Window image zoom mode for viewing

Currently, Picview supports 10 window image zoom modes for the photo viewing. By selecting different modes, users can adjust the default display size of the image and window, catering to various usage scenarios.

The 10 modes are as follows:

1. Window Fixed & Image Fit to
2. Window & Image Fit to Screen
3. Window & Image Stretch to Screen
4. Window Fixed & Image Stretch to Fit
5. Window Fixed & Image Actual Size
6. Window Fixed & Image Stretch to Cover
7. Full Screen & Image Stretch to Cover
8. Full Screen & Image Stretch to Screen
9. Image Actual Size & Window Fit to
10. Window & Image Fixed Area

You can configure this in Picview’s preference settings under Viewer/Browser/Zoom Mode. Below are explanations of each mode and visual comparisons before and after setting them.

1. Window Fixed & Image Fit to

The window position and size are fixed, and the images inside the window adapt to fit within the window, with two scenarios:

1. When the image size is larger than the window size, meaning the width or height of the image is greater than the width or height of the window, the image is scaled down until the width or height of the image equals the width or height of the window, ensuring the image’s width and height are less than or equal to the window’s width and height.
2. When the image size is smaller than the window size, meaning both the width and height of the image are smaller than the width or height of the window, the image remains unscaled, maintaining its original size.

Illustration:

This is Picview’s default mode because I prefer to view images with a fixed window rather than one that changes. Of course, you can choose your preferred mode as the default setting. This way, when you open images, the window and images will be laid out on the screen in this mode.

2. Window & Image Fit to Screen

The window size always matches the image dimensions, with the image scaling to fit the current screen size and the display size limited to the screen size, with two scenarios:

1. When the image size is larger than the screen size, meaning the width or height of the image is greater than the width or height of the screen, the image is scaled down until the width or height of the image equals the width or height of the screen, ensuring the image’s width and height are less than or equal to the screen’s width and height.
2. When the image size is smaller than the screen size, meaning both the width and height of the image are smaller than the width or height of the screen, the image remains unscaled, maintaining its original size.

Illustration:

Users who prefer a borderless image viewing experience often opt for this mode when browsing photos.

3. Window & Image Stretch to Screen

The window size always matches the image dimensions, with the image scaling to fit the current screen size, meaning the width or height of the image is scaled to match the width or height of the screen, with two scenarios:

1. When the image size is larger than the screen size, meaning the width or height of the image is greater than the width or height of the screen, the image is scaled down until the width or height of the image equals the width or height of the screen, ensuring the image’s width and height are less than or equal to the screen’s width and height.
2. When the image size is smaller than the screen size, meaning both the width and height of the image are smaller than the width or height of the screen, the image is enlarged until the width or height of the image equals the width or height of the screen, ensuring the image’s width and height are less than or equal to the screen’s width and height.

Illustration:

4. Window Fixed & Image Stretch to Fit

The window position and size are fixed, and the image is scaled to match the window size, meaning the width or height of the image is scaled to match the width or height of the window, with two scenarios:

1. When the image size is larger than the window size, meaning the width or height of the image is greater than the width or height of the window, the image is scaled down until the width or height of the image equals the width or height of the window, ensuring the image’s width and height are less than or equal to the window’s width and height.
2. When the image size is smaller than the window size, meaning both the width and height of the image are smaller than the width or height of the window, the image is enlarged until the width or height of the image equals the width or height of the window, ensuring the image’s width and height are less than or equal to the window’s width and height.

Illustration:

5. Window Fixed & Image Actual Size

The window position and size are fixed, and the image remains unscaled, maintaining its original size.

Illustration:

6. Window Fixed & Image Stretch to Cover

The window position and size are fixed, and the image is scaled to cover the window size, meaning the image is scaled so that its width and height are greater than or equal to the width and height of the window, with two scenarios:

1. When the image size is larger than the window size, meaning both the width and height of the image are greater than the width and height of the window, the image is scaled down until the width or height of the image equals the width or height of the window, ensuring the image’s width and height are greater than or equal to the window’s width and height.
2. When the image size is smaller than the window size, meaning either the width or height of the image is smaller than the width or height of the window, the image is enlarged until the width or height of the image equals the width or height of the window, ensuring the image’s width and height are greater than or equal to the window’s width and height.

Illustration:

7. Full Screen & Image Stretch to Cover

The window is fixed to match the current screen area, and the image is scaled to cover the screen area, meaning the image is scaled so that its width and height are greater than or equal to the width and height of the current screen area, with two scenarios:

1. When the image size is larger than the size of the current screen area, meaning both the width and height of the image are larger than the width and height of the screen area, the image is scaled down until the width or height of the image equals the width or height of the screen area, ensuring the image’s width and height are greater than or equal to the screen area’s width and height.
2. When the image size is smaller than the size of the current screen area, meaning either the width or height of the image is smaller than the width or height of the screen area, the image is enlarged until the width or height of the image equals the width or height of the screen area, ensuring the image’s width and height are greater than or equal to the screen area’s width and height.

Illustration:

8. Full Screen & Image Stretch to Screen

窗口固定保持为当前屏幕区域，图片缩放到屏幕区域大小，即图片的宽或高缩放到屏幕区域的宽或高，有两种情况：

1. 当图片的尺寸大于屏幕区域的大小时，即图片的宽或高大于屏幕区域的宽或高时，图片缩小，缩小到图片的宽或高直到等于屏幕区域的宽或高，使图片宽和高小于等于屏幕区域的宽和高。
2. 当图片的尺寸小于屏幕区域的大小时，即图片的宽或高都小于屏幕区域的宽或高时，图片放大，放大到图片的宽或高直到等于屏幕区域的宽或高，使图片宽和高小于等于屏幕区域的宽和高。

示意图如下：

9. Image Actual Size & Window Fit to

The window is fixed to match the current screen area, and the image is scaled to the size of the screen area, meaning the width or height of the image is scaled to match the width or height of the screen area, with two scenarios:

1. When the image size is larger than the size of the screen area, meaning either the width or height of the image is greater than the width or height of the screen area, the image is scaled down until the width or height of the image equals the width or height of the screen area, ensuring the image’s width and height are less than or equal to the width and height of the screen area.
2. When the image size is smaller than the size of the screen area, meaning both the width and height of the image are smaller than the width or height of the screen area, the image is enlarged until the width or height of the image equals the width or height of the screen area, ensuring the image’s width and height are less than or equal to the width and height of the screen area.

Illustration:

10. Window & Image Fixed Area

The window size always matches the image dimensions, and the image is scaled to a fixed area size, meaning the width or height of the image is scaled to match the width or height of the fixed area, with two scenarios:

1. When the image size is larger than the size of the fixed area, meaning either the width or height of the image is greater than the width or height of the fixed area, the image is scaled down until the width or height of the image equals the width or height of the fixed area, ensuring the image’s width and height are less than or equal to the width and height of the fixed area.

2. When the image size is smaller than the size of the fixed area, meaning both the width and height of the image are smaller than the width or height of the fixed area, the image is enlarged until the width or height of the image equals the width or height of the fixed area, ensuring the image’s width and height are less than or equal to the width and height of the fixed area.

Illustration:

Conclusion

There are 10 different photo viewing window image scaling modes, each with its own unique characteristics. They abstract the layout relationship on a plane between the image, window, and screen. I believe there is always one that you will like, allowing you to always catch the most eye-catching point when appreciating displayed works. Looking back, in the dim light, there is always one that suits you, catering to your various image browsing needs.

Further reading

• Frequently Asked Questions