Tips for Better
`Surfing
`
`full-Screen Browsing
`JE7's toolbars and other screen doodads take up less space in the Vista version than
`in previous versions, but they still eat up screen space. The Web is supposed to be a
`visual experience; this encroachment of your monitor's real estate isn't necessarily
`a good thing.
`
`But if you press Fll (or choose View➔Full Screen from the Classic menus), all is
`forgiven. The browser window explodes to the very borders of your monitor, hiding
`the Explorer bar, toolbars, and all. The Web page you're viewing fills your screen, edge
`to edge-a glorious, liberating experience.
`
`You can return to the usual crowded, toolbar-mad arrangement by pressing Fll
`again-but you'll be tempted never to do so.
`
`Picking a Home Page
`The first Web site you encounter when IE connects to the Internet is a Microsoft
`Web site-or Dell, or EarthLink; the point is, you didn't choose it. This site is your
`factory-set home page.
`
`Unless you actually work for Microsoft, Dell, or EarthLink, however, you'll prob(cid:173)
`ably find Web browsing more fun if you specify your own favorite Web page as your
`startup page.
`
`~ Dilbert.com - The Official Dilbert Website by Scott Adams - Dilbert Dog!
`
`Figure 11 -10:
`Top: Start by visiting the page you want to
`designate as your home page. Then, from
`the Home menu identified here, choose Add
`or Change Home Page.
`Bottom: In this dialog box, choose "Use this
`webpage as your only home page," and
`click Yes.
`
`Add or Change Home Page
`
`Would you like to use the following as your home page?
`
`http://www.msn.oom/
`
`@!!~--~-~~e as you- only hQrne fx.'9~!
`0 Add this webpage to your home page tabs
`
`CHAPTER 11: INTERNET EXP LORER 7
`
`383
`
`

`

`Tips for B etler
`Surfing
`
`The easiest way to go about it is to follow the instructions shown in Figure 11-1 O.
`
`Google makes a nice home page; so does a news site. But here are a couple of pos(cid:173)
`sibilities that ~ight not have occurred to you:
`
`• A blank page. If you can't decide on a home page, or your mood changes from day
`to day, set up a blank-empty-home page. This setup makes IE load very quickly
`when you first launch it. Once this window opens, then you can tell the browser
`where you want to go today.
`
`To set this up, open the Home menu (Figure 11-10) and choose Remove➔ Remove
`All; in the confirmation box, click Yes.
`
`• Multiple home page tabs. This is a cool one. Now that Internet Explorer can dis(cid:173)
`play tabs, you can designate a bunch of them to open all at once each time you
`fire up Internet Explorer. It's a great way to avoid wasting time by calling up one
`site after another, because they'll all be loading in the background as you read the
`first one.
`
`Nole: Choose "Tab settings" on page 375; a few settings there pertain exclusively to home page tab
`groups.
`
`The quickest way to set up a Home tab set: Open all the Web sites into their own
`tabs, just the way you'll want IE to do automatically in the future. Then, from the
`Home menu, choose Add or Change Home Page. Next, in the dialog box (Figure
`11-10, bottom), select "Use the current tab set as your home page;' and click Yes.
`
`Thereafter, you can always add additional tabs to this starter set by choosing
`"Add this webpage to your home page tabs," the bottom option shown in Figure
`11-10.
`
`UP TO SPEED
`
`Faster Browsing Without Graphics
`Sure, sure, graphics are part of what makes the Web so
`tab, scroll down halfway into the list of checkboxes, and
`compelling. But they're also responsible for making Web
`turn off "Show pictures" (in the Multimedia category of
`pages take so long to arrive on the screen. Without them,
`checkboxes).
`Web pages appear almost instantaneously. You still get fully
`laid-out Web pages; you still see all the text and headlines.
`But wherever a picture would normally be, you see an
`empty rectangle containing a generic "graphic goes here"
`logo, usually with a caption explaining wnat that graphic
`would have been.
`
`Now try visiting a few Web pages. You'll feel a substantial
`speed boost, especially if you're connected by dial-up
`modem.
`
`To turn off graphics, choose Tools➔lnternet Options, which
`opens the Internet Options dialog box. Click the Advanced
`
`And if you wind up on a Web page that's nothing without its
`pictures, you can choose to summon an individual picture.
`Just right-click its box and choose Show Picture from the
`shortcut menu.
`
`384
`
`WINDOWS VISTA: THE MISSING MANUAL
`
`

