Search for the Preview
Ever since I first bought my Nikon Digital SLR, I have had a battle previewing my RAW files in the directories in windows. It drove me nuts trying to find a codec or program that would allow me to preview my pictures when I hit the large icon view. When I was running XP I found a codec that would allow me to see the preview in my directories but it was very buggy and wouldn’t always refresh the preview if I change the file information. Also any file that wasn’t on the screen when I loaded the directory window, wouldn’t load a preview. Then when I upgraded to Vista, I thought, they have to have something that works now. After all RAW is much more popular. Boy was I wrong. I had a harder time with Vista and never got anything to really work.
I found It!
Recently I upgraded to windows 7 and decided to give it another go. After a quick Google search I found a new codec pack that I didn’t see before. This codec pack is from Fast Picture Viewer. I was skeptical since my previous experiences have always left me disappointed. Well not today. Fast Picture Viewer has answered my call to the universe. I downloaded the stand alone codec pack but they also offer a professional viewer. They advertise that it is a fastest image viewer and after I installed the codec, I would believe it. In previous attempts if I did get a preview to work it slowed down my computer and took a long time to load the images. With the Fast Picture Viewer codec images loaded very rapidly and smoothly. This codec is a must have for professional and amateur photographer that loves to shoot RAW but don’t always want to use a fancy program to sort or find images. These codecs also allow you to use the RAW files in the windows slide show and picture viewer making this the find of the year, so far.

Green Cactus - Matted Archival Print - 8 x 10 - White