Microsoft Photos

Microsoft Photos
A component of Microsoft Windows
Photos in Windows 10 in dark mode with Fluent Design
Details
Type Image viewer, image organizer, video editor (requires additional download), raster graphics editor
Included with Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Windows 10 Mobile, Xbox One[1]
Replaces Windows Photo Viewer

Microsoft Photos is an image viewer, video clip editor, image organizer, raster graphics editor and photo sharing app included with the Windows 8 and Windows 10 operating systems as a functional replacement for Windows Photo Viewer. It was first included in Windows 8.[2][3] Photos has Microsoft Sway integration and can use selected photos as a source for creating a Sway project. Photos can also upload photos to OneDrive, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and GroupMe for sharing.

Photo management

Photos' management interface only allows a single window to be open.

Photos provides the ability to organize digital photo collection in its gallery view by selecting photos and arranging photos by albums. The default view is Collection, which is sorted by date. Users can also view items by Album or Folder view. Album view shows both auto-generated and user-generated albums. Folder view displays files based on their location in File Explorer. Users can choose which folders to display.

Users can choose what folders are displayed and which files are placed in albums. They can also see their total used OneDrive space in the Settings section.

Photo editing

Photos provides basic raster graphics editor functions, such as:

  • Correction of exposure or colors
  • Cropping
  • Red-eye reduction
  • Blemish removal
  • Noise reduction

Users can edit with a sidebar similar to the one in Google Photos, which allows them to adjust the photo's shadows, highlights, sharpness, and filters.[4] Further, Photos also allows users to trim, slow down, and save photos from videos.

Photo editing technologies developed by Microsoft Research,[5] including Panoramic stitching, Photo Fuse, and AutoCollage are not currently included in Photos. Neither is the ability to batch resize photos, where multiple photos can be resized in a single action.[6]

Unlike Photo Gallery, which auto saves edits, Photos only saves when a user clicks the Save or Save As button. Additionally, Photos allows users to compare the original file to the file with unsaved changes and to save the photo with a different name and location.

Microsoft Story Remix (video editor)

Main screen of Story Remix

Story Remix[7] is a 3D video editing software built into the Photos app. Intended to replace the older Windows Movie Maker, this feature was added on to MS photos with the Fall Creators Update to Windows 10.[8] Story Remix uses AI and 'deep learning to organize and transform your photos and videos into stories.' Story Remix allows users to create videos from pictures and songs from the Photos app, or by importing them. It also contains features to add transitions, 3D effects, soundtracks, 3D animations and styles to the videos.

Photo and video import

Photos' photo/video import tool provides the ability to view and select photos that are automatically grouped by date-taken and choose where the files are saved.[9]

Photos can show individual pictures, display all pictures in a folder as a slide show, reorient them in 90° increments or through a granular control, print them either directly or via an online print service, send them in e-mail or save them to a folder or disc.[4] Windows Photo Viewer supports images in BMP, JPEG, JPEG XR (formerly HD Photo), PNG, ICO, GIF, RAW, PANO, and TIFF file formats.[10]

Evolution

Photos is built from a separate code base from those of Photo Gallery and Windows Photo Viewer. It was first included in Windows 8.0 and had a customizable background and a Facebook photo viewer, both of which were removed in the Windows 8.1 update to the app. It also introduced the ability to view immersive PANO files and set a photo as the app's live tile or the Windows lock screen. Like most other apps designed for Windows 8, the controls are hidden until the user right-clicks on the screen.

In Windows 10, Photos originally used a hamburger menu for the photo management interface, makes basic controls visible to users, and allows users to set a photo as their desktop background. Unlike most Microsoft apps designed specifically for Windows 10, Photos used round buttons like the ones on Windows 8 for editing. Control categories are listed as buttons on the left side of the app, and specific editing options are listed as buttons on the right side of the app. Folder view and the ability for users to edit albums were added to the app after the initial release on Windows 10 in response to user feedback. Photos includes all features from Windows Photo Viewer except the Burn to Disc feature and may gain more features from Photo Gallery in the future. The original view exclusively featured a dark theme.

A major update released in October 2016 replaced the hamburger menu with a ribbon, replaced the radial editing tools with an editing sidebar, and added a fullscreen view, ink editing for photos and videos, and a light theme.[11]

Photos in light mode

Issues

The user interface includes buttons to rotate counterclockwise and clockwise (keyboard shortcuts Ctrl++ and Ctrl+- respectively). Clicking these buttons overwrites the image file (changing its date and Exif data[12]) without warning and without an option to "undo" the action.

In the viewing interface, the buttons for moving left or right between photos disappear if the mouse is off of it for a set time. Moving the mouse back on the app causes it to reappear.

Photos has been criticized for lacking some features that other popular photo editors have, but it has received several updates to add features and stability.

References

  1. ↑ "Microsoft Photos". Windows Store. Microsoft.
  2. ↑ "How to use the Windows 10 Photos app". TechRadar. Future US. February 12, 2016.
  3. ↑ Giret, Laurent (April 19, 2016). "Microsoft Photos app gets updated – save still photos from videos and more". WinBeta.
  4. 1 2 Purewal, Sarah (August 3, 2015). "Exploring the new Photos app in Windows 10". CNET. CBS Interactive. Retrieved August 7, 2016.
  5. ↑ Anbalagan, Karthik (November 1, 2007). "Creating Panoramic Stitches with the Windows Live Photo Gallery". Archived from the original on 4 November 2007. Retrieved December 28, 2007.
  6. ↑ Anbalagan, Karthik (November 30, 2007). "Resizing Photos in Windows Live Photo Gallery". Archived from the original on 2 December 2007. Retrieved December 28, 2007.
  7. ↑ "Hands on with Windows 10's Story Remix, the new tool to make your photos pop". PCWorld. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
  8. ↑ "Windows Story Remix will be in Fall Creators Update (for the most part)". Digital Trends. 2017-08-17. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
  9. ↑ Devine, Richard (August 24, 2015). "How to transfer your iPhone and iPad photos to Windows 10". Windows Central. Mobile Nations. Retrieved August 7, 2016.
  10. ↑ Surur (June 24, 2015). "Windows 10 Mobile Photos app finally supports GIFs". MSPowerUser.
  11. ↑ Sarkar, Dona (October 7, 2016). "Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14942 for PC". Windows Blog. Microsoft.
  12. ↑ "Windows Photo Viewer or Live Photo Gallery does not honor the EXIF orientation info in an image file". Community. Microsoft. July 24, 2010.

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