Instruction manual

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7.1 Browsing Photos
Over time you can accumulate hundreds of pictures on your computer’s hard
drive, so it is important to keep them organized so you can find a picture you (or a
customer) is looking for. That is why we discussed organizing mission photos into
folders and carefully naming your photos in the previous chapter. However, it is
handy to be able to find and view photos quickly, such as when you want to
collect a set of photos that demonstrate how to photograph tornado damage.
Photo browsers are an ideal tool for this kind of task.
Photo browsers are programs that help you view, organize and file digital
photos in a number of different ways. A photo browser not only helps organize
photos, but it lets you see actual photos rather than just their file names. This
makes looking for a specific photo in a large collection of photos much simpler.
You can get a good photo browser cheaply (or for free), and many photo editors
(discussed separately) include a good thumbnail-based file browser.
Remember that photo browsers are designed to support only the photo
formats they understand. In other words, they contain the necessary code to
decompress a JPEG photo, plus show a thumbnail and large preview, since they
support the JPEG format. When an all-purpose photo browser comes up against
a RAW file, chances are it won’t be able to display it. For the browser to do more
than that, it has to be tuned with the RAW formats of specific cameras. Camera
manufacturers usually take care of this in the software that is packaged with the
camera.
While Windows provides a great basic browser for viewing and organizing
photos, if you are planning on managing photos for your unit (or you simply have
a lot of photos) you might consider downloading a simple (and free) photo
browser or purchasing an photo editing program that contains a browser.
7.1.1 Windows
In Windows (XP or 7), selections under the “View” menu enable you to view a
folder’s photos as filmstrip or thumbnails, not just as file names or document
icons. This photo browsing feature includes the ability to view large versions of
your photos and look at them in a slide show (using the mouse’s right-click
function you can also rotate photos, open them in an photo editor, print, or e-mail).
The example below shows folders and photos stored in the ‘My Pictures’ folder
using the thumbnail view: