Windows Photo Gallery

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The difference between photos and photos you like often depends on the tools you are using. Windows Photo Gallery is a complete photo management tool that is included in all versions of Windows Vista. It allows users to organize their pictures collection, tag them, rate them and even edit them. The editing features are pretty basic (resizing, cropping, red-eye reduction, etc) but also very useful.
In this article you will find a video showing all of Windows Photo Gallery’s features and how to work with it so that you effectively manage your pictures collection.


If you liked this video you can also download the original recording. Just click on the link below and save it to your computer.

Windows Vista – Windows Photo Gallery Tutorial (29 MB).

Related articles:
How to import pictures from your digital camera

45 thoughts on “Windows Photo Gallery”

  1. photo gallery won’t stay on
    when i turn start up my windows photo gallery everthing loads up then it says windows photo gallery stopped working can’t fix it. please help

        • edited pics will not save
          Did anyone ever fiqure out how to save the pics on windows gallery after editing them i’ve been able to save them in the past but now it tells me there is an error!!!! please help!!!!

          • Save after edit
            I am having the same problem. It worked the first time but not now. Worse, it hides the original! Ugh!

        • windows Live Photo gallery
          Can some one tell me how to delete pictures off the memory stick? I down load, delete, but only from the down load, not the memory. I can delete the whole, but not individual pictures. Help!

    • Windows Vista Photo Gallery
      Exactly the same problem. It closes and then displays DEP information. Photo Gallery must have DEP to run and cannot be turned off. Need help to restore operation

  2. PHOTO GALLERY
    When I watch the video on this site relating to the Photo Gallery the most important fatures needed are hardly mentioned. The most important issue is to organize your photos into folders or you get complete chaos.

    1. When I click “file” I get the choice to add a folder which contains pictures. This is not the most important thing one needs as we all have to start with a BLANK folder. How do we do this? Am I missing something?

    2. Now we need to know where the folder is (assuming that we have managed to raise a blank folder). Would this just show under folders and how do we change the name? If I take the option under one above to raise a folder containing pictures it raises a folder with every picture imported from whatever source and with my name on the folder and this is not what I want. In other words how do I end up with a BLANK folder with a chance to give it a name of my choice.

    3. Finally and the most important how do we put photos in the folder since a right click on the mouse gives us every option for a photo except a choice of folder which is the most important choice. It all seems so bizarre.

    4. Could this not all be solved if there was a choice on the top bar for “ORGANIZE.”

    Please someone out there HELP ME!!!!

    Gordon

    PS If I can’t get a resolution then I will have to go back to Adobe Album (which was on an old computer)

    • New Folders to Windows photo Gallery
      This is what I found: IN the file tree on the left side of the screen you of course will see FILES. Under that you will find the sub folder PICTURES. Open pictures so the contents shows on the screen. Then right click PICTURES and the pop up menu will let you create a NEW FOLDER which you can rename. These NEW FOLDERS are found in the USERS folder . It would appear that VISTA places these common /shared folders in a central place i.e. the user files. Hope this helps

    • Right Click
      right click in the left hand tree under files anywhere and select create folder this will allow you to name it or right click the file in the tree and select rename
      all files can be found in the gallery or in your main photos file user/documents/photos
      click and drag photos into a file or tag in the tree to move them!!

  3. This video & tutorial on
    This video & tutorial on photo gallery was very helpful. I knew over half of it. But the half I did not know will help alot.

    thanks marie

  4. The volume on the tutorial
    The volume on the tutorial was barely audible and yes I checked my volume. Not only that, but the content was useless. Anyone out there know where to access ‘helpful’ info on this program. Camille

  5. import photos
    i had accidentally removed the tool to import photos & i can’t figure out to get it to where i can import photos again?? PLEASE HELP!! I have been trying to find it to reinstall it but i am not so smart about computers…i am sure you figured that out by now, by me deleting something i use all the time. But if anyone can help, please let me know. I will appreciate it very very much!!! Thanx

  6. printing a color photo
    When I try to print a color photo from Windows Photo Gallery it only prints in black and white. My printer prints other color documents just fine. I can’t find anything about this problem anywhere I’ve looked. Can anyone help? Thanks.

    • Color photos printing out in black and white
      It may be something this simple: When you select “Print” in Windows Photo Gallery, you will see “Options” listed at the lower right-hand corner; select “Options.” Then you should see a section that says color. Make sure that it is set on “color” and not “black and white.”

  7. Windows Photo Gallery
    Everyone seems to think WPG is wonderful – I find it exasperating for the very simple reason I do not want every picture from every source especially the internet to appear in WPG. With XP I could separate photographs into, for example, photographs from a camera would be filed in different location from, say, pictures/videos from the internet. With Vista it would appear I cannot do that. Why? Am I missing something?

  8. Another Problem
    It’s rather strange. My photo gallery will open but when I try to edit a photo, even something as simple as cropping a photo, I try to save it, and when I do, I get an error message saying that the file can’t be saved.

    Does anyone know why?

    • file can’t be saved
      RE: Another Problem
      It’s rather strange. My photo gallery will open but when I try to edit a photo, even something as simple as cropping a photo, I try to save it, and when I do, I get an error message saying that the file can’t be saved. Does anyone know why?>>

      ——————————————————-
      this is happening to mine too…did you get yours fixed? if so, what can I do?

      Thx!

