How to download photos: Your BirdCam comes with a special USB cable that, when connected to the camera and the computer, will download all photos quickly and easily. Plug and Play technology permits most computers to recognize the BirdCam as a new drive. A Wizard will prompt you through the rest of the downloading process.
The BirdCam is equipped with space for an additional flash memory card. Flash memory cards can be purchased anywhere digital cameras are sold and are added to digital cameras for more data storage. When you are ready to download from the card, simply remove the card, leaving the camera in place, and use a special card reader to download photos while your camera remains in one place, still taking photos.
Size photos: Properly sizing your digital photographs is key in successfully sharing them. When e-mailing photographs, remember to send small file sizes: if a photo is too large the recipient’s e-mail program may not accept it, or it may take too long for the files to download. Files under 500k are best. You can check your file’s size within the e-mail program after you have attached it to an e-mail or by right-clicking on an image file on your PC, then choosing "Properties" from the menu.
Image resizing can also be done by downloading the Microsoft Image Resizer, which is one of the many free tools that make up the Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP. Simply right click on your image, and select "Resize Pictures." A drop down box will prompt you to choose the size that best fits your needs.
JPG Format: It is recommended that you save your photos in JPEG format. JPEG is a universal image format that reduces your photo file sizes for easy electronic sending.
Understanding Resolution When E-mailing Photos: A pixel, short for picture element, is the smallest part in a computer image or display. Every image on your computer is made up of a colored grid of pixels. There are two general types of resolution: pixel count resolution and embedded resolution.
The Wingscapes BirdCam is a 3.1 megapixel camera, meaning that when on the highest setting, one photograph will have around 3.1 million mega pixels in it. At lower settings, the camera reduces the number of pixels to create a smaller image that requires fewer bytes to store in memory.
Which resolution setting you choose depends on what you want to do with the picture. Typically, low resolution is sufficient for images that will be viewed on a computer monitor (such as those you send by e-mail or post to the Web). Since most people use monitors that display only 800 x 600 pixels, a low pixel-count image such as a 600 x 400 photograph will fill up most of the screen without running off the edges. A low pixel-count can also reduce the file size of the image and reduce the time it takes others to download or display your image.