IrfanView 4.10 Overall Rating:

IrfanView Quick review:

IrfanView is an easy program to like as it’s easy to use. IrfanView is great for converting file formats or resizing a large number of images. It also has some basic image editing features. Irfanview is a stable program that’s been around for awhile. If you need more than basic editing tools, IrfanView isn’t the right tool. However, if you convert file formats or resize a lot of photos, IrfanView is the tool for you.
 

Ease of Use:
Features:
Overall Rating:

 
Where to get IrfanView: Download IrfanView

IrfanView Full Review:

Download size: 6.4MB

Supported systems: Windows 9X/ME/NT/XP/2003/Vista

File formats supported: bmp, clp, cpt, crw, dcm, dcx, eps/ps, fpx, fsh, gif, ico, img, jp2, jpg/jpeg, kdc, mng, dng, pbm, pcd, pcx, pdf, pic, png, psd, ras, raw, sgi, tga, tif/tiff, ttf, txt, wmf, xbm; audio/video: mp3, ra, wav, avi, mp4, mpg/mpeg, wma/wmv. Note: some of the supported file formats are read only.

Language support: Multiple language support.

My input:

Downloading IrfanView is easy. When you select the download button you’ll have the option to download from several sites. I chose the TUCOWS option. The download was quick and easy. Installation was just as easy.

When you install IrfanView you have the option to make it the default program for some or all of your image files. I recommend skipping this option during installation. You can decide later what image files you want to default to IrfanView.

I like IrfanView a lot. I used it previously in a business environment to convert file formats. But after this review I can see that it has expanded the horizon for its usefulness. IrfanView is a well-written program that provides the ability to manage large numbers of images and make changes to them automatically. If you work with a large number of images and need to make the same modifications to them, IrfanView is for you. It’s free, stable and capable!

IrfanView can best be viewed as an image tool. The name implies that it’s an image viewer. That’s how it got started but IrfanView is much more now. Aside from the ability to open a large number of image formats, it can convert one format to another. The number of formats is quite surprising. So if you have some old files or files created in a not-so-common format, IrfanView can probably handle them.

Along with format conversion and resizing, IrfanView has some basic editing tools in the paint dialog. The paint dialog includes a paintbrush, eraser, clone tool, line and selection tools. There are color selection tools and fill tools also. Image rotation tools and panorama creation are part of the IrfanView package. If you need the basics, IrfanView can do the job.

IrfanView also has basic image effects and filters. The default adjustments achieved by selecting the effect from the Image menu are less than stimulating. To adjust the settings for each effect you have to go to Image/Effects and select the Effects browser. The effects achieved even when adjusting the settings weren’t top notch. But, what do you expect from free software. It’s basic!

You can create slideshows with this software which is a nice feature. IrfanView can create a slideshow in a window or as a screensaver. There are plenty of options like looping, random image selection, burning it to disk and playing MP3 music with the slideshow. This is a cool tool!

I found the screen capture tool very effective for creating these reviews. IrfanView has the capability to create images from any application running on your computer. All you have to do is go to Options and select Capture/Screenshot…. Then check the options you want and click on start. To capture an image of the active window just press Ctrl + F11. Very nice!

Wow! What a collection of plugins available for download. The number of plugins is a
good indication that this program is widely used and supported. Most of the plugins were created to support additional file formats. There are plugins for audio and video files as well as static images. One word of caution: I tried the pdf plugin but it didn’t work. If you look at the blog, it’s one format that isn’t up to par, yet.

IrfanView is supported privately so you may find some minor bugs that may be irritating. IrfanView is free for individual users for non-commercial purposes. That means if you’re using it for or in a business you should purchase a license. At $12.00 per license, it’s very reasonable. I used it for a business a few years ago and felt the cost was well worth it.

If you’ve never used IrfanView I think you’ll be impressed. It’s a great tool for file conversion and resizing. Handling large numbers of images is easy and straight forward. Creating slideshows is a breeze. IrfanView, try it you’ll like it!

What I Liked: IrfanView has an intuitive interface that’s easy to use and learn. It has options to convert groups of files with a few simple steps. Resizing is just as easy. IrfanView is used widely and therefore has a lot of support.

What I didn’t Like: The convert to pdf plugin didn’t work. Sometimes you’ll have to scroll the image to get it back into the center of the view.

Click on the images below to see a bigger image:

IrfanView Main Screen:

IrfanView Paint Tools Screen (don’t laugh at my doodles):

Irfanview Batch Conversion Screen:

IrfanView Batch Conversion Options Screen:

IrfanView Screen Capture Settings Screen: