Summary: Windows Picture and Fax Viewer seems to have disappeared from Windows Vista. It's still there with a different name and look.
I have just installed Vista Home premium and miss Windows Picture & Fax Viewer for printing pictures. It seems that one has to first save them as an XPS file and then use MS XPS printer to actually print the pictures. A retrograde step it seems to me!
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Judging by the volume of requests on this topic, I think there are lots of people who agree with you that Vista took a step backwards when it comes to Windows Picture and Fax viewer.
But it's not as far a step backwards as you might think.
And even if it is, there are many alternatives.
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The default image viewer is Windows Picture and Fax Viewer.
From what I can tell, it's one of those love-it or hate-it applications. Personally, I'm in the later camp and never use it. But I know many people love it, are very happy with it, and use it regularly.
In Windows Vista, Windows Picture and Fax Viewer has been replaced by Windows Photo Gallery:
It's the same, only different. (And for the record, I'm not fond of it either.) It appears to have most of the same functionality as the older Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, but it's ... different.
If it's not already the default image viewer, you should be able to right click on any picture in Windows Explorer and say "Open With..." and choose Windows Photo Gallery to view your image.
And to address the issue that lead your question: you can print directly from within Windows Photo Gallery.
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I spoke of alternatives...
Copying Windows Picture and Fax Viewer from a Windows XP system is not an option. Windows Photo Gallery is implemented in the same file: shimgvw.dll, and the registration protocol has apparently changed between the two.
So you can't get Windows Picture and Fax Viewer on Windows Vista, just Windows Photo Gallery.
The alternatives I'm speaking of are third party tools that work on Both Windows Vista and Windows XP, and quite frankly, are far more powerful than either of the built-in Windows tools.
A reader recently recommended FastStone Image Viewer:
FastStone has quickly become my favored replacement for my long-loved, but now defunct Firehand Ember.
Another very popular image viewer is IrfanView:
Both Irfan and FastStone offer standard image viewing options, slide shows, thumbnail browsing, full screen view, and much more. In addition they both also include basic image editing tools such as cropping, resizing, and more.
And best of all, both are free.
So if you're frustrated with the transition from Windows Picture and Fax Viewer to Windows Photo Gallery, my recommendation is that you actually check out these alternatives. They are suitable replacements that work well on both Windows Vista and XP.
Related:
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Ask Leo! - How do I make something other than "Picture and FAX Viewer" the default for viewing pictures?
Article C3254 - January 2, 2008
What makes XP Picture viewer superb is that it is able to open large WMF (Windows Meta Files) images which Win Photo Gallery along with other image viewers recommended here are not. Also, XP Picture viewer is able to view very large images with great details without loss of quality. I have never found any other imageviewer that makes the job as XP Pic viewer.
Posted by: Reso at November 19, 2009 5:40 AMI am a Realtor and have just got a new PC at home that has Windows 7 Home Premium on it. I have just discovered that I can no longer open up .tif files that come into my e-fax and print them out full size because I no longer have Windows Picture and Fax Viewer. I have read all your responses, but what is the best free download for opening up and printing out .tif docs????? I'm not worried about the photo part.
Posted by: Susie at November 20, 2009 10:10 AMWhich of the above recommended programs will actually PLAY .gif files ?? I really miss that fuctionality of Windows Picture and Fax Viewer. I just cannot get any .gif images to play under Vista !!
Posted by: Mandy Gee at November 29, 2009 5:25 AMIHI
I need that Windows Picture and Fax Viewer and where to download it free.
Regards
16-Feb-2010
Posted by: ben Tucker at February 15, 2010 2:40 PM
I like the Windows Vista picture viewer slideshow which has the zoom in and zoom out effect while the slideshow is going on but nobody seems to bother about asking about it and I cannot find any information on it for several months so I thought I'd give it a try here.
How do I get that zoom in and zoom out effect while the slideshow is going on? Is there any other program that does it? Is there an external plugin for that slideshow effect onto any of the programs you recommended? I need it on my xp!!!
Posted by: Neosage at February 20, 2010 10:08 AM