Comparison of image viewers explained

This article presents a comparison of image viewers and image organizers which can be used for image viewing.

Functionality overview and licensing

NameView functionsOther functionsLicense
ACDSeeThumbnails (user-defined sizes), fullscreen, slideshow, zoom, fit, view Exif info, view inside ZIP archives, ...Resize, crop, rotate, flip, JPEG lossless rotate/mirror, face recognition, adjust exposure and colors etc., filters (sharpen, blur, average, emboss), red eye removal, batch rename, edit Exif info
Adobe BridgeThumbnails, slideshow, filmstrip, preview, versions with alternatesStand Alone: rotate, rename, delete, move, copy, batch rename, add/Edit metadata, camera raw image adjustments: crop, resize, exposure, contrast, white balance, curvesVia Photoshop: contact sheet, merge to HDR, PDF presentation, photomerge, Web picture gallery
Adobe LightroomLibrary organization, RAW and JPEG editing, slideshow tools, print layout and preferences, web gallery creation and uploading
Aperture
CDisplayFit to window, zoom, print, full-screen, slideshow, image collection, image information...Rotate, flip, save as, used for reading comics and manga.
DarktableLighttable (contact sheet), darkroom (image editing), map, tetheringNon-destructive RAW photo editing (like Adobe Lightroom) as well as common image formats
digiKamFit to window, zoom, pan, light table, slideshow with effects, OpenGL viewerRotate, crop, vertical/horizontal flip, lossless JPEG operations (90° steps), color management, 16bit color depth, Light Table, Exif, IPTC, XMP, GPS metadata, adjust colors/brightness/levels, elaborate Black and White conversion, automatic lens correction, anti-vignetting, sharpening tools, vibrance, many filters, face recognition, Batch operations, export to archive, HTML, flickr, gallery2, picasaweb, smugmug, iPod, Facebook, 23hq, flash.
Eye of GNOMEFit to window, zoom, flip, rotate, full-screen, slideshow, image collection, image informationDelete, print, save, rename, set wallpaper
F-SpotFull-screen, slideshow, zoom, multiple sizes of thumbnails. Export: HTML, Flickr, Gallery Project, Picasa, Facebook (via extension) and O.r.i.g.i.n.a.lTags, rotate in single degree increments, hue, contrast, white balance, colour, sharpen, soft focus, crop, auto red-eye reduction. Files stored at /user/Pictures/Photos/[year]/[month]/[day]
FastPictureViewerBorderless full-screen kiosk mode, Fit-to-window, 1:1, 50% to 6400% magnifier, multicore-enabled, GPU-based panning/zooming, black & white preview and lost shadows/highlights view.File renaming, single-click background copy/move to preset location, single-click rating/labeling (writes Adobe XMP sidecar files and/or embeds XMP metadata within JPEG/TIFF/HD Photo/JPEG XR), Windows rating, color management including custom target profile selection, Unicode support, Exif shooting data (shutter speed, f-stop, ISO speed, exposure compensation) and real-time, seamless R,G,B histogram in translucent floating window. IPTC metadata editor in the registered version.
FastStone Image ViewerAll major formats, thumbnail view (6 predefined sizes), full screen, magnifier, slideshow. Uses second monitor for fullscreen preview. Popups image gallery, detailed image informations, editing options at the image border in fullscreen modus.Many editing features: rotate, move, rename, 150+ transitional effects, crop, resize, clone, heal, convert format, color adjust, sharpen, drop shadow effects, scanner support, histogram. JPEG lossless rotate/flip/crop.
GeeqieFull-screen, slideshow, zoom, color spectrum, 14 sizes of thumbnailsRotate, move, rename, hue, contrast, find/remove duplicates
GonvisorFit to window, zoom, print, full-screen, slideshow, image collection, image information, view images in compressed ZIP, RAR, or 7z files.Rotate, flip, save as, used for reading comics and manga
GraphicConverterFull-screen, slideshowRotate, move, rename
gThumbFull-screen, slideshow, zoom, color spectrum, three sizes of thumbnailsRotate, move, rename, hue, contrast
GwenviewFullscreen, slideshow, zoom, rotate, adjust gamma/contrast/brightness, disk navigator, file tree, thumbnails, extended thumbnails, bookmarks...Add border, filter, effects, resize, rename, raw image converter, recompress, edit color. Share using 23, Dropbox, Facebook, Flickr, Google drive, Google photos/Picasaweb, Imageshack, Imgur, Piwigo, Rajce.net, remote storage, SmugMug, Yandex.Fotki, Zooomr
