Enable windows file extensions

By convention and to make stuff easier to find, an abbreviation of the type of a digital file is usually appended to the end of the filename itself. For example, a JPEG photograph might have .JPG on the end like so: DSCN2502.JPG

On the Windows operating system this extension is hidden by default, so all you would see is DSCN2502 and the type of the file is indicated by the icon of the program that would be used to open-it (presumably this is to prevent users changing the extension by accident when renaming files).

When stitching photographs or doing any other kind of image manipulation, you are likely to be working simultaneously with several different image file types such as TIFF, JPEG or RAW. To distinguish between them, you have to be able to see file extensions.

To enable display of Windows file extensions in windows explorer and most file open and file save dialogs:

• Open Windows Explorer
• Choose Tools -> Folder Options... from the Menu
• Select View tab page
• Under Advanced Settings uncheck Hide file extensions for known file types
• Click Ok

This won't enable the display of all file extensions (.PIF and .LNK will be still hidden for example) but it will make working with different image file types much easier...