Editing Picture Files

Microsoft doesn't include an image-editing program in Windows XP unless you count the old warhorse Microsoft Paint as an image-editing program. (I don't; it's way too old and feature-poor for any practical use.)

This means that you'll have to use a third-party graphics program to edit your picture files. There are a lot of these programs on the market, and you probably have one or two already installed on your system. (Every digital camera or scanner you install invariably comes with its own image-editing utility.)

If you're in the market for a graphics editor, my favorite programs include

• Adobe Photoshop CS2 (www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/)

• Adobe Photoshop Elements (www.adobe.com/products/photoshopelwin/)

• CorelDRAW Essentials (www.corel.com)

• CorelDRAW Graphics Suite (www.corel.com)

• IrfanView (www.irfanview.com)

• JASC Paint Shop Photo Album (www.corel.com)

• JASC Paint Shop Pro (www.corel.com)

• Microsoft Picture It! Digital Image Pro (www.microsoft.com/products/imaging/)

• Microsoft PictureIt! Premium (www.microsoft.com/products/imaging/)

• Roxio PhotoSuite (www.roxio.com)

You can load your image files into any of these programs manually, or you can configure Windows XP to launch one of these programs instead of Image Preview when you click on an image file.

CAUTION

This procedure affects all files of the selected type, not just the selected file.

To reset what program opens a specific file, follow these steps:

1.	Right-click any file of a specific type and then select Properties from the pop-up menu.
2.	Select the General tab and click the Change button.
3.	When the Open with dialog box appears, select a program to associate with this type of file. If the program you want isn't listed, click the Click Here link and navigate to the program you want to use.
4.	Click OK when done.

The next time you click a file of this type, the program you selected will launch, with the selected file displayed.

Unfortunately, if you want to return to using the Image Preview utility, it's not a simple procedure. You have to select Tools, Folder Options to display the Folder Options dialog box, then select the File Types tab. Select the file type you want to edit, then click the Restore button. (Whew!) This should restore Image Preview as the default viewer for that file type.