Digital cameras are now getting much cheaper, much better and generally more easy to use than they used to be. Once a college would have a few very expensive cameras and you took your life in your hands when you borrowed one. Now even a mobile phone can take a reasonable snap for most simple document or small screen image purposes.

On a fairly modern computer the process of getting your pictures from the camera to your computer is pretty straightforward, usually using a USB lead between the two. Getting images off a mobile phone can be a bit trickier sometimes. If the phone and computer both have a Bluetooth facility then they can be linked up without cables, communicate and files can be shared without pain. If one or the other is not what is termed ‘Bluetooth enabled’ then there may be an option to get them to communicate via an Infrared connection. This is also wireless but whilst many laptops have an Infrared facility, most desktops don’t. So there’s a lot to be said for buying a USB infrared thing which should ease the complications of the task, especially if you have lots of images to transfer.

With the massive improvements in quality that newer digital cameras provide comes massive file size, however, and you may well find that your images are 500Kb or more. Fine for presentations perhaps but not for your handouts or most learning material. Unless you’re very accomplished, you will also discover that many of your images need a bit of attention as described in other sections. Do remember, however, always work with a copy of your image and not the original! File space should not be a problem these days and you will be very relieved to have kept an original one day when something disastrous happens during an editing session.