Need multible instances of single programs. In 12.04 lts.

[Sailfrog]

Hello, I'm hoping someone here can help me. Nothing is broken, at least not that I know of. What I'm looking for is increased funtionality.

Yesterday, I needed to compare two photos, but found that the image viewer would close the first instance as soon as I tried to open the second one. Some times I need to compare three or four, but the system does not allow me to do so. The same happens when I open more than one text file. I would love to be able to cut and paste between multible text files without closing one and opening another... Is this possible in 12.04 without too much trouble.
Charlie

[mikewhatever]

There is no info on how you've tried openning a new instance. Can you please fill that gap.
Here, I just double click and image in the file browser, and and it opens in the image viewer, then double click another image and it opens in a new window.