You’ve installed Preclick and you want to start organizing your library of digital photos, but you aren’t quite sure how to do it? Then this tutorial is for you!

Table of Contents:

1. Find your photographs in Preclick
2. Organize your photographs the Preclick way
3. Fill out the PhotoBack
4. View your photos
5. Upcoming tutorials
6. Glossary

A. Open your My Documents folder on your desktop. Inside is a folder called My Pictures. Every time you open Preclick, it will automatically search My Pictures for new photo files, so any pictures that you move or copy to that folder will automatically appear in Preclick.

B. If your photographs are already organized into directories, you do not need to move them. When Preclick is open, the first drop-down menu (called Show) below the PhotoBack lets you control which folders are displayed.

You can add or remove folders using the commands at the bottom of the drop-down list. Once a folder has been added to the list, Preclick will automatically search it for new photographs every time you open the application.

Please note: Preclick can only find pictures on your hard drive. You may have photographs stored on your camera, the memory card for your digital camera, or a CD-ROM. Before you can view them in Preclick, you have to transfer them to your computer’s hard drive. Your camera should have come with instructions, cables, and software for handling this transfer.

Simply naming your photos and keeping them together in folders is a good start, but it isn’t enough to keep on top of a rapidly growing photo collection. In just a few years you can easily take thousands of digital pictures, and Preclick was built to help you keep them organized for a lifetime.

On the right side of the Preclick application is the PhotoBack tool.

Many people record names, dates, and captions on the backs of their regular printed photos. With Preclick you can preserve information on the “backs” of your digital pictures as well. This PhotoBack data is more than a reminder – it is also an organization tool.

For example, you can search (using the Find menu) for all of the photos in your collection featuring a certain friend or family member, or taken at a special event, or shot on a particular day. Instantly, the Filmstrip at the bottom of the application is updated to include only the results of your search. Instantly, you have put together a slideshow of all the pictures you’ve ever taken of your son, or while in college, or at your sister’s house.

1. Select a photograph from the Filmstrip by positioning the Lens over it. You can move the Lens with the arrow keys on your keyboard, by clicking the arrows below the Lens with your mouse, or by clicking on another photograph in the Filmstrip.

2. Rate your photo: At the very top of The PhotoBack are four gray stars. Click them to give your photo one to four gold stars.

3. Give your photo a title: The title of your photo is the same as its file name. You may have already named your photo, or it may have a name automatically generated by your camera. You can change it now if you like by clicking on the Title field. Try to pick something descriptive to make it easier to locate later.

4. Caption your photo: The Caption field lets you add additional descriptive information about your photograph. What might you forget about the scene? Are there any keywords that you might use to search for this photo later?

5. Assign subjects: Name the subjects of your photo with the Subjects field. When you begin to type a name that you have used before, Preclick will automatically offer suggestions to complete it. Additionally, clicking the downward-facing arrow to the left of the field will allow you to choose from a drop-down menu of all of the subject names you have previously used. You can assign multiple subjects by separating names with a comma. This is a great way to cross-reference your photos and assist in managing them later.

6. Assign an event: What is the occasion captured in this photograph? Was it a wedding, or a vacation? Over a holiday, or just for fun? Record the name of the event in the Event field. Auto-complete and a drop-down menu of previously used event names are available.

7. Assign a place: Where were you? You can include the location where this photograph was shot in the Place field. Auto-complete and a drop-down menu of previously used place names are available.

8. Assign a date: Your photograph will already have a date assigned to it, either the date that the photo was taken (if your camera has the capability to record it) — or the date that the photo was transferred onto your computer. You can modify the date by clicking it, or you can choose which date to display (camera, computer, or modified) by clicking on the downward-facing triangle to the left of the Date field.

By regularly completing the PhotoBack for all of your photographs, you will always have this data to organize your photos, long after the picture was snapped.

The four drop-down menus below the PhotoBack let you sort and search your photographs by controlling which appear in the Filmstrip.

1. The Show menu lets you choose which folder of pictures you want displayed in the Filmstrip. You can also elect to view all your photos. (This menu lets you add or remove folders from Preclick, and scan folders for new pictures).

2. The Find field lets you search for any word or phrase that appears on the PhotoBack. By clicking the downward-facing arrow to the right of the field, you can also select a recent search term from the drop-down menu.

3. The Rated menu lets you display only photos rated with only a specific number of stars or higher.

4. The Sort By menu lets you choose how the displayed photos will be sorted in the Filmstrip. Depending on the number of photos in your collection and the selections you’ve made from the previous three menus, you may have hundreds or thousands of photos in your Filmstrip. This menu will allow lets you organize them by their roll, date, the rating you gave them, the folder where they are kept, or alphabetically by title.

In the next few weeks, Preclick will be sending you new tutorials to help you:

• Edit your photos and share them with your friends
• Order prints (printed on Kodak paper) over the Internet, delivered to your door
• Backup your photos to another drive, a network drive, or to removable media
• Acquire new photos from a scanner, digital camera, or from removable media
• Printing your pictures on your home printer

Lens: The Lens surrounds the center photograph in the Filmstrip. The photograph within the Lens is projected onto the screen above, and can be edited. To navigate the filmstrip, you can move the lens with either the arrow keys or your mouse.

Memory Card: Most digital cameras save their picture data on memory cards. These come in a variety of formats and sizes. A 64 MB memory card can hold twice as many photographs as a 32 MB memory card.

Memory Card Reader: Many manufacturers sell memory card readers that either attach to, or install inside of, your computer. If you have a memory card reader, you can use your camera’s memory cards just like disks – insert them, and you can copy files on or off them easily.

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