Windows Live Photo Gallery
Encyclopedia
Windows Live Photo Gallery is a photo management
and photo sharing
application released as a part of Microsoft's
Windows Live
initiative. It is an upgraded version of Windows Photo Gallery
, which is a part of Windows Vista
.
The application is part of the Windows Live Essentials
suite. Windows Live Photo Gallery 2011 (as part of Windows Live Essentials 2011
) was released to the public on September 30, 2010, and features new additions such as facial recognition, Photo Fuse
, geotagging
, batch people tagging, blemish remover and noise reduction.
, and searching capabilities for digital photos. It provides an image viewer that can replace the default OS image viewer, and a photo import tool that can be used to acquire photos from a camera or other removable media.
Windows Live Photo Gallery allows sharing of photos by uploading them to Windows Live Photos and Flickr
. It also has the ability to upload to other photo sharing sites such as Facebook
. Windows Live Photo Gallery is also required for downloading full resolution photos and albums from Windows Live Spaces
. The ability to view animated GIF images is notably absent. Instead, when viewed, it displays every frame of an animated gif which may come in handy if a user wanted only a frame. In Windows Live Essentials 2009
, the icons on the toolbar were removed.
Windows Live Photo Gallery includes all the features of Windows Photo Gallery
in Windows Vista. Like Windows Photo Gallery
, Windows Live Photo Gallery supports storing XMP
metadata in image files. If the images already contain metadata in other formats like IPTC
or Exif, it is updated as well when saving changes. It adds several new features including:
Although it is an upgraded version of Windows Photo Gallery
, some features (such as themed photo slideshows and video support) which use Windows Vista-specific technologies are not available on Windows XP.
Windows Live Photo Gallery also integrates with Windows Live Mesh
and allows the synchronization
of the photo library between two or more computers with Photo Gallery installed and signed in on the same Windows Live ID
.
.
beta in September 2008, with a new interface. On December 15, 2008, the "beta refresh" versions of Windows Live Essentials 2009
applications were released including Photo Gallery. This release included many changes since the previous beta release based on user feedback. A significant visual change in this release was the introduction of a new application icon which added a common design theme to all the Windows Live Essentials
applications. The words "beta" was removed from the build number. On January 7, 2009, the "beta refresh" versions were released as the final versions, with the exception of Windows Live Movie Maker
.
, along with the rest of Windows Live Essentials 2011
beta, on June 24, 2010. The beta refresh was released on August 18, 2010, and the final version of Windows Live Photo Gallery 2011 was released with the final version of Windows Live Essentials 2011
on September 30, 2010. It was updated with a hotfix
(along with the rest of Essentials
except for Mesh
and Family Safety) on December 1, 2010.
.
Image organizer
An image organizer or image management application is application software focused on organizing digital images. Image organizers represent one kind of desktop organizer software applications.- Common image organizers features :...
and photo sharing
Photo sharing
Photo sharing is the publishing or transfer of a user's digital photos online, thus enabling the user to share them with others . This function is provided through both websites and applications that facilitate the upload and display of images...
application released as a part of Microsoft's
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
Windows Live
Windows Live
Windows Live is the collective brand name for a set of services and software products from Microsoft, part of their software plus services platform. A majority of these services are Web applications, accessible from a browser, but there are also client-side binary applications that require...
initiative. It is an upgraded version of Windows Photo Gallery
Windows Photo Gallery
Windows Photo Gallery is a photo management, tagging, and editing tool developed by Microsoft, and is included with all editions of Windows Vista...
, which is a part of Windows Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
.
The application is part of the Windows Live Essentials
Windows Live Essentials
Windows Live Essentials is a suite of freeware applications by Microsoft that aims to offer integrated and bundled e-mail, instant messaging, photo-sharing, blog publishing, security services and other Windows Live entities...
suite. Windows Live Photo Gallery 2011 (as part of Windows Live Essentials 2011
Windows Live Essentials
Windows Live Essentials is a suite of freeware applications by Microsoft that aims to offer integrated and bundled e-mail, instant messaging, photo-sharing, blog publishing, security services and other Windows Live entities...
) was released to the public on September 30, 2010, and features new additions such as facial recognition, Photo Fuse
Group Shot
Group Shot is a photo combining program developed by Microsoft Research. Its purpose is to solve the problem of individuals in group photographs that might be doing undesirable things such as looking elsewhere, closing their eyes, not smiling, etc. The principle of Group Shot is that multiple group...
, geotagging
GeoTagging
Geotagging is the process of adding geographical identification metadata to various media such as a geotagged photograph or video, websites, SMS messages, QR Codes or RSS feeds and is a form of geospatial metadata...
