IrfanView

IrfanView is a super-fast super-small image viewer and editor for Windows. It was created by Irfan Škiljan from Vienna and he continues to maintain it to this day. IrfanView has been my default image viewer on Windows for two decades now, its keyboard shortcuts burnt into my fingers.

I can remember to this day the time I discovered IrfanView for the first time. It was my first gig in the software industry around 2002 and Windows and all the software installers were dead-slow on work computers. Looking for an image viewer on the web, I found IrfanView. It had all the features I needed, but what stood out for me was its blazing-fast installation speed. Blink! and it was already done. I am happy to report that it is that fast to this day. And needless to say that it has been my defacto image viewer in all these years and I have even looked for clones of it on Linux, cause it is one of those rare Windows programs that are very capable.

• Install: Download and install from its homepage. I recommend getting the 64-bit installer if you are using 64-bit Windows (you most probably are). The installation wizard allows you to customize both the install and the configuration files for all users or just the current user. It also allows you to set it as the default viewer for every possible image format - I recommend this.

• Plugins: IrfanView supports only a small number of popular image formats out of the box, to keep the installer size small. But it can support a large number of new or obscure formats (like AVIF, SVG) by installing plugins. All of these plugins can be obtained through a single installer from its webpage. Choose the 64-bit plugins installer for 64-bit Windows.

• Paste: Press Ctrl + V to paste an image that was copied from a different program. I also use this method to paste the desktop screenshot I had captured by pressing Print Screen on the keyboard.

• Copy: Press Ctrl + C to copy the currently open image in IrfanView. It can pasted into any other application after this operation.

• Resize: Press Ctrl + R to get the dialog that allows resizing the currently open image in all sorts of ways.

• Crop: Hold down the mouse and draw a rectangle on the currently open image in IrfanView. Press Ctrl + Y after this to crop to that rectangle.

• Paint dialog: Choose Edit -> Paint dialog or press F12 to open the dialog that has all the painting tools from the classic MS Paint program. I typically use this to mark something on a screenshot before sharing it with someone.

• Batch operations: Choose File -> Batch Conversion / Rename to apply batch operations to images. For rename, all sorts of numbering can be added as prefix or suffix to the files. Other operations include crop, resize, rotate, flip or almost anything imaginable.

• Replicate crop on multiple images:
  • When a crop rectangle is drawn on the image, its parameters can be seen on the Irfanview titlebar. The first 2 numbers are the coordinates of the origin (top left) and the next two numbers are the dimensions of the crop rectangle.
  • Choose Edit -> Create custom crop selection. If you have chosen a crop rectangle its parameters will already be displayed. Click on Save current values, click on Apply to image and crop the image. Open the rest of the images and do the same.

Use on Linux

I miss IrfanView a lot when using Linux since there is no Linux image editor quite like it. To my surprise, Wine is able to install it and IrfanView appears in the Start menu after install and runs like a native app!

• Install: Install the downloaded x64 Windows setup file like this:

$ wine iview462_x64_setup.exe

• Copy/Paste: Image content cannot be pasted into IrfanView from external native Linux apps. A workaround I use is to save that image content as a PNG/JPEG file and then open that file using IrfanView to edit it.

Tried with: IrfanView 4.66