Windows 7 image viewing and editing program. Photo viewers: which is better

Our selection presents the best applications for viewing photos, which, despite their free distribution, have high-quality functionality and capabilities on par with commercial software. Graphic image viewers have options for converting and renaming images, creating photo albums for recording on disks, uploading to the Internet, etc.

The utilities we are considering are also editors with a set of tools for processing photographs, removing unnecessary elements and applying interesting filters. Our review will help you choose a program for viewing digital images that meets your requirements.

The application allows you to view photos in various modes, convert them to the desired format and edit images using a set of useful tools. The utility is one of the fastest among similar viewers; it easily opens objects of less common formats, recognizes audio and video, and can also expand the boundaries of its capabilities by adding plug-ins. The user can extract sections of the image of the selected area and image icons, view images as a thumbnail of the image, create screenshots and use convenient auto-correction.

The program combines the main functions for editing and processing images of various graphic formats and digital RAW. The user can apply watermarks to the image, work with the size, color and unnecessary fragments of images, auto-enhancement, batch processing and red-eye removal. In addition, you can create histograms, business cards and slideshows with music, turn on a magnifying glass and add comments. The application is compatible with the scanner.

One of the best programs for viewing and editing graphic images. Can convert files, change images, create photo albums, set passwords on photos, burn the resulting material to disk or print. You can also resave from one format to another, work with multiple formats, remove red eyes from a photo, and view photos in slide show mode. In addition, the user can take advantage of interesting filters and effects.

Free Google product for quick search, viewing on PC and image editing. Finds images available on the computer and, using a large set of tools and interesting effects, retouches them, creates collages and slide shows. The user can crop, remove red-eye, improve the quality of pictures, adjust color and shadow, as well as adjust height and width. Transferring photos and clips to Google+ will help you quickly display the material in your feed, and the comparison option will allow you to evaluate the initial and final results of the processed image. Pikasa also systematizes pictures and finds them in a common database by tags, faces, geolocation or other parameters of a given sorting.

The utility allows you to view and edit images using a large set of high-quality tools. The viewer opens more than 400 formats, converts files, works with different operating systems and installs new modules. For processing, the user has access to interesting effects and tools, capturing images, creating slide shows and web pages, going to search and selecting skins. Using plugins, integration into the Total Commander shell is possible, and having Nero on your PC will help you burn pictures to discs directly from the software. Creation of photo galleries and web pages is available.

A free Nero product for searching media files, playing and burning DVDs, Blu-Rays and CDs. The utility helps you quickly find the necessary files in the media directory, open them, create images and burn them to media. In addition, you can “upload” material to the Internet, record images in several formats, edit photos and create a slide show or video presentation. Nero Quick works with most formats, recognizes faces and has a large set of powerful tools.

This utility allows you to quickly view and edit photos in a high-quality manner, sort your home collections according to different criteria, and “upload” pictures to resources. The editor is almost as functional as its paid counterparts; it intelligently organizes collections of photographs, removes red eyes, and has options for adjusting color depth, palette, and adding text. You can create 3D buttons, layouts, collages, apply effects and fine-tune parameters. Processed images can be synchronized with the mobile version of the software. The free version works for 30 days.

The application will help you properly organize your photos, create albums, collections, automatically sort and apply various effects to your photos. With the help of Karambis, you can create a convenient photo library not only for viewing on a PC, but also for use in software for viewing pictures or in social networks. There is a smart search, sorting by dates and locations. You can download GPS tracks and overlay them on an image, apply filters, share material by email, and adjust various quality enhancement settings. You can evaluate the trial version for 30 days.

A convenient converter that qualitatively changes the size and extension of images. Supports RAW, popular formats used for professional shooting, organizes pictures, compresses, imports, adds watermarks, batch processes and has presets to improve pictures. There are versions for 32 and 64-bit operating systems.

The utility helps you view text, “book” files and images, supports popular formats and recognizes them. Exports the document base into text or image, converts the selected area into some formats and supports several languages ​​(including Russian). The viewer can also modify the XML file, customize the document for easier reading, and use tools to customize tabs and zoom. Conveniently customizable keys, session recovery, going to the previous page and fine-tuning the search for books, paragraphs and fonts will not leave demanding users indifferent.

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 photos, 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.

There is a free Photo Gallery application included with 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. The programs have built-in tools to perform various operations with digital photographs or any other images: rotate, resize, remove red-eye, swatch, color correction, convert to other formats, send for printing, etc.

The free Picasa program (which would have been included in this review) was left out of the scope of this review due to the fact that Google stopped developing and supporting 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 is a free version of the 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 is a free image viewer 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.

