Cannot copy photos from camera roll to a synch folder

Question

I cannot copy any photo stored in Camera Roll to folder that synch's with my PC.  > "PC Synch Folder"<    I am using iphone 4s and iPad 3.   Happens to both iDevices.
On the iDevice the "PC Synch Folder" is greyed out when trying to do a copy.   In fact, I cannot even delete that folder from either iDevices.
For what it's worth, I can create a new folder on either iDevice and copy from Camera Roll to it.  Fine.  But that folder will not talk to the folder that I want to synch with my PC.  Strange?
The folder "PC Synch Folder" will indeed sych any picture I put in there from the PC side.   However, what is in there, does not show up in Camera Roll.  What I have in Camera roll cannot be transferred into the "PC Synch Folder"   It's like there is a wall between the folders.
Hence the problem is ...  pictures taken on either iDevices cannot be transferred back to my PC!   I don't want this !
This seems most odd.  Have I done something dumb and simple?
/tom

Answer 1

I use Picasa. You don't have to use iTunes at all. Connect the phone with the USB cable and launch the app of your choice, such as Picasa. Click the "Import" button at the upper left. Your iPhone should appear in the dropdown of choices to import from. You can then import all or some of the photos in the Camera Roll. You should be able to do the same thing with Microsoft Picture Manager or any other photo management program.
The reason that Elements is the only choice is that's the only one that iPhoto on the phone recognizes albums in.
You cannot move photos INTO the Camera Roll from your computer; it's a one-way transfer. But you can sync photos to the Photos app on the iPhone. You either use Elements, or just create a folder on your computer for photos to sync, then create a sub-folder for each album you want on your computer. Copy the photos to each album, then go to the Photos tab in iTunes and select the top-level folder. When you sync each sub-folder will become an album on the iPhone.
However, I consider the photo app on the iPhone rather limited and klunky. Instead I use the app MyPics from the app store. It syncs photos from my Picasa Web albums directly to the phone over the air. I can also create albums in Picasa Web from the phone, and upload images from the Camera Roll directly to Picasa Web.
Another way to get photos (and other files) to and from the phone is Dropbox and similar cloud-based storage solutions.