# How to use the photo viewer: zoom, info panel and slideshow

> Double-click a tile or press Enter to open the viewer. Use the arrows to step, Fit and 1:1 to zoom, I for the info panel, and F5 for a slideshow.

Source: https://firelet.media/help/photo-viewer-guide
Published: 2026-10-02 · Updated: 2026-10-02
Applies to: Windows, macOS, Linux

The firelet.media Gallery photo viewer opens when you double-click a tile or press [[Enter]]. Step through pictures with [[←]] and [[→]], zoom with **Fit** and **1:1** (or [[+]] and [[−]]), press [[I]] for the info panel with ratings, keywords, dates and camera details, and press [[F5]] to start a slideshow. [[Esc]] closes it again.

## Opening and closing the viewer

1. Double-click a tile in the grid, or select it and press [[Enter]]. (Right-click → **Open** works too.)
2. Press [[→]] and [[←]] to step to the next and previous picture.
3. Press [[I]] to show the info panel.
4. Press [[Esc]] to close the viewer.

The viewer fills the window and steps through the pictures the grid is showing, in the grid's order. So sort or filter first if you want to view one album, one day or one search result.

To close it, click the **✕** at the top right ("Close viewer") or press [[Esc]]. [[Esc]] backs out one step at a time: it cancels a crop, then closes the editor, stops a slideshow, leaves full screen and finally closes the viewer.

The viewer's caption line shows where you are and what you're looking at, for example "12 / 340 · IMG_0412.jpg · 4.2 MB", then the pixel size, the date taken and the folder. If the photo has a location, a link there opens it in your browser on Google Maps.

## Photo viewer zoom: stepping, Fit and 1:1

| Action | Keys or button |
|---|---|
| Previous / next picture | [[←]] / [[→]], or **Previous** and **Next** |
| First / last picture | [[Home]] / [[End]] |
| First picture of the previous / next day | [[Ctrl]]+[[←]] / [[Ctrl]]+[[→]] |
| Zoom in / out | [[+]] / [[−]], or scroll the mouse wheel |
| Fit to window / actual pixels | **Fit** and **1:1**, or [[Z]] to switch |
| Full screen | [[F]], or **Fullscreen** |
| Filmstrip | [[T]] |
| Turn the view | [[R]] and [[Shift]]+[[R]], or **Rotate right** and **Rotate left** |

> [!NOTE]
> **Rotate left** and **Rotate right** only turn the picture on screen; the turn isn't saved. To keep it, press [[E]] for **Adjust** and use **Turn left** or **Turn right**, which is saved in the library without changing the file. [How to edit a photo without changing the original](https://firelet.media/help/edit-photos-without-changing-originals) explains the editor.

For checking focus and exposure, the toolbar also has **Thirds grid** ([[G]]), **Focus peaking** ([[K]]; right-click it for colour and sensitivity) and **Clipping warnings** ([[J]]), which paints blown highlights red and crushed shadows blue.

## The info panel: rating, labels, title, caption, keywords, file, when, place

Press [[I]] or click **Info panel** to open it beside the picture.

![A photo in the viewer with the info panel showing rating stars, Pick and Reject, colour labels, title, caption, keywords, histogram, file details, when and place](https://firelet.media/help/media/shot-viewer-info.webp "Everything you add here is saved in the library, not in the file")

From top to bottom:

- **Rating**: click a star, or press [[0]]–[[5]]. **Pick** and **Reject** ([[P]], [[X]], [[U]] to clear), and the colour dots Red, Yellow, Green, Blue and Purple ([[6]]–[[9]] for the first four).
- **Title** and **Caption**: type in the box; the caption is saved when you leave it.
- **Keywords**: type in **Add keyword** and press [[Enter]].
- **People**: faces found in the picture, with "Who is this?" to name them.
- **Histogram**.
- **File**: type, pixel size and megapixels, size on disk, and the length of a video.
- **When**: the date taken, with **Change…** to correct it.
- **Camera**: camera, lens, exposure and focal length. This section appears once you've clicked **Read camera data** under **Filters** → **Camera**.
- **Place**: the coordinates (and the city and country, if you've looked up places), with **Change…** to set or fix the location.
- **Creator and copyright**, the **Analysis** scores, AI tags, text found in the picture and the albums it's in.

Corrections made here, such as a new date or place, are stored in the library and never written into the file.

> [!TIP]
> Turn on **Advance after rating** ([[A]]) to move to the next picture as soon as you rate, flag or label one. It's the fastest way to go through a card full of photos.

## Find similar, Show in folder, Open externally

Three buttons on the toolbar connect the viewer to the rest of your PC:

- **Find similar** ([[S]]): "Show images like this one". This needs the library indexed for AI search; see [how to index your library for AI search](https://firelet.media/help/index-library-for-ai-search).
- **Show in folder**: opens the folder that contains the file in File Explorer.
- **Open externally**: opens the file in whichever app Windows uses for its type.

Right-clicking the picture adds **Copy picture** ([[Ctrl]]+[[C]]), **Open with…**, **Show on the map**, **Open in OpenStreetMap**, **Set as desktop background** and **Print…** ([[Ctrl]]+[[P]]). For the map itself, see [how to see your photos on a map](https://firelet.media/help/see-photos-on-a-map).

## Slideshow options

Press [[F5]] or click **Slideshow** to play from the current picture. Click the small ▾ beside it for **Slideshow options**:

| Option | Choices |
|---|---|
| Interval | 2, 3, 5, 8, 10, 15, 20 or 30 seconds |
| **Transition** | **Fade**, **Slide in**, **Slow zoom**, **None** |
| **Caption** | **None**, **Title, or the file name**, **File name**, **Date taken** |
| **Shuffle** | Random order |
| **Start again at the end** | Loop the slideshow |

Press [[F]] for full screen during the show and [[Esc]] to stop it. Videos in the viewer play automatically with **Play** ([[Space]]), **Mute** ([[M]]) and volume; motion photos (JPEGs) from Google and Samsung phones have **Play the motion** ([[L]]) on Windows.

## Filmstrip and full screen

**Filmstrip** ([[T]]) shows a strip of thumbnails along the bottom, so you can see what's coming and jump straight to a picture. **Fullscreen** ([[F]]) hides everything but the picture; press [[F]] or [[Esc]] to come back.

A few grid shortcuts, such as [[Ctrl]]+[[E]] for export, [[F2]] for rename and [[Del]], don't work while the viewer is open; close it first. For browsing and narrowing the grid before you open the viewer, see [how to sort and filter your photo library](https://firelet.media/help/sort-and-filter-photos). The macOS and Linux builds (being finished) have the same viewer, apart from motion photos, with [[Cmd]] accepted for [[Ctrl]].

## Questions

### Does rotating in the viewer save the rotation?

No. The viewer's Rotate left and Rotate right buttons only turn the view. Use Turn left or Turn right in the Adjust panel to keep it.

### Where is the EXIF information?

Open the info panel with I. It shows the file type, pixel size and megapixels, when the photo was taken and its place, and the camera, lens and exposure once Read camera data has run.

### Can I rate photos in the viewer?

Yes. Use the stars, Pick and Reject and the colour dots in the info panel, or press 0–5 for stars, P, X or U for flags and 6–9 for labels.