iPhotoThumbnails, fullscreen, slideshow, camera information, search, tags, organize by event or album, auto organize by date during first importLossless JPEG rotate, cropping (custom and template), brightness/contrast adjustment, red-eye reduction, retouch, color enhancement, B&W and sepia conversion, export to multiple formats & sizes
IrfanViewThumbnails (18 pre-defined sizes from 50×50–800×800 pixels), fullscreen, slideshow, zoom, fit (several options), view IPTC and Exif info, hex view, histogram (also RGB); Format detection with offer to rename, set wallpaper, EXE/SCR creation, Burn slideshow to CD; directory tree32 languages (version 4.28/4.30)Add Text, crop, cut/copy selected area, paste-Into selected area, paste from print screen, resize/resample, rotate, flip vertically/horizontally, JPEG lossless transformations, color adjustments, change color depth, greyscale, red-eye reduction, sharpen, effects/filters, own and 8bf (Photoshop) plugins compatibility, edit IPTC info, move, copy, delete, rename, convert, batch conversion, batch renaming/resizing/cropping, panorama creation, send email, also via IrfanView Thumbnails/Plugins: contact sheet creation, thumbnail creation, web gallery creation, face detection
KPhotoAlbumZoom, rotate, metadata, Exif, thumbnails (customize size), slideshow, categoriesAs Available per KIPI plugins
LoupeFullscreen, zoom, rotate, metadataPrint, delete, sandboxed decoding, support for touchpad and touchscreen gestures
Phase One Media ProThumbnails, slideshow, zoom, print, light table, library organization, best practice DAMRotate, rename, delete, batch rename, add/edit metadata (IPTC, EXIF, Custom), free reader app to distribute catalogs
Photos (Apple)
Photos (Windows)fullscreen, slideshow, fit, zoom, print
PicasaZoom, lossless rotate, histogram, camera information, Thumbnails (fully adjustable), Slide Show (Full Screen w/zoom), Magnifier, Search, Search for facesCrop, straighten, redeye, color tweaking, retouch, tuning, add text, numerous effects, batch edit, batch rename, video rendering, HTML gallery creation, photo browser application creator, screensaver, face recognition, keyword tagging, geo-tagging, photo collage, original file preservation, reorganize storage
PreviewZoom, rotate, metadataCrop, straighten, color tweaking, profile assignment
ShotwellThumbnails, fullscreen, slideshow, zoom, print, camera information, eventsAuto enhance, rotate, mirror, flip, red eye reduction, crop, exposure, saturation, tint, temperature, shadows, revert to original, rename, straighten, change time/date, publish to Facebook, Picasa Web Albums, Flickr
STDU ViewerFullscreen, fit to window, zoom, printrotate, brightness, contrast, gamma setting
Windows Photo GalleryFullscreen, slideshow, fit, zoom, printPanorama stitching, adjust brightness, contrast, color saturation/hue, filters, stitching, rotate, straightening and skew, face recognition
Windows Photo ViewerFullscreen, slideshow, fit, zoom, printRotate, lossy JPEG rotate, annotate TIFF images
XnView and XnViewMPThumbnails (user-defined sizes), fullscreen, slideshow, zoom, fit, view IPTC and Exif infoResize, crop, rotate, flip, JPEG lossless rotate/flip/crop, adjust exposure and colors etc., filters (sharpen, blur, average, emboss), batch convert, batch rename, edit IPTC info
XvView as ASCII or hex, magnify, determine pixel valuesCrop, pad, resize, rotate, flip, brightness, contrast, gamma, saturation, hue, colormap, reduce colors, dither, convert, and more
Zoner Photo StudioThumbnails (user-defined sizes), fullscreen, histogram, slideshow with transition effects, auto rotation, JPEG lossless rotate, pan, zoom, fit, IPTC and Exif info, GPS support, full Unicode support, free version does not support color profilesResize, crop, rotate, flip, JPEG lossless rotate/mirror, adjust exposure, colors, contrast, saturation, hue, white balance, levels, curves, gamma correction, filters (sharpen, blur, soften, edge, emboss, average, grayscale, ...), .8bf (Photoshop) plugins compatibility, color management, batch operations, image conversions with reduced/dithered colors, batch rename, red eye removal, edit ITPC, XMP and Exif info, time creation offset, merge to HDR, PDF presentation, panorama creation, lens correction, anti-vignetting, web picture gallery, DNG/RAW image converter, TWAIN scanners support, send pictures via e-mail, 3D pictures, dynamic calendar generation, support for WIC codecs (RAW processing)
NameView functionsOther functionsLicense

