14 DAY TRIAL // Image viewers will always be a hot subject, no matter if it's summer or winter. Leaving the commercial ones aside, we will find a lot of well done free image viewers available.
There are people who want to have all-in-one image viewers that can view and edit images, burn CD/DVD discs with image galleries, browse compressed images and much more, while others want just a simple image viewer, nothing more.
Last program that I will review today is a basic image viewer with a built in MP3 player as simple as the viewer. Its name is Vallen Jpegger and it reached version 4.83.6.0612. Let's check it out!
The installation package is 2.2MB in size, and the setup process will require you to set four options: default language, layout, file associations and, at last, shortcuts (on the Desktop and in the Start Up menu).
When first running the program, you will be required to select an image folder. If you want, you can skip this step and use the browser located to the upper left of the work area.
The interface of the this application is easy to use, clean and simple. It has a menu bar, a toolbar and a work area divided in two: the left browsing panels and the viewing area. Vallen Jpegger can read a lot of file formats without problems.
What else can we do besides viewing images? Well, taking delayed screen captures, setting current image as wallpaper or listening to MP3 files sounds good? Let's talk a little about the MP3 Music Explorer now...
First thing that you have to figure out is how to browse for files. There are two ways to do it: first, you can use the File menu or the Ctrl+B keyboard shortcut, and second, right click inside the browser panel and choose the Browse option, of course.
Your music files are placed into categories based on their ID3 tag information. If you need, you can edit tags from this program, you won't need anything else.
Last things that I want to tell you about now are the three wizards that are present in Vallen Jpegger. First one can help you find duplicate images, second can perform losless image rotation (depends on the source of your pictures and if the camera used supports the orientation flag value) and the last one can be used to change the time stamp in order to match EXIF information.
There is more than meets the eye when talking about Vallen Jpegger, and one thing is sure: if you can spare some minutes, this is a program worth trying. You can keep it or not afterwards, since it's free for personal use. If you like it, don't forget to send a postcard to the author! ;)
The Good
Vallen Jpegger is a small, useful and easy to use application. The MP3 Music Explorer is a great addition, allowing you to organize your files better and also listen to your favorite music while viewing some picture galleries. Its Help file is perfect to get you started and it has support for over 20 languages!
The Bad
This application misses all the basic image retouching functions such as colour/gamma/lightness/hue/saturation adjustments. When using the thumbnail mode, it will still open the currently selected picture even if you can't see it.
The Truth
If you want just an image viewer, you will also get a Music Explorer with it, which is good to know. If you want a full featured image viewer or multimedia viewing application, then it's not your day.
Vallen Jpegger is a good program considering its price, the dual viewing capabilities (image files and MP3 files) and I suggest you to get it as soon as possible if you are still viewing images using the default Windows viewer. Even if you are already using famous programs like ACD See, Compu Pic or Irfan View, checking this interesting little program won't harm you!
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
