You're not always going to use the iPad mini to take pictures, of course. Fortunately, you have several other methods for adding pictures to your prized tablet. Alas, one of these involves buying an accessory.
How to sync pix to the iPad mini
When the iPad is connected to your computer, click the Photos tab on the iPad Device page in iTunes on the Mac or PC. Then select a source from the Sync Photos From pop-up menu.
On a Mac, you can sync photos (and videos) via iPhoto software version 6.06 or later and Aperture 3.02 or later. On a PC, you can sync with Adobe Photoshop Elements 8.0 or later. Alternatively, with both computers, you can sync with any folder that contains pictures.
How to use Photo Stream to sync photos among your devices effortlessly
The Photo Stream feature, when enabled, uploads and stores up to 1,000 photos from the last 30 days on iCloud and automatically downloads them to all your devices that have Photo Stream enabled when connected to Wi-Fi.
You need to enable two settings if you want to use your Photo Stream. First, instruct your iPad's camera to send photos to your Photo Stream by following these steps:
Tap Settings on your Home screen.
Tap iCloud on the left side of the screen.
Tap Photos.
Tap the switch to turn on Photo Stream.
Second, if you want to see your Photo Stream in the Photos app, do this:
Tap Settings on your Home screen.
Tap Photos & Camera on the left side of the screen.
Tap the switch to turn on My Photo Stream.
That's it. Turn it on, and you'll always have access to your last 30 days of pictures.
If you're a Mac user, iPhoto ’11 (versions 9.2 and higher) supports Photo Stream. To enable it, launch iPhoto on your Mac and do this:
Choose iPhoto➪Preferences.
Click the Photo Stream tab at the top of the Preferences window.
Select the My Photo Stream check box.
How to connect a digital camera or memory card to the iPad mini
Almost all the digital cameras we're aware of come with a USB cable that you can use to transfer images to a computer. Of course, the iPad isn't a regular computer, and it isn't equipped with a USB port.
Instead, Apple sells separate ($29 each) Lightning-to-USB Camera Adapter and Lightning-to-SD Card Camera Reader cables that are compatible with the mini. Here's how it works:
Connect your camera to your iPad using one of the two connectors.
Use the Lightning-to-USB Camera connector for your camera and the Lightning-to-SD Card cable to work with the card.
If you're going the USB route, kindly use the cable that comes with your camera because no such cable comes with Apple's kit.
Make sure that the iPad is unlocked.
If you haven't already done so, turn on the camera and ensure that it's set to transfer pictures.
Consult the manual that came with the camera if you're unsure of which setting to use.
The Photos app on the iPad opens and displays the pictures that you can import from the camera.
Tap Import All to select the entire bunch, or tap the individual pictures you want to include if you'd rather cherry-pick.
A check mark appears next to each image you select. And that's pretty much it: The iPad organizes the pictures into albums and such.
At this point, you're free to erase the pictures from your camera.
The SD Card Reader connector accommodates the SD memory cards common to so many digital camera models. The procedure works almost identically to the USB connector, except that you're inserting the SD gizmo into the Lightning connector port rather than the USB connector mentioned previously. Just be careful to insert the SD gently to prevent any damage.
How to save images from e-mails and the web onto the iPad mini
You can save pictures that arrive in e-mails or pictures that you come across on the web very easily: Just press and hold your finger against the image, and then tap Save Image when the menu pops up a second later. Pictures are stored in the Camera Roll. You can also tap Copy to paste said image into another app on your device.