Standard program for viewing images in Windows 8. Photo viewers: which is better

Many users, when familiarizing themselves with the new OS from Microsoft, discovered that viewing Windows 10 photos is done through the Photos program. But in Windows 8, Microsoft offered a choice between a photo viewer and a Photos tool.

Why did the developers save users the ability to view common graphic formats through a more convenient and functional program?

Many Windows users 10 start looking for third-party products that are more suitable for them, knowing that Photo Viewer only works with TIFF formats and TIF. Therefore, today we will look at how to add this tool to the “Default Applications” section and the “Open With” dialog, where the program is initially missing.

More advanced users try to specify "Photo Viewer" as the application to open pixel images via the Program Mapping tool, but again, the application is only available for the above TIFF/TIF. Is it possible to make it so that the photo viewer can be specified as an opener for other image formats? Naturally, and this is easy to do.

1. Call the registry editor by running the “regedit” command in search bar or text line command interpreter"Win+R".

2. Go to HKLM/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/ Windows Photo Viewer/Capabilities/FileAssociations.

Here you will see a couple of parameters with the name of image formats that can be opened using the photo viewer.

3. Using the right button, call up the context menu of the free part of the space in the right frame of the window and select creating a string parameter (REG_SZ).

4. Enter its name as “.jpeg”, and set the value to “PhotoViewer.FileAssoc.Tiff”.

We perform all the same operations for other formats (.jpg, .gif, .png) that you want to open through more handy tool visualization of images.

5. Call “Settings” using Win+i.

6. Go to “System” → “Default Applications”.

8. In the left frame with the list of programs, click on “Photo Viewer”, then on the icon with the inscription: “Select default values ​​for the program.”

9. Check the boxes next to the required formats.

11. Call the item context menu“Open with” on one of the selected image formats.

The Windows Photo Viewer option will appear.

12. Specify the tool as the default image opener.

Alternative method

For beginners who do not want to delve into the wilds of storage Windows settings 10, it is recommended to use the WinAero Tweaker utility.

  • After launching the application, move to the last item of available tweaks “Windows Accessories”.
  • Click on the “Activate Windows Photo Viewer” button.

The result will be the same in both cases.

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    free program, which, moreover, can work without installation and is designed for viewing widespread graphic formats.


    Key features of the APViewer viewer:

    • Ability to view formats - BMP, JPG, GIF, ICO, PNG, WMF.
    • Ability to search for pictures by given parameters– type of graphic file, width and height of the image.
    • The ability to view animated drawings in GIF format frame by frame.
    • Ability to work with lists of images.
    • Ability to find out the color code of a pixel and show the color corresponding to the code.
    • Cropping drawings.
    • Batch copying and saving to a specified folder.
    • Preview before printing with the ability to set the size of the printed image in millimeters.
    • Saving pictures with calculation of their future file size.
    • Compiling lists of drawings with the formation of this list in tabular form, convenient for analysis, the ability to find duplicate images.
    • Possibility of displaying a slide show.
    • High-quality image scaling using built-in filters.

    Greetings to all!

    Perhaps not everyone will agree with me, but viewing pictures in Windows is not very convenient, for example, not all formats are supported, you cannot view photos in the archive, there is a problem with converting from one format to another, etc.

    I think this is why many people prefer to use alternative programs to view photos, pictures (and I am no exception here).

    Actually, in this article I want to recommend several viewers (this is the name of the program for viewing images) , which will greatly simplify viewing media files (note: many viewers allow you to easily view video files!) .

    I will add that all the programs presented in the article support the Russian language and are compatible with all new Windows 7/8/10 operating systems.

    What is the best way to replace the standard image viewer?

    ACDSee

    The most powerful organizer and browser of photo and video files! Allows you to browse hundreds various formats graphics: BMP, PCX, JPEG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, WMF and much more.

    ACDSee has a built-in image editor: so that you can easily trim edges, add arrows, ovals and other elements, convert photos from one format to another, etc. You can easily create your own slide show. Supports work with scanners and digital cameras.

