I found a really neat gadget that makes my life a lot easier. I figured if it makes my life easier, it'll make your life easier, too!
We're going to talk about taking pictures or videos from your phone straight to your computer or your iPad. If you are like me, we know how to use the USB stick to get our embroidery designs from the computer over to our embroidery machine. This is not difficult either.
This PNY Duo Link pictured is a 64gb, but they are available in several sizes depending upon how much storage you want. They work with either an Android or an iPhone and are compatible with PC and Apple computers.
One end goes into your phone, one goes into your computer or your iPad, and there is a jump drive for storage in between. It works much like a USB stick. Generally, they run anywhere from $29 to over $100, depend upon the storage size. Of course, you may pick one up for a steal during Black Friday sales.
Once you plug it into your phone, it asks to install an app. When installed, the screen shows you know how much storage you've used on your USB stick and how much storage you've used on your phone. Turns out that I'd used all but 15% of the storage on my phone. I had no idea.
You have different options, you can backup the entire phone (videos, pictures, and music), you can also backup your contacts if you want, or backup just one file. It stores everything onto the connected flash drive. You can even save directly to the USB stick and bypass your phone.
Once you put the information you want on your little USB stick, unplug it, walk over and plug it into your iPad or computer. Just like any other jump drive, a new drive is going to pop up on your computer with the information that you've stored and then you can copy it and paste it onto your computer and categorize it however you like.
As an example, say you went to a retreat and there was a bunch of pillows that you were taking pictures of for inspiration. Put them into a pillow category. You may remember that it was a pillow but can’t remember the specifics. Go to your pillow folder and find the photos.
If you're like me, I use my phone for inspiration like that. If I see something I like, I'll take a quick snapshot. Until now, I just never had an easy way to get those pictures onto my computer.
Same with videos. If you use your phone to record a demonstration, for instance, you can retrieve the video and remember the steps.
Another nice feature is that you don't need an internet connection to use this device. If you're out and about and you run out of storage room on your phone or you want to just pull something off of your phone and throw it onto your iPad or your laptop, you can do that without internet access. You can also use it as a charger. Just pop it in a little bag and drop it in your purse. Lots of possibilities.
I really think 32gb or 64gb is plenty big enough, especially if you're just using it to transfer information back and forth. I transferred a phone full of videos and had no issues.
Show me a new sewing technique and I'm all over it. However, some of the computer functions are more challenging. But if I can do it, you can too!
See the full video here!
May your day be blessed with perfect stitches and GlitterFlex!!
Bonnie Welsh - October 30, 2019
Barbara & Mary—Thank you for your kind words. As I said before, I figured if it helped me, it could help others so I just had to share! =)
Mary Fitts - October 29, 2019
Thanks! I am always dealing with this issue and have only difficult workarounds to make this happen. Thank you so much!
Barbara - October 29, 2019
Love your tips Bonnie! This one is fantastic! I do use Dropbox and airstitch to move designs I purchase to my computer. Dropbox is on both. But I really like how this drive is. My iPad is short on space now and gets glitchy. This would be a great way to not only move photos and videos to my computer but also use the drive as a backup. Thanks again!
Bonnie Welsh - October 29, 2019
Ruth—Apps are wonderful! Thanks for sharing. =)
Bonnie Welsh - October 29, 2019
Laura—GlitterFlex is very thin so I’m not sure it would be appropriate for a key fob unless you fused it to a stiff fabric first. However, GlitterFlex could be used with any machine applique design or simply fused to fabric by itself using your cutting machine if you have one. =)
Bonnie Welsh - October 29, 2019
Judy—I’m not sure. If you could download a design or file to your phone, then I think it might but, again, I’m not positive. That would be a good question to your phone provider. I’ve gotten attachments in emails on my phone so I’m thinking it might be a possibility. Of course you couldn’t view an embroidery file on your phone though.
Ruth Drews - October 28, 2019
There’s also an APP call PhotoSync that you can download from Apple for your phone and IPAD….then you’ll need to continue to follow the instructions to download it onto your computer. You can then transfer photos back/forth from your computer to your devices or vice/versa….I’m also goin to look into the PNY option as well…
Laura Bekin - October 28, 2019
I have some glitter flex left from some of your designs. Can I use them to make fobs or key holders?
Judy - October 28, 2019
Do you think this could work with taking a purchased design, like one of yours, from your phone and then moving it to your computer. So often I make purchases on my phone and then later have to go to my laptop to finish downloading the design. This makes it so simple to do a complete transaction from start to finish in terms of taking the device to my computer and download from it rather than signing into a website and then downloading. Hope this all makes sense.
Bonnie Welsh - October 28, 2019
Vickie—You’re welcome! =)
Bonnie Welsh - October 28, 2019
Phyllis—Unzipping a file is very easy! I can explain that right here. Make a note as to where you’re zip file is located. Right click (not left but right click) on the zip file. A drop down window will appear, choose “Extract” and your files will be unzipped into the same location that the zip file is located in. =)
Vickie Causbie - October 28, 2019
Thank you!
Phyllis Dickinson - October 28, 2019
Could u give a session on unzipping after it gets to ur computer. This may be too elementary for some. If that is the case, I understand.