This isn't really a review, more of a heads-up.

For Windows users, you really should check out IrfanView (http://www.irfanview.com). This adorably quirky little program is incredibly handy. Not an editor like Photoshop or PaintshopPro or others like that, but a graphics viewer with some additional handy utilities. It reads and converts an incredible array of image formats, can do batches including conversion and renaming, and a huge array of other features.

And it's freeware.

Well not many bites on this thread Doug. Agreed on IrfanView, one of the best free progs available.

Doug
Looks interesting, thanks. I go on this site atleast once a day and this one slipped by. I think there are threads that don't get seen. I think that is what happened here.
DJ

Irfanview's been my default 'jpg' viewer for several years. In my opinion, its best features are the fast fullscreen mode (hit enter, and tap space and backspace to move between pictures), slideshow mode (an automatic form of the former feature), and thumbnail view. Everyone I've ever shown it to still uses it...

_Tim

Originally posted by Tim Edwards
Irfanview's been my default 'jpg' viewer for several years.
_Tim

Same here. It's fast, simple and small. I use it mainly for thumbnails and batch conversion. Haven't found a better image viewer yet.

I like this as well. Fast thumbnail generation is my favorite feature.
The resample/resize features are reportedly one of the best out there.
Although I use this, my number one, all time, must have, is ThumbsPlus.

Gee... I was reading this thread and thought what a wonderful program.... I'll have to check it out. Went to download it and found I already had it downloaded... Shows on my icons as Iview. I'd never really checked out all the features but have been using it a while. The main thing I'd enjoyed about it was that when it showed .gif files, it showed them animated if they were animated. That had previously been a problem for me as I'm a pack rat and save gifs and jpegs that I run across that I think I may use later in web design.

Hello All....

First post to add a couple of great uses I've found .

First ...is Screen Shots. just click that keyboard key for them, open "Sir" IrfanView and go to edit..paste.
You can easily crop, starting the selector at the upper left corner & bringing it to where ever you want.

Second....Just did this last nite, I'm so proud. You can tell that I am very very new to computers and love learning everything...

I found a web site, that had a great Flash movie with sound of the wailing of the sea. So I created a new folder "Flash" and then dragged a copy I found in my C:\WINDOWS\Temporary Internet Files (using Explorer). into the folder. Opened it with "Sir" IrfanView and he played it over and over for me. Then I saved it.

Wow... And to think this young man has given it to hundreds of thousand users FREE! I wrote and told him "Thank you!"

I use it also frequently for resizing, beats anything else I tried.

Goldcoin
Welcome aboard and thanks for the review. Sounds like you really like it. I checked it out and downloaded it but haven't installed it as of yet but your post has me curious. Thanks. I look forward to hearing more from you in the forum.
DJ

DJ Dubovsky

Thank you for the nice "Welcome".... I'm still reading all the great threads here..

Have PS6 and can't do anything in it yet...Looking for help at the very basic level..

Goldcoin
You're welcome. Hey, if you need help all you have to do is ask. Start a thread asking for specific help and someone will come to your rescue. You may wind up getting more answers than you expected. I can sympathize with you on Photoshop 6. It's like learning a whole new ballgame sometimes. Good luck and call on us if you need help.
DJ

Its definitely the best viewer out there.
AND FREE!

I've been using it for years.

John

John, I tried it once and was puzzled by how it changed all my icons and they all kind of looked alike. I mean like jpeg, gif, tif.
Is this something I did wrong installing it? If it is I'll try it again.

Thanks,

Sharon

Yea, if you choose to associate your images types with Irfanview on install, the icons will change to "custom Ifranview" icons like with most programs you choose to associate file types with.

...you can easily change the icons in windows if you go to tools> folder options> file types.
....that way you have total control.

hope that made a little sense.

:D

Thanks John. That was a quick response. I'll try it again.

Sharon

:)

I decided to bring this thread back to the front :confused: :D
It is IMHO the best freeware available, I've used it everyday for years and it deserves all the recognition it can get. It is now at version 3.75 and you can get it here (http://www.irfanview.com/english.htm).

I've been using it for a couple of years now. Great little program.

Still use my quick little Irfan.

But I have come across another powerful viewer which can read a heck of a lot of file formats!
For those interested:

http://www.xnview.com



John

aha, a South African lurker ;)

I see xnview has a Linux version as well. David K should be interested in that.

Do you know if xnview has spyware embedded in it?

Ok ok , I will bite - What advantage does Irfan have above the file browser in PS7 and the new(ish) picture viewer in Windows XP? Just interested to know:)

What advantage does Irfan have above the file browser in PS7 and the new(ish) picture viewer in Windows XP
To view pictures,
You don't need PS7
You don't need XP :D

It loads very much faster than the s/w you've mentioned. And of course it's free :thumbsup:

Those are the things that appeal to me too. Al.

It's small, fast, and if I want to move it somewhere, it fits on a floppy disk. I can open images, re-size them and do a few basic adjustments. I usually include it on CD's of family photos that I'm passing along to relatives because it's easy enough to use for all of the non computer geeks in the family...

Cool to see other South Africans into retouching!!!


Yes, I agree the XP picture viewer is a nifty little thing.
Irfanview is small and fast though.

What I like is the amount of different file types it can read. I don't have PS7, but I know that it can certainly read far more file types than PS6!!! I often get files which I can't read and Irfanview sorts that out. This really comes in handy with "user" support because its so small one can email the program to a user. BIG WIN!

The other little thing which I really like is the batch file rename.

Mike asked about the advantages for PC users of IrfanView over the APS7 File Browser -

Speed!

It's that simple.

Regards,

Stephen Marsh.

I'd like to add this ... which besides speed was a great attraction to me. It views animated GIF files as animated which my other viewers didn't. This may not be so important in viewing pictures but for other web building it can be an advantage.