Older Than Dirt, & about As Dumb!!!

[mill creek]

Hi, I bought my first digital camera yesterday[ Canon 590] so i could take pictures for Ebay only to find out for me to use their softwear i would have to reduce the resolution on my computer screen....It wouldn't be so disappointing if i didn't have to drive a hundred sixty mile to buy it, and now it looks like another 160 to return it.....

Could someone PLEASE recomend a simular camera that's softwear is compatible with a Dell with XP, an i can keep the screen size at 800-600.

Old & Tired

[jekostas]

Don't return the camera. The Canon A590is is an excellent camera, but if it's your first digital camera there will be a learning curve involved, as there would be with anything.
Don't use the software if it's that much of an annoyance.

Go to this website: http://picasa.google.com/
Download the software. It's dead simple to use, I'm pretty sure that it'll do everything you need and more.

I would also suggest that you find a beginner's guide to digital photography and read it.

[mill creek]

Hello, and thanks for taking the time to answer my question...First i've haven't tried the camera, but the Salesmen at Best Buy mislead me..I told him i wanted simple....I'm 65 and near blind, so down sizing my screen is out of the question..[800 to 1024]..Canon Tech Rep. said i would have to keep it there. I like to use my computer for other things than as a camera album, and need a full screen....

I have Picasa2 already, but don't have a clue on how to use the camera to download there...I've been using a photo CD from Walgreens up to now....

I check my Picsas but didn't see anything about downloading from a camera...

Will the pictures coming from the canon be the same size as what i already have in Picsas, or will i have two different sized pictures??

Does anyone know a camera-computer program that usier friendly for beginners??????????????? I just want to take pictures for Ebay...I'm ready to go back to film even if it's black & white than to frustrate myself with a miget camera, & computer screen!!..None of the point & shoot have good ratings from what i;ve read????

Regards, Mill Creek

[Margus]

Hello Mill,

Most of the cameras act as USB storage devices (as a normal memory stick) for Windowx XP and you do not have to use the manufacture software at all for downloading the pictures from the camera to your computer. Try the following: connect the camera to your computer via the USB cable and open the "My Computer" window. You should see your camera among the hard drive and CD/DVD drive listed there. You can browse the folders on your camera's memory card and you can copy the pictures from the memory card to your computer using the Windows Explorer.
Did this solve your problem?

Regards,
Margus

[Spookonthe8ball]

mill creek, Your picture files should be in a folder somewhere on your computer. Most people use the file folder called "My Pictures". Picasa2 is used to view them in any size you would like. When Picasa is opened you need to select a picture folder to view and it will display them for you. Use export function to resize your picture to any size you like. Picasa2 is about as simple as it gets. Maybe a friend or family member can help you get started with these "computer" issues.

The flow should go like this. 1st, use the software that came with your camera to download your pictures to the computer via a Usb cable. 2nd way is to take the picture card out of the camera and download to your computer via a card reader. These methods will create files on your computer that can be opened by Picasa or any other imaging program. Once you learn a few simple steps, you'll love what you can do :)
Spook

[mill creek]

Thanks Margus, That sounds like a plan....I haven't gotten to taking any photos yet....


8 Ball!, Canon said to start with the softwear first...Now i know why!!
If i didn't mind a tiny print & screen everything would be find....I'm going to try what Margus said an i'll let you know.....btw, No family members to help....It's here or nothing....Thanks both of you for taking the time to help....
Regards, Don

[mugsisme]

You can also change the resolution in the camera, so when you take pictures they will be smaller. I had the Canon A570, which was one below yours. I have the manual in my room. Nevermind, I downloaded your manual. Go to page 64. You have a choice on how large to make your pictures. Press the function button, which I think is a little round button on the back that actually says function. Then use the arrow button (it is the bigger button that looks like a plus sign) to scroll across. You want to end up on the letter S, for small. Those pictures will work fine on Ebay.

