IrfanView
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| IrfanView | |
 IrfanView version 3.98 |
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| Developer: | Irfan Skiljan |
|---|---|
| Latest release: | 3.99 / November 16, 2006 |
| OS: | Windows |
| Use: | Image viewer |
| License: | Proprietary, Freeware |
| Website: | www.irfanview.com |
IrfanView is a freeware image viewer for Microsoft Windows that can view, edit, and convert image files and play video/audio formats. It does not have extensive image creation and painting capabilities like Adobe Photoshop or GNU's GIMP. Rather, IrfanView is designed to be a lightweight viewer/player.
The program is named for its creator, Irfan Skiljan of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is pronounced /iːr.fæn.vjuː/ [1]. IrfanView works under all modern versions of Microsoft Windows (i.e. Windows 95 and later). It supports many file formats including: image formats such as BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, non-image media files such as Flash, Ogg Vorbis, MPEG, MP3, and text files.
Since version 3.92, the installer can choose to also install an eBay toolbar in order to support the developer. In version 3.92, adding the toolbar is selected at installation by default, and the program being criticized for containing spyware. The option is not selected in version 3.97, and replaced with an option to install Google Desktop Search in 3.98.
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[edit] Features
The program is compact- the latest version is less than 900kB in size, although several megabytes of plugins can be required to support numerous other file formats and features. In addition to extensive viewing capabilities and converting file formats, IrfanView can also create screensavers from collections of images. These screensavers can also be run on computers which do not have IrfanView installed. It can also be used to create icons by converting common graphic files into .ico format.
The program has built-in TWAIN support for retrieving images from scanners; it also has extended support for taking screenshots. It can crop, resize, and rotate images. Image colors can be adjusted by modifying the brightness, contrast, tint, and so forth. Many of these changes can be applied to multiple images in one operation, using batch processing.
[edit] Limitations
For complete support of QuickTime .MOV files, the Apple QuickTime program itself must be installed:[2]
- "A: If you want to play all QuickTime files: install Apple QuickTime, install IrfanView PlugIns. Activate the Quicktime PlugIn for IrfanView in Properties->Video/Sound."[3]
[edit] Criticism
Though Irfanview handles many RGB image file types, it is not a color-managed viewer, so CMYK profiles are not used and as a result CMYK images will not display correctly.