    I will also note that the program can view the contents of archives without extracting them (very convenient!). And one more plus: ACDSee by default caches all previews from the folders you view. This allows you to instantly show you a preview the next time you view the same folder, rather than creating it again (as other programs do). Thanks to this, the speed of work is an order of magnitude higher!

    IrfanView

    Very compact and fast viewer. Despite its modest size (only a few megabytes), it allows you to perform hundreds various functions: view a bunch of different graphic formats (there are more than a hundred of them!), convert pictures (including in multi-mode), edit photos (cropping, writing, changing shades, etc.), etc.

    By the way, IrfanView was the first graphics editor in Windows that supported animated gifs files, multi-page TIFF and ICO files.

    Key Features:

    1. support for hundreds of graphic formats (JPG, PNG, BMP, TIFF, GIF, ICO, etc.);
    2. support for the Russian and everyone popular versions Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10 (32 and 64 bit);
    3. filter support for Adobe Photoshop;
    4. creating and burning slide shows to discs;
    5. Unicode support;
    6. it is possible to draw and edit pictures;
    7. ability to extract graphics from EXE/DLL/ICLs;
    8. A HUGE number of different plugins (add-ons) for the program can seriously expand its capabilities;
    9. scanner support, digital cameras, and much more!

    XnView

    XnView - a simple and convenient photo and video viewer

    A very popular viewer and direct competitor to ACDSee. It also allows you to view hundreds of different formats of photo and video files, convert from one format to another, change brightness, gamma, contrast, etc. All such operations can be done on hundreds of files at once, which is a definite plus for the program.

    Key Features:

    1. support for a huge number of formats (more than 400!);
    2. convenient and powerful photo/picture processing: removing red-eye, trimming edges, changing resolution, converting to another format, adding watermarks, lightening/darkening and much more;
    3. support for extensions (and there are quite a lot of them released);
    4. working with scanners, printers and cameras;
    5. support for creating screenshots;
    6. possibility of use portable version(which does not need installation);
    7. the ability to automatically create lists of all files located in folders;
    8. convenient work with previews (they can be configured as you like: make them large, small, put descriptions next to them, etc.).

    FastStone Image Viewer

    A simple and free program for viewing and processing photos. The functionality of the program is quite extensive and supports the Russian language in full. You can create postcards, banners, business cards, process photos, etc.

    All in all, pretty good for a free product!

    Key Features:

    1. the ability to open photos/pictures of the most different formats(including large photos in RAW format);
    2. image editing and processing: trimming jagged edges, improving sharpness, increasing detail, adjusting gamma, brightness, red-eye removal, etc.;
    3. conversion from one format to another;
    4. applying watermarks, stamps and other protection;
    5. import images from a scanner, photo and video camera;
    6. batch multi-photo processing, and much more.

    Zoner Photo Studio

    Zoner Photo Studio - main program window

    Very powerful program for working with pictures and photos (both for viewing and editing them). The program allows you to copy photos directly from your phone or camera, and edit pictures on the fly (remove red-eye, adjust contrast, brightness, etc.). In addition, you can immediately create your own slide show, gallery, calendar or panorama. And then, the resulting “creation” can be published on the Internet or sent to someone by email.

    The program itself consists of four main modules: a module for importing photos; manager for managing archives of photographs and pictures on a PC; image editor; and an image viewer.

    Before processing, and after processing in ZPS (improved brightness, color rendition, sharpness)

    Key Features:

    1. comfortable and fast model to view pictures;
    2. high-quality editing and improving the quality of “raw” photos: improving brightness, contrast, changing color range, red-eye removal, etc.). Notice the wasp example above;
    3. possibility to apply quick filters to dozens of pictures at once;
    4. creating slide shows, calendars, and other photo collections;
    5. there is a special tool: cloning stamp (allows you to remove objects from the photo that you do not need);
    6. the ability to add frames to photos;
    7. creating panoramas;
    8. creating HDR images;
    9. creating 3D images without special equipment. cameras for their projection, and much more.

    Minuses: the program is free only for 30 days, then it really starts to get boring...

