How are you going to load your photos? Is there a slot for the SD card? I keep thinking I need to check out an ipad from my library to learn more about them.

If the photos are on your ipad you should be able to connect to Shutterfly and upload them. It's only internet usage.

I know someone who made a photo book through Apple's software on her Mac. The book was really nice. But Shutterfly's books are very inexpensive since there are always discounts on them.

I'm interested in any answers you get to your questions.

Hi Adrienne:

I bought an adapter kit at the Apple store to connect the SD card and the ipad. It was $29. The ipads do not have a built in card reader like most laptops.

Katie

Thanks Katie! Hope you get lots of answers to your questions.

Why don't you try uploading a photo or two to Shutterfly. Then you can use their photo book offers.

Adrienne:

You're welcome! I'll try that later tonight.

Katie

If you are used to using Picasa I don't see why you can't continue to use it with an iPad... tap the App Store icon on your screen and you'll find several versions of Picasa available..

ParisAmsterdam:

Thanks! I am confused as to which one to use, since there are several versions.

Katie

I use web albums for uploading my photos to google photos. I don't believe any of the picasa apps forviphone were created by google, if that matters to you.

For editing, I use photogene. It's got all the editing functions I need.

Not sure about shutterfly...I don't know if they have an upload tool which runs on an iPad. But once your photos are on google albums, can't you print at shutterfly?

Adrienne, you can get a camera connection kit, which comes with a card reader, or a USB connection to connect you camera directly to the iPad for downloading.

So which Picasa did you end up using and were you able to use Shutterfly? I have the same exact questions as you and am about to leave on a trip!

For Facebook, I use iLoader for iPad which works pretty well worldwide. It had its occasional errors, but then, I do consistently try to upload near to 200 photos at a time... For Flickr, use Manager for Flickr. I don't use Picasa, but I'm sure most of their apps work just as well

I see shutterfly app for iPad. Not well rated though. Search for photo upload to see if there are others which upload pics to shutterfly.

Search for photo edit and a lot of chices come up, including free apps.

I cannot believe the timing of this question for me as I am buying an iPad this weekend when we have a tax free weekend where I live. I have been on the pone with the Apple store 800#, tech support and the actual store location where I will pick it up....getting slightly different takes from all of them.

I asked and found I needed the camera package to directly input my photos from my camera. Excuse the vagueness here but I am so technologically challenged but several at Apple told me I would have to use iTunes/photo not Picassa....does that sound right? At this point my head is spinning and I plan on playing with the iPad for 2 months before my next trip to Europe which is mid Oct.

Oh do I wish there was a 10 year old in my life to help with all this!

When at home, I use Picasa on my desktop PC However, when traveling, I load my photos into my iPad every night using the adaptor for the memory card. They will go into an album, Uploaded Photos. I also save photos others send me or that they post on Facebook. These are in another album called Saved Photos. Album names are given by iPad.
I delete the bad photos but will wait until I get home to my desktop with Picasa to do more with them.
Frankly, when traveling, I don't have enough time to spend editing, etc.
It is so easy to email the uploaded photos. That little adaptor is terrific.

The adaptor is for loading photos directly from the camera to the iPad.

But if you want to "sync" photos over from your computer to the iPad -- these would be photos you've already taken and edited on the computer and just want to view on the iPad -- then you have to use iTunes to sync the pictures.

On Mac computers, you can use iPhoto to manage your photo library and it works with iTunes to sync whichever photos you want to load on iPad, iPhone, etc.

On Windows computers, I'm not sure which photo library software it supports but you definitely have to use iTunes for Windows.

BTW these are all optional. You have to buy the adaptor separately to load pictures directly into the iPad.

You don't have to connect the iPad to any computer any more. You do if you want to load some of your music, photos and videos which are already on your computer to the iPad though.

I would recommend that people who have cameras which shoot RAW (DSLRs and some compact point and shoot cameras) consider investing in larger capacities, like 32 GB or even 64 GB. The latter if you have any interest in loading some full length movies to watch on long flights to Europe.

This might be worth $5 to risk saving $25 from the official Apple SD Card adapter.

Here's the URL

http://www.amazon.com/Newgen-CRIPAD51-Card-Reader-Apple/dp/B00568BV68/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343755254&sr=8-1&keywords=ipad+sd+card+reader

Hr

Thanks for everyone's replies since I added on to Katie's original question last night!! I really appreciate it. Katie, what did you end up doing with your photos on your trip?

I'm not familiar with Ipad at all, but just a thought....if your camera is compatible, maybe an Eye-Fi card? That's what we use, it basically loads your pics and at a wifi hotspot you can upload to whatever photo program you are using..we use the Google web albums and it works well. Eye-Fi cards are backwards compatible to hundreds of different kinds of cameras, so it might be something worth checking.

Hi Carolyn-S: We ended buying the adaptor for the SD card at the Apple store. It worked well. I loaded photos and they looked great, but not happy with the Shutterfly app (maybe a WIFI problem at our rental apartment). However, I took about 3000 photos, so I didn't want to load them all and use up all the memory, since I knew that I would not have time to edit during the trip.

I loved the IPad as a reader, especially on the plane in the dark.

Happy Travlr, you describe exactly what I want to do on our next trip. However, when I get home, how do I get the photos off the iPad and onto my desktop PC?

Thanks.

Hi Katie,

I'm glad the adaptor worked well for you. I bought one last year and I've used it to upload about 2000 + photos from the camera, mainly as a backup. I never wanted to take the time to do it to the web while on vacation.

Some of the photos automatically back up to iCloud, but not all since I'm now out of space there. Trying to decide if I should buy more space there or go to one of the web servers. Problem with them is that so often they go out of business, or transfer you to another company. (ie: Kodak is now on Shutterfly) I can't keep up with them!

Meanwhile, I've backed them up on Time Capsule as well. Now, I have to find a way to bribe my family to sit through all of them!

I have the exact same question as Modeen. How do I transfer back from the iPad to my pc when I get home?

I've just left them on my SD cards and loaded them onto my PC at home. I never delete the memory card during the trip. I rather have a backup, just case and memory cards are fairly cheap now. Once I've I have them on the computer and sorted, I'll delete the cards.

I'd like to be able to move the pictures off of the camera to the iPad and clear out the memory cards. This way I can delete the photos that didn't turn out well and just keep the ones I like. Then when I get home, I want to be able to move them from my iPad to my PC.

Is this possible? Thanks much.

Answering the part about printing photo books: I made a very large one with Shutterfly after a 3 month trip around the world, and was rather unhappy with the colors of the resulting book.
I recently printed a smaller one on mypublisher.com and absolutely loved the quality of the book, the colors were just perfect. It also had an incredibly easy upload and layout. They too have sales, but even if they're higher, I won't go back to shutterfly. Sign up now, then wait for a sale to print your photo book.
I'm buying the ipad accessory today, thanks for those helpful postings.

Katie - great question... This has been so helpful to read!

Modeen - you shouldn't have a problem moving your photos from your iPad to your PC. I've done it quite often by connecting the two devices with the standard cable, just like you would to download something on iTunes. Just play around with it a little - it was fairly easy to figure out. Trust me, if I can figure it out, anyone can! .

I also prefer My Publisher books better than Shutterfly 's. I upgrade to the super glossy paper because the pages look lik real photos. The software is easy to use and the turnaround is faster. You also create the book on your hard drive so you don't have to be online unless you are placing an order. They also have great sales.