, batch people tagging, blemish remover and noise reduction.
Features
Windows Live Photo Gallery provides management, taggingTag (metadata)
In online computer systems terminology, a tag is a non-hierarchical keyword or term assigned to a piece of information . This kind of metadata helps describe an item and allows it to be found again by browsing or searching...
, and searching capabilities for digital photos. It provides an image viewer that can replace the default OS image viewer, and a photo import tool that can be used to acquire photos from a camera or other removable media.
Windows Live Photo Gallery allows sharing of photos by uploading them to Windows Live Photos and Flickr
Flickr
Flickr is an image hosting and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community that was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and acquired by Yahoo! in 2005. In addition to being a popular website for users to share and embed personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers to...
. It also has the ability to upload to other photo sharing sites such as Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
. Windows Live Photo Gallery is also required for downloading full resolution photos and albums from Windows Live Spaces
Windows Live Spaces
Windows Live Spaces was Microsoft's blogging and social networking platform. The site was originally released in early 2004 as MSN Spaces to compete with other social networking sites, and re-launched in 2006 as a part of a shifting of community services away from the MSN brand...
. The ability to view animated GIF images is notably absent. Instead, when viewed, it displays every frame of an animated gif which may come in handy if a user wanted only a frame. In Windows Live Essentials 2009
Windows Live Essentials
Windows Live Essentials is a suite of freeware applications by Microsoft that aims to offer integrated and bundled e-mail, instant messaging, photo-sharing, blog publishing, security services and other Windows Live entities...
, the icons on the toolbar were removed.
Windows Live Photo Gallery includes all the features of Windows Photo Gallery
Windows Photo Gallery
Windows Photo Gallery is a photo management, tagging, and editing tool developed by Microsoft, and is included with all editions of Windows Vista...
in Windows Vista. Like Windows Photo Gallery
Windows Photo Gallery
Windows Photo Gallery is a photo management, tagging, and editing tool developed by Microsoft, and is included with all editions of Windows Vista...
, Windows Live Photo Gallery supports storing XMP
Extensible Metadata Platform
The Adobe Extensible Metadata Platform is a standard, created by Adobe Systems Inc., for processing and storing standardized and proprietary information relating to the contents of a file....
metadata in image files. If the images already contain metadata in other formats like IPTC
IPTC Information Interchange Model
The Information Interchange Model is a file structure and set of metadata attributes that can be applied to text, images and other media types...
or Exif, it is updated as well when saving changes. It adds several new features including:
- An improved photo/video import tool, providing the ability to view, select, and tagTag (metadata)In online computer systems terminology, a tag is a non-hierarchical keyword or term assigned to a piece of information . This kind of metadata helps describe an item and allows it to be found again by browsing or searching...
photos that are automatically grouped by date-taken. - Ability to view a photo's color histogramColor histogramIn image processing and photography, a color histogram is a representation of the distribution of colors in an image. For digital images, a color histogram represents the number of pixels that have colors in each of a fixed list of color ranges, that span the image's color space, the set of all...
with shadow and highlightShadow and highlight enhancementShadow and highlight enhancement refers to an image processing technique to correct exposure.The use of this technique is becoming more and more popular, making its way onto magazine covers, digital media, and photos...
adjustment, or to adjust a photo's sharpness. - Panoramic stitchingImage stitchingImage stitching or photo stitching is the process of combining multiple photographic images with overlapping fields of view to produce a segmented panorama or high-resolution image. Commonly performed through the use of computer software, most approaches to image stitching require nearly exact...
using technology developed by Microsoft ResearchMicrosoft ResearchMicrosoft Research is the research division of Microsoft created in 1991 for developing various computer science ideas and integrating them into Microsoft products. It currently employs Turing Award winners C.A.R. Hoare, Butler Lampson, and Charles P...
. - Batch resize of photos. and rotation of videos
- Support for displaying QuickTime videos when QuickTime 7 is installed.
- Face detection
Although it is an upgraded version of Windows Photo Gallery
Windows Photo Gallery
Windows Photo Gallery is a photo management, tagging, and editing tool developed by Microsoft, and is included with all editions of Windows Vista...
, some features (such as themed photo slideshows and video support) which use Windows Vista-specific technologies are not available on Windows XP.
