Linux is not hard. In fact, your digital camera is probably supported in Ubuntu, but you probably don’t know how to access it. We’re going to use a pretty program called “digikam”.

..:: Software Summary

Title: digikam
Type: desktop application
Purpose: manage digital cameras
Tested OS: Ubuntu 6.10
Screenshots: via [ google | digikam home ]

..:: Installation and Setup

Installation takes a second. First, make sure you’re using some decent ubuntu repositories. Then install digikam:

sudo apt-get install digikam

When it’s done installing, you’re going to have to run this app as root (I haven’t figured out how to fix all the mounting issues).

gksudo digikam

Plug your camera in via USB and turn it on (unless it doesn’t normally need to be on to sync). When digikam loads, it will ask you where you want to store your images. I personally use /mnt/storage/pictures (don’t ask why, that’s for another article), but you might want to put it in /home/your_username/pictures.

Then click “Camera->Add Camera”. You might be able to auto-detect the camera by clicking “Auto-detect”. My old Canon PowerShot SD110 Digital Elph came up instantly (it’s a decent camera for being about 3 years old). If it doesn’t auto-detect, click add and then find your camera in the list (which is insanely long). Once you’ve finished, hit OK until you get back to the main window.

..:: Main Usage

Now click “Camera->Your_Camera” and it will bring up another window. I select “Download All”, and it will ask what album to put it in and I give a decent name for my purposes. After downloading all, I “Delete All”. You can manage the photos immediately (rotate/crop) by clicking on them and using the micro-editor.

Once you’re done, you can close up, and the next time, you’ll just have to run

gksudo digikam

and you’ll be able to immediately import your photos without having to do any setup.