Loading Images
Copy Preferences
To use StudioLine for your images, they need to be added to the StudioLine Image Archive. StudioLine offers two methods for managing images:
“Copy” Mode
Original images are copied into the StudioLine Image Archive. We will refer to them as internal images.
Once StudioLine has created a master-copy in the Image Archive, you could decide to delete the original image. A practical example would be the memory chip of your digital camera. After importing photos into StudioLine, the memory chip could be erased and reused for new pictures.
Digital camera users should always operate in “Copy” mode. Some cameras may reuse the same file names each time the memory chip is erased, e.g., DSCF0001.jpg. If you were to copy your picture files to a windows folder that already contains prior images from your camera, Windows may encounter duplicate file names and offer to overwrite the older pictures. This may cause you to accidentally lose irreplaceable memories.
By using the “Copy” mode, you’ll import your pictures directly into StudioLine, which is perfectly capable of managing multiple images with identical file names.
“Don’t Copy” Mode
Only references to the original images are copied into the Image Archive. We will refer to them as external images. In case the original image is on a removal media or temporarily unavailable for other reasons, StudioLine generates a compact “Proxy Image” for use in the Image Archive. Settings regarding proxy images are found in the “Preferences” menu.
This mode should only be chosen if you prefer not to delete your original images from your hard disk and can’t afford the additional disk space for StudioLine to create its master-copies.
If you chose this mode for CDs, DVDs or other removable media, then you may find it inconvenient to always have to keep these media close at hand. Every time you need to create a high-resolution print or want to export the image, StudioLine would prompt you to insert the disc.
You should never choose this mode for any writable media (e.g., diskettes, re-recordable CDs or DVDs) or memory chips. There would always be the chance that you may accidentally erase or overwrite your original pictures.
It is generally recommended that you use the “Copy” mode as long as you have available disk space. Once disk space gets sparse, StudioLine offers the offload feature for older or less frequently used images.
Your choice of internal vs. external images has no bearing on your ability to manage, edit and process your pictures with StudioLine.
Setting the Copy Preference
For the different types of media, you can decide how StudioLine will manage your images. Choose “Image Archive Copy Settings” from the Preferences menu. (The preferences window will open automatically the first time you load images.)
In addition to the above mentioned “Copy” and “Don’t Copy” modes, you can also choose the setting “Ask” to be prompted during each import. This is a good choice if you want to be able to copy images from borrowed CDs, but not copy images from any CDs that you own.
You are free to choose different settings at a later time. Of course, this would only affect any new images that are added to the Image Archive. Existing images that are stored internally may be converted to external images at any time. You can also convert external images to internal ones, as long as you still have access to your originals. (For details, please see the section “Internal and External Images” in this chapter.)
To add images to the Image Archive, click “Browse and Load” on the QuickStep Bar.
This will open a StudioLine Explorer panel for “My Computer” with the appropriate hint panel.
Types of Media
Disk Drives
Computers and digital cameras store images as files. With Microsoft Windows, files are saved to disk drives. Each disk is labeled with a unique drive letter (followed by a colon) and usually represents a physical device - either internal to your computer or some external unit. Most commonly, drive letters “A:” and “B:” are used for diskette or ZIP drives, “C:” is the hard disk. Other drive letters (“D:”, “E:”,…) may be assigned to additional hard disks or your computer’s CD-ROM or DVD drive.
Digital Cameras
There are two common interfaces to connect digital cameras to your computer. One method treats your camera like a scanner and uses the TWAIN or WIA interface. Most cameras are treated by Windows as if they were simply another removable disk drive and are assigned an available drive letter (e.g., “E:”) as soon as your camera is connected to the PC. In StudioLine, your camera will appear as a removable disk drive.
Folders
Managing thousands of images, documents, programs and other files on your computer would quickly become confusing. That’s why you can create folders and sub-folders to organize your files.
Locating Images
The StudioLine Explorer “My Computer” shows a list of all drives connected to your computer. Double-click the drive letter that contains your images, e.g., “Removable Disk (E:)” for your digital camera, or “Compact Disc (D:)” for a photo CD-ROM.
The left pane of the StudioLine Explorer panel lists all folders on the selected drive. The right “content” pane lists folders, images and other files in the top-level “root” folder on the selected drive.
Typically, digital cameras store about 100 images per folder. Several image folders are then grouped together in a parent folder. To locate your first 100 images, you would have to double-click on drive letter, e.g., “E:”, then on the parent folder “DCIM” (Digital Camera Images) and finally on the image folder, e.g., “100abc”. (Of course, you would have to substitute the drive letter and the folder names with the appropriate letters and names applicable to your computer and camera.)
To view the next 100 images, you would first have to return to the parent folder by pressing the button “Up One Level”. 
Then click on the folder containing the next set of images, e.g., "101abc".
When you connect a camera or flash memory card reader to your computer, StudioLine checks for an existing DCIM folder and automatically opens it in the "StudioLine Explorer – My Computer". This way you can quickly locate new images to be loaded.
Selecting Images
In addition to handling one image at a time, StudioLine supports the standard methods to select groups of images.
- To select more than one image, hold down the “Ctrl” key on your keyboard while clicking the left mouse button on the desired images. You may also click between images, hold down the mouse button and drag the mouse pointer across the list of desired images to create a selector band around them. The “Ctrl” key can be used to add further images to the selection.
- To select all images in a folder click the “Select All” button in the StudioLine Explorer toolbar. You may also use the “Ctrl+A” keyboard combination (hold down the “Ctrl” key while pressing “A”).
- To remove an image from a selection, hold down the “Ctrl” key and click on the already selected image.
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