IrfanView (written by irfan skiljan) is an excellent (free) media viewing program for Windows computers that has undergone a lot of changes in the last 18 years. It has gone well passed being a viewer and is now a very good image processing program. While Lightroom and Photoshop are my staples for cataloging, correcting and retouching photographs, I use IrfanView for almost everything else. It is my primary viewer for most multimedia. I also use it for simple color correction, cropping, scaling, annotating and montages. It also does batch processing, slideshows, scanning, plugins… tons more. No Adware or Malware, just a really good free program.
Installation:
To do a normal Windows installation, download the file from here:
http://www.irfanview.com/
and do a regular installation. During the installation, you will be asked if you want to associate several file types with IrfanView. If you allow that change, when you double-click on a jpg (or other picture/movie/sound file), it will display in IrfanView. If you decline to change that, jpg’s etc. will continue to default to the Microsoft viewer (or Photoshop or however else your files are associated)
Personally, I tend to use the “Portable” version. Portable Apps are Windows programs that have been slightly modified so they don’t have to be “Installed” in the traditional way. They just decompress in to a folder. That folder can be copied anywhere and the program (the .exe file) can be executed from there. I carry a flash drive with several PortableApps on it. I can plug that flash drive in any Windows USB port and run my programs from the flash drive without having to “Install” them. Find the PortableApp version here:
http://portableapps.com/apps/graphics_pictures/irfanview_portable
Loading an Image:
You can “Drag and Drop” image files in to IrfanView or use File>Open. To scroll through the images in a folder, use the Space and Backspace keys or the Left & Right arrow keys or the mouse scroll wheel.
View an Image:
View>Display options (window mode). The easiest way to learn this function is to play with it.
Selection:
IrfanView is normally in selection mode. Just draw a box with the left mouse button. You can adjust the selection by moving the sides (but not the corners). To erase the selection, just click anywhere else on the image. Once an area is selected, you can Zoom, Copy, Paste, Cut, Crop or use the processing tools (like color correction).
Cropping:
Select the area of the image you want to keep. Use Edit>Crop Selection (Cut out)
Color Correction:
Select the area of the image you want to correct. Use Image>Color corrections…
Note: If the image is too yellow (amber), add blue.
Annotation: (Straighten, Text, Arrows, Boxes, Circles)
Edit>Show Paint dialog Note: As long as the Paint dialog is open, the Selection tool does not work.
Straighten: Select the Straighten tool and draw a line and the image will rotate to make that line horizontal or vertical.
Text, Arrows, Boxes: Set the color, line width and fill. Then use the appropriate tool for the annotation that you need.
Close the Paint dialog when you are done annotating.
Scaling:
Image>Resize/Resample…
Note: Settings I normally use…
-Set new size
-Units: pixels
-Preserve aspect ratio (proportional)
-Size method: Resample (better quality)
I normally just enter a new width or height and click on OK
Creating a Montage: (Combining multiple images into one image)
Note: I will often have several IrfanView windows open with a different image in each one.
One way is to use the selection tool to copy and paste portions of one image into a selected portion of another image.
The other way is to add one image on to the Top, Bottom, Left or Right of the original.
Edit>Paste Special (add on side).
Saving an Image:
Save and Save As work slightly different than most Windows programs. “Save” does not automatically overwrite the original file. It still asks for a file name. I normally use “Save As” because it allows reading from one folder and saving in another.
Normal Workflow:
-Open the image (or multiple images in multiple IrfanView windows)
-Straighten any images that need it (see Annotation above)
-Crop images
-Color correct
-Combine images if necessary
-Scale image to final size
-Annotate the image
-Save new file to a new folder
Note:Sometimes I will save interim files just in case
I know that this is not much of tutorial but I think it is enough to get you going. I hope I covered enough of the topics you would need to work with an image to post it on this forum. There is a LOT more to IrfanView and I am still finding more all the time.