`

`Note: Although it's a little more effort, you can also edit your home page (or home page tab sets) manually
`in a dialog box, rather than opening them up first.
`
`Tips for Better
`Surfing
`
`Choose Tools➔ lnternet Options➔General. In the "Home page" text box, type each address, complete with
`http.// and so on. If you want to create a home page tab set, type each address on its own line. (Leave the
`box empty for a blank home page.) Click OK, OK?
`
`Bigger Text, Smaller Text
`When your eyes are tired, you might like to make the text bigger. When you visit a
`site designed for Macintosh computers (whose text tends to look too large on PC
`screens), you might want a smaller size. You can adjust the point size of a Web page's
`text using the Page➔Text Size commands.
`
`Zooming In and Out
`So much for magnifying the text; what about the whole Web page?
`
`There are plenty of ways to zoom in or out of the whole affair:
`
`• If you have a scroll-wheel mouse, press the Ctrl key as you turn the mouse's wheel.
`(This works in Microsoft Office programs, too.)
`
`• Press Ctlr+plus or Ctrl+minus on your keyboard.
`
`• Use the pop-up menu in the lower-right corner of the window (where it probably
`says "100%" at the moment). Just clicking the digits repeatedly cycles the page
`among 100, 125, and 150 percent of actual size. Alternatively, you can use its ~
`menu to choose any degree of zoom from 50 to 400 percent-or choose Custom
`to type anything in between.
`
`Online Photos
`Internet Explorer is loaded with features for handling graphics online. Right-clicking
`an image on a Web page, for example, produces a shortcut menu that offers com(cid:173)
`mands like Save Picture As, E-mail Picture, Print Picture, and Set as Background
`(that is, wallpaper).
`
`Tip: To turn off IE's picture-shrinking feature, choose Tools➔ lnternet Options. Click the Advanced tab, scroll
`down to the Multimedia heading, and turn off "Enable Automatic Image Resizing." Click OK.
`
`By the way, when you see a picture you'd like to keep, right-click it and choose Save
`Picture As from the shortcut menu. After you name the picture and then click the
`Save button, the result is a new graphics file on your hard drive containing the picture
`you saved. (You can also choose Set as Background, which makes the picture part of
`your desktop image itself.)
`
`Saving Pages
`You can make Internet Explorer store a certain Web page on your hard drive so that
`you can peruse it later-on your laptop during your commute, for example.
`
`CHAPTER 11: INTERNET EXPLORER 7
`
`385
`
`

`

`Tips for Better
`Surfing
`
`The short way is to choose Page➔ Save As. For greatest simplicity, choose "Web Ar(cid:173)
`chive, single file (*.mht)" from the "Save as type" drop-down list. (The other options
`here save the Web page as multiple files on your hard drive-a handy feature if you
`intend to edit them, but less convenient if you just want to read them later.) Name
`the file and click the Save button. You've just preserved the Web page as a file on your
`hard drive, which you can open later by double-clicking it.
`
`Sending Pages
`Internet Explorer provides two different ways of telling a friend about the page you're
`looking at. You might find that useful when you come across a particularly interesting
`news story, op-ed piece, or burrito recipe.
`
`• The send-the-whole-page method. While looking at a page, choose Page➔Send
`Page by E-Mail to open a new Mail message with a copy of the actual Web page in
`the body. Address the message and click Send.
`
`Not all recipients, however, will be able to see the message; some email programs
`can't display HTML messages like this one. (Such programs show only plain-text
`messages.)
`
`• The send-a-link method. To send just a link to the page you're looking at, choose
`Page➔Send Link by E-mail. Then proceed as usual, addressing the message and
`clicking Send. All your recipients have to do is click the link to open it in their Web
`browsers.
`
`Tip: The Page menu also offers the curious Edit with Notepad command. It opens the raw, underlying
`HTML coding of the page in Notepad, so that you can inspect and make changes to it-a great way to make
`emergency changes to the text of your own Web page when you're on the road and have no other editing
`tools on hand.
`
`Printing Pages
`Printing has been vastly improved in Internet Explorer 7. The decade of chopped-off
`printouts is over.
`
`Now, when you choose Print ( the little printer icon) all of the Web page's text is auto(cid:173)
`shrunk to fit within the page.
`
`Tip: You can print only part of a page, too. Drag through the portion you want, press Ctrl+P, click Selection,
`and then click Print.
`
`Better yet, if you choose Print➔Print Preview, you get a handsome preview of the end
`result. The icons in the Print Preview window include buttons like these:
`
`• Portrait, Landscape (Alt-O, Alt+P) controls the page orientation: upright or
`sideways.
`
`• Turn headers and footers on or off (Alt+ E) hides or shows the header ( the text at
`the top of the printout, which usually identifies the name of the Web site you're
`
`386
`
`WINDOWS VISTA: THE MISSING MANUAL
`
`

