This is the first article in a new series we’ve prepared for you on how to work better in Zoner Photo Studio X. You’ll learn about everything from import to backup, and from organizing to advanced edits to sharing and printing your photos. In short, everything you need for working with Zoner Photo Studio like a professional.

In this article, which is the first part of our series on the right workflow, we’ll start with how to sign in to the program itself, where you’ll find  your photos, and how to browse and select them.

Signing In

Got Zoner Photo Studio X freshly installed, but don’t know where to start? Then let’s get started. The first time you start up the program, a sign-in window appears. Enter your email and password here. If you’re switching from the trial version to the paid version, enter the same email. Your license is assigned to it automatically.

Check that it is the same version. If for example you’re a Zoner Photo Studio X subscriber, you need to sign in to version X. To tell which version you’re signing in to, check the program icon—it always shows the program version in the middle.

Bring in Your Photos

How do you reach your photos inside of Zoner Photo Studio? If you already have them saved on your computer, then just visit your photo folder in the left panel of the Manager.

If you haven’t copied your photos onto your computer yet, you’ve got two possibilities:

• You can drag photos from your card to your computer in Windows, the old-fashioned way,
• or you can do it directly within Zoner Photo Studio X. To do that, click the Import button at the bottom left corner of the Manager. The Import screen lets you not only copy photos onto your computer, but also for example rename them as they’re copied.

At the top right, click the folder icon to set the import Source if needed. We recommend keeping the Include subfolders option turned on, because it’s common for cameras to store photos on the memory card in multiple folders. For example when the photo name counter is reset, or when a folder contains more than 999 pictures. The Include subfolders option ensures that Import will see absolutely all of your photos.

Then choose the Target folder (the one for storing your photos), and if appropriate add authorship information using the controls in the Automatically Add Information group.

Last but definitely not least, you can have Zoner Photo Studio batch-rename your photos as it copies them. The structure for the names is up to you, but we recommend choosing a pattern that makes sense to you naturally. For example {Y}{M}{D}-{C}. This pattern means that each photo will be named based on the date when it was taken and on a counter. The counter is essential to ensure that no duplicate names are produced. If all of the photos have the same subject, then you might want to include that subject in their new names.

The main advantage of batch renaming during import is that your photos will always be in the right order, even if your camera’s counter was acting up.

Once you’ve got everything set up, just click Copy and wait for the photos to download. If you’d like for your photos to be deleted from the card during the import, use Move instead—although we don’t recommend this. It’s better to always have your photos in at least two places, and your card is a good place in the short term until the next backup of your photo folder.

Managing Your Photos

When you’re in the Manager’s Browser mode, its middle area shows a listing of photo thumbnails. Switch into Preview mode to see a preview of a single photo and, beneath it, a Filmstrip with photo thumbnails. The right panel contains detailed information on the selected photo.

The top of it shows the picture’s histogram and basic EXIF information. Beneath that are information fields, where you can fill in a star rating or more detailed information.

When you need to move photos or copy them, it’s very practical to work in two windows at once. To do that in the ZPS X Manager, click the Browser button at the top, and then use Two Browsers Stacked in the menu that appears. This simplifies the process of moving photos from one folder to another.

Go Through Your Photos and Check Them!

When you’re picking out photos to use for something, you’ll appreciate having a way to compare them at full size.  In Zoner Photo Studio, there’s an easy way to do so.

Click on a photo in Preview mode to show it at 1:1 zoom. This is an easy way to check whether the photo is sharp. This function comes in handy when you’re deciding among several versions of a picture. Select them, click Preview, and click on one of them to zoom in on it. To smoothly zoom a picture in or out during previewing, use the scroll wheel on your mouse. Using these tools and tricks together, you’ll easily determine which version of the picture is better.

What’s Coming Up?

In our future installments, you can look forward to learning about practical features such as the Catalog.

Download Zoner Photo Studio X, try it free for 7 days, and try it today if you haven’t already started.