Virtually all of standard XnView’s much loved features have been preserved in XnView MP and many features have actually been tweaked and enhanced.
This software can read more than 500 formats change picture size, reduce picture file size and much more! It is a powerful picture viewer and browser, also image converter for Windows, Mac and Linux. However, if you intend to use XnView for commercial purposes, you must purchase a license.XnView MP is the enhanced version of XnView Classic. Is Everything Freeįortunately, you won’t have to shell a penny to use any app for personal use. Further, both support all the known file formats. For instance, you can batch process files, swap colors, save files in different formats, set as wallpaper, view EXIF information, etc. Other FeaturesĪpart from letting you view and edit photos, you can perform other funtions in these apps too. Similarly, IrfanView lets you download plugins such as AWD, DPX, FTP, KDC, Paint, Real audio, etc. XnView supports plugins such as HEIF, OpenRaster, WebP format, ZIP, FTP, Paint, etc.
While some plugins are preinstalled, you can install others from the website. In case you have been wondering about plugin support, we are glad to say that both of them support plugins. You can change the canvas size, auto crop images, invert colors, add filters, and achieve much more in them. Honestly, both provide similar editing features. Once you get hold of them, it will be easy to use them. You will have to take some time to understand where each option is located. For smaller images, you will not notice any difference, it’s big images where you can feel one getting ahead of the other.Įven though both the apps provide basic editing tools, they aren’t easily apparent. I tried to view a folder housing 15MB images in both the apps and IrfanView was quick to change the images. While both the apps are fast, IrfanView feels slightly faster. If you don’t like the layout, you can customize it under View > Layout. You can keep scrolling through the images without the full-screen mode too. Clicking on any image will open it in one of the tabs. Unlike IrfanView where the main area is occupied by the image only, here you will find the image explorer on the left side with an image preview window on the right side. However, between them lies various tabs if you open multiple images. While XnView also has a similar interface with the main menu at the top followed by the toolbar. You can change the theme of the buttons in the app. At the bottom lies the status bar showing information like image size, dimensions, date added, etc. Below the menu bar, lies the toolbar housing important items. Clicking on either of them will reveal extra options. I prefer the old layout as opposed to the modern interface of Windows apps.Īnyway, in IrfanView, you will find the File, Edit, Options, View, and Help menus at the top. Both these apps have the old Windows interface with menus at the top. User interface plays a significant role in a photo viewer. Even though it also offers a thumbnail view, the thumbnails open in a separate window.
You can also view images in it from any folder on the PC using Open with option. Then you can use the navigation keys to move between the images in that particular folder. You need to use the Open option in the app to view individual pictures. On the other hand, IrfanView doesn’t list images in the app. So you can make it look and work according to your need. You can add or remove any feature and layout. XnView also offers some viewing and sorting modes that one expects from a photo viewer app. It even supports tabbed view so you open multiple images at the same time.
Clicking on any picture will open it in the full version. Think of XnView as a proper gallery app where you can see all the folders and the pictures inside. While XnView goes up to 20MB, IrfanView has a negligible size of 3MB only. However, both the apps are less than that. One may think that a photo viewer app will weigh at least more than 50MB considering the amount of work that is expected from it.
By the end, you will be able to judge as to which photo viewer to use on a Windows 10 PC. In this post, we will compare IrfanView and XnView. You may wonder which one to use.ĭon’t worry. While there are many of them, two special ones are IrfanView and XnView. Some aren’t happy with its speed, while others don’t like its interface.Īs a result, people look for the alternatives to the Photos app. However, not everyone is a fan of the Microsoft Photos app, which is the successor of Windows Photos Viewer. Microsoft offers a native app to do it known as Microsoft Photos. To open photos on the PC, one needs a photo viewer app.