Q. Is it possible to have the photos I upload from my digital camera card to my Mac directly backed up online to Google Photos, too?

A. Google Photos can automatically back up your pictures from a number of sources to its online servers. These sources include a digital camera’s memory card, the desktop and your Mac’s Pictures folder. If you do not already have a Google account to use with the company’s slew of online services (like Gmail, YouTube, and Google Drive), you can sign up for one on Google’s site.

If you already have, say, a Gmail account, log in with your web browser and click the small square Apps menu icon in the upper-right corner. This opens a box showing all the available Google sites and programs, including Google Photos. If you use Google Drive, a link to Google Photos is in the menu on the left wide of the screen.

Then, download a copy of the desktop uploader program for Google Photos. The uploader is a small piece of software (available for Mac and Windows computers) that automatically grabs copies of the pictures it finds on your hard drive and sends them to your online Google Photos account.