IrfanView or FastStone?

I'm experimenting with FastStone seriously for the first time and
rather like it. But as a long time IrfanView user I'm unsure about
switching to it as my preferred viewer. Apart from other factors, I
have quite a few macros written which integrate IrfanView with other
applications, which would need re-writing.

So, while continuing my own comparison, I'd be very interested to hear
opinions from those who have used both please. Any really compelling
advantages of one over the other?

--
Terry, East Grinstead, UK

On Thu, 01 Jan 2009 16:02:37 +0000, Terry Pinnell
wrote in
:

I'm experimenting with FastStone seriously for the first time and
rather like it. But as a long time IrfanView user I'm unsure about
switching to it as my preferred viewer. Apart from other factors, I
have quite a few macros written which integrate IrfanView with other
applications, which would need re-writing.

So, while continuing my own comparison, I'd be very interested to hear
opinions from those who have used both please. Any really compelling
advantages of one over the other?

Free Image Viewers Challenge
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Free-Image-Viewers-Challenge-29851.shtml

--
Very best wishes for the holiday season and for the coming new year,
John

On Thu, 01 Jan 2009 16:02:37 +0000, Terry Pinnell
wrote:

I'm experimenting with FastStone seriously for the first time and
rather like it. But as a long time IrfanView user I'm unsure about
switching to it as my preferred viewer. Apart from other factors, I
have quite a few macros written which integrate IrfanView with other
applications, which would need re-writing.

So, while continuing my own comparison, I'd be very interested to hear
opinions from those who have used both please. Any really compelling
advantages of one over the other?

I don't know how compelling my reasons are, but I use FastStone as my
primary viewer. I like being able to see good-sized thumbnails of all
the images in the file in one screen or one screen scrolled. Other
points I like:

....I can drag images into any order for viewing and then view them in
that sequence as full-sized images.

....I can drag two or more images next to each other and then click
"compare selected images" and view them large-sized side-by-side.

....I can re-number the images to present them in the order I want to
view them. The re-numbering function is simple.

....I can right-click and click "Edit With External Program" and do a
quick edit in Photoshop or Elements. (user sets which external
program) and see the edited version in the sequence.

....I can move images, or copy images, to another file within
FastStone.

....I can tag images, sort for the tagged images only, to bring
together the keepers or the discards.

I recently edited 150 images shot with three cameras at a party, and
created one file of 40 images that will be uploaded to SmugMug. The
images all went into one working file, were dragged into groups of
similar shots, were compared with the other similar shots to pick the
one shot to use, were renumbered to follow in the order that I wanted,
were sent to a new file (to retain the originals in the working file)
and then were all in the new file were sent as a batch to my editor
for cropping and tweaking. All within FastStone.

I burned a copy of the original file on disk and put it away in case I
wanted to pull out an unedited image for some reason.

FastStone has some editing capabilities, but I never use that
function. I send to my Adobe editors. There are some other nice
features in FastStone, but the ones above are the ones that I use the
most.

No knocks on IrfanView. I use it sometimes, but prefer FastStone as
the primary viewer.













--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida

tony cooper wrote:

On Thu, 01 Jan 2009 16:02:37 +0000, Terry Pinnell
wrote:

I'm experimenting with FastStone seriously for the first time and
rather like it. But as a long time IrfanView user I'm unsure about
switching to it as my preferred viewer. Apart from other factors, I
have quite a few macros written which integrate IrfanView with other
applications, which would need re-writing.

So, while continuing my own comparison, I'd be very interested to hear
opinions from those who have used both please. Any really compelling
advantages of one over the other?

I don't know how compelling my reasons are, but I use FastStone as my
primary viewer. I like being able to see good-sized thumbnails of all
the images in the file in one screen or one screen scrolled. Other
points I like:

...I can drag images into any order for viewing and then view them in
that sequence as full-sized images.

...I can drag two or more images next to each other and then click
"compare selected images" and view them large-sized side-by-side.

...I can re-number the images to present them in the order I want to
view them. The re-numbering function is simple.

...I can right-click and click "Edit With External Program" and do a
quick edit in Photoshop or Elements. (user sets which external
program) and see the edited version in the sequence.

...I can move images, or copy images, to another file within
FastStone.

...I can tag images, sort for the tagged images only, to bring
together the keepers or the discards.

I recently edited 150 images shot with three cameras at a party, and
created one file of 40 images that will be uploaded to SmugMug. The
images all went into one working file, were dragged into groups of
similar shots, were compared with the other similar shots to pick the
one shot to use, were renumbered to follow in the order that I wanted,
were sent to a new file (to retain the originals in the working file)
and then were all in the new file were sent as a batch to my editor
for cropping and tweaking. All within FastStone.

