Picture This: Organizing and Sharing Your Memories While You Travel
Hey, traveler… Your sightseeing adventure has begun. You're ready to point and shoot your digital camera at anything that catches your eye. And why not? There's plenty of room on your camera's memory card, and you brought your mobile PC—your notebook, Tablet PC, or ultra-mobile PC—so that you can import, organize, and edit your vacation pictures. You can even share them with friends and family back home while you're still traveling.
Import your pictures
You've conquered the summit of the Rock of Gibraltar and you've taken the pictures to prove it. After a long day of mountaineering, you're looking forward to a hot shower, a cup of tea, and a chance to reflect on your day. Why not import your pictures to your mobile PC while you're winding down? Here's how to import pictures from your camera to your mobile PC:
Turn on your camera and connect it to your mobile PC.
In the AutoPlay dialog box that appears, click Import pictures using Windows.
Windows Vista detects new pictures and ignores duplicates that you've already uploaded to your mobile PC.
In the Importing Pictures and Videos dialog box, clear the Erase after importing check box to keep pictures on your camera (even after you download them).
Organize your pictures
As your adventure continues, from the South of Spain to Barcelona, your picture collection grows. In every city, you encounter new picture opportunities, and before you know it, your mind is swimming in memories. Was that outdoor tapas bar in San Sebastian or Madrid? Did you ride the funicular railway in Barcelona or Montserrat?
The Importing Pictures and Videos dialog box
Let your mind rest. With Windows Photo Gallery in Windows Vista, you can rely on your pictures to help you remember. When you import your pictures to your computer, you can add descriptive tags to them in the Tag these pictures box. Later, you can use the Navigation pane or the Search box in Windows Photo Gallery to filter the pictures by their tags. For more information, see Tips for organizing pictures in Windows Help and How-to.
Edit your pictures
You've gone swimming in the Mediterranean, danced flamenco under the stars, and sampled tapas in more cities than you can count, but some of your pictures are still missing that Spanish flair. The colors of the sunset don't look as vivid as you remember, and the Mediterranean Sea was a deeper shade of blue than it appears in your pictures.
You can fix all of that by simply retouching your pictures. Windows Photo Gallery provides all of the tools you need to adjust color and exposure, fix red eye, and rotate and crop your pictures. Here's how to edit pictures:
Click the Start button 
, click All Programs, and then click Windows Photo Gallery.
Click the picture you want to edit.
Click Fix on the toolbar, click a tool in the Fix pane, and then preview your picture and make adjustments as needed.
For more information, see Tips for editing pictures in Windows Help and How-to.
Cropping a picture in Windows Photo Gallery
Share your pictures
It's time to send pictures back home to friends and family. But with so many pictures, what's the easiest way to share them? Sit back with a glass of Spanish wine and decide which method to choose.
If you want to share just a few pictures, you can use Windows Photo Gallery to send them in an e-mail message. Before you send your pictures, it's a good idea to make them smaller because large e-mail messages can be blocked by some e-mail systems. You can automatically resize your pictures when you send them from Windows Photo Gallery—without changing the size or quality of the file on your computer. Here's how to resize and send a picture in e-mail:
Click the Start button , click All Programs, and then click Windows Photo Gallery.
Click the picture you want to send, and then click E-mail.
Select the size you want from the list, and then click Attach.
For more information, see Send pictures or videos in e-mail in Windows Help and How-to.
MSN and other websites offer free picture sharing galleries where you can invite your friends to view your pictures and videos online. When you become a member, you are given step-by-step instructions for uploading your pictures and inviting contacts to view them from anywhere. As your vacation unfolds, you can add new pictures and create slide shows to share the experience with your friends and family back home.
Now that you're a photographer, how about becoming a travel writer? The blogosphere is the perfect place to practice writing and gain an audience. With your mobile PC, you can send text and pictures straight to your blog while you're still traveling. You can keep a running journal of your trip while it's fresh in your mind, and add pictures to accompany your stories. (You can also handle video in this way.) Your friends can follow your daily exploits and add comments to your blog. For more information, see Tell vacation stories with photos or Blog basics: Learn how to keep an online journal.
You may want to leave some pictures behind for the friends you meet and visit along the way. You can easily copy pictures to a disc by using Windows Photo Gallery. Here's how to copy pictures to a disc:
In Windows Photo Gallery, select the pictures that you want to copy.
On the toolbar, click Burn, and then click Data Disc.
Insert the proper disc, enter a name for it, and then click OK.
For more information, see Burn a CD or DVD in Windows Help and How-to.
When you travel with your mobile PC, you no longer have to wait until you get home to organize or share your pictures. Whether you're sending an e-mail message to a friend or blogging about your adventures, with Windows Vista you can import, organize, edit, and send pictures anywhere you like.