  9. Gallery has yellow background
    I cannot use Photo Gallery because all the colors are wrong. The background is a beige / yellow. I found info on other sites about this and it appears to be related to a color palette, but I tried the various fixes offered and none worked. Media Center shows the same images just fine, as do all other viewers that I have. Still, I’d like to be able to use Photo Gallery. Anyone have a solution?

  10. how to save pictures
    Im having a problem saving pictures,whenever i go and try to save a picture it does but i try and look at it and it says “photo gallery cant not open because the file format is not supported or i dont have the latest updates to photo gallery”, but it only gives me 2 options for saving which is a ART. format or Bitmap and neither work.someone please help

    • photo gallery problem
      Did you ever find a solution to this problem saving pictures in Photo Gallery? I have the same problem and I cant get it corrected.
      Please let me know.
      Thanks!

  11. photo gallery wont open. invalid tags?
    help! my photo gallery wont open..whenever i try to open it… it would state that the “tag” is incorrect path…..i dont know why… i cant edit my pics. it stop working… why is that so?

  12. windows photo gallery stopped working
    im experiencing the same problem too. My photo gallery loads up and then says WPG has stopped working. Can some1 please provide me with a solution. Really appreciate it.

  14. Importing Photos
    For some reason after installing the vista service pack 1 whenever I scan a photo into the windows photo gallery once the import is done the “pictures’ folder that it is also saved to pops up over the photo gallery window. I’ve tried every setting I can think of to stop it from popping up but I can’t fix it does ANYONE know what to do?

  15. wpg wont save my pics!!!
    wpg imports my pics from my digital camera, but then when it is finished importing they disappear!!! they go to my pictures folder!! it use to open all my pics, but now it wont!! please i am going insane with this!!!!

  16. WPG – Adding folders
    When I try to add a folder from to Windows Photo Gallery, I get the message ‘This folder or one of its parent folders is considered a system folder or marked as hidden. It’s recommended that you move your pictures to the Pictures folder or to another folder’. As the folder is already in the Picture folder, I am stuck. i would appreciate some help
    Buddy2460

  17. Need updates to Windows photo Gallery
    When I try to open a picture sent to me via email I am told that I don’t have the latest version of Windows Photo Gallery. How do I get updates?

  18. I cannot open SOME videos and some pictures with Adobe.
    I get error code that says Adobe can’t open because either the file is damaged (corrupted) or was not decoded before being emailed (to me). This also happened with some still photos sent to me recently, which usually I can open. I contacted the sender who said she sent them to herself and could open them. What is wrong? How can I fix it?

  19. I can not see the pics on my pictures folder
    hello!

    i have been fighting to find the way how to see my pics that i have on “my pictures” folder before open the file.
    but is impossible to find it.
    few weeks ago, there werent any problem when i go to my pictures folder and the pics came up automatically,
    now, is like there are cover by the same graphic and no display by the real file picture.
    please, give a feed back ASAP
    thanks

  20. moving pics imported from phone
    when importing pics from my phone i cannot see any alternative to having them go into windows gallery … how can i then move them into my pictures file … i have tried everything imaginable and am beginning to think it can’t be done … i preferred my toshiba where pics were automatically filed in my pictures and readily accessible for filing in folders and attaching to emails … if someone knows the method for moving i would sure appreciate some help!! thanx … linda

  22. cant import photo
    When I plug in my dics to download photos onto the photo gallery, a screen pops up saying that windows photo gallery cannot import photos. Then some how it will delete all the photots from the dics. How can I fix this problem? Please Help!

  23. I have downloaded photos my son sent and now I cannot veiw them
    I have down loaded photos my son sent me and now I cant view them as photo gallery says that it is not format supported. Please help.

  24. Deleting photos
    I can not seem to get rid of photos that I really do not want to keep in my Windows Photo Gallery. I click on the photo, click on delete….it does delete it. Next, I go to my “trash bin” and delete the contents of the “trash bin”.
    BUT, the next time that I go to my Windows Photo Gallery…the deleted photos are there again!!!! Can Anyone Help Me Please!

  27. copies of photos
    Whenever I try to drag photos from one folder to another, the original stays in the previous folder and a copy is put into the new folder. I do not need all these copies! WG does not allow me to cut and paste. Also if I try to upload my photos online to a printer (Costco), the photos double or triple copy. Is there another way to move photos around?

  28. tagging my photos
    When I tag the photos they are in that “album”, but they are also in the recycle bin….is that normal, should
    they go there…and if I empty the recycle bin will it delete them from the gallery?

  29. windows photo gallery
    in my documents i have family history folders generation 1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9. Then i have another set 1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10. which is a generation later. so i have the second gen set out below the first. but when i put them into window photo gallery folders they came out 1.1.2.2.3.3.etc….. what can i do to have it set out like my normal documents folders.
    Thank you very much for any suggestions.
    Di

  31. Windows Photo gallery
    I did a system restore and everything seemed ok, but on my daughters user account, Windows Photo Gallery isn’t there any more. When I put in a memory card to download photos, it askes if I want to use Windows Photo gallery and I clicked yes. On my account it works fine. On my daughters account it downloads into Windows Media Center, not WPG. On my daughters page, i did a search on the start menu fo WPG and nothing shows up, but itdoes on my page. WTF??? HELP!!!

  32. photo editing
    I just upgraded to windows 10 and now I can’t edit in my photo gallery program. It won’t allow me to use anything but enhance and that doesn’t do anything when I click on it. I don’t know how to print photos from the program on 10 either. Very discouraging as that is mainly what I use my computer for.

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