`

`Tips for Better
`Surfing
`
`printing and the number of pages) and the footer (the URL of the Web page, and
`the date).
`• View Full Width (Alt+ W) blows up the preview to fill your screen, even if it means
`you'll have to scroll down to see the whole page. (This option has no effect on the
`printout itself.)
`
`• View Full Page (Alt+ 1) restores the original view, where the entire printout preview
`is shrunk down to fit your screen .
`
`• 1 Page View pop-up menu governs how many pages fit in the preview window at
`a time .
`
`• Change Print Size pop-up menu affects the size of the image on the printed pages.
`Shrink to Fit adjusts the printout so that it won't be chopped off, but you can
`manually magnify or reduce the printed image by choosing the other percentage
`options in this menu.
`
`Tip: Lots of Web sites have their own "Print this Page" buttons. When they're available, use them instead
`of Internet Explorer's own Print command. The Web site's Print feature not only makes sure the printout
`won't be chopped off, but it also eliminates ads, includes the entire article (even if it's split across multiple
`Web pages), and so on.
`
`Turn Off Animations
`If blinking ads make it tough to concentrate as you read a Web-based article, choose
`Tools➔Internet Options➔Advanced tab, and then scroll down to the Multimedia
`heading (Figure 11-11). Turn off"Play animations in web pages" to stifle most ani(cid:173)
`mated ads. Alas, it doesn't stop all animations; the jerks of the ad-design world have
`grown too clever for this option.
`
`Take a moment, too, to look over the other annoying Web page elements that you
`can turn off, including sounds.
`
`Internet Options
`Internet Explorer's Options dialog box offers roughly 68,000 tabs, buttons, and nested
`dialog boxes. Most of the useful options have been described, in this chapter, with their
`appropriate topics (like Tabbed Browsing). Still, by spending a few minutes adjusting
`Internet Explorer's settings, you can make it more fun ( or less annoying) to use.
`
`To open this cornucopia of options, choose Tools➔Internet Options (Figure 11-11).
`
`The Keyboard Shortcut Master List
`All Versions
`
`Before you set off into the Internet Explorer sunset, it's worth admitting that surfing
`the Web is one of the things most people do most with their PCs.And as long as you're
`
`CHAPTER 11: INTERNET EXPLORER 7
`
`387
`
`

