Q: What are some common image viewers?
A: Images can come in many types of formats, so fortunately there is no shortage of image viewing programs. Below is a list of common image viewers for the Macintosh and Windows platforms.
Windows
| Company | Program | Price * | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| ACD Systems | ACDSee Photo Manager | $49.99 | Photo editor that includes image touch-up features and effects; can be used for digital scrapbooking; other versions include ACDSee Pro and Photo Manager. |
| Adobe Systems | Photoshop | $599 | The most popular image editing application in the world; includes powerful image and color manipulation features. |
| Adobe Systems | Photoshop Elements | $89 | Trimmed down version of Photoshop; still has advanced image editing capability. |
| Corel | Paint Shop Pro | $129 | Advanced image editor from Corel; previously made by Jasc Software. |
| FastStone Soft | FastStone Image Viewer | Free | Supports batch converting and slideshows; includes advanced editing features. |
| Informative Graphics | Brava! Reader | Free | Views and prints TIFF, PDF and secure CSF files; also available as a Web browser plug-in. |
| IrfanView | IrfanView | Free | Supports many graphic, audio, and video formats; includes basic image editing capability. |
| Logipole | Konvertor | Free | Multimedia viewer/converter that supports conversion for over 1200 image, animation, audio, video and text formats. |
| Microsoft | Office Picture Manager | Included with MS Office | Image editor included with Microsoft Office 2003 and later; supports several image formats and has basic editing capabilities. |
| Microsoft | Windows Picture and Fax Viewer | Free | Basic image viewer included with Windows XP. |
| XnView | XnView | Free | Supports the most formats of any image viewer. |
Macintosh
| Company | Program | Price * | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Systems | Photoshop | $599 | The most popular image editing application in the world. |
| Adobe Systems | Photoshop Elements | $89 | Trimmed down version of Photoshop; still has advanced image editing capability. |
| Apple Computer | iPhoto | $79 (with iLife) |
Image organization program; can crop, rotate and perform basic color correction on images; bundled with new Macintosh computers. |
| Apple Computer | Preview | Free | Opens many different image formats including PDFs; bundled with Mac OS X. |
| Lemke Software | GraphicConverter X | $30 | Imports over 190 graphic formats; exports 75 different formats. |
| Newera Software | Graphics Converter Pro | $30 | Imports over 500 graphic formats and exports 140 formats; contains 60 image filters. |
| XnView | XnView | Free | Supports the most formats of any image viewer. |
* Prices listed are estimated retail prices and may change.
Know of an image viewing program that should be listed here? Suggest a program.
Updated: June 15, 2011