Photo Viewers: Which is Best? What programs are there for viewing pictures and photographs?

Now let's see what to use to view images on a computer, and choose the best photo viewers for Windows. The best photo viewer is a subjective concept, so in this article I will offer several applications that can be used to open popular graphic formats for viewing and processing images.

Any user, when working on a computer, inevitably encounters pictures, images, photographs. In any case, graphic format files will end up on your computer, so you will need a program to open and view them. Therefore, you need a photo viewer on your computer to easily view digital images.

Windows 10 has a built-in Photos application, with which you can open a graphic file, create an album, make the necessary changes to a photo, etc. In previous versions of Windows, the Windows Image Viewer application was used. The user can install Windows Picture Viewer in Windows 10, in addition to the Photos program, read more about this.

Exists free application Photo Gallery, part of the core components of Windows Live. The photo album supports opening and editing photos. The program must be installed on your computer (it is not included in the OS). Read more about Windows Live Photo Album in this article.

In addition to Microsoft applications, a large number of third-party programs have been created for viewing and editing images. In this article we will look at the best free image viewer programs that have many additional built-in tools for working with graphic file formats.

Third-party photo viewers (viewers) can be used on your computer as an alternative to standard Windows tools. As the best free image viewer programs, I recommend paying attention to the following programs: FastStone Image Viewer, XnView, IrfanView, Ashampoo Photo Commander Free, Honeyview. These programs run in Russian on the Windows operating system.

These applications, in addition to basic functions, have tools for image editing. For more serious picture editing, you will need another program - an image editor (photo).

The best photo viewers, in addition to the viewing function, have additional features necessary for working with images on a computer. Programs have built-in tools to perform various operations with digital photos or any other images: rotate, resize, remove red-eye, swatch, color correction, convert to other formats, send to print, etc.

Left beyond the scope of this review free program Picasa (which would have been included in this review), due to Google stopping development and support of the application in 2016.

FastStone Image Viewer

FastStone Image Viewer is a powerful free program for viewing and processing images with a simple, intuitive interface. Built-in tools will help the user solve certain problems with photography: remove red-eye, change image size, apply color correction, convert files, etc.

A regular version of FastStone Image Viewer or a portable version of the program that does not require installation on a computer is available for download.

Key features of FastStone Image Viewer:

• Opening graphic files of major formats.
• Editing digital photos and graphic files.
• A large number of built-in tools for working with images.
• Batch file processing.
• Batch conversion to another format.
• Creating a slide show with transitions and effects.
• Preview function.

Read more about FastStone Image Viewer.

XnView

XnView is a free program (for non-commercial use) for viewing images, multimedia files, and converting files to other formats. This is a high-quality program for managing photos on your computer. Thanks to the support of a large number of formats, in XnView, in addition to working with graphic files, for example, you can watch movies or listen to music.

The program has a simple interface, a large number of built-in tools, XnView will do an excellent job of processing and editing photos on a computer.

The user can download the regular or portable version of the application to the computer from the official XnView website.

Features of the XnView program:

• Supports more than 500 formats.
• Photo editing.
• Applying filters and effects.
• Screen capture.
• Batch conversion.
• Editing metadata.
• Convert files to 70 file formats.
• Supports viewing video and audio files, archives, documents.
• Creating a slideshow.
• Plugins are supported to expand the program's capabilities.

Details about the XnView program are written on my website.

IrfanView

IrfanView is a fast, free image viewer that consumes minimal computer resources. The program is one of the leaders in the number of downloads in the world for programs of this class. This indirect information tells us about the quality of the application, which is rated by users.

Download the IrfanView program from the official website. You can download the regular installation version of the application or the portable version of the program to your computer. To Russify the application, you will need to additionally download the Russian language file.

Main features of the IrfanView program:

• Basic image editing functions.
• Play audio and video files (using plugins).
• Opening some text formats.
• Taking screenshots (screenshots).
• Batch renaming and converting files.
• Creating a slideshow.
• Support for plugins that significantly expand the functionality of the application.
• Supports keyboard and command line operation.

Read a detailed article about the program on my website.

Ashampoo Photo Commander Free

Ashampoo Photo Commander Free - free version Ashampoo Photo Commander program for viewing, editing and organizing photo storage on your computer. This is a powerful photo application with good functionality. With Ashampoo Photo Commander Free you can bring order to your digital photo collection.

Download Ashampoo Photo Commander Free from the official website to install on your computer.

Key features of Ashampoo Photo Commander Free:

• Supports a large number of formats.
• Organizing photo collections.
• Creation of virtual photo albums.
• Create slideshows with effects and transitions.
• Record slide shows or photos to CD/DVD/Blu-ray disc.
• Batch image processing.
• Creation of collages, calendars, postcards.
• Play video and audio files using the built-in player.

