Image Viewers and Management Tools

Image/Graphic Viewing software is a must-have application to have on your PC. While Windows XP comes standard with thumbnail and filmstrip views in explorer, and earlier versions of Windows has the Wang image viewer, they simply just don't do everything that a good graphic program should. Here are the two best freeware apps I've found for viewing, sorting, converting and editing graphics and image files.

Irfanview: I've mentioned this app before in an earlier entry but it's just great software that is probably the most popular and feature packed free image viewer for Windows. It has been around for many years and keeps getting better.

Some features of IrfanView: Preview option, Drag & Drop support, fast directory view (fast moving through directory), slideshow, batch conversion, print option, change the color depth, scan support, cut/crop and many many more.

Supported file formats: JPG/JPEG, GIF, BMP, DIB, RLE, PCX, PNG, TIFF, TGA, RAS/SUN, ICO, AVI, WAV, MID, RMI, WMF, EMF, PBM, PGM, PPM, IFF/LBM, PSD, CPT, MPG/MPEG, MOV and Photo-CD(Overview Photo-CD support) as well as Flash/Shockwave format. All this for (currently) only 874kb.

I LOVE this program because it's lightweight and extremely fast! I've also found that it will open troublesome image files that some of the professional graphics programs can't. I also use it for creating slideshow playlists. The great thing about creating a playlist is (like an audio playlist on Winamp or Media Player) files can be chosen from different directories and drives and sorted into the required order. Great for use with a data projector at parties and public services.

FastStone Image Viewer is an image browser, viewer, converter and editor with an easy to use interface and a nice array of features, that include resizing, renaming, cropping, color adjustments, watermarks and more. It also includes an intuitive full-screen mode that provides quick access to EXIF information and thumbnail browser via hidden toolbars that emerge when you touch the edge of your screen with the mouse. Other features include a high quality magnifier and built-in slideshow with 60+ transitional effects, as well as lossless JPEG transitions, drop shadow effects, image frames, scanner support, histogram and much more. FastStone Image Viewer supports all major graphic formats including BMP, JPEG, JPEG 2000, GIF, PNG, PCX, TIFF, WMF, ICO and TGA as well as digital RAW formats (.CRW, .NEF).

This viewer/editor is a gem! I have never encountered such a superb, well-rounded viewer/editor before. The coolest thing is that the menus pop up when you move your curser to edge of the photo you are viewing. No other program does that. It is simply a joy to work with so many features. All other programs in this FastStone series are highly recommendable as well. Get this!!!