XnView review
XnView includes all of the tools you need to view, organize, and edit your photos, all through its convenient and intuitive interface. Whether you're organizing pictures from your last vacation or putting together a work-related slideshow, this program will help you accomplish your goals quickly and easily.
Pros
Good guides: When you first open this program, you'll be greeted by a nice set of tips to get you started. You can also access the Online Help file via hotkey, and there is a forum and FAQs page as well.
Nice interface: This program's interface is laid out nicely, with a column to browse for files along the left-hand side. When you select a folder you want to view, thumbnail images show up in the main viewing window, along with information about the photos like the File Type and Resolution.
Tools and options: There are all kinds of options and features to take advantage of when you're using this app. Editing tools include those for cropping, rotation, brightness, contrast, gamma, and balance. You can also convert the format of your files with output options including JPEG, PCX, PNG, TIF, CIN, BMP, GIF, and many more. A Screen Capture tool for your desktop is a handy add-on, and you can even decide what kind of resolution you'd like for the thumbnail images.
Cons
Touchy controls: Occasionally during testing, this app responded in ways we didn't expect. For example, we inadvertently zoomed way in on one image, and it wasn't immediately clear why that happened, so the best we could do was chalk it up to overly sensitive controls.
Bottom Line
XnView offers a comprehensive set of tools for managing and editing your digital images. Users of all experience levels will do well with this program, although casual users probably won't wind up using all of the advanced features. The program is also totally free, so there's no reason not to try it out to see if it's right for you.
