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The Kindle e-readers that lack full color displays also lack an app for displaying photos. Is there a way to get a series of photos to display? I realize they will be displayed in monochrome / greyscale, but it comes in handy for diagrams and illustrations.

Specifically, suppose I have a folder containing a bunch of JPEG images. How do I get them displayed in my Kindle?

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  • Note that the Kindle Paperwhite (and many e-ink displays) has a (non-standard) screen resolution of 758 x 1024 pixels (not 768 as is so often misreported) if you want your photos to fit natively full screen.
    – MrWhite
    Dec 27, 2013 at 23:19

5 Answers 5

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Older Kindles

On older generation Kindles (with keyboard) it is actually possible out of the box. You just have to store them in a very specific way.

  1. Create a folder named pictures in your Kindle's root directory.
  2. Create folders with arbitrary names for the collections you want to create.
  3. Copy the images into those collections.
  4. Press Alt+Z to start the image viewer.

You can then use the following shortcuts:

q = zoom in
w = zoom out
e = reset zoom
c = actual size
f = full-screen
r = rotate
nav controller = pan
page forward and back = cycle through images

I tested this some time ago on a Kindle3 keyboard and it worked.

Newer Kindles

I found a post on the Amazon forums. It claims that a similar approach still works on the Kindle Paperwhite.

  1. Create a folder named images (not pictures!) in your Kindle's root directory.
  2. Create folders with arbitrary names for the collections you want to create.
  3. Copy the images into the collection folders. Make sure that the extension is JPG and not JPEG.
  4. Select your collection.

I do not know how to select the collections, but I assume that they are listed along with normal ebooks. Feel free to add information on whether this works for the K4NT.

Kindle 4th/5th Gen

  1. Zip your images. Name the zip what you want the title of this collection to be.
  2. Copy the zip file to your documents folder.
  3. Eject the Kindle and you'll find that name in your list of books. Turn pages to browse through the different pictures.
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    Awesome! I just tried this on my Kindle Touch and sure enough - it worked! I had to name the folder "images" as described in the second part of your answer.
    – Nathan Osman
    Dec 20, 2013 at 21:27
  • Is there an alternative way to start the viewer for Kindles without keyboard?
    – svick
    Dec 20, 2013 at 22:50
  • @svick For touchscreen I think there is one (because people report that it works), for Kindles with neither touchscreen nor keyboard I do not know. Try the approach for newer Kindles and report back, if it works...
    – Tim
    Dec 21, 2013 at 8:13
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    "...listed along with normal ebooks" - on the Kindle Paperwhite you need to pick "All Items", rather than just "Books" to see your images collection listed.
    – MrWhite
    Dec 27, 2013 at 23:21
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    The "zip method" works on my kindle 4th generation grey. other two methods were not successful
    – kaykay
    Dec 8, 2014 at 12:48
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There is a hidden picture viewer in Kindle ( reverse engineered by Igor Skochinsky ):

  • Connect your Kindle to your computer.
  • Create a new pictures folder in the root of the Kindle ( next to documents, music, ... ).
  • Create subfolders e.g. book1, book2.
  • Copy image files onto the subfolders.
  • Disconnect your Kindle.
  • Press ALT-Z in the Home screen. New e-books will appear for each subfolder you created. Open the book and view the images.

I've tested it using my Kindle 3 Keyboard.

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I done this with a Python program that resizes the photos on the fly to the screen resolution and then combine the photos as individual images in a simple EPUB, specifying no borders in the generated HTML and CSS.

The program was originally for combining scanned Manga images, but works for photos as well.

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  • would you be willing to post it?
    – hildred
    Dec 21, 2013 at 6:37
  • @hildred Yes. I already asked the OP on the chat if that is appropriate. I have to strip it down a bit and if that is not possible will post it on PyPI.
    – Anthon
    Dec 21, 2013 at 6:46
  • @hildred I put up a new question+answer as my EPUB solution is not kindle specific.
    – Anthon
    Dec 22, 2013 at 13:03
  • kindle comic converter. You can find it here: github.com/ciromattia/kcc
    – Julio P.C.
    Dec 21, 2019 at 16:26
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Using LibreOffice Writer

  1. Create a new document and go to Format->Page.

  2. Click the "Page" tab and change "Width" and "Height" to 3" and 4" respectively. Note that the important factor here is the aspect ratio, not the particular dimensions. You want to match the aspect ratio of your Kindle's screen as closely as possible.

    enter image description here

  3. Set the margins to a low number (⅛" is a good value).

  4. Click "OK" to close the dialog and go to Insert->Picture->From File.
  5. Select the picture you would like to insert into the document and click "Open".

  6. You should end up with something like this:

    enter image description here

  7. Go to File->Export As PDF.

  8. Of particular importance here is the "Reduce image resolution" setting. Using a value larger than 150dpi will just waste space in the PDF. Make sure the option is checked and set to a low value (120 is probably a good choice).

    enter image description here

  9. Click "Export" and select a location for your PDF.

  10. Transfer the file to your device.

    enter image description here

  11. Enjoy your pictures! Note that you can pinch to zoom and pan on the Kindle Touch.

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I've got a 7th Generation kindle and found that I can upload PDF files directly via the USB cable, however I can't get images to upload no matter which of the options I tried that have been mentioned above. However, Amazon provide you with a @kindle.com email address and you can email all supported document types, including images, to it (as attachments). The files will then be stored on your device. Just make sure that any images are included as proper attachments .. i.e. some email clients put images into the body of the email in a "Microsoft friendly format", so disable this option. Please note you need to go into your kindle settings on Amazons website to configure which email addresses are allowed to send content to your Kindle.

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