Image viewing and managing seems like a mandatory task these days, ever since the dawn of smartphones and tablets. Nevertheless, we all know that our favorite pictures can only be properly viewed on our computer screens using appropriate graphic viewers.
Hugely popular among users remains IrfanView, a seemingly simplistic image viewer that can be used by anyone. While that is certainly the case, the program is not limited here. It integrates a wide range of features for viewing or editing purposes, along with advanced configuration settings for hardcore users, all while offering support for almost all popular image formats.
NOTE: IrfanView was tested on Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit. You can also read our previous review.
The standard installer unwraps quickly and gives users the possibility to associate IrfanView with media formats. The list of file types supported by the app is quite extensive and includes Windows Bitmap (BMP / DIB), Canon RAW format (CRW / CR2), Direct Draw Surface (DDS), DjVu (DJVU / IW44), Drawing Interchange (DXF), Paint Shop Pro (PSP), Sun Raster (RAS), Macromedia Flash (SWF / FLV) and Real Audio (RA), among many others.
Users should be careful when going through the wizard steps. Since it is ad-supported, IrfanView offers to download and install third-party components that it doesn't really need to work properly, as well as to make some changes to web browsers.
The graphic viewer adopts a clean look and organized structure for the interface, without resorting to compelling visual elements. All options are available in the menu and tool bars, while the status bar shows the image resolution and bit depth, file position in the current directory, size, and creation date. For the record, there is no context menu integrated in the main frame.
Images can be opened via the file browser, since the drag-and-drop feature is not supported (not on Windows 8.1, at least). Apart from displaying pictures of various formats, IrfanView integrates several functions for enhancing their quality or making corrections if necessary. For instance, the photos can be rotated to any angle, while image or text watermarks can be applied over them with an appended copyright mark, date, time, or EXIF date and time.
Additional editing options flip images horizontally or vertically, modify their size and sampling method to custom values (with or without keeping the aspect ratio), change the canvas size by setting new dimensions for either the borders or entire canvas, as well as create picture frames with customized sizes and colors, together with numerous styles (e.g. dark gradient, warm, inside fading frame).
The color depth can be increased or decreased, colors can be replaced with new ones, while several popular filters can be applied to the pictures, such as grayscale, sepia, color inversion, sharpen, red eye reduction, color swapping, blur, pixelize, and so on. As far as lighting errors are concerned, it is possible to tweak the brightness, contrast, RGB, gamma and saturation levels (an automatic color adjustment option can be performed by IrfanView instead).
A picture can be organized into tiles by specifying the number of tiles or final image dimensions. Those who want to create a tiled wallpaper or background with patterns to insert into their websites can benefit from this feature, for example.
Users may create a custom selection by specifying the width and height ratio, selection size and position, and image DPI. However, it should be mentioned that the original picture is not replaced with this selection (if users plan on working with it). The app basically zooms into the original photo, so it is necessary to copy the selection to the Clipboard and paste it into a new open page to be picked up from where it was left off. The same rule applies when capturing the visible window area.
It is possible to build a slideshow from images and set up various settings pertaining to the slide advancement, start image, loop mode, mouse cursor display, background music, and fullscreen playback. In addition to this, the slideshow can be saved as a standalone EXE or SCR file, as well as burned to a CD, DVD or BD, or VCD (requires Nero Burning ROM).
The program is capable of converting and renaming files in batch mode, by turning media files into .bmp, .ecw, .emf, .gif, .ico, .jls, .jpg, .jng, .pcx, .pbm, .pdf, .pgm, .png, .ppm, .raw, .tga, .tif or .wepb format. Each file type comes with its own set of advanced configuration options that should please even picky users.
In case of JPEGs, it is possible to keep the original EXIF, IPTC, JPG-Comment and XMP data, reset the EXIF orientation tag, save as progressive or grayscale JPG, and so on. Renaming the files can be done by defining the name pattern, replacing specific text with something else, and establishing the starting counter and increment for digits. The original files can be either copied, moved or overwritten.
Another feature implemented by the program allows users to quickly search for specific files in a given drive or directory, set the date range to reduce task time or expand the search field by looking into IPTC, EXIF and Comment data as well. File content can be directly examined via hexadecimal code display.
Users do not necessarily have to explore Windows Explorer to locate images, since IrfanView has its own file manager for that purpose, and this one shows thumbnails by default to easily spot pictures. The manager comprises a huge array of options, which become available in the menu bar and context menu. It lets users move, copy or delete files, start a slideshow from selection, transfer items via FTP or save the file names to a text document, create contact sheets or panoramas, and so on.
Available through a downloadable plugin from the developer's website, a multimedia player is capable of loading popular audio and video files into IrfanView for playback, instead of having to resort to an external application. It also acts as a CD player and snapshot grabber. Meanwhile, multipage TIF, PDF or JPM files can be created from images, while files can be immediately sent via email using a client associated with IrfanView in advance.
A snapshot grabber can cover the full screen (on one or all monitors), foreground window (even the client area), selected object, as well as fixed or custom region. According to the hotkey or automatic timer delay defined by the user, the captured picture can be shown in the main window, copied to the Clipboard, sent to the last used printer, or saved to file. The mouse cursor can be either visible or hidden, the window can be scrolled vertically, while the timer can stop grabbing photos once a certain limit has been reached.
As far as program settings go, it is possible to reconfigure settings for file types associated with IrfanView, integrate the app into the Explorer context menu, enable color management by applying a custom ICC/ICM RGB profile, disable sound alerts when looping folders, stopping or saving screenshots, use the resample function when zooming in fullscreen mode, as well as point out up to three external graphic editors to open from the “File” menu. These are just a small part of the customization options available for IrfanView.
The Good
OS compatibility extends to Windows 8/8.1 (32- and 64-bit). The utility is free and offers support for multiple languages, hotkeys, numerous plugins, and thorough help documentation. It can be used strictly as an image viewer by novices, while power users can dive into the numerous customization options supplied.
Some of its notable features include the ability to seamlessly build panoramas, convert and rename files in batch mode, create slideshows and export them as screensavers, switch to the file manager and preview thumbnails, as well as to create multiple profiles with different settings to apply in future projects. The latter option applies to color adjustments and file type save options when batch processing files, among others.
Plugins can be downloaded for free from the developer's website, as well as from third parties.
Those who want to skip the installer and run IrfanView directly from a mass storage device on any machine can resort to its portable counterpart called Portable IrfanView.
The graphic viewer was stable throughout our evaluation, and it used very low CPU and RAM.
The Bad
The drag-and-drop method is not supported when attempting to open images (not on Windows 8.1, at least). The main frame does not have a right-click menu.
It seems that IrfanView packs several counter-intuitive commands, if we were to take into account similar apps. By default, mouse scrolling triggered the tool to go to the next or previous picture in the current folder when the window is maximized, while the entire frame resizes when zooming in and out if the window is not maximized.
Most options from the “Edit” menu are mislabeled, since they should actually belong to the “View” menu instead. For example, capturing the visible window area does not copy it to the Clipboard (as most of us are accustomed to), while automatically cropping borders basically fits the image to the height and width of the window.
The Truth
Its interface may not be particularly attractive and some of its commands may not be particularly intuitive, but IrfanView remains a versatile graphic viewer capable of reading numerous file types. Those familiarized with it already know that its true power lies in the ability to load external multipurpose plugins, extending its options to limitless possibilities. Our final rating is between 4 and 5.
14 DAY TRIAL // 