Windows Live Photo Gallery also integrates with Windows Live Mesh
Windows Live Mesh
Windows Live Mesh is a free-to-use Internet-based file synchronization application by Microsoft that is designed to allow files and folders between two or more computers be in sync with each other on Windows and Mac OS X Windows Live Mesh (formerly known as Live Mesh, Windows Live Sync and...
and allows the synchronization
File synchronization
File synchronization in computing is the process of ensuring that computer files in two or more locations are updated via certain rules....
of the photo library between two or more computers with Photo Gallery installed and signed in on the same Windows Live ID
Windows Live ID
Windows Live ID is a single sign-on web service developed and provided by Microsoft that allows users to log in to many websites using one account...
.
Version 2008 (Wave 2)
Windows Live Photo Gallery first launched with Windows Live Installer 2008Windows Live Essentials
Windows Live Essentials is a suite of freeware applications by Microsoft that aims to offer integrated and bundled e-mail, instant messaging, photo-sharing, blog publishing, security services and other Windows Live entities...
.
Version 2009 (Wave 3)
Windows Live Photo Gallery 2009 came out in beta with the rest of Windows Live Essentials 2009Windows Live Essentials
Windows Live Essentials is a suite of freeware applications by Microsoft that aims to offer integrated and bundled e-mail, instant messaging, photo-sharing, blog publishing, security services and other Windows Live entities...
beta in September 2008, with a new interface. On December 15, 2008, the "beta refresh" versions of Windows Live Essentials 2009
Windows Live Essentials
Windows Live Essentials is a suite of freeware applications by Microsoft that aims to offer integrated and bundled e-mail, instant messaging, photo-sharing, blog publishing, security services and other Windows Live entities...
applications were released including Photo Gallery. This release included many changes since the previous beta release based on user feedback. A significant visual change in this release was the introduction of a new application icon which added a common design theme to all the Windows Live Essentials
Windows Live Essentials
Windows Live Essentials is a suite of freeware applications by Microsoft that aims to offer integrated and bundled e-mail, instant messaging, photo-sharing, blog publishing, security services and other Windows Live entities...
applications. The words "beta" was removed from the build number. On January 7, 2009, the "beta refresh" versions were released as the final versions, with the exception of Windows Live Movie Maker
Windows Live Movie Maker
Windows Live Movie Maker is a video creating/editing software that is a part of Microsoft's Windows Live initiative. It is intended to replace Windows Movie Maker that is currently included in Windows Vista...
.
Version 2011 (Wave 4)
Windows Live Photo Gallery 2011 beta was released by MicrosoftMicrosoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
, along with the rest of Windows Live Essentials 2011
Windows Live Essentials
Windows Live Essentials is a suite of freeware applications by Microsoft that aims to offer integrated and bundled e-mail, instant messaging, photo-sharing, blog publishing, security services and other Windows Live entities...
beta, on June 24, 2010. The beta refresh was released on August 18, 2010, and the final version of Windows Live Photo Gallery 2011 was released with the final version of Windows Live Essentials 2011
Windows Live Essentials
Windows Live Essentials is a suite of freeware applications by Microsoft that aims to offer integrated and bundled e-mail, instant messaging, photo-sharing, blog publishing, security services and other Windows Live entities...
on September 30, 2010. It was updated with a hotfix
Hotfix
A hotfix was originally the term applied to software patches that were applied to live i.e. still running systems. Similar use of the terms can be seen in hot swappable disk drives...
(along with the rest of Essentials
Windows Live Essentials
Windows Live Essentials is a suite of freeware applications by Microsoft that aims to offer integrated and bundled e-mail, instant messaging, photo-sharing, blog publishing, security services and other Windows Live entities...
except for Mesh
Windows Live Mesh
Windows Live Mesh is a free-to-use Internet-based file synchronization application by Microsoft that is designed to allow files and folders between two or more computers be in sync with each other on Windows and Mac OS X Windows Live Mesh (formerly known as Live Mesh, Windows Live Sync and...
and Family Safety) on December 1, 2010.
Criticisms
In Windows Live Photo Gallery 2011 (Wave 4), the higher quality slideshows were removed and replaced with a lower quality slideshow feature based on Movie Maker , which levels the resolution of photos with the resolution of videos instead of the original resolution of photos. The slideshow themes such as Classic, Fade, Pan & Zoom, Black & White, Sepia, Album, Collage, Frame, Glass, Spin, Stack, Travel are also gone as a result. It is possible to enable to previous high quality slideshow and themes by editing the Windows RegistryWindows registry
The Windows Registry is a hierarchical database that stores configuration settings and options on Microsoft Windows operating systems. It contains settings for low-level operating system components as well as the applications running on the platform: the kernel, device drivers, services, SAM, user...
.