Settings

Open Service → Settings or click the Settings button on the toolbar. The dialog is organized into sections - each covered below.

Jump to: Common · View · Full-screen · Slideshow · File types · RAW

Common

  • Show only graphic files - Hide non-image files in the file pane (shows BMP, JPG, PNG, GIF, RAW, etc.).
  • Thumbnails displaying size - Default is 128 pixels. Smaller thumbnails fit more files on screen at once.
  • Auto-rotate image according to EXIF info - Automatically orient vertical photos when the camera wrote an orientation tag. Requires a camera with an orientation sensor that records EXIF orientation data.

If your camera does not write orientation EXIF, automatic rotation will not work regardless of this setting.

View

Configure performance and quality for displaying JPEG and RAW photos. Windowed mode (upper part of the settings page) and full-screen mode (lower part) have independent options.

Netbooks and older laptops often have slow CPUs that can spend ten or more seconds loading a single high-megapixel JPEG - and even longer on RAW files. These settings let you trade a small amount of quality for much faster browsing when selecting photos in the field or while traveling.

  • JPEG Performance - Choose what fraction of the image area to render (100%, 1/2, or 1/4). Lower values load faster with modest quality loss. Most other viewers always render at 100%.
  • Convert RAW files for viewing - When enabled, the built-in converter demosaics RAW data (slower, more accurate). When disabled, embedded JPEG previews are shown instead.
  • RAW Performance - Same render-ratio option as JPEG, but applies when RAW conversion is enabled.

Full-screen

  • Show EXIF info - Display shooting parameters as on-screen subtitles (filename, date/time, exposure, aperture, focal length, ISO). Toggle during viewing with E.
  • Background - Full-screen backdrop color.
  • Font - Type, style, and size for EXIF subtitles.
  • Hide mouse cursor - Hide the pointer during full-screen viewing.
  • Zoom image to vertical screen borders (Widescreen monitor support) - Slightly enlarges horizontal photos on 16:9 or 16:10 displays to fill the screen width, cropping small top and bottom areas. Original files on disk are never modified - cropping is display-only. Vertical images are not affected.

Slideshow

  • Interval - Seconds between automatic image changes.
  • Random order - Play photos in random sequence instead of alphabetical order.

File types

Associate file extensions so double-clicking in Explorer opens Free Photo Viewer. Select individual types or use the RAW and JPEG buttons to select all formats in each group. Click Clear to remove all associations.

RAW (Common, Brightness, Enhancements, Rare)

Advanced parameters for the built-in RAW converter (msdcraw.dll). Most users can leave defaults unchanged. Adjust if previews from your camera appear consistently too dark, bright, or flat.

See RAW Files for format support and troubleshooting.

When finished, click Apply or OK to save settings.

See also