So you want to see the photos you capture on your computer, but the built-in photo viewer isn’t the one you like for many reasons. Well, in that case, we’ve got your back with our list of some of the best photo viewer apps which you can find on the internet for your Windows operating system.
A photo viewer can be simple, plain, and basic, but at the same time, if you want something which has tons of editing features at your disposal, you can have that too. No matter how much video streaming gets common, the effect of still capture is still the greatest. Photos let you see the emotion that you are trying to capture in one still. A photo will stay with you throughout your life, and its memory won’t disappear with the heavy gusts of time. Today, once you are done reading this article, you will have a clear picture of what you want from your photo viewer and which one you should install on your computer.
What is a Photograph? [Definition]
A photograph is nothing but a picture that is taken by a camera. That camera can be located on any smart device such as a tablet, smartphone, or even a smart TV. It doesn’t matter if a photo taken by the camera is called a photograph.
Working Of A Camera
Photography has long been with us. Even before the camera was invented, photography had distinct capabilities in the early stages. One of the things you need to understand about photography is that it works with the principle of light and shadows. Apart from this, a camera taking a photograph follows the characteristics of immediacy.
The lens of the camera forms the image which is being formed after you press the click button. The image is recorded by the exposure of light forming the image; the sensitive material then reacts with the light and undergoes a change in its structure. After that, a latent or what we usually call a negative image of the original shot is formed. A photographer needs to make a visible development with the use of sodium thiosulfate to give the image permanent fixing.
With the help of modern technology, this process happens in just a few seconds, and you get the processed image immediately after taking the shot.
Why are Photos Better than videos?
In 2021, we are living in a world where everyone has got a camera on their smartphones. Everyone is taking pictures and posting them online on their social channels. But as there are so many pictures uploaded on the internet each second, do we really care about the photos we see?
There is no doubt that a picture is still one of the best ways to capture emotion. One of the best ways to really admire the beauty of the shot is to make its physical copy by printing it. This will preserve that moment for generations to come. On the other hand, it is a common phenomenon now that there are a number of photos present in our smartphones, but the ones we admire the most are printed physically. Given below, we have pointed out some of the reasons why a photo is a much better option for capturing a moment than a video.
1. Captures The Perfect Shot
One of the first things you will notice when you are shooting a video is that you will face a lot of noise and distractions. The main object in the video might not be highlighted when you first record it. You can make the changes in the post-processing to highlight the main character in your video, but that’s not the case with the photos.
In photos, you can focus on the main object, and the moment you press the button, that exact moment is captured in the photo. There is no extra emotion or smile present in the photo to make you adjust it. You can make changes to the colour grade and enhance a photo a little bit, but in the end, it will still remain a lot like the one you took at that moment.
2. Sharable
Photos can be shared easily, and a person can view them by opening up the physical folder in which the photos are present. In order to see the video, you first need to have a computer or some other smart device in which you can insert the physical device in which the video is present. A video can be present on USB, DVD, and even on CD, so it gets difficult to see the video. Photos can be viewed without any viewing device. An image that is printed in physical form will surely last longer than the images and video files that you have stored in your cloud or on your USB drive.
3. Photos Tell Us What Is Important
If you captured a specific moment in your daily life, you know you captured it because you felt something different about that moment. You want people to see that moment and live what you live. A photo will clearly show where a viewer needs to focus when they are looking at the photo.
4. It’s A Perfect Weapon For Artists
Photography is one of the most famous art forms in which people express themselves. You see an extraordinary landscape, and you want to capture it. Each person looks like something different in that landscape. It might not even be beautiful for some, but for some, it is the best they have ever seen. With your ability to capture the perfect moment, you can tell a great story about the place or the person who is present in that photo.
Best Photo Viewer Apps To Download On Your Windows System
Given below, we have the list of some of the best photo viewers that are out there on the internet. We have provided our readers with the features and the cons of each of the applications so they can decide which one is a better option for them.
1. PhotoDirector 365
Starting the list with one of the best in class, we have PhotoDirector 365. This software is used by many professionals to add visual effects. Also, this software comes with one of the most advanced AI tools, which edits your photos and enhances them neatly. On the other hand, if you want to make changes to the photo, you can do that with the number of tools that are available at your disposal in this application.
There are express layer templates that come with a number of visual effects like dispersion, light rays, glitch effects, and more. Also, you can play around with the LUT’s color presets and pro-level effects. Lastly, you can run this application on any operating system, but it runs exceptionally well on Windows computers. It comes with a one-time purchase option that will give you a lifetime license. The pricing starts at $74.99. If you want to go for an annual subscription, then the pricing starts at $40.99 annually.
2. IrfanView
This photo viewer sounds like a college project, but in truth, it is pretty snappy when it comes to loading heavy image files. If you are used to using the default photo viewer in the Microsoft operating system, this application will give you the breath of fresh air that you sorely need. The performance that you will experience with this application is way beyond what you get from the default viewer. Moreover, the size of the application is what makes it a great choice, as it only has a 3MB footprint in your storage. With this size, we can clearly see that it does not carry any bloatware.
If we stop talking about performance for a minute and look at the format this application supports, then we need to write an extra para, just talking about all the countless media you can view on this application with ease. The developer took inspiration from the earlier versions of the Windows photo viewer, so you are getting all the perks you used in the previous versions. The only thing we felt was outdated in this application was the UI. The looks of the UI feel like it’s been released 3 to 4 years back, and it really needs a facelift.
