# Viewing Images

Opus has two main image viewers. Both can be used to view images, movies, documents and other formats for which a plugin exists.

### Viewer pane

There's the integrated [Viewer Pane](https://chaoses-ib.gitbook.io/directory-opus/manual/basic_concepts/the_lister/viewer_pane), which is embedded within a Lister:

![](https://3597805814-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F3XSZSwWow0fDf6fQJobd%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-91aaeae230e6338f9d6a9e1992ca94cfffa0bc8f%2Fviewer_pane.png?alt=media)

### Standalone viewer

There's also a standalone (floating) image viewer.

![](https://3597805814-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F3XSZSwWow0fDf6fQJobd%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-928ead9875624104ce2a0e246091ba43c7486274%2Fstandalone_viewer.png?alt=media)

The main difference is the [Viewer Pane](https://chaoses-ib.gitbook.io/directory-opus/manual/basic_concepts/the_lister/viewer_pane) is tied to a Lister whereas the standalone viewer acts almost like a separate utility. The standalone viewer also has basic image editing functions which the viewer pane does not.

### Accessing the standalone viewer

You can access the standalone viewer in several ways:

* If the **Use internal picture viewer** option on the [**File Operations / Double-click on Files**](https://chaoses-ib.gitbook.io/directory-opus/manual/preferences/preferences_categories/file_operations/double-click_files) page in Preferences is turned on, double-clicking on a recognized image file will open it in the standalone viewer.
* The **Slideshow** button on the default toolbar will launch a slideshow of all images in the current folder, using the standalone viewer. The speed of the slideshow is controlled from the [**Slideshow**](https://chaoses-ib.gitbook.io/directory-opus/manual/preferences/preferences_categories/viewer/standalone_viewer/slideshow) page in Preferences.
* The internal [**Show**](https://chaoses-ib.gitbook.io/directory-opus/manual/reference/command_reference/internal_commands/show) command will display selected files in the standalone viewer. This command is available on the drop-down menu attached to the **Slideshow** button.
* From outside of Opus, you can use the `d8viewer.exe` or `dopusrt.exe /show` commands to open files with the Opus viewer.

### Options for the standalone viewer

There are a number of options that control the appearance and behaviour of the standalone viewer. These can be found in the [**Viewer**](https://chaoses-ib.gitbook.io/directory-opus/manual/preferences/preferences_categories/viewer) category in Preferences. By default, the viewer will:

* Auto-size to fit every picture - as you step through images, the window will resize if needed to display the picture.
* Open centered on the current monitor.
* Display a frame around the picture (as in the above screenshot).
* Show or hide the scrollbars while viewing images.
* Automatically build a list of all other pictures in the folder, when opened via a double-click on an image file (with an additional option for the list to wrap-around when you reach the start or end).
* Automatically rotate images to compensate for the EXIF orientation tag, saved by most digital cameras.

These options can all be changed from Preferences.

More:\
[Viewer Mouse, Keys and Toolbar](https://chaoses-ib.gitbook.io/directory-opus/manual/additional_functionality/viewing_images/viewer_keys_and_toolbar)\
[Image Marking](https://chaoses-ib.gitbook.io/directory-opus/manual/additional_functionality/viewing_images/image_marking)