Supported file formats

Commonly used vendor-independent formats

ProgramComic bookPDFBMPJPEGPNGTIFFGIFPSDOther graphics file formats
ACDSeeACDSee reads 9 compression formats and writes to 2, reads 33 video formats, and supports 61 image formats and writes to 16, including EMF, PCX, PIC, PICT, PSD, PSP, SGI, TGA, WMF, XBM, various camera formats among others
Adobe BridgeDisplays all file types supported by Adobe Creative Suite
AperturePSD, OLY, Various video formats including: AVI, MOV, MPEG
CDisplay
digiKamJPEG 2000, PCX, WMF, PNM, PPM, XCF, XPM, PGX, MPEG, MPO, MPE, AVI, MOV, ASF, PGF, MP4
Eye of GNOMEPNM, RAS, ICO, XPM, SVG
F-SpotPPM, SVG
FastPictureViewerHD Photo, HDP, WDP, JPEG XR
(+ RLE, DIB, ICO, MTIFF in the registered edition, as well as DjVu, TGA, PSD, HDR, DDS, EXR, J2K, PNM, PBM, PGM, PBM, LRPREV, JPS through additional WIC codecs from the optional FastPictureViewer Codec Pack or from 3rd parties)
FastStone Image Viewerloading of: JPEG 2000, PCX, WMF, ICO, CUR, TGA, CRW, FAX, JFIF, HEIC, WEBP saving to: BMP, GIF, JPEG, JPEG 2000, PCX, PNG, PPM, TGA, TIFF, PDF
Geeqie
GonvisorOpens images contained in rar, zip, ace and 7zip files.
GraphicConverter190 types read, 79 types saved
gThumb
GwenviewMNG, SVG, XCF, RAW (NEF), etc.
iPhotoRAW (All QuickTime supported images), PSD (Leopard), AVI (Leopard), MOV (Leopard)
IrfanView~70 types including : AIF, ANI/CUR, ASF, AU/SND, AVI, B3D, DIB, CAM (Casio JPG), CLP, DDS, Dicom/ACR, DJVU, ECW, EMF/WMF, EPS/PS, FITS, FlashPix (FPX), FSH, G3, HDR, ICO/ICL/EXE/DLL, IFF/LBM, IMG (GEM), JPEG 2000, JPM, KDC, LDF, LWF, MED, MID/RMI, MNG/JNG, MOV, MP3, MPG, MrSID, NLM/NOL/NGG, OGG, PBM/PGM/PPM, PCX/DCX, PhotoCD, PIC, PSD, PSP, RAS/SUN, RAW, Real Audio (RA), RLE, SFF, SFW, SGI/RGB, SWF (Flash/Shockwave), TGA, TTF, TXT, WAD, WAL, WAV, WBMP, WBZ/WBC, XBM, XPM, CAD formats. Partial support: MOV, QTIF, Mac PICT, FLI/FLC, SVG. Note that some modes don't display large animated GIF files entirely (for example the Slideshow mode).
KPhotoAlbumPhoto formats supported by KDE; AVI, MPEG, RAW
LoupeAVIF, DDS, farbfeld, QOI, HEIC, ICO, JPEG XL, OpenEXR, PNM, SVG, TGA, WEBP
Phase One Media ProSupports over 100 file formats for images, videos and documents, including: PSD, IIQ, CR, EIP, DOC
Picasa8 types including TGA, RAW, and some movie formats
PreviewAll QuickTime images:
ShotwellRAW and some video formats
STDU ViewerTXT, EMF, WMF, DjVu, XPS
Windows Photo ViewerWMF, EMF, ICO
XnView and XnViewMPreads over 500 formats,[1] including: FAX, EPS, WMF, DICOM, DPX; writes about 75 formats [2]
XvPBM, PGM, PPM, XPM, Sun Rasterfile, Targa, RGB, PCX, FITS, PM, PostScript
Zoner Photo StudioHDP/WDP, PSB, PSP/PSPIMAGE, DIB/RLE, J2K/JPC/JP2, PAM, PBM, PGM, PNM, PCD, PCX, WBMP/WBM, TGA, ICO, MAC, WPG, BMI, MDM, THN, DCM, stereo pictures: JPS, PNS, BMS.
ProgramComic bookPDFBMPJPEGPNGTIFFGIFPSDOther graphics file formats

