Once IrfanView is downloaded and installed to your machine, go to the Options Menu and choose Properties. Once in Properties, click on the Extensions Tab. Click Select all to choose all the file extension. You may want to unselect BMP if you want your Paint program to continue to open these files in the Paint program. You may also want to go the Set Icon and select a different pic.  Once you have done, you are ready to begin using the program. From now on, any graphic, sound, or video files opened on your machine with the extensions checked will automatically use IrfanView to open them.  Top

Opening Files To open a file originally, you can double click on the file and IrfanView will open on its own. You can also use File, Open. Once you have opened, you can navigate through the files by using the left and right arrows on the toolbar. It is not necessary to open each file separately (This will only work when the files are located in the same folder.  You can also open all files at once by clicking File, Thumbnails. This will display small images of each file. You can double-click on the thumbnail to open the picture. You can click once on the thumbnail to highlight it and then hit the Delete key on your keyboard to delete a file or use the Delete File option on the File Menu.  Top

Creating a Slideshow 

• Click on the File menu, select Slideshow. A dialog allows you to select a directory from which the files will be taken. Use Look in and File name to narrow the search; use Files of type to limit the search to one type of file, such as JPG.

• Click the file names you want to use. If you have a range of files to choose, click the first. Move the mouse to the last file in the group, hold down the Shift key on the keyboard, and click. To choose individual files, hold down the Ctrl key and click each file name with the mouse. Click the Add button. Click the Add All button to select every image in the directory. Remove and Remove all takes files back out.

• Click the Sort button to choose a sort order by name, date, size, or extension. Files may be sorted in ascending or descending order. To remove a sort, click the No sort option button. Click OK to close the dialog. To exit without making changes, click the Cancel  Button.

• There are several options for slideshow. If there is a check mark in the box, the option is "on." Unchecked means "off."

• Click Loop to cause Slideshow to play continuously.
• Suppress errors during slideshow.
• Show image filename; click this to display the name of the image as it appears on screen.
• Hide mouse cursor, click to make the mouse cursor "invisible" while the slideshow is playing.
• Don't display same image again (if random slideshow); no repeats in the random slideshow.

• There are settings for how long each image will be shown; click the option button of your choice.

• The top option plays the next image automatically after a number of seconds; type a number into the box to change the timing.

• The second option will cause the viewer to wait until you touch a key on the keyboard or move the mouse before displaying the next image.

• The third option plays a randomly chosen image after the specified time.

• The fourth plays a random image after you touch a key or the mouse.

• Click the Play button to begin the slideshow.

• Slideshows can be saved for future use. When you choose the images and begin playing a show, IrfanView creates a file named:  IrfanView_Slideshow.lst, which is placed in the Windows directory on your disk drive. This may be loaded back into the viewer and used again. Click Load from TXT file, and a dialog like the Open dialog from the File menu appears. Find the file you want to use and click Open to load it. Click Save as TXT file, and a dialog like Save As appears. Give your slideshow a name, and click Save to have it stored on the disk drive that has the pictures.

• Slideshows can be created outside of IrfanView, then loaded once you open the viewer. Use a text editor that stores its files as plain text, such as Windows Notepad. The file only contains the name of each image to be played in the slideshow, each on a separate line in the file. Each must include the complete path where the image will be found on your hard drive. It will look something like this: C:\Images\myimage.JPG

• Create the file and store it on your disk. When you start IrfanView, open the Slideshow dialog, and use the Load from TXT file button to start your show. Shows can also be played from outside the viewer, using a Command Line Option.

• When you are done click Close. You may also click this before the slideshow starts. Another way to exit is to click the X in the upper right corner.

Effects
 

Click on the Image Menu, then point the mouse at Effects to access these options.  The Effects possible are:  3D Button  Click on the Image Menu, point the mouse at Effects, and click 3D Button. Gives the image a beveled edge look, with the center raised. The size of the border can be changed using Effects setup. This action can be reversed with the Edit menu's Undo command.  Emboss Click on the Image Menu, point the mouse at Effects, and click Emboss. Turns the background gray and gives the image an engraved appearance. This action can be reversed with the Edit menu's Undo command.  Edge Detection  Click on the Image Menu, point the mouse at Effects, and click Edge Detection.  Finds the main lines in an image and replaces their color with the opposite color, at the same time most fill colors are darkened, making them like a background. The image takes on a "painted on velvet" appearance. This effect needs a color depth of 256 or less to work properly. This action can be reversed with the Edit menu's Undo command.

Pixelize
Click on the Image Menu, point the mouse at Effects, and click Pixelize. Breaks the image into a coarse version of itself, as if it were made up of oversized pixels. The amount can be changed using Effects setup. This action can be reversed with the Edit menu's Undo command.

Fine Rotation
Click on the Image Menu, point the mouse at Effects, and click Fine Rotation. Turns the image to the left or right. The degree of rotation can be changed using Effects setup. This action can be reversed with the Edit menu's Undo command.

