Full-Featured Graphic Viewer

excellent
key review info
application features
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Most computer users have their favorite applications for important and often performed operations such as audio and video playing, picture viewing, Internet browsing, CD/DVD burning and the list goes on and on. I'm sure you have a preferred picture viewer that was recommended to you by a friend or you read about that application on the Internet. In any case, you know that once in a while it's worth trying something new even if it is just to consolidate the conviction that you made the right choice the first time. Well, now you can check out this free graphic viewer that seems to be a good image editor and even more than that.

Alternate Pic View is a real alternative to classic image viewers and it comes with so many features you may justifiably take it to be a graphic suite. Don't be fooled by the modesty with which this application is characterized as being a simple program to modify and create pictures. Alternate Pic View can convert photos, resize, split and extend images, extract icons and at the same time act like an unadorned drawing software.

Alternate Pic View has an easy to use and understand interface and even though the operating buttons have no text written on them, you will find out which one does what if you just hover the mouse cursor over them. It is very compact, almost unnoticeable in terms of resource consumption and if you have any questions concerning the features of Alternate Pic View, the help file will make things clear.

This application can render 29 image file formats and you can assign it to be the default viewer for any image types you want. It's also worth mentioning that the majority of Alternate Pic View's commands have keyboard shortcuts that make them even more easy to use.

You can effectively use Alternate Pic View to capture screenshots of applications or of specific areas of the desktop and you can even set the application to take snapshots at regular time intervals. This operation is done with the greatest ease and if you're tired of clicking, Alternate Pic View allows you to use the keyboard to do this job in no time.

The image conversion is also a quick process when using Alternate Pic View. This is perhaps due to the fact that the options for picture converting are also simply to understand and to use. All you need to do to perform a fully featured conversion is choose one from the 11 available formats, change the file's new folder, name, size, orientation and quality. There are other options for exporting the photos, such as keeping the EXIF/IPTC data (useful if you want to keep the original details of the photos you've taken with your digital camera), making thumbnails, overwrite and remove the source pictures.

Alternate Pic View's icon extractor utility enables you to load the target file, choose the icons you want to grab and the color depth and you're done. With Alternate Pic View you can also choose the transparent color for the icons you extract, copy them to the clipboard or save them to a specific file.

There are more than a dozen of graphic effects you can add to the loaded pictures in Alternate Pic View (yes, it has a redeye reduction function for digital photos) and this variety of choices is bound to satisfy even the pickiest of users. In the same effect menu Alternate Pic View displays the resizing options. Curious or exhaustive, you decide, is the fact that Alternate Pic View offers three distinct functions to change the size of a picture, extend or split it. It would've probably sufficed to offer a resize and a split feature, but the option dedicated to extending an image can't harm anyone and it will probably be more useful that you'd expect it to be.

The viewing options provided by Alternate Pic View are, I would say complete, as the application can zoom, fit and adjust the displayed images, show the pictures in full screen, slideshow or thumbnail mode while allowing you to easily navigate through picture files and folders.

You don't have to wait at all when Alternate Pic View loads a photo you select, as you would do in the case of some other (even quite famous) similar applications that have a rather hefty price tag, but are slowed down by the legions of plug-ins they come bundled with.

The editing functions of Alternate Pic View are a bit more than the basic ones you would expect from a freeware, lightweight image viewer. This application can paste in 6 (six!) modes, crop, define and remove selections and, if you forgot where you placed some important photos, Alternate Pic View will let you search and find them in a jiffy.

With Alternate Pic View you can acquire pictures using external sources connected to your computer, such as a webcam or a scanner, and the program will also let you print the images. If I mention the fact that Alternate Pic View comes in 16 languages, you'll get a complete picture of how well equipped this software is and it becomes obvious that it was made for all users: advanced, intermediate and beginners.

The Good

Alternate Pic View is packed with features that certainly make it much more than a simple picture viewer. Editing capabilities, image capturing, photo conversion and icon extraction are not so often found together in this type of application, which makes it a big plus for Alternate Pic View.

The program is very light on system resources and it occupies just under 10 MB of hard drive space, so it won't clutter the PC with useless (large) files.

The Bad

There's no real snag with Alternate Pic View as it performed very well and without hiccups when all its functions were tested.

The Truth

Alternate Pic View is definitely one of the best image viewers I've met and with its capture, convert, edit and extract tools this program will unquestionably become a favorite for many of those who will try it. The fact that it is free makes Alternate Pic View even more valuable as there are a lot of similar applications that are sold with even fewer capabilities than this one here.

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user interface 4
features 5
ease of use 5
pricing / value 5


final rating 5
Editor's review
excellent
 
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