Chapter 12
Playing with Photos
Get ready to . . .
Take Pictures with the iPad Cameras
Import Photos from an iPhone, iPod, or a Digital Camera
Organize Photos in Camera Roll
With its gorgeous screen, the iPad is a natural for viewing photos. It supports most common photo formats, such as JPEG, TIFF, and PNG. You can shoot your photos by using the built-in cameras in iPad or sync photos from your computer, iPhone, or digital camera. You can also save images you find online to your iPad or receive them by e-mail.
When you have photos to play with, the Photos app lets you organize photos from the camera roll, view photos in albums, one by one, or in a slideshow. You can also e-mail, message, or tweet a photo to a friend, print it, or use your expensive gadget as an electronic picture frame. And, if you like to play around with photo effects, you’ll enjoy the new photo-editing features as well as the pre-installed app, Photo Booth. You can read about all these features in this chapter.
Take Pictures with the iPad Cameras
1. The cameras in the iPad 2 are just begging to be used, so let’s get started! Tap the Camera app icon on the Home screen to open the app.
2. If the Camera/Video slider setting at the bottom-right corner of the screen (see Figure 12-1) is shifted to the right, slide it to the left to choose the still camera rather than video.
The iPad 2 introduced built-in cameras, a much- anticipated feature missing in the first-generation iPad! These front- and rear-facing cameras allow you to capture photos and video (see Chapter 13 for more about the video features) and share them with family and friends.
3. Tap the Options button and then tap the On/Off button for Grid and then tap Done. This turns on a grid that helps you position a subject within the grid and autofocus.
4. Move the camera around until you find a pleasing image. You can do a couple of things at this point to help you take your photo:
• Tap the area of the grid where you want Camera to autofocus.
• Pinch the screen to display a zoom control; drag the circle in the zoom bar to the right or left to crop the image to a smaller area.
5. Tap the Capture button at the bottom center of the screen. You’ve just taken a picture (see Figure 12-1), and it has been stored in the Photos app automatically.
You can also use the up switch on the volume rocker on the right side of your iPad to capture a picture or start or stop video camera recording.
6. Tap the icon in the top-right corner to switch between the front camera and rear camera. You can then take pictures of yourself, so go ahead and click the Capture button to take another picture.
Figure 12-1
7. To view the last photo taken, swipe to the left or tap the thumbnail of the latest image in the bottom-left corner of the screen; the Photos app opens and displays the photo.
8. Tap the Menu button to display a menu that allows you to e-mail, instant message, or Tweet the photo, assign it to a contact, use it as iPad wallpaper, print it, or copy it (see Figure 12-2).
Figure 12-2
9. To delete the image, tap the Delete button.
10. Tap the Home button to close Photos and return to the Home screen.
The iPad 2 cameras and the iPhone 4 and 4S cameras are similar but they do have differences. If you want to get more useful tips on getting the most out of Photos on your iPad, then check out iPhone Photography and Video For Dummies by Angelo Micheletti.
Import Photos from an iPhone, iPod, or a Digital Camera
1. You can find information in Chapter 3 about syncing your computer with your iPad through either iTunes or iCloud to port over photos. However, your computer isn’t the only photo source available to you. You can also import photos from a digital camera or an iPhone if you buy the iPad Camera Connection Kit from Apple. The kit contains two adapters (see Figure 12-3): a USB Camera Connector to import photos from a digital camera or an iPhone and an SD Card Reader to import image files from an SD card. Start the import process by putting your iPad to sleep.
Figure 12-3
2. Insert the USB Camera Connector into the Dock connector slot of your iPad.
3. Connect the USB end of the cord that came with your digital camera or iPhone into the USB Camera Connector.
4. Connect the other end of the cord that came with your camera or iPhone into that device.
5. Wake your iPad. The Photos app opens and displays the photos on the digital camera or iPhone.
6. Tap Import All on your iPad; if you want to import only selected photos, tap individual photos and then tap Import. Finally, tap Import rather than Import All. The photos are saved to the Last Import album.
