Bmac228 - there is really no easy solution for this. Due to apple's proprietary approach to development everything must be done via iTunes. There some useless exceptions to this rule such as Airshare, however using airshare doesnt allow the images to be viewed in the photo library, onlynfrom the airshare app. This is the only exception i am aware of that provides an alternative to iTunes.
Dropbox, iDisk, google docs are all cloud applications which provide access to those cloud files on their servers via the app you download. So, you never have a local copy of the file on your mobile device. In answer to your question, you cannot save a local copy of the images via those apps such as dropbox.
You have stumbled onto the same frustration that i experience. iTunes is a royal pain to work with. For apple to be so successful in selling mobile devices they have certainly not provided a simple user interface to accomplish such mundane tasks as moving and copying files.
Not entirely correct. I use MobileMe and dropbox. Both allow me to easily sync photos and videos into the cloud.
When viewing photos in the cloud, I can touch and hold for a second, and a save/copy image prompt pops up. Tapping on save, puts an exact copy of that image into my iPad or iPhone's local drive. you can sync and transfer in both directions, to and from iOS devices and/or computers. To transfer in the other direction, simply tap the share button, and tap 'send to MobileMe.' Easy as pie.
MobileMe's sync is also built into OSX applications, like iPhoto, making it easy to sync and transfer entire photo albums at once. I prefer syncing and storing via the cloud vs. physically syncing through iTunes myself. Dropbox and MobileMe each have their unique advantages. One is basically free, and the other is easier to use, and works better within Apple's ecosystem. I use and recommend both.
