Tracking Details

If you're serious about digital photography, you'll appreciate all the image details that Windows XP tracks and displays. With a few clicks of your mouse, Windows XP will display an impressive amount of information about your image files, including when the photo was shot, with what kind of camera, at what settings, and so on.

Here are some of the details that Windows XP tracks for each of your digital images:

• File type (.JPG, .TIF, and so on)

• Image dimensions (in pixels)

• Horizontal and vertical resolution

• Bit (color) depth

• Make and model of camera used

• Lens aperture

• Subject distance

• Flash mode

• Focal length

• F-number

• Exposure time

• Date created

To display basic details about a file, all you have to do is hover your mouse over the file icon or thumbnail. XP displays a ToolTip-type pop-up that lists the image dimensions, the date the picture was taken, what camera was used, and the file size and type. (This data is only displayed if it was recorded by the camera, of course.)

NOTE

If the advanced details are not visible, click the Advanced button on the Summary tab.

To display complete details about a specific file, right-click the file and select Properties from the pop-up menu. When the Properties dialog box appears, select the Summary tab, as shown in Figure 12.2. Here is where you'll find all the information you could ask for. (It's certainly a lot better than trying to remember what F-stop you used when you shot that one great photo!)

Figure 12.2. Windows XP stores a tremendous amount of information about the photos you shoot.