Chapter 18. Transferring Photos, Movies, Music, TV Shows, and Podcasts to Your iPad
You can think of your iPad as an independent computer, but it’s really an extension of a desktop or laptop computer. Since you probably already have important data stored on another computer, you need to learn how to transfer files to your iPad so you can use those files wherever you go.
To transfer photo, audio, and video files from your computer to your iPad, you’ll need to use the iTunes program. Every Macintosh comes with iTunes, but if you have a Windows computer, you’ll need to download and install iTunes directly from the Apple website (http://www.apple.com/itunes/). Once you have iTunes installed, you’ll be ready to transfer and synchronize your photo, audio, and video files with your iPad.
In this chapter, you’ll learn how to transfer different types of audio and video files on your computer to your iPad.
What You’ll Be Using
To transfer photo, audio, and video files to your iPad, you need to use the following:
Importing Files to iTunes on Your Computer
Before you can transfer files to your iPad from your computer, you must store those files in the iTunes program on your computer. To get the files into iTunes on your computer, you can buy music and movies from iTunes on your computer, or you can get them from another source. For example, you can get a copy of an audio or video file from a friend, or you can download an audio or video file from another source such as Amazon.com. Most people capture photographs using a digital camera or a mobile phone, which they can then transfer to their computer.
Note
You can also buy and download songs directly to your iPad using the iTunes app on your iPad. In most cases, movies and TV shows are too big to download directly to your iPad, so you’ll first need to download them on your computer and then transfer them to your iPad from the iTunes program on your computer, like you’re doing in this section.
No matter where you get your photo, audio, and video files, you must make sure that any files you import into iTunes are stored in file formats that iTunes (and your iPad) can recognize. Table 18-1 lists the most popular file formats that iTunes supports for each type of file.
File Type | iPad-Compatible File Format |
Photo | BMP, JPG, GIF, PSD, TIF, SGI, and PNG |
Audio | MP3, AAC, WAV, MOV, AIFF, WAV, Apple Lossless, and AA (Audible.com audio book format) |
Video | MPEG-4 and MOV |
Note
To convert files into one of the file formats recognized by the iPad, you may need a special audio/video file conversion program such as Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/) or Handbrake (http://handbrake.fr/). Programs such as iPhoto or Photoshop Elements can convert graphic images to a compatible file format for your iPad. Programs such as iMovie and Premiere Elements can convert video to different video formats as well.
To import an audio or video file into the iTunes program on your computer, follow these steps:
Run the iTunes program on your computer.
Choose File ▸ Add to Library (Mac OS X) or File ▸ Add File to Library (Windows). An Add to Library dialog appears.
Click the file that you want to import into iTunes, and click Choose (or Open). Your chosen file gets loaded into iTunes. Depending on the type of file you chose, your file may appear in a different iTunes category such as Music or Movies.
Note
Alternatively, you can simply drag your files from Finder or Windows Explorer into iTunes. With photographs, you don’t need to import them directly into iTunes. Instead, you can store them in iPhoto (on a Macintosh) or in any folder.
Synchronizing Photos
Although the iPad lacks a camera to capture pictures, you can download photos and other graphic images to your iPad from the Internet or from email messages. In most cases, you’ll probably be storing photos on your computer and transferring them to the iPad.
To synchronize photos, follow these steps:
Connect your iPad to your computer using the USB cable.
Run iTunes on your computer.
Click the name of your iPad in the Devices category.
Click the Photos tab. The Photos screen appears.
Check (or uncheck) the Sync Photos from checkbox, as shown in Figure 18-1.
Click the Sync Photos from pop-up menu, and choose a program to synchronize your photographs (such as iPhoto or Photoshop Elements) or a folder where you store your photographs on your computer (such as the Pictures folder).
Click the All photos, albums, events, and faces or Selected albums, events, and faces radio button. (If you click the Selected albums, events, and faces radio button, you can check the checkboxes of different albums, as shown in Figure 18-2.)
(Optional) Check the checkboxes of individual photo albums that you want to synchronize with your iPad.
Transferring Music to Your iPad
The most common type of audio files you can store in iTunes and transfer to your iPad are songs, audio lectures, and voice memos (which are typically recorded from an iPhone). You’ll probably find the bulk of your audio files stored in the Music category.
To transfer music and other audio files to your iPad, follow these steps:
Connect your iPad to your computer using the USB cable that came with your iPad.
Run the iTunes program on your computer.
Click the name of your iPad in the Devices category in the left pane of the iTunes window.
Click the Music tab to view the options for synchronizing audio files to your iPad, as shown in Figure 18-3.
Check (or uncheck) the Sync Music checkbox.
Click the Entire music library or Selected playlists, artists, and genres radio button. If you choose Selected playlists, artists, and genres, you’ll see additional checkboxes for selecting all your playlists, artists, or genres stored in iTunes, as shown in Figure 18-4.
(Optional) Click any additional checkboxes to select specific playlists, artists, or genres.
(Optional) Select (or clear) the Include music videos checkbox.
(Optional) Select (or clear) the Include voice memos checkbox.
(Optional) Select (or clear) the Automatically fill free space with songs checkbox. This option analyzes the songs you’ve selected and tries to guess similar songs that you did not select to be transferred to your iPad. Then it stores these additional songs on your iPad, filling up the remaining storage space.
Click Apply. The Sync button appears.
Click Sync (if your iPad doesn’t start synchronizing automatically).
Synchronizing Podcasts
Podcasts can consist of multiple episodes; some podcasts are audio only, while others are video. Since it’s possible to download podcasts directly to your iPad or on your computer, it’s possible that you could download a podcast episode to your iPad and a newer episode of that same podcast on your computer. When you connect your iPad to your computer, iTunes is smart enough to synchronize the different podcast episodes together so both your computer and your iPad contain identical podcast episodes.
When synchronizing podcasts, you need to choose not only which podcasts to transfer, but also which episodes of that podcast to synchronize. You can select individual episodes, or you can automatically sync episodes based on criteria such as all unplayed episodes or only the most recent episodes.
To synchronize podcasts with your iPad, follow these steps:
Connect your iPad to your computer with the USB cable, and run the iTunes program on your computer.
Click the Podcasts tab.
Check (or uncheck) the Sync Podcasts checkbox. If you uncheck the Sync Podcasts checkbox, you won’t be able to choose any other options. If you check the Sync Podcasts checkbox, you’ll be able to select which podcasts and which episodes to transfer, as shown in Figure 18-5.
(Optional) Check the Automatically include checkbox, and select an option in the pop-up menu to choose the podcasts to transfer, such as all unplayed podcasts or the most recent podcasts. Then select an option in the episodes of pop-up menu to transfer all podcasts or selected podcasts. If the Automatically include checkbox is unchecked, you can click each podcast and individually select episodes from each podcast.
(Optional) Click Sync to start transferring your selected podcasts to your iPad.
Transferring Movies and TV Shows to Your iPad
To transfer movies and TV shows to your iPad, follow these steps:
Connect your iPad to your computer with the USB cable, and run the iTunes program on your computer.
Choose your iPad in the sidebar, and then click the Movies tab. A list of your stored movies appears, as shown in Figure 18-6.
(Optional) Check the Automatically include checkbox, and select an option in the pop-up menu to choose movies based on how many recent or unwatched movies you want to transfer, as shown in Figure 18-7. If the Automatically include checkbox is unchecked, icons representing all your movies appear, letting you select individual movies.
(Optional) Click Apply to start transferring your selected movies to your iPad.
Click the TV Shows tab.
Check (or uncheck) the Sync TV Shows checkbox. If you clear the Sync TV Shows checkbox, you won’t be able to choose any other options. If you select the Sync TV Shows checkbox, you’ll be able to select which TV shows and which episodes to transfer, as shown in Figure 18-8.
(Optional) Check the Automatically include checkbox, and select an option like all unwatched in the first pop-up menu. Then choose all shows or selected shows in the episodes of second pop-up menu.
(Optional) If the Automatically include checkbox is clear, you can click each TV show and individually select episodes from that show.
(Optional) Click Apply to start transferring your selected TV shows to your iPad.
Additional Ideas for Transferring Audio and Video
You can freely erase and transfer different audio and video files to your iPad, so don’t think you need to cram everything from your computer onto your iPad. You can transfer a handful of audio or video files from your computer that you want to hear or watch for that day and then pick an entirely different batch of audio or video files to use the next day.
If you’re learning a foreign language, you can store audio files of that language in the iTunes program on your computer and then transfer them to your iPad so you can hear them wherever you go. You can load motivational lectures as audio files and take them with your iPad, too.
If you’re planning a trip with your children, transfer some educational or children’s movies or TV shows to your iPad so your kids can watch them in the car or on the plane. Then when you get back from your trip, delete those kid’s videos from your iPad.
For those who believe in creative visualization, take pictures of items that represent goals you want to achieve, such as losing weight or visiting an exotic location, then load those pictures on your iPad so you can glance at them throughout the day. For variety, you can selectively add and remove different pictures from your iPad so you can always see something different that’s still related to the goals you want to achieve.
By selecting and deselecting the audio, photo, and video files you need, you can turn your iPad into a portable audio, photo album, and video device that needs to hold only a fraction of all the audio, photo, and video files stored safely (you hope) on your main computer.