Honeyview - free viewer images with a simple and intuitive interface. The program quickly opens graphic files, the application has tools for photo editing.

You can download it from the official website of the developer, as an installation file or as a portable version.

Honeyview program features:

• Supports a large number of graphic formats.
• RAW format support.
• View images in archives.
• View photos in slideshow mode.
• Bookmark for favorite photos.
• Support for GPS data on photos.

Conclusions of the article

The user can choose the best photo viewer running on Windows for their computer. Free programs: FastStone Image Viewer, XnView, IrfanView, Ashampoo Photo Commander Free, Honeyview, are among the best image viewers in this class of programs, they cope well with tasks for viewing and processing images.

The program for viewing images in Windows 7 is installed with the system and does not require additional settings. To start viewing an image, you just double-click the left mouse button on the photo icon. An application window will open in front of you and the desired picture will be shown.

The program window contains basic tools that allow you to manage settings and set basic parameters for the image.

If you wish, you can enlarge or reduce the size of the photo using the mouse wheel or the magnifying glass icon at the bottom left of the screen. Click on the zoom icon and left-click the area you want to zoom in on. To reduce, click on the arrow next to the magnifying glass icon and select “Reduce”, then select the desired area in the same way with the left mouse button.

To move to the next picture in the images folder, click on the right arrow. To view the previous picture, click on the left arrow. The central button allows you to start playing a slideshow from the images available in the catalog in full screen. To print a picture, use the “Print” button at the top of the program window. If you want to delete a picture, use the cross button in the lower right part of the program window. Confirm the deletion operation by clicking on the “Yes” button in the dialog box that appears.

Opening through alternative programs

You can view Windows 7 photos through alternative photo viewing apps. Their advantage is the ability to use a wider range of tools when viewing and editing. Among the most multifunctional programs are Picasa, ACDSee, FastStone Image Viewer, XnView, IrfanView.

The programs can scan the file system for photos, and then sort them into categories, apply filters, change colors and create small slideshows.

Study the proposed programs and download them to your computer by visiting the developer’s official website. Run the file received for installation. Complete the installation by following the application instructions. After completing the procedure, right-click on the photo you want to view, and then click “Open with”. Select the program you installed from the list, and then click “Ok.” You can start viewing and editing the image.

Video on the topic

Sources:

• Picasa
• ACDSee
• FastStone Image Viewer
• XnView
• InfranView

There are several types of programs designed to work with images. The first group allows you to view photographs and drawings, but at the same time it is almost impossible to change anything in the image; using programs from the second group you can edit graphic documents.

You will need

• -Program for viewing images;
• -graphics editor.

Instructions

To open and view an image in the Microsoft Windows operating system, use the Image and Fax Viewer. This is a standard program that is installed with the system. With its help, you can not only open and view an image, but also transfer photos from digital cameras or scanner.

To open an image using an image and fax viewer, right-click on the graphic file. From the drop-down menu, select “Open with”, then click once in the submenu with the left mouse button on the item “Image and fax viewer”.

You can also independently install any of the image “viewers” ​​from the disk or download it from the Internet. For example, the FS Viewer program allows you to open an image with one click and view it in full screen mode. All such programs have a magnifying glass tool that allows you to zoom in on the details of the image. Zooming in or out of details does not affect the size of the image itself.

To open an image not only for viewing, but also for editing, install a graphics editor on your computer. On Windows, the graphic image editor Paint is quite primitive. It is suitable only for minor adjustments to drawings and photographs, but it is impossible to achieve special effects with it.

Many users, when familiarizing themselves with the new OS from Microsoft, discovered that viewing Windows 10 photos is done through the Photos program. But in Windows 8, Microsoft offered a choice between a photo viewer and a Photos tool.

Why did the developers save users the ability to view common graphic formats through a more convenient and functional program?

Many Windows 10 users are starting to look for third-party products that are more suitable for them, knowing that Photo Viewer only works with TIFF and TIF formats. Therefore, today we will look at how to add this tool to the “Default Applications” section and the “Open With” dialog, where the program is initially missing.

More advanced users try to specify "Photo Viewer" as the application to open pixel images via the Program Mapping tool, but again, the application is only available for the above TIFF/TIF. Is it possible to make it so that the photo viewer can be specified as an opener for other image formats? Naturally, and this is easy to do.

1. Call the registry editor by running the “regedit” command in the search line or text line of the “Win ​​+ R” command interpreter.

2. Go to HKLM/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows Photo Viewer/Capabilities/FileAssociations.

Here you will see a couple of parameters with the name of image formats that can be opened using the photo viewer.

3. Using the right button, call up the context menu of the free part of the space in the right frame of the window and select creating a string parameter (REG_SZ).

