Image viewers are designed to display photos in a wide variety of formats. Read detailed information about pictures, including geodata, view histograms, and batch rename and resize them. Some solutions allow you to edit images, create slideshows, and compare photos side-by-side.
Main features
Red-eye effect removal tool
Navigation views
View metadata
Supports plug-ins
Supported OS
XnView
It is a free image viewer that handles over 500 file formats, such as JPG, PNG, TIFF, ICO, PDF, GIFs, PSD, EPS, SVG, etc. Additionally, it organizes pictures and provides basic manipulating tools to crop, resize, and adjust the orientation of your pictures as well as apply photo effects. Switch between Slideshow, Thumbnail, and Full-Screen viewing modes. XnView is available for Windows, MacOS and Linux.
Main Window
Features
- Supports over 500 formats.
- Several viewing modes.
- Batch renaming and converting options.
- Screen capture option.
- Built-in folder tree.
Advantages
- Batch conversion.
- Red-eye removal tools.
- Support for video playing.
- Sharpen, blur, adjust brightness.
Disadvantages
- Can't identify a format if you change the extension in a file title.
- Free only for personal or educational uses.
IrfanView
IrfanView supports viewing of a broad array of image file formats (BMP, SVG, EMF, GIF, HEIC, RAW, JPG, etc). Change the size of your photos and crop them, remove the red-eye effect, and convert between multiple image types. Extend the functionality of this image viewer via various plug-ins and add such options as video and audio file playback, advanced image enhancements tools, and a slideshow feature. Use IrfanView for free on your Windows PC.
View an image
Features
- Batch renaming and converting option.
- Basic editing tools.
- Thumbnail image viewer.
- Handles a broad array of multimedia formats.
- Creates custom slideshows.
- Grabs screenshots.
- Adds text to image.
Advantages
- Supports lots of plugins .
- Panorama view.
- Plays video and audio files.
- Comes with image effects.
- Toolbar skin options.
- Provides drawing tools.
Disadvantages
- No image type filter.
- Issues with GIF viewing.
HoneyView
It can open a huge array of common and RAW image formats, as well as offers an option to view archives in ZIP, RAR, 7Z, LZH, TAR, ALZ, and EGG types without extraction. Bookmark photos for future reference, generate slideshows and apply multiple transition effects. Switch between different viewing modes, including Fill and Parallel, and view pictures with GPS data on Google Maps to check the location. It's provided for Windows for free.
Photo viewer
Features
- Several viewing modes.
- Supports a wide range of common and RAW formats.
- Batch conversion with resizing.
- Generate slideshows.
Advantages
- Comes with a portable version.
- Previews images in compressed folders and archives.
- Displays EXIF data.
- Supports bookmarks.
- Multiple transition effects for slideshows.
Disadvantages
- Zooming is too abrupt.
- No option to use themes on the portable version.
- Limited editing tools.
FastStone Image Viewer
It provides multiple tools to view, browse, modify, and convert images in myriads of formats. Capture screenshots, compare photos and organize your pictures into slideshows with transitional effects and music background. Crop, resize and annotate images, work with scanned documents, and read a photo histogram. It's free of charge and works on Windows PC.
Browse photos
Features
- Imports multimedia files from external devices.
- Thumbnail image view.
- Basic manipulating features.
- Shows image histograms.
- Creates slideshows.
- Captures screenshots.
Advantages
- Compares images side-by-side.
- Multiple image filters.
- Comes with Clone and Heal tools.
- Over 100 transition effects for slideshows.
- Annotates images.
- Handles videos.
Disadvantages
- Poor support.
- Cannot properly handle the SIGMA X3F RAW format.
- Slows down when processing images of big size and RAW files.
nomacs
View your images as well as perform several basic editing operations, like cropping, rotating, resizing, and tweaking brightness and contrast parameters. The solution handles a wide range of image formats including RAW and PSD files. Zoom pictures in and out, compare them, view thumbnails, read the metadata, and check the histogram of your pictures. It's open source and available for Windows, macOS and Linux.
Photo viewer
Features
- Supports a wide range of formats.
- Detailed view of image metadata.
- Batch image processing.
- Saves screenshots automatically.
- Thumbnail Image view.
Advantages
- Compares two images.
- Frameless view option.
- Customizable hot keys.
- Pseudo color filter.
- Displays histograms.
Disadvantages
- The settings are reset to default after updates.
- The zoom level is inconsistent.
Conclusion
The two leaders of our selection are XnView and IrfanView. Both solutions offer comprehensive functionality and extra tools. What tools do you prefer to use for image viewing and why? Please share your opinion with us and we will add your solution to our comparison list.
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