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IMHO, opening in a new tab is as user-UNfriendly as opening in the same tab. Both approaches may lead to users closing the wrong tab, or losing track of where they were.
It interrupts the editor flow. Perhaps opening a modal dialog window containing the image would avoid this confusion? Just thinking aloud.
Could you add a possibility to open image preview to new tab when double clicking image icon? Currently it opens in the same window.