Hope that helps you! Don't return the camera. You actually got a really nice little camera there.

[mill creek]

Thanks Leah,

I solve the softwear problem by usinging a card reader...Next i'm going to attemp to use this camera.....It does seem like i may like it.....Will i need to change the resolutions in the camera for Ebay...Or can i just leave it like it is??? I've never listed on Ebay before....Thanks, Don

[Mark_48]

Thanks Leah,

I solve the softwear problem by usinging a card reader...Next i'm going to attemp to use this camera.....It does seem like i may like it.....Will i need to change the resolutions in the camera for Ebay...Or can i just leave it like it is??? I've never listed on Ebay before....Thanks, Don

Don,
For stuff I post to ebay I usually resize the image to about 600-800 pixels on it longest side. I'll do this in a photo editor such as Photoshop Elements. If you know for sure the image will only be used for ebay you could just simply set the camera to "[S] Small" which would give you an image of 640x480 pixels which should be adequate for ebay postings. I recently did list an item to ebay and I'm not sure that their software may even adjust the size when it gets uploaded, so you could try something a bit larger to see if it worked as well. You do have the opportunity to edit your sales ad easily if an image or something else isn't quite to your liking.

[Spookonthe8ball]

Don, once you actually have some pictures on a file, Picasa should import them for you automatically. Play with the export setting down on the lower right of Picasa and notice where the new size is being saved. You can save as a very small size. You might even try sending us a picture to this same thread for practice. If you can do it here, you can send it to ebay in much the same way. The folks on here are usually pretty good helping in these matters.
Spook

[Mark_48]

Spook,
That's a good tip on exporting with resizing from Picasa. I don't use Picasa a whole lot, but I just tried an export with a resize for a group of image files and it can't get much easier than that.

Thanks....

[thomboz]

Hi Don,
I sympathize with your confusion. Here is the explanation that helped me.
A person buys a camera (or computer) because they want to do 2 or 3 things with it. The sales person (a tech head) says that it will easily do what you want it to do. But what they don't tell you is that the camera will do about 40 other different things, 8 different ways, with 17 different settings. Whats confusing is not doing all the stuff it can do, so you can do the two things you want it to do. But rest assured, once you figure out how to do the 2 things (with a little help from your friends here or in the flesh) that you want to do, it will become quite simple, and after a little experience you will wonder what all your confusion is about.

One more thing, after watching my buddies help me thru stuff a number of times, I came to realize that 'trying things' almost never screws things up. With a car, if you put oil in the gas tank, or put the spare tire in the air filter, or drive away with the hood up, you're gonna have problems. But high tech stuff doesn't seem to work that way. If I push the wrong buttons in the wrong program, no worry. Turn it off, back on and try again.
ThomBoz

[Visual Reality]

Hi Don,
I sympathize with your confusion. Here is the explanation that helped me.
A person buys a camera (or computer) because they want to do 2 or 3 things with it. The sales person (a tech head) says that it will easily do what you want it to do. But what they don't tell you is that the camera will do about 40 other different things, 8 different ways, with 17 different settings. Whats confusing is not doing all the stuff it can do, so you can do the two things you want it to do. But rest assured, once you figure out how to do the 2 things (with a little help from your friends here or in the flesh) that you want to do, it will become quite simple, and after a little experience you will wonder what all your confusion is about.

One more thing, after watching my buddies help me thru stuff a number of times, I came to realize that 'trying things' almost never screws things up. With a car, if you put oil in the gas tank, or put the spare tire in the air filter, or drive away with the hood up, you're gonna have problems. But high tech stuff doesn't seem to work that way. If I push the wrong buttons in the wrong program, no worry. Turn it off, back on and try again.
ThomBoz
Less you save over your original image with a big editing screw up...:D

[mugsisme]

Less you save over your original image with a big editing screw up...:D

But if you didn't exit out of the program, you can always hit control-z and then save without the big editing screw up. If you did exit out, your screwed.