`

`The Keyboard
`Short<ut Master List
`
`going to spend so much time in this single program, it's worth mastering its keyboard
`shortcuts. Once you've learned a few, you save yourself time and fumbling.
`
`Here it is, then: the complete master list of every Internet Explorer keyboard shortcut
`known to Microsoft. Clip and save.
`
`Figure 11-11:
`Choosing Toofs----')lnternet
`Options opens this dialog
`box, the identical twin
`of the Internet Options
`program in the Control
`Panel. Two of its tabs are
`shown here. Double-click
`one of the headings
`(like ''Accessibility'; to
`collapse off of its check(cid:173)
`boxes. Your sanity is the
`winner here.
`
`~ Local intranet
`
`Internet
`, : •}, This ;:one is for In
`W
`except those fisted tn
`restricted zones.
`
`Serurity [evel fur this zone
`Al.lo•Ned levels fur this
`
`·+· Medium-high
`
`•
`
`...
`
`- Appropnate
`-Prompts be
`content
`- Unsigned
`
`RJ Enable f'.rolected
`
`General sea.ity Prwacy i Content Connectioos ~ Advanced
`
`Settings - -- - - -- - - - - - - - - --
`
`fEl
`
`□
`
`~
`(ii} Browsing
`~ Close unused folders in History and Favorites""
`r{J Disable script debugging (Internet Explorer)
`~ Disable: script debugging (Other)
`0 Display a notification about every saipt error
`~ Enable FTP folder view (outside of Internet Explorer)
`~ Enable page transitions
`~ Enable personalized favorites menu
`~ Enable third-party browser extensions><-
`[!l] Enable visual styles on buttons and controls in webpages
`EJ Enable websites to use the search pane""
`[] Force offscreen compositing even under Terminal Server"'
`Pl Notify when downloads complete
`• I
`"Takes effect after you restart Internet Explorer
`
`,~-- -ad- vana,d- -..,-tt.,gt-~j
`
`Reset Internet Explorer settings - - --
`Ddeb!s all temporary files, dsehles browser
`adtf..gns, and resets all the~ settings.
`You should only use this if your browser is in an unusable state,
`
`[
`
`Reset ..
`
`- - - - - - (cid:173)
`
`Viewing
`Full Screen mode ( on/off)
`Cycle through links on a page
`Search th e text on a page
`Open the current page in a new window
`Print this page
`Select all items on the page
`Zoom in/out by 10 percent
`Zoom to 1000/o
`Override pop-up blocker
`Shut up this Web page's background sounds
`
`Fll
`Tab
`Ctrl+F
`Ctrl+N
`Ctrl+P
`Ctrl+A
`Ctrl+plus, Ctrl+minus
`Ctrl+0
`Ctrl+Alt
`Esc
`
`388
`
`WINDOWS VISTA: THE MISSING MANUAL
`
`

`

`Bars and Menus
`Highlight the Address bar
`Add http//www. and .com to the text in Address Bar
`Add http//www. and .net or .org to the text in Address Bar
`Open URL in the Address Bar in new tab
`View previously typed addresses
`Highlight the Information bar
`Open Home menu
`Open Feeds menu
`Open Print menu
`Open Page menu
`Open Tools menu
`Open Help menu
`Open Favorites menu
`Open Favorites in pinned mode (won't auto-close)
`Organize Favorites dialog box
`Open Feeds list
`Open Feeds in pinned mode
`Open History
`Open History in pinned mode
`
`Alt+D
`Ctrl+Enter
`Ctrl+Sh ift +Enter
`Alt+Enter
`F4
`Alt+N
`Alt+M
`Alt+J
`Alt+R
`Alt+P
`Alt+O
`Alt+L
`Alt+C, Ctrl+l
`Ctrl+Shift+I
`Ctrl+B
`Ctrl+J
`Ctrl+Shift+J
`Ctrl+H
`Ctrl+Shift+H
`
`Navigation
`Scroll down a screenful
`Scroll up a screenful
`
`Go to home page
`Go back a page
`Go forward a page
`Refresh page
`Super refresh (ignore any cached elements)
`Stop downloading this page
`Open link in a new window
`Add current page to Favorites
`"Right-click" any highlighted item
`Search bar
`Highlight the Search Bar
`Open list of search services
`Open search results in new tab
`
`Tabbed Browsing
`Open link in new background tab
`Open link in new foreground tab
`middle button)
`Close tab (closes window if only one tab is open)
`Quick Tab view
`Open new empty tab
`
`Space bar ( or Page Down)
`Shift+Space bar
`(or Page Up)
`Alt+Home
`Alt+left
`Alt+right
`FS
`Ctrl+FS
`ESC
`Shift-click
`Ctrl+D
`Shift+FlO
`
`Ctrl+E
`Ctrl+down
`Alt+Enter
`
`Ori-click*
`Ctrl+Shift-click (left or
`
`Ctrl+W, Ctrl+F4''
`Ctrl+Q
`Ctrl+T
`
`CHAPTER 11: INTERN ET EXPLORER 7
`
`389
`
`

`

`The Keyboard
`Shorttut Master List
`
`View list of open tabs
`Switch to next tab
`Switch to previous tab
`Switch to tab 4/cl, 4f2, etc.
`Switch to last tab
`
`Ctrl+Shift+Q
`Ctrl+ Tab
`Ctrl+Shift+ Tab
`Ctrl+l, Ctrl+2, etc.
`Ctrl+9
`
`* or scroll wheel-click, or middle button-click
`
`390
`
`WINDOWS VISTA: THE MISSING MANUAL
`
`

