Looking for a free image viewer

kunglao · Aug 2010

I need an image viewer that will allow me to have windowed ref pic over my programs that i am working oon max,maya zbrush etc.
I have Acdsee but its a crack ver and keeps crashing.

Any suggestions?

Noors · Aug 2010

i'm happy with XNview though it's a bit slow to open big files. Lots of parameters can be configured manualy.
http://www.xnview.com/

LosPescados · Aug 2010

I also use irfanview, always usefull with his "always on top function"
http://www.irfanview.com/

But I also use Xnview for fpicture browsing.

tacit math · Aug 2010

http://www.freewaregenius.com/2009/06/12/first-impression-a-lightweight-image-viewer-with-no-visible-interface/

http://users.forthnet.gr/pat/efotinis/programs/deskpins.html

renderhjs · Aug 2010

some useful stuff if you pick xnView or IrvanView if you come from ACDsee
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?p=979459#4

This is a no brainer but Xnview is the application for me and probably you, its the way acdsee should have stayed many years ago (version 2.5 days). It needs some tweaking but its free, stable and minimalistic while still having a impressive plugin and file type support.

cw · Aug 2010

+1 xnview.

larolaro · Aug 2010

Irfanview all the way.

wailingmonkey · Aug 2010

a user made this specifically for the purpose you state:

http://www.silo3d.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16966

maybe it will work for you.

felipefrango · Aug 2010

xnview over here as well.

frwanque · Aug 2010

Faststone too is a good Image viewer

http://www.faststone.org/

SouthpawSid · Aug 2010

I use Irfan View! Works perfectly for me!

kunglao · Aug 2010

Thanks guys, went with xnview,nice little image viewer

Eric Chadwick · Aug 2010

Added to the wiki
http://wiki.polycount.com/CategoryTools#Image_Browsing_Software

malcolm · Aug 2010

Is there any way in xnview to scroll through images using the mouse wheel like acdsee?

felipefrango · Aug 2010

Yeah, renderhjs pointed it out a few posts above.

malcolm · Aug 2010

Thanks found it right after I posted it, I'm going with xnview after using irfanview for the last 2 years seems much better for my workflow.

thomasp · Aug 2010

frwanque wrote: »

Faststone too is a good Image viewer

http://www.faststone.org/

i agree, i actually like this one more than xnview - which i use to view the more exotic formats.
do more recent versions of faststone allow you to view alpha channels though? that is one big letdown in the version i use.

another one worth a recommendation is http://djv.sourceforge.net/
it's strictly a viewer for frame-sequences/animations you are likely to deal with in compositing.

felipefrango · Aug 2010

Speaking of xnview, anyone knows if you can view individual channels? I know you can view like either RGB or Alpha but I'd love to be able to browse between channels in textures that have different black and white images on each channel.

Noors · Aug 2010

sadly not actually, but it has been suggested for future versions. I asked for basic paint tools too.

felipefrango · Aug 2010

Damn, that's sad. Seems like such a basic feature, I'm really surprised to see it's not there. Any of these other programs have this? I'd be willing to try a different one if it had this feature.

Eric Chadwick · Aug 2010

Here's a browser that lets you toggle RGBA channels... but only in the $25 version, and it only seems to recognize alpha for PNG files, not TGA/PSD/TIF/DDS.

Oh well.
http://www.senosoft.com/p3doproScreenshot.php?img=17

Update: I contacted the developer with some feedback, and they're working on some fixes. Might turn out to be a decent replacement...

Eric Chadwick · Aug 2010

Actually, there is a way to view RGBA channels in XnView, just not super-useful. Only works in the Viewer Mode (not the Browser) and there are no hotkeys.
Image > Extract Channel > then choose Red, Green, Blue, or Alpha.

McGreed · Aug 2010

XnView is great, I really like it, like I did once when ACDSee was actually good. Something thats great about it is that you can add plugins/addons to it, so maybe if you look for that, it might help your problem.

renderhjs · Aug 2010

AcdSee went down just the way Nero Burning did. They added to much crap to it and made it actually cluttered and slow and often even broken. Sometimes simplicity and a robust architecture are key.

What I don't like about XnView is that it supports Audio and Video by default as I have to disable it every time on a new install for booth the thumbnail browser and full view mode. I wish it were more minimalistic there and just scrapped that shit, because thats how AcdSee started going downhill.
What I like about xnView are the scripts that you can save that carry operations like cropping, rotating, resizing or adjusting colors and converting them to a different fileType. I saved some of those for common things I do such as resizing images for my blog and alike.

PolyHertz · Aug 2010

renderhjs wrote: »

What I like about xnView are ... operations like crapping.

Does it come with lense flare too?

McGreed · Aug 2010

@renderhjs
I actually have most of my programs as portable, just to avoid that problem. Just backup the files and copy them back over when reinstalling and it all works from the start, without setting up anything (apart from making new shortcuts)

Eric Chadwick · Aug 2010

Well, I've been emailing with the developer of that browser I linked to, and he's gladly adding better support for viewing channels and alpha, plus some other improvements. Some of the things I asked for:

Alpha display for bmp, dds, psd, tga, tiff, tpl.
Hotkey to toggle alpha channel.
Hotkey to cycle color channels (rgb, r, g, b).
Improvements to the rename tool.
Support for .max thumbnails.
Maybe support for previewing .max files, as there already is a viewer for lots of 3d formats. (lower priority, might add this if others ask for it)
Support for displaying layers in a PSD (lower priority, ditto)
Improved thumbnail performance, better caching (lower priority, ditto)

I love it when a simple email request to a developer starts some real improvements to a tool.

The tool is worth a look. http://www.senosoft.com/

renderhjs · Aug 2010

Eric Chadwick wrote: »

I love it when a simple email request to a developer starts some real improvements to a tool.

yeah like we had it already several times here at polycount. Some of my favorite threads here at polycount are about that, valuable input and a dev actually eagerly listening and updating with that input.

Eric Chadwick · Aug 2010

Totally, communication is key.

Mypeople · Aug 2010

Ive used xnview and irfan both for a long time and always prefer xnview, great browser, fast, easy to use

Noors · Aug 2010

i know xnview creator is working on a multiplatform version atm, so i guess he doesn't have the time to integrate new tools for now, but then, i'm sure he will be open for polycounts suggestions aswell.

McGreed · Aug 2010

You can always make it yourself, thats what everyone else is doing *cough*

I wish. Know some programming, but have no idea how to do it.

malcolm · Aug 2010

Is there a way to turn off the display of alpha channels in xnview?

felipefrango · Aug 2010

I guess Ctrl+H is what you're looking for?

Eric Chadwick · Aug 2010

btw, the Senosoft browser is looking better and better. He added a hotkey for cycling the channels (rgb, r, g, b, alpha), thumbnail support for Max files, and it also shows shaded/wireframe previews for OBJs and the like.

Titus · Nov 2013

Imagine IMO is the best, it's fast and compact.
OffSite (32/64x versions)
Tnx!
PS: And it's FREE:thumbup:

Looking for a free image viewer

Replies