Windows Photo Viewer Explained

Windows Photo Viewer
Screenshot Size:300px
Developer:Microsoft
Replaces:Imaging for Windows, Windows Photo Gallery
Replaced By:Microsoft Photos
License:Proprietary
Operating System:Windows Picture and Fax Viewer:Windows Photo Viewer:

Windows Photo Viewer (formerly Windows Picture and Fax Viewer)[1] is an image viewer included with the Windows NT family of operating systems. It was first included with Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 under its former name. It succeeds Imaging for Windows. It was temporarily replaced with Windows Photo Gallery in Windows Vista[2] but was reinstated in Windows 7 with its current name.[3]

Windows Photo Viewer can show individual pictures, display all pictures in a folder as a slide show, reorient them in 90° increments, print them either directly or via an online print service, send them in e-mail or burn them to a disc.[4] [5] Windows Photo Viewer supports images in BMP, JPEG, JPEG XR (formerly HD Photo), PNG, ICO, GIF and TIFF file formats.[6]

Windows Photo Viewer is deprecated in Windows 10 and later in favor of a Universal Windows Platform app called Photos. The program can no longer be accessed by normal means, however it can be brought back with a registry tweak.[7]

Features

Compared to Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, changes have been made to the graphical user interface in Windows Photo Viewer. Whereas Windows Picture and Fax Viewer uses GDI+,[8] Windows Photo Viewer uses Windows Imaging Component (WIC)[9] and takes advantage of Windows Display Driver Model.[10]

Although GIF files are supported in Windows Photo Viewer, Windows Photo Viewer only displays the first frame of the animated GIF[11] whereas Windows Picture and Fax Viewer displays animated GIFs in full. Windows Picture and Fax Viewer was also capable of viewing multi-page TIFF files, (except those that employ JPEG compression)[12] as well as annotating the TIFF files.[13] [14] Windows Photo Viewer, on the other hand, has added support for JPEG XR file format and ICC profiles.[15] [16]

Bugs

Some devices and Android phones are able to take photos and screenshots and have a custom ICC Profile being applied to said pictures, however Windows Photo Viewer will display an error when trying to display the picture with the message "Windows Photo Viewer can't display this picture because there might not be enough memory available on your computer." when an unknown ICC Profile is detected. There is a patch available on GitHub that fixes this behavior.[17]

Also, regarding ICC Profiles, when a custom Display ICC Profile is applied after installing a Monitor driver, Windows Photo Viewer wrongly shifts the picture hue to a warm tint. This feature is intentional but is greatly exaggerated. This can be fixed by removing or replacing the Display ICC Profile.[18]

In Windows 10 and later

In support documentation, Microsoft states that Windows Photo Viewer is not part of Windows 10, and a user still has it only if they upgraded from Windows 7 or 8.1.[19] However, it can be brought back in Windows 10 and later with registry editing, by adding the appropriate entries ("capabilities") in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Photo Viewer\Capabilities\FileAssociations. It is also possible to restore the Preview option in the context menu.[20]

