CNET Editors' review
This image viewer and editor is a longtime favorite among our staff, and with good reason. IrfanView is simple, fast, and free for individual use. Upon installation, the app attempts to install two Google programs, but you can opt out.
The program lets you open and edit images, as well as multiple media formats. You can cut and crop images, apply batch conversions, add, sharpen, or blur effects, create panoramas, and change color modes easily. The program continues to add support for an array of file formats and has plug-in support for most image, video, and sound formats, including MP3, AVI, audio CD, and WMA. The interface is far from fancy but should be easy enough for most users to figure out. An IrfanView Thumbnails shortcut on the desktop offers an Explorer-like file tree that quickly displays all images in a particular folder. The latest version includes a basic drawing palette made accessible by hitting F12. It contains simple Erase, Draw, Fill, Rotate, Draw an Arrow, and Color Picker commands, perfect for grabbing screenshots and highlighting image specifics.
IrfanView does what it does well. It's not going to replace a major paint program, but why use a meat cleaver to cut a stick of butter?
Publisher's Description
From Irfan Skiljan:
IrfanView is a fast and compact image viewer/converter. It is trying to be simple for beginners and powerful for professionals. It supports file formats and features. Features include: multi-language support, Thumbnail option, Painting, slideshow, toolbar skins, fast directory browsing, batch conversion/editing, multipage editing, file search, change color depth, scanning, cut/crop, IPTC edit, capturing, lossless JPG operations, effects, watermark image option, ICC support, EXE/SCR creating, many hotkeys, command line options and plugins.
What's new in this version: Version 4.33 adds much faster rotation for 1 BPP images, new batch options, support for Jpeg-XR format, bug fixes, plugin updates etc.
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All versions:
4.3 starsout of 3,334 votes
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Current version:
4.7 starsout of 44 votes
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My rating:
Write review
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"Been Using It For Years Great Program Works Great"
Version: IrfanView 4.33
Pros
This is easy and great for resizing and touching up my photos
Cons
I have no cons
Summary
I have used this for years and highly recommend it.Great program for Free.
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"Excellent program"
Version: IrfanView 4.33
Pros
does it all with photos
Cons
Can;t think of any
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"Excellent... for years now."
Version: IrfanView 4.33
Pros
Fast, simple, does what it does very well indeed.
Cons
Doesn't do everything my Photoshop CS6 does? None really.
Summary
With available free extensions it reads the proprietary format of my cameras. It edits every image file I have ever needed to edit. Fast, simple file viewing and editing.
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"EXTREMELY FAST & EASY!"
Version: IrfanView 4.33
Pros
vERY USER FRIENDLY
Cons
HAVEN'T FOUND ANY
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"Best Graphics Viewer/editor. I have used it since v3.xx"
Version: IrfanView 4.33
Pros
Experience using it, ease of use, compatible with other software.
Cons
I have no cons. [that's eleven]
Summary
I'll continue to use it as long as it's available.
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"Very Basic as Compared To PhotoScape and FastStone"
Version: IrfanView 4.33
Pros
Good for very novice users and people with very little computer skills. My children and parents can use it with little to no trouble or tutorial. It's free
Cons
Very basic software. Limited on what you can do with regard to editing and painting. Red-eye reduction feature not as good as some of the other free programs.
Summary
I am what one may consider an above average computer user. I am knowledgeable and know my way around a computer. I am also familiar with many different computer programs and software. Recently, this past Christmas, I purchased a new Canon DSRL and I was not happy with the included photo editing software that came with it. However, I was not prepared to shell out upwards of one hundred dollars or more on Photo Shop or similar program. I wanted something that could do a pretty decent job of editing both .jpg format images as well as RAW images from my camera. After reading reviews of the top three photo editing software downloads from CNET, (IrfanView, PhotoScape and FastStone), I decided to download all three programs and try them all out for a few months. After trying them each and giving them an equally fair chance I find myself continuously going back to PhotoScape for its vast variety of capabilities and what you can do with both .jpg and RAW images. Furthermore, their websight offers a nice tutorial of nearly every single function that comes with the new software. I know I only gave IrfanView 2.5 stars, but I want to be clear that I am not knocking it. The gentleman who built it obviously put a lot of time into it and it appeals to a lot of users. I think it is a wonderful product for inexperienced computer users, but I don't think it will have enough to keep the average to above-average photographer happy.
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"Just plain AWESOME !"
Version: IrfanView 4.33
Pros
Easy to use and powerful !
Cons
Don't really have anything that I don't like !
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"Convenient, good tools"
Version: IrfanView 4.33
Pros
Convenient and good tools for editing pictures. It does so much more, but I use it mainly for quick pictures editing.
Cons
None that I can find.
Summary
I use only a small portion of the tools. It works great for quick picture editing.
The Screen Capture tool is also excellent.
Updated on Apr 26, 2012 -
"FAST, HANDLES FILES YOU NEVER KNEW EXISTED"
Version: IrfanView 4.33
Pros
Speed and small footprint. Universal file viewer with easy conversion between filetypes....and it's free!!
Cons
Inability to print multiple images on same page. Print function can be complicated due to number of options. could use a quickprint option with the custom choices.
Summary
I put this on every machine I set up. It's a must have.
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"easy to use and fairly comprehensive"
Version: IrfanView 4.33
Pros
Easy to navigate. Renaming, converting and relocating files are simple. Fast. Viewing EXIF info takes just one keystroke.
Cons
Minor limitations, but none serious.
Summary
Relatively small (12MB) and portable. My default viewer.
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