Report a bug

is a free program that, moreover, can work without installation and is designed for viewing widely used graphic formats.

Key features of the APViewer viewer:

• Ability to view formats - BMP, JPG, GIF, ICO, PNG, WMF.
• Ability to search for pictures by specified parameters - graphic file type, image width and height.
• Ability to view animated GIF images frame by frame.
• Ability to work with lists of images.
• Ability to find out the color code of a pixel and show the color corresponding to the code.
• Cropping drawings.
• Batch copying and saving to a specified folder.
• Preview before printing with the ability to set the size of the printed image in millimeters.
• Saving pictures with calculation of their future file size.
• Compiling lists of pictures with the formation of this list in a tabular form, convenient for analysis, the ability to find duplicate images.
• Possibility of displaying a slide show.
• High-quality image scaling using built-in filters.

You won’t surprise anyone with photographs and pictures on your computer for a long time. However, such a seemingly ordinary thing as a photo cannot be opened without a viewer. But the problem will disappear by itself if you know what to look for.

Windows Photo Viewer

This is a standard Windows 7 program that is installed along with the operating system. Besides, this is the simplest one you can find. Its functionality is minimal:

• viewing images of all formats;
• automatic display of photos as a slide show;
• increase and decrease;
• Rotate the photo 360 degrees.

He is not capable of anything else. Although why do you need more if its only function is viewing pictures. And he copes with it perfectly. It is also worth noting that this Windows 7 image viewer, due to its simplicity, consumes a minimal amount of RAM, so it starts up quickly and works like a clock.

Paint

The well-known standard drawing program for PC. Most often, this is where children begin their acquaintance with computers. However, it is also a good Windows image viewer for almost all common formats.

In addition to multiple drawing features, it has a very useful function of rotating and reflecting the image horizontally and diagonally. In addition, it can be used to save a graphic element in a different format.

Free

- FastStone Image Viewer. A very common image viewer, it has an intuitive interface and is easy to use. Everything is visible, almost all tool buttons are clear at first glance, the folder tree will help you find photos without leaving the program, thumbnails of pictures are shown.

In addition, the utility is notable for its great functionality for editing and minor processing of photos, as well as the ability to view them in full screen mode. In the same mode, you can edit using the pop-up toolbar.

A distinctive feature of the program is the function of collective file renaming, it is called “Batch conversion\renaming”. For more convenient viewing, you can create a slide show with quite interesting settings (display in random order, use of effects and music, compress photos, etc.).

- Picasa. Also a very famous image viewer. It has a design that is both simple and sophisticated. When you open a picture, the editing panel immediately opens using filters (auto-light correction, retouching, removing red eyes, etc.). You can also experiment with colors, brightness, and contrast.

As in the previous program, there is a function for creating slide shows with the addition of various effects, transitions and music. However, this is not the main feature of Picasa. It is famous for its ability to find a specific person in a photo or group photos with a certain personality.

An excellent utility for viewing graphic files. Has a stylish modern design. Supports many well-known and not so well-known image formats. It can be controlled using hot keys, and it is also possible to write a caption for a photo. In addition, with its help, any picture can easily become wallpaper on your desktop.

This utility does not contain any serious editing functions. However, it is somewhat different from its relatives in that it does not need to be installed and is not case sensitive. Therefore, you can safely carry it on a flash drive and use it to view various kinds of images.

Microsoft Office program

The world-famous Microsoft Office software package is installed on almost every computer. It includes a large number of office utilities, including an image viewer. It's called Microsoft Office Picture Manager.

Its functionality is small, but it is enough for viewing photos and slightly editing them. With it you can:

• flip or rotate the image;
• crop or change resolution;
• adjust color, brightness and contrast;
• remove red eye, etc.

This utility is capable of opening graphic elements in many formats. The only caveat is that the license for the software package from Microsoft is paid, and does not cost that little. But you can find a hacked office on torrents (however, this is highly undesirable, since using pirated programs can result in a hefty fine).

Which one is better to choose?

Of course, it is impossible to definitely say which is the best image viewer. It all depends on the user’s preferences, what functions he wants to see and what to do with the photo. But we can definitely say that it is useful to have a couple of different programs on your computer. For example, you can use a standard utility for simple viewing and Paint for minimal editing and resaving, and additionally install FastStone Image Viewer for advanced actions with graphic files.

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, or view all the properties of a 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). And 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 and DJVU files (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

According to many independent estimates, this free program is one of the best for viewing and working with pictures. 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 (and the program supports a large number of them, 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 of 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!