TMO Quick Tip - Digital Pics: Importing Specific Images

by , 7:30 AM EST, January 28th, 2008

Getting pictures from your digital camera into your Mac is a pretty simple task. Just plug in your camera, and let iPhoto suck everything off. If you want to import specific pictures and leave the rest on the camera, that's easy, too -- even if you don't use iPhoto.

iPhoto makes it easy to import just the images you want from your digital camera. After you connect your camera to your Mac, select the pictures you want to add to iPhoto, and then click the Import Selected button instead of the Import All button.

Importing selected images into iPhoto.

If you don't want to use iPhoto, it's still easy to get those pictures into your Mac with Image Capture. This handy application installs with Mac OS X and lets you copy images from your digital camera and store them anywhere you like. It even shows image thumbnails prior to importing, so you don't have to guess which pics you really want.

Here's how:

• Launch Image Capture. It's hiding in your Applications folder.
• Connect your digital camera to your Mac.
• Now click the Download Some button in Image Capture.

Importing specific images with Image Capture

• Select the images you want to transfer to your Mac. The usual rules apply: Shift-Click to select multiple contiguous images, and Command-Click to select multiple discontiguous images.
• Click the Download button.

Changing the image download target location.

Image Capture stores images by default in the Pictures folder in your Home directory. You can change the directory by using the Download Folder pop-up menu in the Download Some window.

Jeff Gamet is TMO's Morning Editor and Reviews Editor. He lectures, teaches and speaks on Mac OS X and design-related topics, and is the author of The Designer's Guide to Mac OS X from Peachpit Press.

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