Dear Guests,
People are always asking me how to get the photos they already have in their computer into the Windows Live Photo Gallery. If you want to know how get your photos from the camera or some other device such as a memory card, USB flash drive, CD or DVD, then check out this handout Insert Photo Here. Quite often guests are concerned because they have been using a different program in the past such as Picasa, Adobe Photoshop or Kodak Gallery and they are not sure how to get their photos into the Windows Live Photo Gallery.
In actuality, your photos are never stored in any software program. They are actually stored on your hard drive somewhere in a folder, usually in the Picture folder. These photo editing software programs just reference the photos so that you can work with them. Maybe the following analogy will help you better understand exactly what is going on.
Your photos are stored in a folder on the computer’s hard drive much like a file is stored in a filing cabinet. Lets say you open a photo in Adobe Photoshop. One employee (Mr. Photoshop) takes the file out of the cabinet and works on it. Whenever he is done (you close the program), he returns the file to the file cabinet and any changes ensued are made permanent. Now you open the same photo in the Windows Live Photo Gallery. A new employee (Mr. Windows Live Photo Gallery) walks over to the same file cabinet and takes the file out so that he can work on it. Any changes that Mr. Photoshop made will still be there. Mr. Windows Live Photo Gallery can make any changes he wants as well to the file. When he closes the program, he will return the file to the cabinet and it will retain changes by both Mr. Photoshop and Mr. Windows Live Photo Gallery. In conclusion, you can work with as many or as few software programs that you want. So if you like the Windows Live Photo Gallery more than some other program you have been using in the past, you can uninstall those other programs at your will. Don’t worry, your pictures will be on your computer!
In order to get photos that are already on your computer into the Windows Live Photo Gallery, follow the instructions below:
1) Most of you store your photos in either the Pictures or My Pictures folder. If you do, once you install the Windows Live Photo Gallery, you don’t have to do anything. The Windows Live Photo Gallery will automatically find those photos and reference them. They will already be in the Windows Live Photo Gallery! You can go ahead and get to work.
2) If your pictures are stored in a different folder, you can include that folder in the Windows Live Photo Gallery.
a) In the WLPG, click on File
b) Click on Include a folder in the gallery
c) Navigate to wherever you store the photos. So, find the folder where the photos are stored and then click on it.
d) If you are not exactly sure where your photos are stored, you can follow the folder path to find them. To figure out what the folder path is for a photo do the following:
I) Right Click on a photo
II) Click on Properties
III) Click on the the General Tab
IV) Write down the information you see under Location
e) Return back to Step C and use the folder path information from the Location to navigate to the folder.
You have just now successfully included the folders of the photos you wanted to in the Windows Live Photo Gallery! Now you can start editing your photos, publishing them online and much much more! If you want to get rid of your other programs you can do so now.
Your Techspert on the ms Zuiderdam of the Holland America Line Digital Workshop powered by Windows,
Brent Benner