7. Disconnect the cord and the adapter and you’re done!
You can also import photos stored on a secure digital (SD) memory card, often used by digital cameras as a storage medium. Simply put the iPad to sleep, insert the SD Card Reader into the iPad, insert the SD card containing the photos, and then follow Steps 5 through 7 in this step list.
Save Photos from the Web
1. The web offers a wealth of images you can download to your Photo Library. Open Safari and navigate to the web page containing the image you want.
2. Press and hold the image; a menu appears, as shown in Figure 12-4.
3. Tap Save Image. The image is saved to your Camera Roll folder in the Photos app, as shown in Figure 12-5.
For more about how to use Safari to navigate to or search for web content, see Chapter 5.
Figure 12-4
Figure 12-5
View an Album
1. The Photos app organizes your pictures into albums, using such criteria as the folder on your computer from which you synced the photos or whether you captured your photo using the iPad camera. You may also have albums for images you synced from devices such as your iPhone or digital camera. To view your albums, start by tapping the Photos app icon in the Dock on the Home screen.
2. If the Photos tab is selected when the Photos app opens, tap the Albums tab, shown in Figure 12-6.
Figure 12-6
3. Tap an album. The photos in it are displayed.
View Individual Photos
1. Tap the Photos app icon in the Dock on the Home screen.
2. Tap the Photos tab, shown in Figure 12-7.
Figure 12-7
3. To view a photo, either tap the photo or pinch your fingers together, place them on the photo, and then spread your fingers apart. The picture expands, as shown in Figure 12-8.
Figure 12-8
4. Flick your finger to the left or right to scroll through the album to look at the individual photos in it.
5. To reduce the size of the individual photo and return to the multi-picture view, place two fingers on the photo and then pinch them together. You can also tap the Albums button (which may display the currently open album’s name) to view the album’s entire contents.
You can place a photo on a person’s information page in Contacts. For more about how to do it, see Chapter 18.
You can use the Faces, Places, and Events buttons to view photos by faces included in them, by location, or by an event category, such as Wedding or Picnic.
Edit Photos
1. A new feature in iOS 5 is the ability to edit photos. Tap the Photos app on the Home screen to open it.
2. Using methods previously described in this chapter, locate a photo you want to edit.
3. Tap the Edit button; the Edit Photo screen shown in Figure 12-9 appears.
4. At this point you can take four possible actions:
• Rotate: Tap the Rotate button to rotate the image 90 degrees at a time. Continue to tap the button to move another 90 degrees.
• Enhance: Tap Enhance to turn Auto-Enhance on or off. This feature optimizes the crispness of the image.
• Red-Eye: Tap Red-Eye if a person in a photo has that dreaded red-eye effect. When you activate this feature simply tap each eye that needs clearing up.
• Crop: To crop the photo to a portion of its original area tap the Crop button. You can then tap on any corner of the image and drag inward or outward to remove areas of the photo.
In each of the four editing features there is Cancel and a Revert to Original button. If you don’t like the changes you made, use either of these to stop making changes or undo the changes you’ve already made.
Figure 12-9
Organize Photos in Camera Roll
1. If you want to create your own album, display the Camera Roll album (if you have an iPad first generation with no camera this album is called Saved Photos).
2. Tap the Menu button in the top-right corner, and then tap individual photos to select them. Small check marks appear on the selected photos (see Figure 12-10).
Figure 12-10
3. Tap the Menu button and tap Add to Existing Album or Add to New Album.
4. Tap an existing album or enter a name for a new album (depending on your previous selection) and tap Save. If you created a new album, it now appears in the Photos main screen with the Albums displayed.
You can also choose the Share, Copy, or Delete buttons when you’ve selected photos in Step 2 of this task. This allows you to share, copy, or delete multiple photos at a time.
Share Photos
1. You can easily share photos stored on your iPad by sending them as e-mail attachments, via iMessages, or as Tweets via Twitter. First, tap the Photos app icon in the Dock on the Home screen.