Camera raw formats

ProgramARW
Sony
CR2
Canon
DNG
Adobe
NEF
Nikon
ORF
Olympus
PEF
Pentax
RAF
Fujifilm
SRW
Samsung
X3F
Sigma
OthersNotes
ACDSeecRAW, CRW, DCR, ERF, HDR, MRW, RAW, RWL, sRAW http://www.acdsee.com/en/support/file-formats
ApertureCRW, MOS, RAW, FFF, 3FR https://www.apple.com/aperture/specs/raw.html
digiKamSeveral https://web.archive.org/web/20160304201129/https://docs.kde.org/trunk4/en/extragear-graphics/digikam/using-fileformatsupport.htmlhttps://web.archive.org/web/20161019024525/http://www.cybercom.net/~dcoffin/dcraw/
F-SpotCRW, MRW, RAW, SRF
FastPictureViewer
(registered edition)
NRW, RW2, SR2, SRF, RWZ etc. http://www.fastpictureviewer.com/formats/
FastStone Image ViewerCR3, CRW, NRW, RWL, MRW, SR2, SRF, RW2https://www.faststone.org/FSViewerDetail.htm
Geeqie3FR, CRW, DCR, ERF, K25, KDC, MEF, MOS, MRW, PTX, R3D, RAW, SR2, SRF
IrfanViewCRW, EEF, DCR, MRW, NRW, RW2, SRF http://www.irfanview.com/main_formats.htm
Phase One Media ProCRW, MOS, RAW
Picasa3FR, CRW, DCR, KDC, MRW, NRW, RAW, RW2, SRF, SR2 https://support.google.com/picasa/answer/15625?hl=en
ShotwellSupport "limited", export 8-bit only http://yorba.org/shotwell/help/formats.html
XnView and XnViewMPCRW, RWZ and more http://www.xnview.com/en/xnview/#formats
Zoner Photo Studio3FR, CRW, ERF, KDC, MEF, MRW, RAW, RW2, RWZ, SR2, SRF https://www.zoner.com/en/system-requirements

