Image Viewers
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“Image viewers simplify the process of viewing, cataloging, and managing digital images.” |
Anyone who works with graphics on a regular basis is eventually going to have a need for image viewing software. Image viewers simplify the process of viewing, cataloging, and managing digital images. Many image viewers also offer basic image editing features such as crop, rotate, color balance adjustment, and brightness and contrast controls.
Many users prefer to associate image file types with a viewer -- rather than an image editor -- because it speeds up the process of opening image files when you just want to have a look. Image editors often take several seconds to load, where an image viewer can load an image almost instantly.
Image viewers offer various features for image management. A good image editor will allow you drag and drop picture files to and from folders on your hard drive for managing files. You should also look for the ability to drag and drop files right into your image editor, illustration software, or layout program for even more ease of use.
Several image viewers also offer cataloging features such as thumbnails and contact sheets. A thumbnail is a smaller representation of an image, provided so you can compare images side by side, and to allow you to choose images for full-size viewing. Most viewers will have the ability to display an entire folder of images as thumbnails on your screen to aid with sorting and choosing images. Many viewers will also generate Web pages of thumbnails, complete and ready for uploading.
Contact sheets are pages of thumbnails either in printed hard copy or as graphic files containing several thumbnails. The ability to specify the height and width of thumbnails and their arrangement on the page is another feature to look for.
There is one major difference in image viewers that may effect your decision when choosing one: Some viewers generate the thumbnails on-the-fly; meaning the thumbnails must be regenerated each time you change folders. Others store the thumbnails in a cache or database file, which uses hard disk space, but can speed the time it takes to view thumbnails. If you have many CD collections of images, you may prefer the second option as it is often faster and it allows you to browse thumbnails without the disk inserted.
Other things to look for when choosing an image viewer are:
- file formats supported
- ability to add keywords
- search capabilities
- TWAIN importing from scanners and digital cameras
- slide show capability
- ability to view fonts
- change desktop wallpaper
- batch processing capabilities (convert, rename, resize)
- customize thumbnail sizes
- launch external image editor
Image Management Tools
Includes categories for advanced digital asset management, commercial software,
freeware, shareware, image converters, and photo album software.
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Sue Chastain |
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