The official 360 Photos app from Oculus will take you on a tour of amazing sights from around the world. View VR panoramas of breathtaking landscapes, ancient landmarks, dazzling cityscapes, underwater vistas, and much more. Viewing and organizing photos is a common thing people do on their computer. Recently, I received a mail from a reader John. He wrote that he is searching for an alternative to Photos App and what are the best image viewers for Mac. Hello Saurabh, I have been using Mac for years, and I store and manage all my photos on my Mac Mini. Thousands of combinations of top-notch photo effects, filters & face montages to garnish your photos. Join our community and start creating your own edits. Open in Photo Lab Get Photo Lab app to apply these effects to your photos. Get the Google Photos app to back up and view photos on your Android and iOS devices. Press question mark to see available shortcut keys.

Fun and Easy Photo Editor

Compatible with Windows 10 (Version 1709 or later, 64-bit)
If you are a user of Windows XP, 7, Vista, or 8, please use PhotoScape 3.7.
English, Español, Português, Deutsch, Français, Italiano, 日本語, 简体中文, 한국어

PhotoScape X is an all-in-one photo editing software which provides photo-related features
such as Photo Viewer, Editor, Cut Out, Batch, Collage, Combine, Create GIF, Color Picker, Screen Capture, RAW images and More.

Try a variety of effects, filters and adjustments to make your own distinct style.

Apply film effect to get your own analogue feelings.
Apply light leak effect to turn out a boring and featureless photo into an astonishing photo.

240+ figures, and 1,000+ patterns | Watch video

• Viewer: Photo | Video | Audio Browser, Loupe View, Full Screen, Flag, Star Rating, Lossless Rotate, Share (Email,Twitter,Facebook), Metadata (Exif,IPTC,GPS) Viewer.
• Editor: 1,000+ Filters & Effects, Frames, Objects, Brushes & Tools, Rotate, Straighten, Flip, Resize, Crop, Circular Crop, Perspective Crop, Mask (Local Adjustments), Redo+, Project.
• Cut Out: Remove the background from an image. (Magic Eraser, Lasso tool, Brush tool)
• Batch: Batch edit multiple photos.
• Collage: Merge multiple photos on the collage frame to create one final photo.
• Combine: Attach multiple photos vertically or horizontally to create one final photo.
• GIF Creator: Create Animated GIF.
• Print: Print photos.
• Screen Capture: Capture your screenshot and save it.
• Color Picker: Zoom in on images, search and pick a color.
• Split: Slice a photo into several pieces.
• Batch Format Change: Convert multiple images to another format at once.
• Batch Resize: Resize multiple images at the same time.
• Batch Rename: Change photo file names in batch mode.
• Filters & Effects: Magic Color, Miniature, Bloom, HDR, Surrealistic, Grayscale, Sepia, Badicoot, Black & White, Negative, Auto Levels, Auto Contrast, Sharpen, Blur, Add Noise, Film Grain, Reduce Noise, Despeckle, Soften Skin, Bokeh Blur, Dehaze, Shadows/Highlights, Point Color, Replace Color, White Balance, Vignette, Color Fill, Pattern Fill, Dilate, Erode, Curves, Levels, Color Balance, Channel Mixer, Selective Color, Hue/Saturation, Graident Fill, Gradient Map, Chromatic Aberration, Opacity, Enhance Document, Threadhold, Jitter, Edge, Emboss, Watercolor Pencil, Colored Pencil, Posterize, Cellophane, Newsprint, Dither, Stippling, Brush Strokes, Mosaic, Kaleidoscope, Triangles, Crystallize, Frosted Glass, Stained Glass, Glass Blocks, Illusion, Motion Blur, Zoom Blur, Radial Blur, Twirl, Wave, Underwater, Spot Light, Tiny Planet, Text Mask, Stretch, Scissor, Fisheye, Reflection, Perspective, Lens Correction, Transform, Warp, 3D Objects, 3D Planes, Brighten, Darken, Deepen, Vibrance, Clarity, Contrast, Saturation, Color Temperature, Tint, Exposure, Gamma Correction, Doge, Burn, Vivid, 80+ Films, 80+ Duotones, 100+ Light Leaks, 120+ Overlays, 40+ Old Photos, 40+ Dirt & Scratches, 40+ Textures, 20+ Lens Flares, and more. [Expand]
• Frames: 290+ Frames, 240+ Shapes, Borders
• Objects: 1,000+ Stickers, 240+ Figures, Image, Text, Text Warp, Magnifier, Arrow, Line, Rectangle, Rounded Rectangle, Circle, Object Transform, Object Mask
• Brushes & Tools: Draw | Scatter | Paint Brush, Paint Bucket, Mosaic Brush, Fix Red Eye, Mixer Brush, Spot Healing Brush, Liquify, Clone Stamp
• Photo Merge: Merge to HDR, Focus Stacking
• Macro: Record multiple actions and then play them back all at once.
• Photos Extension: Extension for Photos app (macOS 10.11+)
• Languages: English, Español, Português, Deutsch, Français, Italiano, 日本語, 简体中文, 繁體中文, 한국어

