The latest generation Apple iPad includes a great camera for taking detailed photographs but what about getting those photos you take on the iPad backed up to your computer like you would with any other digital camera.
Well, you have a few options.
The coolest option is to use Apple free iCloud service to automatically transfer your photos back to your computer over the internet.
Apple calls this the peak of the future photo stream and it works well once you jump through a few hoops.
I'll walk you through the process for both the Mac and the PC.
On the Mac, you need to be running OS 10.7 or later and have the latest software versions of iPhoto or Apperture from managing your imported photos.
Go into your system preferences on the Apple menu and select iCloud.
Log in with your Apple ID if you're not already.
This is the same log in and password used for iTunes at the App Store.
Make sure photo stream is switched on then close the Window.
For next step, I'm gonna switch back over to my iPad and make sure the iCloud and photo stream are enabled.
Go into settings iCloud and make sure photo stream is turned on.
Next I'm going back to my computer to launch my photo management software, in this case iPhoto.
You'll see on the icon here on the left for photo stream, click it and you'll be prompted to turn photo stream on.
Assuming that both your iPad and your computer connected to the internet, you should see photos trickle over from your iPad and on to your computer and now that this connection has been made, any new photos you take with the iPad will be automatically uploaded to the Cloud over Wi-Fi and downloaded back to your home computer for safekeeping.
To pull off the same trick on a PC, you'll need to be running Windows Vista or later and the download of Apple's free iCloud control panel software.
Install the software and sign them with your Apple ID, enable photo stream and use the options on the right here to set the preferred folder for your iPad photo downloads, then hit apply.
You should see your iPad photo show up almost immediately as long as the computer is online.
Now if you find that photo stream miss some of your photos or if you wanna transfer a video or if you just want another option, you can always break out the iPad's included USB cable and sync the old fashioned way.
When you plug the iPad into your computer, it should work just like plugging in a digital camera and automatically launch your photo management software.
On a Mac, that's probably iPhoto.
For Windows, it could be any number of things but you can also just open up the connected iPad folder like an external drive and copy your images over to any folder you choose.
So, those are the best strategies for transferring images from an iPad back to your computer and guess what?
It works the same way if you're using iCloud on your iPhone too.
For more in depth run down along with links to 3rd party apps and backup services then maybe a better fit for your particular need, head over to howto.
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For CNET.com, I'm Donald Bell.