`

`Windows Mail
`
`CHAPTER
`
`12
`
`Email is a fast, cheap, convenient communication medium; these days, it's almost
`
`embarrassing to admit that you don't have an email address. To spare you that
`humiliation, Windows Vista includes Windows Mail 7, a renamed, revamped
`version of Outlook Express. It lets you receive and send email and read newsgroups
`(Internet bulletin boards).
`
`If you do have an email address, or several, Mail can help you manage your email
`accounts, messages, and contacts better than ever.
`
`To use Mail, you need several technical pieces of information: an email address,
`an email server address, and an Internet address for sending email. Your Internet
`
`UP TO SPEED
`
`What's New, Besides the Name
`Let's face it: Windows Mail is really Outlook Express in a
`single, big, seething database of them, which makes possible
`new outfit.
`the lightning-fast searching described in Chapter 3.
`
`Microsoft says that it changed the name because so many
`people got Outlook Express (the free program) confused
`with Outlook (the expensive one).
`
`It's not exactly the same, though. Mail has much better junk(cid:173)
`mail filtering, as described later in this chapter. Messages are
`now stored on the hard drive as individual files, rather than a
`
`One Outlook Express feature that's missing from Mail,
`however, is the ability to check free Hotmail accounts online;
`Microsoft mutters something about making it too easy for
`spammers.
`
`But that's life. Microsoft giveth, and Microsoft taketh away.
`
`CHAPTER 12: WINDOWS MAIL
`
`391
`
`

`

`Windows Photo Gallery
`
`CHAPTER
`
`13
`
`Y our digital camera is brimming with photos. You've snapped the perfect gradu -
`
`ation portrait, captured that jaw-dropping sunset over the Pacific, or compiled
`an unforgettable photo essay of your 2-year-old attempting to eat a bowl of
`spaghetti. It's time to use your PC to gather, organize, and tweak all these photos so
`you can share them with the rest of the world.
`
`Until Vista came along, all Windows offered for digital photos was Paint. That's right,
`Paint-a feeble holdover from 1985 that sat in your Programs ➔Accessories folder
`and opened one picture at a time. Barely.
`
`Microsoft has addressed photo organizing/editing with a vengeance in Vista. Pathetic
`little Paint is still there, for the benefit of change-phobic Windows veterans. But now
`there's also Windows Photo Gallery, a beautiful, full-blown digital camera companion
`that has nothing to be ashamed of.
`
`Photo Gallery: The Application
`All Versions
`
`Photo Gallery approaches digital photo management as a four-step process: import(cid:173)
`ing the photos to your Pictures folder; organizing, tagging, and rating them; editing
`them; and sharing them (via prints, onscreen slideshows, design DVD slideshows,
`email, screen saver, and so on).
`
`To open Photo Gallery, choose its name from the Start➔Programs menu, or double(cid:173)
`click a photo in your Pictures folder. You arrive at the program's main window, the
`basic elements of which are shown in Figure 13-1.
`
`CHAPTER 13; WINDOWS PHOTO GALLERY
`
`423
`
`

