A Photo CD image is a photograph that has been digitized and stored on a CD-ROM. You can view Photo CD images one at a time or in a series, as you would a slide presentation. You can also print the images, copy and paste them into documents, and edit them with graphics applications.

Most photofinishers can provide you with Photo CD images of your own photographs. Each CD can typically hold about one hundred images. Most Photo CD discs are "multisession": if the disc isn't full, you can add images to it later until it is full.

To use Photo CDs on your computer, you must have the QuickTime and Apple Photo Access extensions in the Extensions folder (inside the System Folder).

When you open a Photo CD disc, you see five folders labeled with different resolutions. Each image is saved at all five resolutions, so each folder contains copies of all the images at the specified resolution. The higher-resolution images are very large (up to 18 MB in size), so you may need to increase the memory assigned to your graphics program to view them. Or, you can open a lower-resolution version of the image.

Tip: To view a slide show of images on the disc, use the slide show program on the Photo CD.

Troubleshooting

If the Photo CD can't be read:
Some older CD-ROM drives can't read multisession discs. (A multisession disc has multiple sets of photographs, recorded at different times.)

If an error message appears when you open an image:
If you can't open a Photo CD image by double-clicking it, try using a graphics program instead. First open the program, then open the program's File menu and choose Open. Then, select the image you want to open.

If the CD icon doesn't appear on the desktop:
Make sure the Apple Photo Access file is in the Extensions folder (inside the System Folder). If the file is there, reinstall your CD-ROM software. The easiest way to do this is by reinstalling your system software.

If color icons for individual images don't appear:
Your computer may be low on memory. To view color icons, restart your computer, then reopen the images folder.

If the image is scrambled, colors are displayed incorrectly, or no image appears:
The program you are using may not be designed to work with large (high-resolution) image files. Open the image with another program, or assign more memory to the current program. Or, try opening a lower-resolution version of the image.

If your computer "freezes" or crashes:
The program you are using may not be designed to work with large (high-resolution) image files. Open the image with another program, or assign more memory to the current program. Or, try opening a lower-resolution version of the image.