Basic features

ProgramFullscreenslideshowzoom
(styles)
cache decoded imagesthumbnails (sizes)thumbnail cachingnavigation viewsprintsort
(schemes)
ACDSee
1:1, fit width and/or height, lock

previous, next

user-defined

database
directory-tree, albums, calendar, favourites, search results
user-defined, name, date, size, type, ...
CDisplay
1:1, fit over/under width/height, fullscreen, doublepage

Fixed, with scroll
Thumbnails(of current folder images or archive)
digiKam
fit, in/out

previous, next

adjustable size
album-tree, tags, calendar, searches, map (geolocation)sort (schemes) -->
tags, date, keywords, metadata; no user-defined order
Eye of GNOME
+/-, 1:1, best fit
image collection pane, only one row Thumbnails(of current folder images)
F-Spotlist, file-tree
keywords
FastPictureViewer
Auto-advance mode

1:1, fit, 50%-6400% magnifier, click-and-hold zooming

dynamic, adaptive

96x96px, shown on navigation slider (Vista or later)

(uses OS-managed cache on Windows Vista or later)

Windowed or full-screen, back and forth navigation, bookmarks, navigation slider
Filenames, file creation/modification date, Exif date taken, GPS timestamp
FastStone Image Viewer
1:1, 2%-5000% magnifier, click-and-hold zooming, fit width and/or height, lock

6 predefined sizes

database
dir-tree, back and forth navigation, bookmarks
user-defined, name, date, file size, image size, type
Geeqie
fit, 1:1, in/out

previous, next

24x24 - 256x256

as png-files centrally or in sub-dir
list, dir-tree, collection
collections, keywords, directory
gThumb
random, forward, reverse

fit, 1:1, remember, fit-if-larger, in/out

48x48 - 256x256, 9 sizes
Newer versions cache in a central directorylist, icon, subfolders, categories, catalog
catalogs, categories
Gwenview
fit, 1:1, fit-if-larger, zoom to 1600%

adjustable size

fullscreen thumbnails, dir-tree

name, size, date
IrfanView
1:1, fit width and/or height, lock

18 predefined sizes: 50×50–800×800
dir-tree, search results
name, date, file size, image width/height, type, user-defined
KPhotoAlbum
fit, in/out, presets
views search resultsby date
Phase One Media Pro
Fit to viewing area/height/width, 1:1, zoom to 1600%

Yes, user-defined

Database
Catalog-sets, date, filetypes, events, author, people, by search, by keywords and all metadata
name, date, size, user-defined
Picasa
only in slideshow mode

no view window, fit to viewing area, 1:1, zoom to 400%

user defined

database
directory-tree, albums, timeline
name, date, size, user-defined
Shotwell
fixed size
Thumbs, Events (dates), tags
Title, Exposure Date
STDU Viewer

fit to width, fit to height, fit to size






Windows Photo Viewer
1:1, fit, in/out
XnView and XnViewMP
1:1, fit width and/or height, lock

previous, next

user-defined

database
dir-tree, favourites, categories
name, date, size, type, etc.; no user-defined order
Xv
fixed size

in subdirectory (.xvpics)

name
Zoner Photo Studio
1:1, fit width and/or height, lock

in Viewer, previous and next

user-defined

database
dir-tree, albums, CD compilations, media archive, search results, web albums
contact sheet, templates, calendars, paper saver

name, date, size, type, etc.; user-defined order
ProgramFullscreenslideshowzoom (styles)cache decoded imagesthumbnails (sizes)thumbnail cachingnavigation viewsprintsort (schemes)

Additional features

Programsearch (criteria)selection (styles)metadataadjust image (functions) hotkeyscolor management (ICC)JPEG Lossless operationsUnicode supportother / special
ACDSee
individual, linear, block

Exif, IPTC

many

rotation only
GPS Location, Scripts for batch/pre processing, automatic slideshow
CDisplay
Rotate, Filter

configurable
Slider, automatic slideshow, mouse control
digiKam
file name, comments, most Exif and meta data

linear, block, complex

Exif and IPTC

many editing function

by changing EXIF orientation and not in editor
Geotagging, batch processing, detect duplicate/similar images, export to Internet/social media/HTML
Eye of GNOME
Rotate

unconfigurable
F-SpotExport to HTML, Flickr, or O.r.i.g.i.n.a.l.
FastPictureViewer
Filter the view by rating, file name...