* Version 4.1.1 (Nov 6, 2020)
* Version 4.1 (Oct 22, 2020)

• New Text Effects: Long Shadow, Overlays & Masks, Background
• New Object Effects: Long Shadow, Overlays & Masks
• New Filters: Gradient Opacity, Radial Speed Lines, Lines, Concentric, Geometric Collage
• New Filter Objects: Mosaic #2, #3, #4, Frosted Glass
• New Text Warp: Gradient Upper, Gradient Upper 2, Gradient Lower, Gradient Lower 2
• New Features: Copy and Paste multiple objects, Add Empty Cell (Print tab), Flip Horizontal/Vertical (Text object)
• Improved Enhance Document
• Improved Object Transform
• Improved Spot Healing Brushes
• Improved Gradient options
• Improved Raw Engine
• Added 119 Film Looks
• Added 104 Film Extras
• Added 150 Nature
• Added 108 Comic Stickers
• Added 4 more Draw Brushes (Stipple)
• Added 1 more Text Outline Type
• Added 6 Object Transform Skew Types
• Added 8 Canvas Grid Types
• Support Nederlands, Polski (English, Español, Português, Deutsch, Français, Italiano, Nederlands, Polski, 한국어, 日本語, 简体中文, 繁體中文)
• Improved UI
• Fixed bugs

* Version 4.0.2 (Dec 31, 2019)
* Version 4.0.1 (Dec 21, 2019)
* Version 4.0 (Dec 17, 2019)

• Macro: Record actions
• Redo+: Redo with different settings
• Filter Favorites: Add frequently used filters to Favorites
• Added Matte filter
• Added 'Replace Image' filter
• Added 'Enlarge 16x’ (Editor > Resize)
• Added 'Reduce Luminance Noise', Reduce Color Noise’ to Batch tab
• Added Stretch option to Batch tab
• Added 240 Face #3, 272 Flag, 221 Floral Stickers
• Added 223 Geometric Figures
• Added 3 more brush shapes
• Added more metadata fields to text object (FL3, FL4,FOLDER,FOLDER-UP,FOLDER_LO)
• Added RAW Engine option
• Doubled thumbnail size
• Press and hold the Shift key while dragging to draw a square or circle
• Press and hold the Shift key while dragging to draw a line at 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75 or 90 degrees
• Support WebP format in Viewer tab
• Support Dark Mode (macOS 10.14+)
• Support Traditional Chinese (English, Español, Português, Deutsch, Français, Italiano, 日本語, 简体中文, 繁體中文, 한국어)
• Improved RAW support (CR3 format)
• Improved UI
• Fixed bugs

* Version 3.0.3 (May 21, 2019)
* Version 3.0.2 (May 18, 2019)
* Version 3.0.1 (May 2, 2019)
* Version 3.0 (Apr 23, 2019)

• Added ‘Auto Color’ filter
• Added ’Surrealistic’ filter
• Added 26 Blurred Textures
• Added 210 Face and 60 Ball Stickers
• Added Margins option to Print tab
• Added Zoom (Actual Pixels) option to Preferences
• Added ‘Fit & Fill (Don’t Enlarge)’ option to Loupe View and Full Screen
• Improved Color Balance, Point Color, Replace Color, and Cut Out
• Improved RAW support
• Improved UI
• Fixed permission issue on macOS Mojave 10.14 (macOS)
• Fixed bugs

+ Expand All* Version 2.9 (Dec 19, 2018)