4. Enter its name as “.jpeg”, and set the value to “PhotoViewer.FileAssoc.Tiff”.

We perform all the same operations for other formats (.jpg, .gif, .png) that you want to open through a more convenient image visualization tool.

5. Call “Settings” using Win+i.

6. Go to “System” → “Default Applications”.

8. In the left frame with the list of programs, click on “Photo Viewer”, then on the icon with the inscription: “Select default values ​​for the program.”

9. Check the boxes next to the required formats.

11. Call the context menu item “Open with” on one of the selected image formats.

The Windows Photo Viewer option will appear.

12. Specify the tool as the default image opener.

Alternative method

For beginners who do not want to delve into the wilds of the Windows 10 settings storage, it is recommended to use the WinAero Tweaker utility.

• After launching the application, move to the last item of available tweaks “Windows Accessories”.
• Click on the “Activate Windows Photo Viewer” button.

The result will be the same in both cases.

Often we need to view photographs or other images on the computer. This could be a home photo album, or various materials For professional activity. When choosing a specific program for viewing images, each user relies on his personal needs and preferences.

Let's look at the pros and cons of various applications for viewing graphic file formats to decide which program is best for you.

One of the most popular programs for working with digital images is Faststone Image Viewer. It has gained popularity due to its versatility and support for a large number of formats. In this application you can not only view photos, but also edit them. There is a built-in file manager. Faststone Image Viewer is completely free for non-commercial use.

The disadvantages include comparatively big size programs, and a certain complexity in management. But these disadvantages are incomparable with the advantages of the product.

XnView

The XnView image viewer is very similar in its capabilities to the application described above. But, unlike it, it can work not only on computers with the Windows operating system, but also on other platforms. This program has extensive plugin support. In addition, XnView allows you not only to view images, but also to play audio and video files.

The application has few disadvantages. These include a large number of functions that are not needed by the average user, and a lot of weight.

IrfanView

Irfan View differs from previous programs in that this application, having almost the same capabilities, weighs very little.

True, not every user will like the rather ascetic interface design. In addition, to Russify IrfanView you will need to make additional efforts by installing a plugin.

Imagine

A distinctive feature of the Imagine program is its extremely light weight (less than 1 MB). At the same time, all the basic functions that are present in image viewers and editors are available in it.

But it’s worth noting that some features that more “heavy” programs have are not available in Imagine. This product runs on Windows OS, including Windows 10, but does not function on other platforms.

Picasa

The cross-platform Picasa application, in addition to functions for viewing and editing images, has extensive social capabilities for exchanging photos between users. This viewer has a unique feature that allows you to identify people's faces in photographs.

The main drawback of the program is that Google, its developer, announced the end of support for Picas, that is, the project is currently closed.

ACDSee

ASDSi has wider functionality than the above listed programs. It has additional features for working with cameras, and also applies advanced integration into the Explorer menu.

At the same time, there is no Russification in the official version of ACDSee. Additionally, unlike the above applications, full version paid.

FastPictureViewer

The main feature of FastPictureViewer is the ability to use hardware acceleration and other advanced technologies for faster processing of “heavy” photos. In addition, the program has advanced color reproduction capabilities, making it one of the best for viewing high-definition images.

At the same time, the developers, focusing on playback quality, abandoned additional functionality. In particular, FastPictureViewer cannot perform even light image editing. The free use of the program is limited.

Zoner Photo Studio

Zoner Photo Studio has a completely different focus. This is a real harvester for working with digital photographs. In addition to viewing photos, the application has advanced capabilities for editing, processing and organizing them. The program also supports working with non-graphic multimedia formats.

Among the disadvantages are rather complicated controls, especially for beginners. You can use it for free for only 1 month.

Ashampoo Photo Commander

Ashampoo Photo Commander is another processor for working with photographs, which has a fairly large set of functions for processing them. Unlike Zoner Photo Studio, the operation of this product is more intuitive for the average user.

Among the disadvantages, the very large size of the program should be highlighted. The application has a limited period of free use.

Universal Viewer

A special feature of Universal Viewer is that it supports playback of various file formats, not just graphic ones (video, audio, text, etc.). The application has fairly simple controls.

But the file playback capabilities of this universal program are still more limited than those of specialized solutions.

PSD Viewer

PSD Viewer differs from other viewers in that it supports displaying PSD files, which most similar products cannot do.

However, unlike Universal Viewer, PSD Viewer supports viewing a very limited number of graphic formats. Apart from images in PSD, and some other graphic formats created specifically for Adobe Photoshop, this program cannot reproduce other images. PSD Viewer does not have a Russian-language interface.

