XnView Software

dcakovan wrote:

kefir_sub wrote:Hi Pierre,
I have worked with a number of photo organizers: Picasa, Adobe Photo Album and IMatch, and none of them truly matched my needs. They have extra features, but they do not have the XnView elegance and flexibility.

You should try fotoalbum pro.

Thats fine but it is not really germaine to this topic and doesn't help us improve XnView.

Disclaimer: the following constitutes my personal opinion and preferences, nothing more, and I'm well aware of that, thank you. No flaming required, please.

That being said, here's my 2 cents:

- I am using XnView as THE only photo organizer I use. Let me make clear that I'm a data freak, and timeshift/rename/manipulate/alter/tag/categorise etc. most of my photos extensively. For me it is essential to be able to manipulate every possible type of image-related data and metadata in existence and to be able to alter (the original) images directly and permanently (I wish to keep no raw/backup of original/whatever duplicates); XnView does all that for me (except geotagging, but I've got that one covered too...)

- I am never going to use a photo organizer that forces me to keep metadata out of the image files. If present as a feature - fine, whatever, but I'll always embed (and only embed) my data.

- I started using XnView because and only because it was free; more precisely, it was by far the most capable-of-doing-the-things-I-needed-to-do from the set of free image viewers. Frankly, I don't think you can mention a competing image viewer, however obscure, however old or new, that I didn't check out before finally settling on XnView. Since then, I came to value highly it's truly unique versatility, even though features that other software does in ways closer to my liking still exist (eg. arbitrary angle rotation or manual white balance point correction, in ACDSee). My point: I love the software but I'll move (with utmost regret) to another one the exact picosecond I have to pay for it. I understand that is not in discussion here, but since "a different program" has been mentioned I thought to voice my take on the issue...

I am an enthusiastic user of XnView, have recommended it to many people, and expect to use it forever. However, I use it for what it is best at and made for, and not for what it was not made for.

I use Picasa for the things it is good at, and XnView for the things it is good at (most things).

My suggestion is that Pierre and the XnView team concentrate on improving XnView in its traditional realm, and not try to compete with Google and Canon and Adobe and Kodak and all the other firms that offer photo organizers.

XnView is a unique and fabulous program. I would like to see it retain its quality and excellence, and focus development efforts on its historical roles, rather than try become a "bigger" product. "Better" is always good, "bigger" not necessarily so.

Ty wrote:"Better" is always good, "bigger" not necessarily so.

That is very well said.