Copy, move, delete, rate, label

Write XMP Rating/Label, IPTC metadata, Windows Rating, embedded or in sidecar files, shows shooting info (Exif) and realtime RGB histogram

(supports custom monitor profile, direct conversion from image colorspace to monitor colorspace, ICC v4)
n/a, nativeNative 32 and 64-bit, Tethered shooting (MTP/PTP over USB), Multicore-aware, DirectX accelerated, HD Photo / JPEG XR support.
FastStone Image Viewer
individual, linear

EXIF, JPEG comment

many

lossless transitions
full screen mode with all commands available via pop-up menu bars when approaching the mouse from the borders of the screen
Geeqie
collections, keywords, filename, location, size, date, dimensions, comments, previous results

block, linear, complex

rotate, brightness, contrast
find duplicates, sort manager, recent collections
Gonvisor
Delete, rename

n/a, nativeMade to easily read comics or manga can display two pages at time and view images in compressed ZIP, RAR, 7z, cbr, cba, cbz etc.
gThumb
name, comment, date, category, folder, recursive-folder

linear, block, complex

manipulate color, flip/rotate, etc.
bookmarks, comments, rename series, create index image, create HTML album
Gwenview
tags

Exif, IPTC, XMP

Rotate, Red eye removal, saturation, color balance, levels and more
, rotation and flippingbatch processing, export to Internet/social media/HTML
IrfanView
& Thumbnails

various options

EIF, IPTC, Comment

many features

many
Opens and saves jpg2000 and jpgls photo files, native can search for and replace pixel of a certain color (with some latitude) and replace all with a given color of pixels
KPhotoAlbum
keywords, comments, title, any field from Exif metadata

linear, complex

per KIPI plugins

configurable
Quick-tagging using keyboard tokens
Phase One Media Pro
name, date, rating, file size, and many more.

individual, linear

EXIF, IPTC, and custom keywords

Rotate, Red eye removal, saturation, color balance, levels and more
Find duplicates, hierarchical keywords, distributable catalog with free Media Pro reader, offline browsing of images
Picasa
name, date, rating, faces

individual, linear

Keywords

basic

rotation only
collages, Geotagging, Search for Faces, find duplicates
Shotwell
individual, linear, hide

Read IPTC, Exif, XMP

Exposure, Saturation, Tint, Shadows, Temperature, and more
Non-destructive editor, Auto Enhance Images, Duplicate, Upload, Favorite
STDU Viewer
Windows Photo Viewer
rotate, lossless JPEG rotate, annotate TIFF images

rotate only
XnView and XnViewMP
name, date, file size, image size, meta data, ...

individual, linear

IPTC, Exif, JPEG comment

many

configurable

Custom monitor profile supported

Supported in XnViewMP
Supports Adobe Photoshop Filter 8BF plugins
Xv
individual, all

view comments

many
Zoner Photo Studio
name, date, file size, meta data

individual, linear

IPTC, Exif, XMP, JPEG comment

very many

configurable
sign images, 16 bits per channel, GPS support, merge pictures to HDR, WIC codecs support
Programsearch (criteria)selection (styles)metadataadjust image (functions)hotkeyscolor management (ICC)JPEG Lossless operationsUnicode supportother / special

See also

Notes

Notes and References

  1. Web site: [Windows] Best free image viewer — IrfanView vs XnView vs FastStone vs Picasa vs Zoner | dotTech]. October 8, 2013.
  2. Web site: Supported formats. XnView.com.