I burned a copy of the original file on disk and put it away in case I
wanted to pull out an unedited image for some reason.

FastStone has some editing capabilities, but I never use that
function. I send to my Adobe editors. There are some other nice
features in FastStone, but the ones above are the ones that I use the
most.

No knocks on IrfanView. I use it sometimes, but prefer FastStone as
the primary viewer.

Many thanks. I'll step through those methodically asap and compare
with IrfanView.

On brief acquaintance, two features of FastStone I like that are not
in IrfanView are
- The easy access to menus of different types by simply moving mouse
to screen edges
- That comparison facility you mention.

BTW, if I d-click a thumbnail I gather it always goes full screen? Is
that configurable? And once in full screen, can I reduce it to a
window with a size of my choosing, as I can in IrfanView.

One other puzzle arising from my first few hours of usage: I have
'Always show Windows taskbar in Full Screen' checked. But the XP
Taskbar is in auto-hide mode, not *always* visible. Is that the
correct behaviour?

--
Terry, East Grinstead, UK

John Navas wrote:

On Thu, 01 Jan 2009 16:02:37 +0000, Terry Pinnell
wrote in
:

I'm experimenting with FastStone seriously for the first time and
rather like it. But as a long time IrfanView user I'm unsure about
switching to it as my preferred viewer. Apart from other factors, I
have quite a few macros written which integrate IrfanView with other
applications, which would need re-writing.

So, while continuing my own comparison, I'd be very interested to hear
opinions from those who have used both please. Any really compelling
advantages of one over the other?

Free Image Viewers Challenge
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Free-Image-Viewers-Challenge-29851.shtml

Thanks. A useful comparison, although I wonder if both programs have
advanced at same rate in the two and a half years since it was
written?

More important, it reminds me that XnView is another major alternative
;-)

--
Terry, East Grinstead, UK

On Thu, 01 Jan 2009 18:01:45 +0000, Terry Pinnell
wrote in
:

John Navas wrote:

On Thu, 01 Jan 2009 16:02:37 +0000, Terry Pinnell
wrote in
:

I'm experimenting with FastStone seriously for the first time and
rather like it. But as a long time IrfanView user I'm unsure about
switching to it as my preferred viewer. Apart from other factors, I
have quite a few macros written which integrate IrfanView with other
applications, which would need re-writing.

So, while continuing my own comparison, I'd be very interested to hear
opinions from those who have used both please. Any really compelling
advantages of one over the other?

Free Image Viewers Challenge
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Free-Image-Viewers-Challenge-29851.shtml

Thanks. A useful comparison, although I wonder if both programs have
advanced at same rate in the two and a half years since it was
written?

More important, it reminds me that XnView is another major alternative
;-)

Also FastPictureViewer http://www.fastpictureviewer.com/

--
Very best wishes for the holiday season and for the coming new year,
John

On Thu, 01 Jan 2009 17:59:57 +0000, Terry Pinnell
wrote:

tony cooper wrote:

On Thu, 01 Jan 2009 16:02:37 +0000, Terry Pinnell
wrote:

I'm experimenting with FastStone seriously for the first time and
rather like it. But as a long time IrfanView user I'm unsure about
switching to it as my preferred viewer. Apart from other factors, I
have quite a few macros written which integrate IrfanView with other
applications, which would need re-writing.

So, while continuing my own comparison, I'd be very interested to hear
opinions from those who have used both please. Any really compelling
advantages of one over the other?

I don't know how compelling my reasons are, but I use FastStone as my
primary viewer. I like being able to see good-sized thumbnails of all
the images in the file in one screen or one screen scrolled. Other
points I like:

...I can drag images into any order for viewing and then view them in
that sequence as full-sized images.

...I can drag two or more images next to each other and then click
"compare selected images" and view them large-sized side-by-side.

...I can re-number the images to present them in the order I want to
view them. The re-numbering function is simple.

...I can right-click and click "Edit With External Program" and do a
quick edit in Photoshop or Elements. (user sets which external
program) and see the edited version in the sequence.

...I can move images, or copy images, to another file within
FastStone.

...I can tag images, sort for the tagged images only, to bring
together the keepers or the discards.

I recently edited 150 images shot with three cameras at a party, and
created one file of 40 images that will be uploaded to SmugMug. The
images all went into one working file, were dragged into groups of
similar shots, were compared with the other similar shots to pick the
one shot to use, were renumbered to follow in the order that I wanted,
were sent to a new file (to retain the originals in the working file)
and then were all in the new file were sent as a batch to my editor
for cropping and tweaking. All within FastStone.

