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Shell Previews Images Without Opening

Shareware utility offers a thumbnail and information for dozens of image files.

By Alexandra Krasne, PCWorld   

Here's a switch: Instead, download an add-on image viewer called Shell Picture version 1.5 for a pop-up preview window without loading any external programs. The utility from BAxBEx Software works with Windows 95, 98, NT, and 2000.

The full-featured shareware is free of charge for 30 days; registration costs $29.

Shell Picture works by embedding itself into your Explorer context menu. Just click the right-hand mouse button on an image file. The software displays a preview thumbnail of the image, along with its size, number of colors, and format information.

From there, you can convert an image's colors, adjust its size and proportion, convert it to another format, or launch it.

Shell Picture supports 29 graphic formats, which about covers the variety available. You can also use the program's tools to edit and manipulate either pictures or text files through external applications you designate.

Watch Out for Sharks

I tried Shell with several images in various formats. A right-click brings up a decent-size preview of each image. You can also increase or decrease the image size in the Shell Picture Options Context menu. From that menu, I converted an image from a GIF to a JPEG; Shell saved the original and placed the new file next to it.

When I viewed a thumbnail from the menu bar, I clicked on the Shell Picture option to change the size, format, and colors of my image. It worked without a hitch.

Shell also offers a print preview, and through its Miscellaneous Features menu you can save an image as wallpaper or copy a graphic file.

One feature that didn't work was the text preview. I right-clicked both a text file and a Word document on the desktop and Shell didn't preview either of them.

Occasionally, when I right-clicked on one of my images, a cartoon picture of a shark appeared with a message saying I needed to register and pay for a licensed version of the software. But with a follow-up click, the shark dove into the pixels and my image returned to its original state.