2.2. Open
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### 2.2. Open

This command activates a dialog that allows you to load an existing image from your harddrive or an external medium. For alternative, and sometimes more convenient, ways of opening files, see the Files section.

#### Activate Dialog

- The dialog for opening an image file can be called from the toolbox or from an image menu, as File->Open.

- You can open the Dialog by using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-O.

#### File browsing

Folders, Files, Preview

  Three windows are displayed. In the Bookmark window, you can navigate directly to any of the locations listed there. In the Files window, a list of the files in the selected directory is displayed. You select a file by a single left click (a double left click opens the file directly). By using the Shift and Ctrl keys you can select more than one file, allowing you to open several images at the same time.

  The selected image is displayed in the Preview if it is an image recognized by GIMP. Click in the preview to generate or update the preview. The file size, resolution and composition are displayed below the preview.

Determine File Type

  In most cases you don't need to pay any attention to this, because GIMP can determine the file type automatically. In a few rare situations, neither the file extension nor internal information suffice to tell GIMP the file type. If this happens,, you can set it by selecting it from the list.

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