I burned a copy of the original file on disk and put it away in case I
wanted to pull out an unedited image for some reason.

FastStone has some editing capabilities, but I never use that
function. I send to my Adobe editors. There are some other nice
features in FastStone, but the ones above are the ones that I use the
most.

No knocks on IrfanView. I use it sometimes, but prefer FastStone as
the primary viewer.

Many thanks. I'll step through those methodically asap and compare
with IrfanView.

On brief acquaintance, two features of FastStone I like that are not
in IrfanView are
- The easy access to menus of different types by simply moving mouse
to screen edges
- That comparison facility you mention.

BTW, if I d-click a thumbnail I gather it always goes full screen?

Yes, you double-click a thumbnail and that image goes to full screen
(autofit) size. You can then click the arrows at the lower left
(rollover) and view all the images in full screen without reverting to
thumbnails. Also, the mouse scroll wheel advances to the next images.
Escape takes you back to thumbnail view.

Is
that configurable? And once in full screen, can I reduce it to a
window with a size of my choosing, as I can in IrfanView.

You choose the thumbnail size in Settings. I use a 200 x 150
thumbnail, but you can get more on a page with any of four other
smaller settings.

My mouse scroll wheel changes the size of the full screen view.

One other puzzle arising from my first few hours of usage: I have
'Always show Windows taskbar in Full Screen' checked. But the XP
Taskbar is in auto-hide mode, not *always* visible. Is that the
correct behaviour?

I don't understand the question. FastStone takes up my whole screen,
but I can mouse-over a roll-over and make it viewable.




--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida

Terry Pinnell wrote:
I'm experimenting with FastStone seriously for the first time and
rather like it. But as a long time IrfanView user I'm unsure about
switching to it as my preferred viewer. Apart from other factors, I
have quite a few macros written which integrate IrfanView with other
applications, which would need re-writing.

So, while continuing my own comparison, I'd be very interested to hear
opinions from those who have used both please. Any really compelling
advantages of one over the other?

I don't understand the either-or issue here. I am a long time user of
IrfanView, but more recently use FastStone for viewing and simple
editing. I find that for the most part, FastStone has a better user
interface. My prime use for IrfanView is copying and renaming files
from the camera to my computer.

Why don't you just use both for what they do best? Best can only be
determined by YOU. What you get from the rest of us are opinions and
bias.

Clair

On Thu, 01 Jan 2009 14:10:07 -0500, Clair Johnston
wrote in
:

Terry Pinnell wrote:
I'm experimenting with FastStone seriously for the first time and
rather like it. But as a long time IrfanView user I'm unsure about
switching to it as my preferred viewer. Apart from other factors, I
have quite a few macros written which integrate IrfanView with other
applications, which would need re-writing.

So, while continuing my own comparison, I'd be very interested to hear
opinions from those who have used both please. Any really compelling
advantages of one over the other?

I don't understand the either-or issue here. I am a long time user of
IrfanView, but more recently use FastStone for viewing and simple
editing. I find that for the most part, FastStone has a better user
interface. My prime use for IrfanView is copying and renaming files
from the camera to my computer.

Why don't you just use both for what they do best?

Speaking only for myself, it's more efficient for me to use a smaller
number of programs so I don't have to learn and remember so many
different user interfaces and waste time switching back and forth.

Best can only be
determined by YOU. What you get from the rest of us are opinions and
bias.

Of course, but input from others can nonetheless be useful.

--
Very best wishes for the holiday season and for the coming new year,
John

On Thu, 01 Jan 2009 14:10:07 -0500, Clair Johnston
wrote:

Terry Pinnell wrote:
I'm experimenting with FastStone seriously for the first time and
rather like it. But as a long time IrfanView user I'm unsure about
switching to it as my preferred viewer. Apart from other factors, I
have quite a few macros written which integrate IrfanView with other
applications, which would need re-writing.

So, while continuing my own comparison, I'd be very interested to hear
opinions from those who have used both please. Any really compelling
advantages of one over the other?

I don't understand the either-or issue here. I am a long time user of
IrfanView, but more recently use FastStone for viewing and simple
editing. I find that for the most part, FastStone has a better user
interface. My prime use for IrfanView is copying and renaming files
from the camera to my computer.

Why don't you just use both for what they do best? Best can only be
determined by YOU. What you get from the rest of us are opinions and
bias.

I do. The question here is about what offers the most as a primary
image viewer; the one you go to first when viewing what you've
uploaded. I still have IrfanView, Photoshop has a file browser that
is an image viewer, and Elements has the Organizer viewer. I can use
any of them, but my first choice is FastStone. The others are used
when something they can do is needed.


--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida