How to get photos on to your tablet

Whether it’s an iPad or an Android device, tablets are great. But getting stuff on to them can be a bit confusing.

Share your files via Picasa and the cloud…

Share your files via Picasa and the cloud…

For decades, we’ve been taught that computers rely on folders, file systems and cables to transfer things like images and documents, but the vast majority of tablets don’t have a USB port and hooking them up to your PC is a hassle.

So how do you get stuff from your hard drive on to your tablet?

1. Use the web

The simplest way is to use the web. If you subscribe to an online photo sharing service, like Flickr or Facebook, and you can use your PC browser to upload photos then you can download them on to your tablet using the browser in the same way.

Both of these services also have native apps that will allow you to look at your pics without opening the web browser too.

2. Use the cloud

Of course, the problem with using services designed to share your shots is that it can be tricky to keep them private. Fortunately both Google and Apple have services that are excellent for sharing files between only devices you own. Using iCloud (iOS) or Picasa (Android), you can upload a picture to your photostream using a desktop application or browser, and mark it as private.

So long as you use the same Apple or Google account that’s registered to your tablet, the picture or album will automatically appear in the default photo app on your slate.

3. Use your wifi network

If you want to avoid sending your images via the web altogether you can share files via wifi. The advantage of this method is that it’s fast, private and looks like a traditional file browser.

On your Windows PC, right click your photo folder and select Properties>Sharing, change the pulldown menu to ‘Everyone‘, click ‘Add‘ then change the ‘Permissions‘ line in the main windows to ‘Read‘ and click ‘Share‘ to finish.

Back on your tablet, you’ll need a file browsing app that will read network folders – and the bad news is that these aren’t always free.

On the iPad, FileBrowser is a good option while on Android, File Expert is simple to use. These have straightforward dialogues that look a bit like Windows Explorer, just follow the links to your network and then to the PC you want to connect to, and you should see the shared photo folder appear in the window.

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