Q
Can someone tell me how I can
see a photo I have with the PNG
file extension? When clicked to
open there is just a quick flash of the
picture then I am left with just a straight
line in the centre of the square. Nothing
on my computer will open them.
Nitin Ghosh
A
Th e PNG file format is widely
supported, so almost any imageediting program should open
images saved PNG. Indeed, in Windows,
double-clicking the image will launch the
relevant built-in file viewer (the Windows
Picture and Fax Viewer in Windows XP,
say, or the Windows Photo Viewer in
Windows 7) to display the image.
Our guess here, then, is that the file
association with the relevant file viewer
has been somehow severed. This could
happen when installing an image-editing
program, say, as it might associate
itself with all common graphics
file types. If you later uninstalled
that program, the relevant file
associations would be lost.
We’ll explain how to fix file
associations in just a moment but
one quick way to check that the
PNG file itself is okay and contains
an image is to drag and drop it into
any web browser window. The
image should be displayed right
away. If this doesn’t work, then
the PNG file may have become
corrupted in some way. We’re
afraid that rescuing corrupted
graphics files is far from easy so if you
don’t have or are unable to obtain another
copy, it may be a lost cause.
If the PNG file does display correctly in
your web browser then fi xing the file
association is easy. Just right-click the
affected file and choose Properties, then
click the Change button on the General
tab and use the ‘Open with’ dialogue box
to choose the desired program.