We reviewed the most popular photo viewing programs. As you can see, they are quite diverse, which allows the user to choose the application that best suits his tastes and tasks.

Hello.

Today, in order to view photos and pictures, it is far from necessary to use third-party programs at all (in modern Windows 7/8 operating systems, Explorer does a good job of this). But its capabilities are not always enough and not for everyone. Well, for example, can you quickly change the resolution of a picture in it, or view all the properties of the picture at once, trim the edges, change the extension?

Not long ago I had to face a similar problem: the pictures were archived in an archive and in order to view them, I had to extract it. Everything would be fine, but there were hundreds of archives and packing and unpacking was a very tedious task. It turns out that there are programs for viewing pictures and photographs that can show you images directly in the archives without extracting them!

In general, this is how this idea for this post was born - to talk about such user “helpers” for working with photos and pictures (by the way, such programs are often called viewers, from the English Viewers). So, let's begin…

1. ACDSee

One of the most famous and popular programs for viewing and editing photos and images (by the way, there is both a paid version of the program and a free one).

The program's capabilities are simply colossal:

Support for RAW images (professional photographers save images in them);

All kinds of file editing: changing photo size, trimming edges, rotating, captioning pictures, etc.;

Support for popular cameras and images from them (Canon, Nikon, Pentax and Olympus);

Convenient presentation: you immediately see all the pictures in the folder, their properties, extension, etc.;

Russian language support;

A huge number of supported formats (you can open almost any image: jpg, bmp, raw, png, gif, etc.).

Result: If you often work with photos, you should definitely be familiar with this program!

This program combines minimalism with great functionality. The program window is divided (by default) into three areas: on the left is a column with your drives and folders, in the top center are thumbnails for the files in a given folder, and at the bottom is an enlarged view of the image. Very convenient, by the way!

It should be noted that this program has a large number of options: multi-converting pictures, editing images, changing the extension, resolution, etc.

By the way, there are a couple of interesting notes on the blog with the participation of this program:

Converting photos from one format to another:

Creating a PDF file from pictures:

XnView programs support more than 500 formats! This alone deserves to have this “software” on your PC.

3. IrfanView

One of the oldest programs for viewing pictures and photographs, its history dates back to 2003. Purely in my opinion, this utility was more popular before than it is now. At the dawn of Windows XP, there was nothing to remember except it and ACDSee...

Irfan View is characterized by minimalism: there is nothing superfluous here at all. Nevertheless, the program provides high-quality viewing of all kinds of graphic files (and it supports several hundred different formats), allowing you to scale them from very large to small.

It should be noted that there is excellent support for plugins (and there are quite a lot of them for this program). You can add, for example, support for viewing videos, viewing PDF files and DJVU (many books and magazines on the Internet are distributed in this format).

The program does a good job of converting files. I'm especially pleased with the multi-conversion (in my opinion, Irfan View implements this option better than many other programs). If there are a lot of photos that need to be compressed, then Irfan View will do it quickly and efficiently! I recommend you check it out!

4. FastStone Image Viewer

For many independent assessments- this free program is one of the best for viewing pictures and working with them. Its interface is somewhat reminiscent of ACDSee: convenient, concise, everything is at hand.

FastStone Image Viewer supports all major graphic files, as well as some RAW files. There is also a slideshow function, image editing: cropping, changing resolution, expanding, hiding red-eye (especially useful when editing photos).

It is impossible not to note the support for the Russian language right out of the box (i.e. automatically after the first launch you will have Russian selected by default, no third-party plugins, such as, for example, need to be installed on Irfan View).

And a couple more features that are not available in other similar programs:

Effects (the program implements more than a hundred unique effects, a whole visual library);

Color correction and anti-aliasing (many people note that pictures can look much more attractive when viewing them in FastStone Image Viewer).

5. Picasa

This is not only a viewer of various images (but the program supports them in large quantities, more than a hundred), but also an editor, and not a bad one at that!

First of all, the program is distinguished by the ability to create albums from various images, and then record them on Various types media: disks, flash drives, etc. Very convenient if you need to make several collections from different photos!

There is also a chronology function: all photos can be viewed as they were created (not to be confused with the date of copying to the computer, by which other utilities sort).

It should also be noted that it is possible to restore old photographs (even black and white): you can remove scratches from them, color correct them, and remove “noise.”

The program allows you to add watermarks to pictures: this is a small inscription or picture (logo) that protects your photo from being copied (or, at least, if it is copied, then everyone will know that it is yours). This function will be especially useful for owners of sites where they have to post photos in large quantities.

I think that the presented programs are enough for most tasks of the “average” user. And if not, then most likely there is nothing to recommend other than Adobe Photoshop...

By the way, many may be interested in how to make an online photo frame or beautiful text:

That's all, happy viewing of the photos!