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Import, Organize, and Catalog Your Photos
The VX8300 is one of the first in the new breed of cameraphones that actually takes decent quality photos. With a camera in your pocket your purse 24/7, you're probably going to be taking a lot more pictures than you once did. While this doesn't create memory problems, with a microSD card holding hundreds upon hundreds of pictures, it does create an organization problem once you get those photos onto your computer. How does one keep track of such a gargantuan load of pictures?Several free applications for your computer will allow you to easily sort, organize, and even add captions to and edit your photos. And as a bonus, possibly the most beneficial feature to the cameraphone user, with one click they'll automatically grab the photos right off your memory card and copy them to folders ordered by date Just pop your memory card into your card reader and a window will pop up asking you if you want to import your photos into your organizer.
One such program is Picasa. Picasa is offered by Google, so you know it's gonna have a slick and easy to use interface. Get Picasa by clicking on the Google Photo Software button on the sidebar at the right. Another option is Adobe Photoshop Album Starter Edition. Despite its unwieldy name, this is also a fine piece of software. Both applications will help you keep track of your photo collection, and each has its ups and downs. I recommend downloading and trying each, as they're both free, and you can uninstall one when you make your choice.
Keep snapping away!
posted by Andy Moskowitz at 1:52 AM
10 Comments:
Hi and thanks so much for this extremely helpful blog! One question about the photo software. Will it work as well if I use a USB cable instead of a card reader? When I plug in the phone will it ask me if I want to add the pictures, or will I have to open the program first? (I wouldn't mind if I had to do that, I was just wondering how they would work with the cable. I'm trying to decide between buying a cable and buying a card/reader.) Thanks so much!
You know what, I actually don't have a cable yet, as I've been able to do just about everything I need using a combination of card reader and Bluetooth. So I really don't know if the computer will download photos through the cable at all. If it does, a cable would be a little easier for transferring pictures than popping the memory card in and out, but if you ever want to listen to music on your phone, you're going to need the extra memory anyway.
Anyway, I'm glad you like the blog.
Can anybody else tell us if the cable works to upload pictures?
The USB cable works very well transfering pics from the VX 8300 to your PC using BitPim. Follow the instructions posted here on how to set up BitPim. After you have clicked the "Get Phone Data" icon and retreived the data from your phone, select "Media", then "Images" and your pic files will show up in the right pane. From there you can Copy, Paste the pic files as you please.
Typically you download all the photos to some directory on your computer. Then you ask the photo software (eg Picasa) to scan that directory.
This blog rocks!
I'm having a heck of a time trying to set up playlists and access them quickly. I can only set playlists up to 25 songs. It takes about 235323 clicks to get to them (this I know I can change with my shortcut keys). And when I use the music control keys on the front of the phone, it just plays a random order of all the songs on the phone. Is there anyway to make the front keys select a playlist or an option to choose a playlist?
Keep up the awesome work!
I've never actually experimented with the playlist feature, as I tend to listen to music by album, so I don't know of any easier ways to set them up. However, I'm pretty sure that you can't access playlists, or really do any kind of advanced navigation through your music collection, through the front buttons, unfortunately. I imagine you'll have to start playing the playlist with the phone open, then you can close the clam shell and use the front buttons to go back and forth through the playlist.
But yeah, I made a shortcut to Tune & Tones, so I can press that and then press 7 to access the music manager fairly quickly.
Let us know if you figure out any tricks.
speaking of USB data cable, where can I find a good, reliable one?
I bought a USB cable off of eBay, and even though it was "guaranteed" to work with the VX8300, the connector doesn't fit. The problem (I think) is the two raised areas in the plastic of the USB cable connector. Can I just shave these off, maybe with a Dremel tool?
The seller won't answer EMails, so it looks like I'm keeping the cable even if I can't make it work.
Yes. That's probably a VX8100 cable, and I hear you can just shave off the plastic bits and it'll fit in the VX8300. For some reason some of the sheisty eBay sellers seem to expect you to know this. Good luck.
Great web, Andy! I love this PHONE absolutely, and your helpful website makes me look like some kind of cellphone demigod. You've asked folks how they "discovered" you. For the record, I Googled "vx8300 hacks" when I was trying to find out with my MicroSD card how to get my phone to "do" music. Obviously, your web has all the answers, and I moved on to picture management with Hellaphone. Good work, Andy. 1000 Domo arigatos for you!
Timmo
I've enjoyed responding to your hundreds of comments, but I've finally decided to disable comment posting now that I've created a better alternative. Please use the VX8300 forums for any further questions, where they'll me answered by me, or any number of other helpful VX8300 users.
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