Software That’s Good Enough That You Forget You’re Using It: No.8 Xnview

Xnview is an image viewer and manipulation program. Whilst it is not open source, it is freeware for non-commercial use. Many similar applications such as the GIMP offer similar functions but it is its usability and transparency that distinguish this application from its peers. This is why it makes it into my list, through offering easy access to the functions offered. This means short learning times, higher productivity more quickly and therefore saves you money.

The interface is built around the image viewer, which allows you to quickly identify the image you want to manipulate in the same way as

you would browse a physical collection of photos. The Xnview image browser

The extensive range of functions are easily accessed via the menu structure which adapts according to whether you are looking at an image collection or a specific collection. This same twin ability to manipulate individual and collections of images is shown in the batch functions of image processing and image renaming. The transparency of software is often linked to how well the software matches the common tasks that the user wishes to carry out. For example, the images generated by digital cameras tend to have anonymous filenames and once a few have been discarded are completely meaningless. The batch renaming allows you to quickly reassign meaningful filenames, and then the batch processing allows you to resize them equally smoothly.

Why no higher? Xnview has one area which seems not to flow intuitively: its function to copy and paste images works through the Import Clipboard option. This seems a little clumsy and is the one place where the application reminds you that it is still only a piece of technology.

Xnview is a free image

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