Pixtus - Photography Forum, Photographers, Photo Tips

Abel

How To: Store Your Manuals On Your iPhone, iPod and/or iPad

Years ago I used to keep my camera and flash manuals in my camera bag for easy reference in case I needed to figure out a Custom Function setting or how to turn off certain features. Since the advent of smartphones and such I now no longer need to tote these paper manuals around in my bag taking up room.

This thread will explain how you can store electronic versions of your manuals right on your iPhone, iPod and/iPad. This article will describe how to do it using these devices but I am sure there are very similar methods to store them on other platforms and phones.

This is being done on an iPhone4 but it similar on an iPod/iPad as well.

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Step 1
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Open up your Safari browser and search for your make and model camera. In this instance I am searching for "Canon 5d Mark II" and you'll see the results displayed. Look for the actual manufacturer's link that showcases the particular camera manual you're looking for.

Click the official Canon link.

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Step 2
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Once the official camera manufacturer page comes up you should be able to located a "Manuals" link as show below. Locating this link will of course vary depending on the manufacturer's page and might require a bit of digging. Most of the manufacturer's manual links have been pretty easy to spot so it shouldn't give you too much grief.

Click the "Brochures & Manuals" link on the page to display the link to the electronic copy of the manual.

UPDATE: Canon Manuals located HERE and Nikon Manuals located HERE.

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Step 3
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Once you've located and clicked on the PDF link for the manual it will then begin to download to your phone. It may take a little time since the files can vary between 5-20mb so be patient. Once the download is complete you will see the PDF manual displayed in your browser. We're not quite done yet since this displayed manual is not yet save to your phone.

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Step 4
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In order to get the displayed PDF to actually save onto your phone tap the screen where the PDF is being displayed. A little shortcut/menu button option will pop up thats reads "Open in iBooks". Tap that button and your device will save the PDF onto your phone and begin to display it within the iBooks reader.

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Step 5
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Here is the actual manual PDF saved to your device and it is being displayed within iBooks for safe keeping. Navigating through the PDF manuals is pretty quick and easy with the small thumbnails listed near the bottom of the display. Now that you've gotten the manual displayed you can tap the "Library" button.

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Step 6
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When clicking the "Library" button as described in the last step you'll be directed to the iBooks app which will now display the manual that you've just downloaded and saved. This is my library and you can see that I have an assortment of camera models save on my phone. It's very nice having this tool with me at all times.

As you can see it's very easy to store your camera manuals on your phone and have them readily available for anytime you may need to reference to them. I know they come in VERY handy for me and I even store the manuals for some cameras that I don't even own so in case I have a fellow photographer asking me how to adjust something on their Nikon D700 for instance then I have their manual to reference to easily.

I would highly recommend that all photographers store their camera manuals on their phone because you can never be too sure. One day it just may get you out of a jam when you don't have access to your actual manual and/or cell service.

I hope you find this helpful...

Dobick · 09-13-2011, 07:26 PM

Abel · 09-13-2011, 07:26 PM

Sonny · 09-13-2011, 07:27 PM

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Find Other Manuals Online
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Diplodocs - Find your user manual, user guide, instruction manual or owner manual instantly !

Enjoy!

Hanky · 09-13-2011, 07:27 PM

Ok,way cool. I've been wanting to have the manual for my SB800 handy. Thank you!
One note though, It took me about ten minutes to figure out I need the Ibooks app hehe.

kenw · 09-13-2011, 09:16 PM

but what I need is a way to store other documents, like PDF that I create that aren't downloadable in that way....ideas?

Abel · 09-13-2011, 09:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenw

but what I need is a way to store other documents, like PDF that I create that aren't downloadable in that way....ideas?

If you have email set up on your phone, email yourself that Phen from home then open the file from your iPhone email inbox. It'll give u the same open in iBooks button.

Killjoy · 09-13-2011, 09:33 PM

Abel, that is AWESOME! And to think I paid $4.99 for an ap a couple of years ago, for my manual.
Now I have one for my flash too!

Thanks!

Ken,
I have an ap on my iPad that is "Print to PDF".
It lets you save e-mails, web pages, etc to a PDF file in your iPad. Not sure if it works on the iPhone. I haven't tried it yet.

kenw · 09-13-2011, 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Abel

If you have email set up on your phone, email yourself that Phen from home then open the file from your iPhone email inbox. It'll give u the same open in iBooks button.

that's what I do now but I still have to keep the email....was hoping to be able to keep it in a photo-like folder instead of digging thru email folders, opening the email, opening the attach, etc.

Abel · 09-13-2011, 09:40 PM

Ken, when viewing the PDF via an email, tap the arrow o the upper right hand side and this extra menu will pop up. Simply click Open in iBooks and it'll save it to your phone. Easy peasy.

XtremePhoto · 09-13-2011, 09:52 PM

Hmmm....I just downloaded the Manual and stored it on my 32 Gig SD Card in my Phone and Xoom Tablet. No need for anything else. Pretty simple.

kenw · 09-13-2011, 09:54 PM

Abel, this is perfect. thanx. really. I have a ton of PDFs that I use daily for reference and if I can do this it would mean I can leave the notebook in the office......

thanx again.

berto · 09-13-2011, 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenw

that's what I do now but I still have to keep the email....was hoping to be able to keep it in a photo-like folder instead of digging thru email folders, opening the email, opening the attach, etc.

Documents to go allows you do save it from a email I'm almost positive. I'd have to go back am look at it again.

Dobick · 09-14-2011, 12:09 AM

Abel,
just a thought here -- but any chance we can get a new thread started and make a direct link to many of the most current online manuals, so instead of having to do a search, we merely come to that thread and pull it up?

I'll be happy to help if you say it's ok?

KenJulio · 09-14-2011, 12:36 AM

Another option is using dropbox, that'll be synced across your PC's and mobile devices.