correctmyphotos

Vista Image Preview
The other day while searching my photo files for images I mistakenly clicked on Open instead of Preview to brows photos in a folder. Up pops the window asking me what application I want to use.

Click on Open to select an application to priview or edit a photo

Since all I wanted to do was browse the folder I didn’t need the extra step of selecting an application. I should have selected “Preview” which would have taken me directly to the Windows viewer allowing me to quickly cycle through the photos. An honest mistake since Open is the only selection in bold. But,that made me wonder how many people don’t even know about the preview feature in Vista or know the difference between Open and preview. The Open feature is used primarily to select and/or launch a photo editing application. You can set a default application such as CorrectPhoto or Elements to always launch when you click Open by checking the little box below the selection window. However, since I use both of these programs on a regular basis I choose not to automatically launch one of them.

Vista Picture Actions menu-Right click on the image file to activate

Clicking on the Preview option launches the Vista Gallery viewer and you can quickly browse the photos using the arrows at the bottom.

Vista Photo Gallery Preview for quickly browsing an image folder

 Now, if you want to launch a photo editing application you can simply right click on the photo and the application window will pop up and you choose and launch the editor.

Right Click on the photo and the application selection window will pop up

Windows XP Picture Tasks
Previewing and browsing a photo file in Windows XP is a bit more obvious than in Vista. When you open a photo file there is a Picture Tasks menu on the left side of the window. The first selection is View as a Slide Show.

Windows XP Picture Tasks-Select View as Slide Show to brows photos

 The Windows XP Slide Show will open filling the monitor with the image. Use the arrow keys to scroll through the photos in the folder. When you are finished browsin or want to launch a photo editing application click Esc (escape) and you will return the the Picture Tasks Window.  To launch an application right click on an image and the following window will appear.

Windows XP Action Selection Window-Right Click on image file to activate

While this little discussion may seem basic to a lot of people it certainly isn’t that obvious to many of my friends and many people with digital cameras. So, if you know someone this post might help send it to him or her a link.

Wayne http://www.correctphoto.com