    Overall, Zoner Photo Studio leaves a very positive impression. Personal resume: suitable more topics who edits and processes photos (many tools designed for quick and easy processing images (much faster than poking around in Photoshop)).

    How to set the default program to open pictures in Windows 10

    In Windows 10, so that your installed program became the main one and was used by default when viewing pictures - setting it alone is not enough. To do this you need to go to control Panel Windows in the "Programs" section - click on the link there "Default programs".

    I note that in addition to the viewer, you can specify a player, a browser, etc. here.

    That's all I have for now.

    Hello.

    Today, in order to view photographs and pictures, it is far from necessary to use it at all. third party programs(in modern Windows 7/8 operating systems, Explorer also copes with this quite well). But its capabilities are not always enough and not for everyone. Well, for example, can you quickly change the resolution of a picture in it, or view all the properties of the picture at once, trim the edges, change the extension?

    Not long ago I had to face similar problem: the pictures were archived in the archive and in order to view them, it was necessary to extract it. Everything would be fine, but there were hundreds of archives and packing and unpacking was a very tedious task. It turns out that there are programs for viewing pictures and photographs that can show you images directly in the archives without extracting them!

    In general, this is how this idea for this post was born - to talk about such user “helpers” for working with photos and pictures (by the way, such programs are often called viewers, from the English Viewers). So, let's begin…

    1. ACDSee

    One of the most famous and popular programs for viewing and editing photos and images (by the way, there is both paid version programs, both free).

    The program's capabilities are simply colossal:

    Support for RAW images (professional photographers save images in them);

    All kinds of file editing: changing photo size, trimming edges, rotating, captioning pictures, etc.;

    Support for popular cameras and images from them (Canon, Nikon, Pentax and Olympus);

    Convenient presentation: you immediately see all the pictures in the folder, their properties, extension, etc.;

    Russian language support;

    A huge number of supported formats (you can open almost any image: jpg, bmp, raw, png, gif, etc.).

    Result: If you often work with photos, you should definitely be familiar with this program!

    This program combines minimalism with great functionality. The program window is divided (by default) into three areas: on the left is a column with your drives and folders, in the top center are thumbnails for the files in a given folder, and at the bottom is an enlarged view of the image. Very convenient, by the way!

    It should be noted that this program has a large number of options: multi-converting pictures, editing images, changing the extension, resolution, etc.

    By the way, there are a couple of interesting notes on the blog with the participation of this program:

    Converting photos from one format to another:

    Creating a PDF file from pictures:

    XnView programs supports more than 500 formats! Even this alone deserves to have this “software” on your PC.

    3. IrfanView

    One of oldest programs for viewing pictures and photographs, its history dates back to 2003. Purely in my opinion, this utility was more popular before than it is now. At dawn emergence of Windows XP besides it and ACDSee there is nothing to remember...

    Irfan View is characterized by minimalism: there is nothing superfluous here at all. Nevertheless, the program provides high-quality viewing of all kinds of graphic files (and it supports several hundred different formats), allowing you to scale them from very large to small.

    It should be noted that there is excellent support for plugins (and there are quite a lot of them for this program). You can add, for example, support for viewing videos, viewing PDF files and DJVU (many books and magazines on the Internet are distributed in this format).

    The program does a good job of converting files. I'm especially pleased with the multi-conversion (in my opinion, Irfan View implements this option better than many other programs). If there are a lot of photos that need to be compressed, then Irfan View will do it quickly and efficiently! I recommend you check it out!

    4. FastStone Image Viewer

    According to many independent estimates, this free program is one of the best for viewing and working with pictures. Its interface is somewhat reminiscent of ACDSee: convenient, concise, everything is at hand.

    FastStone Image Viewer supports all major graphic files, as well as some RAW files. There is also a slideshow function, image editing: cropping, changing resolution, expanding, hiding red-eye (especially useful when editing photos).

    It is impossible not to note the support for the Russian language right out of the box (i.e. automatically after the first launch you will have Russian selected by default, no third-party plugins, such as, for example, need to be installed on Irfan View).

