Tips: Transferring digital photos from your camera to a computer

Every so often someone who's bought a new digital camera asks me if they have to use the software on the CD that came with their camera to transfer photos to a computer. The short answer? No. While that CD probably contains the user manual, basic editing software, and tutorials, you don't need it to transfer photos from camera to computer.

You can transfer photos to your computer by connecting the camera and computer with a USB cable. Or you can insert the camera's memory card into the the computer's card reader, or an external reader that you connect to the computer. If you use a reader, Windows or Mac OS will treat the memory card as an external drive. Once the card is recognized, you can open up the correct folder within it and simply drag-and-drop the image files to your computer.

—Terry Sullivan