Gadgetory

the latest generation Apple iPad includes a great camera for taking detailed photographs but what about getting those photos you take on the iPad backed up to your computer like you would with any other digital camera well you have a few options the coolest option is to use Apple's free iCloud service to automatically transfer your photos back to your computer over the Internet Apple calls this particular feature photo stream and it works well once you jump through a few hoops I'll walk you through the process from both a Mac and a PC on a Mac you need to be running OS 10 point 7 or later and have the latest software versions of iPhoto or aperture from managing your imported photos go into your system preferences from the Apple menu and select iCloud log in with your Apple ID if you're not already this is the same login and password you use for iTunes or the App Store make sure photo stream is switched on then close the window for the next step I'm going to switch back over to my iPad and make sure the iCloud and photo stream are enabled go with the settings I cloud and make sure a photo stream is turned on next I'm going back to my computer to launch my photo management software in this case iPhoto you'll see an icon here on the left for Photo Stream click it and you'll be prompted to turn Photo Stream on assuming that both your iPad on your computer are connected to the Internet you should see photos trickle over from your iPad and onto your computer and now that this connection has been made any new photos you take with the iPad will be automatically uploaded to the cloud over Wi-Fi and download it back to your home computer for safekeeping to pull off the same trick on a PC you'll need to be running Windows Vista or later and a download of apples free iCloud control panel software install the software and sign them with your Apple ID an able photo stream and you see options on the right here to set the preferred folder for your iPad photo downloads then hit apply you should see your iPad photos show up almost immediately as long as the computers online now if you find that photo stream missed some of your photos or if you want to transfer video or if you just want another option you can always break out the iPads included USB cable and sync the old-fashioned way when you plug the iPad into your computer it should work just like plugging in a digital camera and automatically launch your photo management software on a Mac that's probably iPhoto for Windows it could be any number of things but you can also just open up the connected iPads folder like an external drive and copy your images over to any folder you choose so those are the best strategies for transferring images from an iPad back to your computer and guess what it works the same way if you're using iCloud on your iPhone 2 for a more in-depth rundown along with links to third-party apps and backup services that may be a better fit for your particular need head over to how-to cnet.com and remember you can also subscribe to my facebook page for more videos like these and if you have any tips for future topics message me on twitter for cnet.com i'm donald bone