In this section we will assume that you have a USB camera[13]. Webcams are covered in the section called “Webcams And Video Conferencing”.
Please make sure that GTKam is installed. If you do not, please refer to Chapter 21, RpmDrake: Package Management for instructions on package installation.
This icon appears when you connect your digital
photo camera to your computer and turn it on: click on it to launch
GTKam. You can also choose
+ -> from the
main menu.
Choose -> . Connect the camera to your computer and click on Detect. The manufacturer and camera model should be detected. If it is not, select it from the Model pull-down list; do the same for the port it is connected to in the Port pull-down list, as shown in Figure 13.1 and click on the button when done.
Each camera stores pictures on different folders, navigate through the tree in the left pane of the window to reach the folder where your pictures are stored.
Digital cameras name the picture files in different ways (IMG_XXXX, PIC_XXXX, etc.). If your camera supports it you can change those names by right-clicking on the thumbnail and selecting Info. Type the new name in the Name field and click on . You can also click on an image name in the thumbnail list, type the new image name and press Enter to change it.
To transfer a single picture to your computer, right-click on the picture's thumbnail, select Save from the pop-up menu and enter the folder name in which you want to save it to. Then click . The picture will be stored in the chosen folder with the file name that was displayed by the picture's thumbnail.
Choosing + -> from the main menu will save only the currently marked pictures. Choosing + -> will save all pictures regardless of the selection. A dialog will pop up, asking you for some save options (photos, raw data, thumbnails, EXIF data, etc.) Do not change the options and press on . The pictures will be transferred to your computer and saved in your home directory.
Once transferred to your computer, you can rotate or edit the pictures using GIMP or your favorite imaging software.
Choosing + -> from the main menu will delete only the marked pictures. Choosing + -> will delete all pictures, regardless of the selection. A dialog will pop up asking you for confirmation. Click on to confirm deletion or on to quit that operation.
The option erases the pictures from the digital camera's memory. If you do not transfer those pictures to your computer first, you will lose them permanently.
Enjoy taking pictures with your digital camera and GNU/Linux!
Most digital cameras produce EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format) files. EXIF are JPEG files with extra tags containing information about the image such as the date, the camera model, the exposure time, the ISO speed setting, the aperture, etc.
GTKam can access additional information fields available in an EXIF file. For example, you can use that information to “remember” when you took a picture or to examine the camera settings for a picture taken in particular environmental conditions.
Right click on a picture and select from the menu that pops up. A window containing extra information about the picture will be shown. In the EXIF tab (see the example in Figure 13.2) you will find information about the camera settings, when the picture was taken, etc.
GTKam (GPhoto2) may not recognize your USB digital camera. However you can still try to make your camera work using the USB mass-storage driver and accessing it like you would any other storage device.
If you have a laptop computer with a PCMCIA slot, you can use the ATA photo memory card PCMCIA adapters. They are mounted just like any other ATA device (CD-ROM, hard disk, etc.) in order to access your pictures[14]. This is the fastest method to access photo cards. It also allows the camera's batteries to last longer. There are other devices that may be used to read the data from the memory device, for example several USB peripherals which allow a Compact Flash or Memory Stick device to be plugged into them.