CRT monitor, I personally use Calibrated LCD's on my system to save space. I know they have some limitations over a CRT but to be honest they are so close to a correct representation to the final print I personally will not be going back to CRT's again!

Regards,
Steve.

[Sophie]

Thanks for the advice Steve sometimes its just a bit confusing. I do have a card reader so will take your advice. Also thanks for the tip on crt monitors, I did not actually want to buy a crt, so will investigate lcd's. Any tips on make and price would be appreciated. Hope I can be of help to you in the future,..................sophie