3. XnView
If you want something that is more than a photo viewing app, then XnView might be something you should take a look at. This software is not only a great photo viewer, but it can also be used as a photo converter. The application is easy to navigate, and it is excellent for your personal use. Also, it comes with 70+ formats that can be used for converting the image during the export. With this application, you can create slideshows, web pages, and customized image strips.
The preview is quite detailed and shows you a lot of information about the image. Likewise, XnView can also be used to view video files as well. You can rename the whole bunch of photos using this application and make adjustments to them according to your liking. Lastly, it has a tool that lets you find out the duplicates which are present in your inventory, so you can delete them and free up some space.
4. HoneyView
This is one of the most basic photo viewers that is present in our list. The HoneyView is a third-party image and photo viewer which is designed for the Windows 10 operating system. If you look at it, you will find it to be the exact copy of the Windows photo viewer. This is true, actually, as it has all the features which you are getting with the default viewer. But in addition to all those features, you are also getting different image formats like PNG and GIF, etc. A user can bookmark the image for future reference when he is making changes in the photos using this application. It is a pretty basic viewer and doesn’t come with a number of editing tools that some people use for general purposes.
5. Movavi Photo Manager
Movavi is a well-known name in the field of photo and video editing. So, when they develop software, we can be confident that it will include the best features that the company has to offer. This photo manager gives you the ability to sort your image collection and edit them both individually and as a group. You can use this application to resize the image, crop it and add more colors to it. All the different image formats work with this application, and with its intuitive AI, the application will sort out the photos based on the face of the person. A user can enter custom tags and delete duplicate photos from the storage.
6. ImageGlass
With ImageGlass, you will experience one of the smoothest photo managing experiences. The software is quite versatile in nature, and the great thing about this is it doesn’t charge you a single dollar for all the features it provides. The interface is quite snappy, and you can move from one photo to the other instantly. If you are looking for software that can enhance the image that you have uploaded, then ImageGlass is the option for you. It will allow you to edit your photo and make it stunning using the enormous list of editing tools that are available in the application.
Besides this, you can even create a custom interface and theme according to your liking. So this is something we haven’t seen in any of the photo viewers that we have researched for writing this blog. It has more than 70+ image formats that can be used to store, curate, and process images. It is nearly impossible to find an image that doesn’t open in this software.
7. Pictureflect Photo Viewer
The name might seem a little absurd, and we felt that too, but this software is one of the best when it comes to showing users the preview of images. The software is built on the UWP framework, which brings in all the latest features that one wants in the user interface. The minimalist design is responsible for providing a fast and reliable UI. One of the best parts of the software is that it supports GIFs, which is something hard to find even in the modern-day photo viewer. Also, it is designed to work with touchscreen laptops. So it works nicely with 360 and convertible laptops. Some of the tools that are present in the application will be unlocked when you pay for them; otherwise, the software is free to use.
8. 123 Photo Viewer
This is lightweight, feature-packed software that comes with the support of batch operations. It has all the tools that you expect in a standard photo viewer. It can zoom in and zoom out, correct the red-eye in the photo and crop the image according to your liking. Its extensive filter set makes it an excellent choice for editing photos and making them look better than the raw image.
9. FastStone Image Viewer
This photo viewer has a number of transition effects that can be used for presenting the photos in the form of a slideshow. The slideshow feature is built-in so that you can click on the button, and the software will start showing you all the images present in the folder one after the other. In addition to this, this image viewer comes with the support of audio and video playback. You can use it in a multi-monitor configuration, which is a nice thing to see in free-to-use software. You can also use this application to convert the image files into some other format.
Also, this software comes portable, which means you don’t have to install the software on your device in order to use it. This portable form of the application can be opened in your web browser. The latest update brought the dark theme to this application, which gives it a unique and almost native Windows application feel. Lastly, you can directly share the image that you have edited on this viewer in the mail. The only thing we didn’t like about this application is that the overall scrolling is a bit slow, and sometimes it may seem like it’s laggy.
10. Nomacs
To end our list with a bang, we are going to discuss the Nomacs open-source photo viewer application. Don’t take it lightly due to this being an open-source app. The UI and the performance are almost as great as some of the paid photo viewers that we used during our testing. Speaking of the performance, the photos in this application load butterfly smoothly. If we look at the interface side of things, we can see that it has a normal-looking, pretty minimalistic user interface, which is expected of photo viewing apps as they don’t want to show too many complex patterns on the screen with the image.
This results in the user interface blending in with the margins of the image, giving users a better experience of viewing their images. Navigation will take some time to get used to; otherwise, this is a great viewing software that also comes with the finest of photo editing tools.
Wrapping Up
These are some of the best photo viewer apps that you can install on Windows machines. These photo viewers are great when it comes to displaying images of different formats. See, the thing is, we are living in an era where you have tons of software and apps for doing a single job, and photo viewers fall under the same category. With this list, we tried to narrow down your search to find a suitable photo viewer for your needs. You can install more than one to find which one is more beneficial for your use case scenario and then use it as your default photo viewer.
If there is any photo viewer application that you want us to feature in this list, please let us know in the comment section below. We would appreciate your input a lot.
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