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IrfanView

Edit a Picture Viewed in IrfanView with an External Program

SUMMARY: Send photos viewed within IrfanView to an external image editor.

After loading a photo in IrfanView, you may decide you need to make a few adjustments beyond what is capable inside IrfanView itself. You may have a graphics editor installed that is capable of more advanced tasks, such as Adobe PhotoShop, Corel Photo-Paint, or GIMP.

Instead of having to manually start one of these packages then open the picture viewed in IrfanView, have the software send the image directly to the graphics editor.

First, tell IrfanView how to find the program(s) you want to use:

1. Choose "Options" - "Properties/Settings".

2. When the "Properties/Settings" dialog box appears, select "Miscellaneous" in the left pane.

3. Underneath "Set external editors", click a "Browse" button next to one of the three boxes and find the executable of the desired software. You may want to set the first box to your most frequently-used editor for convenience (see below).

Setting external editors to call from IrfanView

4. If for some reason you are using an old 16-bit graphics editor (one written for Windows 3.1), you may need to check the "Send short file name to external editor" box.

5. Click "OK" to close the dialog box.

Now, to send a photo to the defined graphics editor, just click "File" - "Open with External Editor" and choose the desired software. Or, press SHIFT + E to open the first defined editor.

Opening the image currently viewed in IrfanView with an external editor

This tip was written for IrfanView 4.25 on a Windows XP system. Features, information, and screenshots for other versions and operating systems may differ.