Setup
Click on the Image Menu, then click Setup. Opens a dialog from which you can change many of the Effects settings.

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Adding Digital Photos

The easiest way to insert a digital photograph into your document is to copy and paste.

Open the folder that has your digital images and then double-click to open the image you want to insert.

Once you can see the photograph, right click on it and choose the copy option. You can also choose to copy by using the Edit Menu.

You will not see anything happen, but you have copied the image or selection to the “clipboard” (the clipboard will only hold one selection at a time, so once you choose to copy something else, the previous copy will no longer be available).

Return to your document. You can leave several things open on your taskbar, by using the Minimize option on each screen. The Minimize option is the _ in the upper right corner of each opened file or program.

To restore or open each task back up, click on the bar identifying each program. Your files will be minimized within the programs.  Once you are back to your document, click on the screen in the place that you want to insert or paste the photo.  Then right click and choose paste or use the Edit Menu and choose Paste.  Click the photo once to select it, so that the “resizing handles” are showing and then choose the Format Menu and Text Wrap.  On the Text Wrap option (in the document program – usually under Format), choose Absolute or Tight and click OK. You are now able to click, hold, and drag your photo more freely to place it in your document where it will best fit.  To resize the picture, click on one of the handles and hold and drag in or out.

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Using HELP Menu

Use the Help Menu to search the index for key words that you assistance with. It is a valuable resource in any software program and usually easy to follow and understand.

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Resizing

Click on the Image menu, then Resize. A dialog allows you to choose the new size for the image.

There are several built in choices, or you can type over the old numbers. The first number is width, the second height, both in pixels. Leave the Preserve aspect ratio box checked; type in one number and the other will be calculated for you.

Click OK to resize the image. This action can be reversed by the Edit menu's Undo command.

Rotating

Click on the Image menu, then Rotate Left or Right.  The image will turn 90 degrees; the top of the image will move towards the left or right.

Click on the Image menu, then Horizontal Flip. The image will turn side-to-side, as in a mirror.

Click on the Image menu, then Vertical Flip. The image will turn upside-down. The left/right orientation will stay the same.

Cropping Pictures

Use the left mouse button to outline the area (selection), click on the Edit menu, then Crop.

The area outside the outline will be thrown away, only the inside will be left.

Use this to eliminate unwanted space (usually blank space) from an image. It can also center a badly composed photo.

Use with Resample (Image menu,) to eliminate background "noise", and often have the same sized image when you finish.

This action may be reversed with the Edit Menu's Undo command.

Wallpaper

Click on the Options Menu and point at Set as Wallpaper. A sub-menu appears with the choices Centered, Tiled, and Previous wallpaper. Choose one to have the current image made into a background for your Windows desktop.

Centered appears as just one image on the center of the screen. Tiled appears as multiple images, taking up the whole screen. (The desktop icons are on top of the wallpaper.) Previous wallpaper restores the image that was replaced by this operation.

Saving

Click on the File menu, select Save As (or use the Save As tool on the toolbar.)

Saves your file to disk. Use Save in and File name to find the directory where you want the file saved.

To save as a different type, use Save as type.   Click the arrow and a list of file types drops down. Move the cursor to the one you want and click again.  When you save, the file will be converted to this new type.

Clicking the Options button brings up special options for some file types. There are three tabs: JPEG/GIF, LWF, and TIFF.

Click Save to send the file to your disk drive. To exit without saving, click Cancel.

Note that Save As comes up in the last directory in which you saved a file. Save comes up in the last directory from which you loaded an image

Renaming Files

Click on the File menu, select Rename File. A dialog opens; type in a new name for the file and click OK. The filename will be changed, both in the viewer and on the hard drive (or other source.) To exit without making a change, click Cancel .

While renaming the file, you can also move it to a new location: type in the full path name of the new directory, followed by the name of the image. The name will be changed, and the image will be put in the new directory (This may also be done without changing the name; just type in the path with the old name).

Full Screen Options

Click on the View Menu, then Full screen. The image will be displayed centered on a black background, which fills the entire screen. Move through the images in the current directory using the spacebar for the next image, and backspace for previous.

To cancel Full screen mode, press the Enter key, or the Esc key.

Resizing for Full Screen mode can be done with resampling, for better results in most cases. Click the Options menu, then Properties, then the Viewing tab. Click the check-box next to Use 'Resample' function for 'Fit To Desktop' and Full Screen mode. To turn it off, click again.

Other options for Full Screen mode can be set from the Properties Viewing tab. The first is a set of option buttons: Show images/movies with the normal size, Fit to screen: large images/movies only, and Fit to screen: all images/movies. Click the option of your choice.

The next option is Hide mouse cursor. If you don't want the cursor onscreen in Full Screen mode, click this. To return the mouse, click again.

The final option is Show image filename. Click this to display the filename of the current image during Full Screen mode. Click again to turn off. Click the box below, Show transparent, to have the filename appear as a light color against the black background. Uncheck the box for the filename to appear as black text inside a white box.

 

 
 

11/19/05 12:23 PM