XnViewMP - Cross platform image browser and DAM

[M.Chapman]

For sometime I've been looking for an cross platform (MacOS, Windows, Linux) alternative to BreezeBrowser because that only runs on Windows and I currently use MacOS. Over the last month I've been getting to grips with XnViewMP. Initially I thought it was a poor alternative, but the more I use it, the more features I discover and the more impressed I've become. Here are some key features that I like;

 

• Multi-platform (Windows, MacOS, Linux)
• Image download from camera/SD card with image renaming and and storage into user defined folder structure
• Image browser which supports most formats (NB. RAWs aren't developed - it uses the embedded jpg)
• Image file rename, copy, move, delete with option to link actions to "companion" files e.g. jpg + Raw + xmp + acr
• Image "date taken" adjustment
• Image tagging/star rating for culling etc.
• Edit IPTC and XMP fields and view EXIF data
• Catalog optional, and if used, it is built on the fly (no import operation)
• Auto-scanning of folders to identify new or edited image files  (shame LR doesn't do this) and update to catalogue automatically
• Very customisable keyboard shortcuts
• Very customisable workspace (selection of panels, backgrounds, thumbnail sizes, title info etc. even set colour of font by file type)
• Image categorisation and storage of categories as hierarchical keywords in image EXIF
• Image search and filtering (on a very wide range of criteria) which also works with or without the catalogue
• Ability to toggle subfolder file inclusion on/off (I keep RAWs in subfolders)
• Basic jpg editing (I don't use this)
• Ability to configure which editing programs to use (e.g. PS/ACR)
• Colour managed
• Low cost and subscription free

 

Here are some of things it's not;

 

• A RAW file developer, but It does display previews and thumbnails for most (all?) RAW files based on the internal jpg.
• Easy to get to grips with. It's so customisable and feature rich that it's mind boggling and the manuals aren't the best.
• Backed by a large company although support seems good, there's an excellent forum

 

https://www.xnview.com/en/xnviewmp/

Here's a link to a screenshot of my current setup.

https://postimg.cc/1g6zWftY

 

It's become my Browser of choice and I'll be increasingly using it for keywording and tagging

 

Mark

Edited April 14, 2023 by M.Chapman

[Colin Woods]

Thanks Mark. I use Bridge as I am Mac but I will give this a go.

[M.Chapman]

16 hours ago, Colin Woods said:

Thanks Mark. I use Bridge as I am Mac but I will give this a go.

You're welcome. My copy still seems to be running sweetly with around 40,000 images (250GB). I'm now using it to tidy up my image collection by using tags to denote which images I have with which agencies. Previously I kept (duplicate) copies in separate folders which was just wasting space. 

 

Mark