2. Tap the Photos tab and locate the photo you want to share.
3. Tap the photo to select it and then tap the Menu button. (It looks like a box with an arrow jumping out of it.) The menu shown in Figure 12-11 appears.
Figure 12-11
4. Tap the Email Photo, Message, or Tweet option.
5. In the message form that appears, make any modifications you want in the To, Cc/Bcc, or Subject fields and then type a message for e-mail or enter your iMessage or Tweet text.
6. Tap the Send button and the message and photo go on their way.
You can also copy and paste a photo into documents such as those created in the available Pages word processor application. To do this, press and hold a photo in Photos until the Copy Photo command appears. Tap Copy Photo and then, in the destination application, press and hold the screen and tap Paste.
Print Photos
1. If you have a wireless printer that’s compatible with Apple AirPrint technology, you can print photos. With Photos open, locate the photo you want to print and tap it to maximize it.
2. Tap the Menu button (refer to Figure 12-11) and then tap Print.
3. In the Printer Options dialog that appears (see Figure 12-12), tap Select Printer. iPad searches for any compatible wireless printers on your local network.
Figure 12-12
4. Tap the plus or minus symbols in the Copy field to set the number of copies to print.
5. Tap the Print button and your photo is on its way.
Run a Slideshow
1. You can run a slideshow of your images in Photos and even play music and choose transition effects for the show. Tap the Photos app icon to open the application.
2. Tap the Photos tab (refer to Figure 12-8).
3. Tap the Slideshow button to see the Slideshow Options menu, shown in Figure 12-13.
Figure 12-13
4. If you want to play music along with the slideshow, tap the On/Off button on the Play Music field.
5. To choose music to play along with the slideshow, tap Music and in the list that appears (see Figure 12-14), tap any selection from your Music library.
6. In the Slideshow Options dialog, tap Transitions and then tap the transition effect you want to use for your slideshow.
7. Tap the Start Slideshow button. The slideshow begins.
To run a slideshow that includes only the photos contained in a particular album, tap the Albums tab, tap an album to open it, and then tap the Slideshow button to make settings and run a slideshow.
Figure 12-14
Display Picture Frame
1. You can use the slideshow settings you created in the previous task to run your slideshow while your iPad screen is locked so that you can view a continuous display of your pictures. Tap the Sleep/Wake button to lock iPad, and then tap the Home button to go to the unlock screen; the bottom of this screen looks like Figure 12-15.
Figure 12-15
2. Tap the Picture Frame button (refer to Figure 12-15). The slideshow begins. To end the show, tap the Home button.
If you don’t like the effects used on the picture frame, go back to Photos and use the Slideshow button to change your slideshow’s settings.
Delete Photos
1. You might find that it’s time to get rid of some of those old photos of the family reunion or the last community center project. If the photos weren’t transferred from your computer but instead were downloaded or captured as screenshots on the iPad, you can delete them. Tap the Photos app icon in the Dock on the Home screen.
2. Tap the Albums or Photos tab and then tap an album to open it.
3. Tap the Menu button.
4. Tap each photo you want to get rid of (a blue check mark appears; see Figure 12-16), and then tap the Delete button. In the confirming dialog that appears, tape the Delete Photo/Selected Photos button to finish the deletion.
Figure 12-16
Play around with Photo Booth
1. To open Photo Booth, tap its icon on the Home screen.
Photo Booth is a photo manipulation app that’s provided with every iPad from iPad 2 on and works with the iPad cameras. You can use this app to capture photos using various fun effects.
2. The different possible effects that can be used in the current view of the camera appear (see Figure 12-17).
3. Tap an effect, and then tap the Capture button (see Figure 12-18) to capture an image using that effect. To return to the various effects, tap the Effects button in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
Figure 12-17
Figure 12-18
4. The image appears, along with a filmstrip of all images you’ve captured using PhotoBooth. If you want to delete one, tap the photo, tap the X that appears, and then tap Delete Photo.
5. Tap the Home button to return to the Home screen. Your photos are now available in the Camera Roll folder of the Photos app.