`

`Getting Pictures into Photo Gallery
`All Versions
`
`You're probably most interested in getting fresh photos off your digital camera. But if
`you've been taking digital photos for some time, you may also have photo files already
`crammed into folders on your hard drive or on CDs. If you shoot pictures with a
`traditional film camera and use a scanner to digitize them, you've probably got piles
`of JPEG or TIFF images stashed away on disk already.
`
`Navigation tree
`
`Thumbnails
`
`Details pane
`
`Imported
`
`ec
`, Tag~
`~l Cr=tt o Ntw Tog
`?) NotTagged
`·.,} Flowers
`0 LandK1pe
`(j Ocean
`(;; Sample
`,:} Witdlift
`.,. ~J Date Taken
`()•~2004
`,, l.]2005
`.,. ~2006
`
`,t, i.'?WR~~~: ·1:1 ·.:I
`
`*~t ~~
`
`-~1 r,
`
`i ,
`1.:1 Not Rited
`• .;:J Folders
`•£! Picturac
`-~ Videos
`>
`Pl,ltllk:Pichila
`• · MlicVtcPffl.
`
`Size slider
`
`Figure 11-1:
`Here's what Photo
`Gallery looks like
`when you first
`open it. The large
`photo-viewing area
`is where thumbnails
`of your imported
`photos appear.
`The icons at the
`top of the window
`represent all the
`stuff you can do
`with your photos. To
`adjust the size of the
`photo thumbnails
`(miniatures), click
`the magnifying-glass
`icon. Don't release
`the mouse button
`yet. Instead, drag
`the vertical slider
`up or down. All the
`thumbnails expand
`or contract simulta(cid:173)
`neously. Cool!
`
`This section explains how to transfer files from each of these sources into Photo
`Gallery itself.
`
`Photos from Your PC
`The very first time you open it, Photo Gallery displays all the digital photos it can
`find in your Pictures folder (Start➔Pictures).
`
`This is important: you're looking at the actual files on your hard drive. If you delete
`a picture from Photo Gallery, you've just deleted it from your PC. (Well, OK, you've
`actually moved it to your Recycle Bin. But still, that's a step closer to oblivion.)
`
`If you store your photos in other folders, you can make Photo Gallery aware of those,
`too. You can go about this task in either of two ways:
`
`424
`
`WINDOWS VISTA: THE MISSING MANUAL
`
`

`

`• The menu way. Choose File➔Add Folder to Gallery; navigate to and select the
`additional folder, and then click OK. (You'll see the additional folder listed in the
`Folders category of the left-side master list.)
`
`• The draggy way. Find the folder on your desktop or in any Explorer folder. Drag
`the folder itself directly onto the word Folders in the left-side list, as shown in
`Figure 13-2.
`
`Note: Don't add your whole hard drive or Windows folder to Photo Gallery's list. You'll wind up adding literally
`thousands of little graphics-not actual photos, but bits of Web pages, button images, and other random visual
`detritus that Windows uses to display your programs and windows. Photo Gallery will grind to a halt.
`
`Getting Pictures into
`Photo Gallery
`
`I
`
`Figure IJ-2:
`You can add a
`"watched folder"
`to Photo Gallery by
`dragging it off the
`desktop (or any fold(cid:173)
`er window) right onto
`the Folders heading,
`as shown here. The
`cursor changes to a
`+ symbol to let you
`know that Photo Gal(cid:173)
`lery understands your
`intention.
`
`~ Windows Photo Gallery
`
`.. ~ All Pictures and Vid,
`~ Pictures
`~ Videos
`@ Recently Imported
`~ qi Tags
`V Create a New Tag
`U Not Tagged
`(J Ocean
`<;I Pro shots
`(j TheKidz
`0 Trips
`(J Wildlife
`T•ken
`
`VennontPil
`
`i....C! Robin's
`[ll Casey's Pix
`
`I
`
`•
`
`You can also drag individual photo or video files directly into Photo Gallery's window
`(from the desktop or an Explorer window, for example). Windows not only makes it
`appear in Photo Gallery, but also copies it to your Pictures folder for safekeeping.
`
`Note: This trick works only with JPEG files. Graphics in other formats, and, in fact, anything else other than
`videos, wind up getting copied to your Pictures folder but don't show up in Photo Gallery.
`
`Photos from a Digital Camera
`Every modern camera comes with a USB cable that connects to your PC. That's handy,
`because it makes the photo-transfer process happen practically by itself.
`
`t,
`
`CHAPTER 13: WINDOWS PHOTO GALLERY
`
`425
`
`

