IrfanView: A robust (and free) image editor for your toolkit

By Ryan Boudreaux August 23, 2011 TechRepublic, Web Design

Some time ago I presented an article on free or inexpensive web design tools and included several image editing tools. A reader suggested that a more in-depth review be posted on several of the tools; in addition, another reader added that IrfanView was left off the list and wanted to make the statement for inclusion of it as a useful free image editing tool. I have to admit that years ago the only use for IrfanView on my PCs was solely as an image viewing tool, and it was not until recently that I found its editing capability goes well beyond simply screening images.

Those comments are the inspiration for this review today, which includes a little history and some characteristics of the tool and a demonstration incorporating several features of the IrfanView image tool. As I said before, in the past IrfanView had fallen more on the viewing-only side of image tools; however, in recent years it has taken on more features as an editing tool and could be quickly incorporated into any web designer’s tool kit. (Read more…)