Image Explorer

Windows comes equipped with an image viewer and basic editing tools, but you should know that there are also various third-party alternatives if the built-in OS tools are not to your liking. For instance, Image Explorer works as a simple image viewer, while also carrying out basic editing tasks to enhance photos on your PC.

One of its perks is that it does not need installation, meaning that you can run it directly once you unzip the downloaded archive. A straightforward, three-panel interface is shown, comprising a tree-like explorer for Windows to the left side, a folder explorer in the middle, and a photo preview area to the right.

Simply browse your computer for compatible images that can be loaded by the application, select a picture and Image Explorer previews it in the right-side panel. Not just that you can preview the photo, but you can also see detailed metadata information about each picture. Image Explorer displays the compression type, image dimensions, the number of components and other such details.

Moreover, you can use this application to update the metadata of a selected image. As such, Image Explorer can change the image copyright information, its title and subject or attach it a comment.

But Image Explorer is not all about viewing pictures, as it also has editing capabilities. While it far from being a professional-grade editor, it does bundle basic tools that makes it a good competitor to Windows’ built-in image editor.

For instance, Image Explorer can crop the loaded image while preserving the aspect ratio, make fine adjustments to the contrast, brightness or saturation (or desaturate the image altogether with the click of a button), mirror and rotate the photo, and apply filters to make it look more eye-catching. To protect your intellectual property, you can use the custom text watermarking tool in Image Explorer.

Image Explorer is both an image viewer and editing tool, providing the basic tools you need to enhance picture quality. Its editing toolbox can be further expanded to make it even more appealing, while batch editing capabilities would significantly add to its value.