Member Avatar for beep

Once in a while I get photos that come out completely sqaushed in Windows Photo Viewer. It is obviously not the file's problem since they render just fine in Irfanview. Not a major problem, but definitely an annoyance. Any clues?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by beep
Member Avatar for LaxLoafer

Hi Beep

Have you checked the EXIF data? The x-resolution and y-resolution fields should match the image. If they don't, Windows Photo Viewer uses these values regardless and displays a squashed image.

This sort of problem can apparently occur when a photo is resized or rotated, typically with older image editing software. If the software doesn't recognize EXIF, or support asymmetrical resolutions, the EXIF data won't get updated appropriately.

A quick search on the Internet might suggest a tool that will batch fix the images for you, or report the correct EXIF information. Can anyone recommend a utility?

Member Avatar for beep

Thanks for the idea. Not certain, but Irfanview might be able to help now that I know what to look for. It is such a rare problem, but still annoying esp. when you find yet another thing that Windows can manage to suck at.

Member Avatar for beep

Turns out that I accidentally found a simple if bizarre answer to my question. If you open the properties menu in the photo viewer and tag the pic with anything (might also work with other fields), the pic is magically corrected. I have no idea why this should work, but it does.

commented: Thanks for the update and tip. +3
Member Avatar for LaxLoafer

Didn't realize photos could be tagged in that way. Thanks for the tip. Seems like your solution may not work for all squashed images though. Adding tags to the one sample I have made no difference. Still squashed.

Edited by LaxLoafer
Member Avatar for beep

I'd help if I could, but I have 0 idea about what this does. But first, can you open your squashed pics in, say, Irfanview correctly? If not, then I could see why this trick wouldn't work. That's what so irked me about mine. The pics could be seen by rational programs, just not in photo viewer. In fact they show up just fine in the preview panel.

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