Windows Photo Viewer itself remains built-in into Windows and is still set by default for TIFF files with the extensions ".tif" and ".tiff".[21]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Windows Picture and Fax Viewer overview . Windows XP Professional Product Documentation . Microsoft Corporation . 23 November 2010 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20101202003013/http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/image_overview.mspx?mfr=true . 2 December 2010.
  2. Web site: What happened to the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer? . Windows Vista Help & How-to . Microsoft Corporation . 22 November 2010 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20160609053707/http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/What-happened-to-the-Windows-Picture-and-Fax-Viewer . 9 June 2016.
  3. Web site: View and use your pictures in Windows Photo Viewer . Windows 7 Help & How-to . Microsoft Corporation . 23 November 2010 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20080105131836/http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/image_overview.mspx . 5 January 2008.
  4. Web site: Windows Photo Viewer slideshow turns secondary monitor black . Microsoft Corporation . Microsoft TechNet Forums . 5 February 2010 . 29 January 2011 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20110722120943/http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/pl-PL/w7itpromedia/thread/bc88984a-df40-4fc6-b353-0c6f34c8fc59 . 22 July 2011 .
  5. Web site: How to Run the Windows Photo Viewer Slide Show on a Secondary Monitor . WindowsSevenForums Tutorials . Designer Media Ltd . 2 October 2010 . 29 January 2011 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20110118015141/http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/27314-windows-photo-viewer-slide-show-secondary-monitor.html . 18 January 2011 .
  6. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Understanding-picture-file-types Understanding Picture File Types
  7. Web site: Tkachenko . Sergey . 31 July 2015 . 1 December 2022 . How get Windows Photo Viewer working in Windows 10 . winaero.com . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20201111165604/https://winaero.com/how-get-windows-photo-viewer-working-in-windows-10/ . 11 November 2020.
  8. Web site: Microsoft Security Bulletin MS11-029 – Critical . 2022-05-08 . docs.microsoft.com . en-us.
  9. Web site: Introduction (How to Write a WIC-Enabled Codec) (Windows) . Microsoft Corporation . . 22 November 2010 . 29 January 2011 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20101228053413/http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee719885(v=vs.85).aspx . 28 December 2010 .
  10. Web site: Windows Vista Display Driver Model . Microsoft Corporation . Microsoft Developer Network . July 2006 . 29 January 2011 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20110223205953/http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa480220.aspx#winvistadisplaydrivermodel_topic1 . 23 February 2011 .
  11. Web site: Why does Windows Picture Viewer does not show animated GIFs? . TechNet forum . Sean . Zhu . Microsoft Corporation . 1 June 2010 . 24 November 2010 . Q: I have noticed that in Windows 7, the Windows Picture viewer only displays the first frame of an animated GIF. Why is this? [~snip~] A: Hi, this is by design. . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20101124230525/http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/w7itprogeneral/thread/b0e84027-9753-46cb-94b8-b099c0a60e1d . 24 November 2010.
  12. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/329270 You Cannot View TIFF Images Using Windows Picture and Fax Viewer
  13. Web site: Windows Picture and Fax Viewer Annotation overview . Windows XP Professional Product Documentation . Microsoft Corporation . 23 November 2010 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20121104114505/http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/image_annotate_overview.mspx?mfr=true . 4 November 2012.
  14. Web site: Annotation toolbar overview . Windows XP Professional Product Documentation . Microsoft Corporation . 23 November 2010 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20121104064234/http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/image_annotate_toolbar.mspx?mfr=true . 4 November 2012.
  15. Web site: Delete Calibrated Display Profile to Increase Speed of Windows 7 Photo Viewer . My Digital Life . 24 January 2010 . 29 January 2011 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20110127125134/http://www.mydigitallife.info/2010/01/24/delete-calibrated-display-profile-to-increase-speed-of-windows-7-photo-viewer/ . 27 January 2011 .
  16. Web site: Windows Vista Photo Gallery Yellow Tint Background Problem . My Digital Life . 11 July 2007 . 29 January 2011 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20110126050605/http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/07/11/windows-vista-photo-gallery-yellow-tint-background-problem/ . 26 January 2011 .
  17. Web site: Patch "Out of memory" exception when opening images containing an unknown color profile . GitHub.
  18. Web site: Fix Windows Photo Viewer Yellow Tint Background . OptimWise.
  19. Web site: Photo Viewer for Windows 10 . Microsoft Support.
  20. Web site: Tkachenko . Sergey . 29 July 2021 . 27 August 2022 . How to Enable Windows Photo Viewer in Windows 11 . winaero.com . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220827191840/https://winaero.com/how-to-enable-windows-photo-viewer-in-windows-11/ . 27 August 2022.
  21. Web site: How to open .tif files without compromising on quality . Windows Report.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Windows Photo Viewer".

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