    And a couple more features that are not available in other similar programs:

    Effects (the program implements more than a hundred unique effects, a whole visual library);

    Color correction and anti-aliasing (many people note that pictures can look much more attractive when viewing them in FastStone Image Viewer).

    5. Picasa

    It's not just a viewer various images(and their program supports them in large quantities, more than a hundred), but also an editor, and not a bad one at that!

    First of all, the program is distinguished by the ability to create albums from various images, and then record them on Various types media: disks, flash drives, etc. Very convenient if you need to make several collections from different photos!

    There is also a chronology function: all photos can be viewed as they were created (not to be confused with the date of copying to the computer, by which other utilities sort).

    It should also be noted that it is possible to restore old photographs (even black and white): you can remove scratches from them, color correction, clear the “noise”.

    The program allows you to add watermarks to pictures: this is a small inscription or picture (logo) that protects your photo from being copied (or, at least, if it is copied, then everyone will know that it is yours). This function will be especially useful for owners of sites where they have to post photos in large quantities.

    I think that the presented programs are enough for most tasks of the “average” user. And if not, then most likely there is nothing to recommend other than Adobe Photoshop...

    By the way, many may be interested in how to do online frame for photo or beautiful text:

    That's all, happy viewing of the photos!

    The program for viewing images in Windows 7 is installed with the system and does not require additional settings. To start viewing an image, you just double-click the left mouse button on the photo icon. An application window will open in front of you and display required picture.

    In the program window there is basic tools, which allow you to manage settings and set basic parameters for the image.

    If you wish, you can enlarge or reduce the size of the photo using the mouse wheel or the magnifying glass icon at the bottom left of the screen. Click on the zoom icon and left-click the area you want to zoom in on. To reduce, click on the arrow next to the magnifying glass icon and select “Reduce”, then select the desired area in the same way with the left mouse button.

    To move to the next picture in the images folder, click on the right arrow. To view the previous picture, click on the left arrow. The central button allows you to start playing a slideshow from the images available in the catalog in full screen. To print a picture, use the “Print” button at the top of the program window. If you want to delete a picture, use the cross button in the lower right part of the program window. Confirm the deletion operation by clicking on the “Yes” button in the dialog box that appears.

    Opening through alternative programs

    You can view Windows photos 7 through alternative applications to view photos. Their advantage is the ability to use a wider range of tools when viewing and editing. Among the most multifunctional programs we can mention Picasa, ACDSee, FastStone Image Viewer, XnView, IrfanView.

    Programs can scan file system for the presence of photos, and then sort them into categories, apply filters, change colors and create small slideshows.

    Study the proposed programs and download them to your computer by visiting the developer’s official website. Run the file received for installation. Complete the installation by following the application instructions. After completing the procedure, click right key mouse on the photo you want to view, then click "Open with". Select the program you installed from the list, and then click “Ok.” You can start viewing and editing the image.

    Video on the topic

    Sources:

    • Picasa
    • ACDSee
    • FastStone Image Viewer
    • XnView
    • InfranView

    There are several types of programs designed to work with images. The first group allows you to view photographs and drawings, but at the same time it is almost impossible to change anything in the image; using programs from the second group you can edit graphic documents.

    You will need

    Instructions

    To open and view an image in operating system Microsoft Windows, use an image and fax viewer. This standard program, which is installed with the system. With its help, you can not only open and view an image, but also transfer photos from digital cameras or scanner.

    To open an image using an image and fax viewer, click graphic file right mouse button. From the drop-down menu, select “Open with”, then click once in the submenu with the left mouse button on the item “Image and fax viewer”.

    You can also independently install any of the image “viewers” ​​from the disk or download it from the Internet. For example, the FS Viewer program allows you to open an image with one click and view it in full screen mode. In all similar programs There is a “magnifying glass” tool that allows you to zoom in on the details of the image. Zooming in or out of details does not affect the size of the image itself.

    To open an image not only for viewing, but also for editing, install a graphics editor on your computer. In system Windows editor graphic Paint images quite primitive. It is suitable only for minor adjustments to drawings and photographs, but it is impossible to achieve special effects with it.