`

`. pNG files are also used in Web design, though not nearly as often as JPEG and
`GIF. They often display more complex graphic elements. Photo Gallery can show
`you PNG files, but can't edit them .
`
`Getting Pictures into
`Photo Gallery
`
`• BMP was once a popular graphics file format in Windows. Its files are big and
`bloated by today's standards, though, so Microsoft is trying to dissociate itself
`from them. Photo Gallery can't open or fix them .
`
`• WPD is a new Microsoft graphics protocol intended for cellphones and palmtops.
`(Actually, only the technology is called WPD; the images are still labeled .jpg.)
`
`, Photoshop refers to Adobe Photoshop, the world's most popular image-editing and
`photo-retouching program. Photo Gallery can't recognize, open, or fix Photoshop
`files.
`
`Movies
`In addition to still photos, most consumer digital cameras these days can also capture
`cute little digital movies. Some are jittery, silent affairs the size of a Wheat Thin; others
`are full-blown, 30-frames-per-second, fill-your-screen movies (that eat up a memory
`card plenty fast). Either way, Photo Gallery can import and organize them, as long as
`they're in .wmv, .asf, .mpeg, or .avi format. (Unfortunately, that list doesn't include
`.mov, a common movie format of digital cameras.)
`
`You don't have to do anything special to import movies; they get slurped in automati(cid:173)
`cally. To play one of these movies once they're in Photo Gallery, see Figure 13-4.
`
`Figure IJ-4:
`The first frame of each video clip shows up as though it's a photo in
`your library. Your only clues that it's a movie and not a photo are
`the film sprocket holes along the sides and the too/tip that identifies
`the movie's running lime. If you double-dick one, it opens up and
`begins lo play immediately.
`
`RAW format
`Most digital cameras work like this: when you squeeze the shutter button, the camera
`studies the data picked up by its sensors. The circuitry then makes decisions about
`sharpening level, contrast, saturation, white balance, and so on-and then saves the
`processed image as a compressed JPEG file on your memory card.
`
`CHAPTER 13: WINDOWS PHOTO GALLERY
`
`429
`
`

`

`To begin the slideshow, specify which pictures you want to see. For example:
`
`, To see the pictures you most recently imported, click Recently Imported .
`
`The Post-Dump
`Slideshow
`
`• Click a folder, tag, rating row, or another heading in the Navigation tree at the left
`side of the screen .
`
`• If''All Pictures and Videos" (your whole library) is selected, click one of the photo-
`batch headings in the main window-for example, "2007-35 items."
`
`Now click the unlabeled Play button at the bottom of the window (see Figure 13-
`5)-or just hit Fl 1. Photo Gallery fades out of view, and a big, brilliant, full-screen
`slideshow of the new photos-and even self-playing videos-begins.
`
`What's really useful is the slideshow control bar shown in Figure 13-5. You make it
`appear by wiggling your mouse as the show begins.
`
`Click Exit, or press any key, to end the slideshow.
`
`Note: Photo Gallery can't play music with your slides. (Bummer.) Microsoft cheerfully suggests that if you
`want music, you can first pop into another program (like Windows Media Player) to start playback, then
`return to Photo Gallery to start the slides. If that's what's going on, you can always click the Mute command
`in the gear pop-up menu.
`
`Animation styles
`
`Change speed, shuffle mode, or looping
`
`Figure l:J-5:
`As the slideshow pro(cid:173)
`gresses, you can pause
`the show, go backward,
`rotate a photo, or
`change the transition
`effects, all courtesy of
`this control bar.
`
`Previous slide/Next slide
`
`End the show
`
`Slideshow Themes
`lf you wiggle the mouse during a slideshow to make the control bar appear, you'll see
`an odd little button called Themes at the left side.
`
`A Theme is a canned special-effect set for a slideshow. On a powerful PC, you can
`call up slideshows with multiple photos parading into and out of view, with special
`backdrops filling in the gaps. (How do you know your PC is fast enough? The Experi(cid:173)
`ence Index score for your graphics card has to be 3.0 or better. See page 20 for your
`Experience Index score.)
`
`CHAPTER 13: WINDOWS PHOTO GALLERY
`
`431
`
`

