1. A method for altering a display representation of at least one image in an application program in a computer based on a manipulation of the display representation, the application program having a graphical user interface, the method comprising: storing a master image and a corresponding plurality of image previews in persistent storage of a computer system, the plurality of image previews comprising a first image preview in a first data format, a second image preview in a second data format, and a third image preview, wherein the first image preview is of a different pixel resolution and data format than the second image preview, the third image preview is of a different pixel resolution than the first or second image preview, and wherein an image preview comprises a graphical representation of the master image; using the stored first image preview to display a representation of the at least one image in the graphical user interface; manipulating the representation of the at least one displayed image using the graphical user interface; determining characteristics of the manipulation of the representation; determining which of the second image preview or the third image preview represent a more efficient preview to use based on the characteristics of the manipulation of the representation of the at least one displayed image; and selecting the second image preview or the third image preview based on the determination, and while manipulating the representation of the at least one displayed image, using at least the selected image preview to display the representation of the at least one displayed image in the graphical user interface responsive to the manipulation.