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Acquire images from cameras and scanners

Acquiring digital images from cameras

You can copy images to your computer by connecting your camera or a media card reader to your computer.

  • Use the Get Photos From Camera command in Adobe® Bridge® to download photos, and to organize, rename, and apply metadata to them.

  • If your camera or the card reader appears as a drive on your computer, copy images directly to your hard disk or into Adobe Bridge.

  • Use the software that came with your camera, Windows Image Acquisition (WIA), or Image Capture (macOS). For more information on using Windows Image Acquisition or Image Capture, see your computer documentation.

Import images from a digital camera using WIA (Windows)

Certain digital cameras import images using Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) support. When you use WIA, Photoshop works with Windows and your digital camera or scanner software to import images directly into Photoshop.

  1. Choose File > Import > WIA Support.

  2. Select a destination in which to save your image files on your computer.

  3. Make sure that Open Acquired Images in Photoshop is selected. If you are importing a large number of images, or if you want to edit the images later, deselect Open Acquired Images.

  4. To save the imported images directly into a folder whose name is the current date, select Unique Subfolder.

  5. Click Start.

  6. Select the digital camera from which to import images.
    Note:

    If the name of your camera does not appear in the submenu, verify that the software and drivers were properly installed and that the camera is connected.

  7. Choose the image or images you want to import:
    • Click the image from the list of thumbnails to import the image.

    • Hold down Shift and click multiple images to import them at the same time.

    • Click Select All to import all available images.

  8. Click Get Picture to import the image.

Importing scanned images

Note:

Scanner software and drivers are supported by the scanner manufacturer, not Adobe. If you have problems with scanning, make sure that you are using the latest version of the scanner software and driver.

Scan and import images from a separate scanning application

Most scanners provide a stand-alone scanning application that can be used to scan and save images.

If your scanner manufacturer doesn't provide updated software and drivers that are compatible with current operating systems you may need to look at third-party scanning solutions. These third-party utilities are dedicated scanning solutions, and they are more appropriate for critical or high-volume scanning:

Using a dedicated application to scan allows you to retouch and edit images in Photoshop while you scan in the background – which can be more efficient.

If you use a stand-alone scanning application, save your scanned images as TIFF files, then open them into Photoshop.

Note:

Some scanner software lets you designate Photoshop as the external editor for an image after a scanning is completed. Consult the documentation that came with your scanner or contact your scanner manufacturer for more details.

  1. Start the scanning software, and set options as desired.

  2. Save scanned images in TIFF format.

  3. In Photoshop, open the saved TIFF files.

Scan and import images using Apple’s ImageKit interface (macOS)

  1. Choose File > Import > Images from Device.

    This will launch Apple's Image Capture app.

  2. Select the scanner that you want to use from the list of DEVICES in the left-hand column.

    Note:

    If the name of your scanner does not appear in the list of DEVICES, verify that the software and drivers were properly installed and that the scanner is connected.

  3. Choose Create new Photoshop document to open the resulting scanned image in Photoshop as a new document.

  4. Set the options for color, resolution, size, as well as the destination, name and file format for your scanned image.

  5. Click Scan.

  6. The scanned image will open in Photoshop for editing.

Scan and import images using a WIA interface (Windows)

  1. Choose File > Import > WIA Support.

  2. Choose a destination on your computer for saving your image files.
  3. Click Start.

  4. Select Open Acquired Images In Photoshop (unless you have a large number of images to import, or if you want to edit the images at a later time).

  5. Select Unique Subfolder if you want to save imported images in a folder named with the current date.
  6. Select the scanner that you want to use.
    Note:

    If the name of your scanner does not appear in the submenu, verify that the software and drivers were properly installed and that the scanner is connected.

  7. Choose the kind of image you want to scan: Color Picture, Grayscale Picture, or Black And White Picture or Text.
    Note:

    To specify custom settings, select Adjust The Quality Of The Scanned Picture.

  8. Click Preview. If necessary, drag the handles of the bounding box to adjust the size of the crop.

  9. Click Scan.

  10. The scanned image will open in Photoshop for editing.

Scan and import images using a TWAIN interface

The TWAIN Plug-in is not supported in currently supported versions of Photoshop.

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