`

`If your PC doesn't have the horsepower for such elaborate effects, your Themes menu
`is much shorter. You can give the show an old-tyme, mottled brown or monochrome
`look by choosing "Sepia" or "Black and white" from the Themes menu.
`
`Choosing "Pan and Zoom" instead makes the pictures smoothly cross-fade, panning
`and zooming as they go, as in a Ken Burns documentary on PBS. Your other choices
`include "Fade," meaning a crossfade, and "Classic;' meaning Windows XP style: no
`transition effect at all.
`
`The Digital Shoebox
`All Versions
`
`If you've imported your photos into Photo Gallery using any of the methods described
`above, you should now see a neatly arranged grid of thumbnails in Photo Gallery's
`main photo-viewing area. This is, presumably, your entire photo collection, including
`every last picture you've ever imported-the digital equivalent of that old shoebox
`you've had stuffed in the closet for the last 10 years.
`
`Your journey out of chaos has begun. From here, you can sort your photos, give them
`titles, group them into smaller sub-collections (called albums), and tag them with
`keywords so you can find them quickly.
`
`The Bigger Picture
`If you point to a photo thumbnail without clicking, Photo Gallery is kind enough to
`display, at your cursor tip, a larger version of it. Think of it as a digital version of the
`magnifying loupe that art experts use to inspect gemstones and paintings.
`
`Tip: If this feature gets on your nerves, choose File➔Options, and then turn off "Show picture and video
`previews in tooltips."
`
`You can also make all the thumbnails in Photo Gallery grow or shrink using the Size
`Control slider-dick the blue magnifying-glass pop-up menu at the bottom of the
`Photo Gallery window. Drag the slider all the way down, and you get micro-thumbnails
`so small that you can fit 200 or more of them in the window. If you drag it all the way
`up, you end up with such large thumbnails that only a few fit the screen at a time.
`
`For the biggest view of all, though, double-dick a thumbnail. It opens all the way,
`filling the window. At this point, you can edit the picture, too, as described below.
`
`The Navigation Tree
`Even before you start naming your photos, assigning them keywords, or organiz(cid:173)
`ing them into albums, Photo Gallery imposes an order of its own on your digital
`shoebox.
`
`The key to understanding it is the Navigation tree at the left side of the Photo Gallery
`window. This list grows as you import more pictures and organize them-but right
`off the bat, you'll find icons like these:
`
`432
`
`WINDOWS VISTA: THE MISSING MANUAL
`
`

`

`. All Pictures and Videos. The first icon in the Navigation tree is a very reassuring
`little icon, because no matter how confused you may get in working with subsets
`of photos later in your Photo Gallery life, dicking this icon returns you to your
`entire picture collection. It makes all of your photos and videos appear in the
`viewing area.
`
`Click the Pictures or Videos subhead to filter out the thumbnails so that only
`photos or only videos are visible .
`
`• Recently imported. Most of the time, you'll probably work with the photos that
`you just downloaded from your camera. Conveniently, Photo Gallery always tracks
`your most recently added batch, so you can view its contents without much scroll(cid:173)
`ing.
`
`•Tags.As you work with your photos, you'll soon discover the convenience of add(cid:173)
`ing tags (keywords) to them, like Family, Trips, or Baby Pix. Then, with one click
`on one of the tag labels in this list, you can see only the photos in your collection
`that match that keyword.
`
`Tip: You can Ctrl-click several items in the Tags list at once. For example, if you want to see both Family
`photos and Vacation photos, click Family, then Ori-click Vacation.
`
`This trick also works to select multiple months, years, star-rating categories, or folders (described below).
`
`· Date Taken. Photo Gallery's navigation tree also offers miniature calendar icons
`named for the years (2005, 2006, 2007, and so on) .
`
`____ _B
`
`Figure IJ-6:
`The year and month
`icons are very helpful
`when you're creating
`a s/ideshow or trying
`to pinpoint one certain
`photo. After all, you
`usually con remember
`what year you took
`a vacation or when
`someone's birthday
`was. These icons help
`you narrow down your
`search without requiring
`that you scroll through
`your entire library.
`
`tlJ Window, Photo Gallery
`
`[> ~ All Pictures and Videos
`@ Recently Imported
`, (2) Tag,
`• Qi Date Taken
`• El 2004
`e O February
`•□ April
`• El zoos
`• 11] January
`•O March
`o[a April
`•0 May
`ID MaylO, Tuesday
`[I Moy 27, Friday
`~ Ii] June
`•0 August
`• 0 September
`ID Sep 3, Saturd"l_
`t> Ii] Nov,mber Q
`~ D 2006
`
`0
`
`-
`
`,
`
`.
`
`CHAPTER 13: WINDOWS PHOTO GALLERY
`
`433
`
`

`

`When you import photos, the program files each photo by the date you took it. You
`can click, say, the 2005 icon to see just the ones you took during that year.
`
`By clicking the flippy triangle next