• Added Spot Light, Whites, Blacks, Colorize, and Remove Color Cast filters to Editor tab
• Added HDR, Whites, Blacks filters to Batch tab
• Added 'Focus Stacking' and 'Merge to HDR' to Viewer tab
• Added two more resize algorithms (Sharper, Nearest Neighbor)
• Added 150 Emoji and 117 Stationery Stickers
• Improved Lens Profile Correction, Fisheye, HDR, Auto Contrast, and Dehaze filters
• Improved Mask feature (Fill, Clear Mask)
• Improved Slideshow feature
• Support borderless printing (macOS)
• Improved UI
• Fixed bugs

* Version 2.8.2 (May 31, 2018)
* Version 2.8.1 (May 26, 2018)
* Version 2.8 (May 19, 2018)

• Added Color, Curve, Blur, Light filters to Batch tab
• Added 30 Figures
• Added 30 Blurred Textures
• Added 50 Light Leaks
• Added 38 Lights
• Added Jpeg Quality Preview Window
• Added “Show GPS Badge” option to Viewer tab
• Added “Outline Only” option to Text object
• Support 'Edit With” menu in Photos app (macOS 10.13+)
• Support Share Extensions (macOS)
• Support system “Share' menu (Windows 10 version 1803+)
• Support Text Templates
• Support Object Layers
• Support Jpeg Preview
• Improved Spot Healing Brush
• Improved Noise Reduction
• Improved Magic Color
• New Filters: Lens Profile Correction, Margin/Round Corners, Offset, and Border Line
• Shortcut: Space bar to compare
• Shortcut: Cmd+Wheel to zoom
• Improved UI
• Fixed bugs

* Version 2.7.1 (Dec 23, 2017)
* Version 2.7 (Dec 21, 2017)

• Added 'Cut Out' tab (Magic Eraser, Lasso tool, Brush tool)
• Added 'Collage Project' feature for later re-editing
• Added 'Magic Color' filter
• Added 'Paint Bucket' tool
• Added object context menu
• Added 'Print' menu to collage tab
• Added more metadata fields to text object
• Added 11 Draw Brushes
• Added 21 Scatter Brushes
• Support HEIC, HEVC (macOS 10.13+)
• Support Audio, Video files in Viewer tab
• Support Dual Loupe View
• Improved 'Replace Color' filter
• Improved Mask feature (Copy Mask, Paste Mask)
• Improved color profile support
• Improved RAW support
• Improved UI
• Fixed bugs

* Version 2.6.3 (Aug 24, 2017)
* Version 2.6.2 (Jul 16, 2017)
* Version 2.6.1 (Jul 15, 2017)
* Version 2.6 (Jul 06, 2017)

• Added Photos Extension (macOS 10.11+)
• Added Photo Management features (Flag, Rating, and Filtering)
• Added Edit Metadata, Paste Metadata, Edit Capture Time, Copy To, Move To, and Split menu
• Added Object Transform
• Added Text Warp (Arch, Arc, Circle, Bulge, Inflate, Squeeze, Flag, Fish, …)
• Added 20 Lens Flares
• Added 40 Old Photo Effects
• Added 150 Pixel Stickers
• Added Draw tool
• Added Filename Caption in Print and Combine tab
• Added “Stretch”, “Auto Rotate”, “Cell Border' options to Print tab
• Added more gradient styles
• Added drop shadow style to Image/Sticker object
• Added curve type to Arrow/Line object
• New Filters: Text Mask, Enhance Document, Kaleidoscope, Triangles, and Scissor
• Support Português, Français, and Italiano (English, Español, Português, Deutsch, Français, Italiano, 한국어, 日本語, 简体中文)
• Improved Gesture function in Loupe View and Full Screen
• Improved Sandbox support
• Improved RAW support
• Improved UI
• Fixed bugs

* Version 2.5 (Dec 17, 2016)

• Added “Save Project” feature to Editor tab for later re-editing
• Added “Load/Save Settings” menu to Batch tab
• Added Loupe View
• Added metadata fields to text object
• Added “Open with” menu
• Added Eraser brush
• Added 120 overlays, 40 textures, 42 dirt & scratches
• New Filters: Add Noise, Despeckle, Bokeh Blur, Pattern Fill, Opacity, Transform, Warp, 3D Object, 3D Plane
• Improved RAW support
• Improved Batch editor UI
• Fixed bugs

* Version 2.4.1 (Jul 16, 2016)
* Version 2.4 (May 20, 2016)

• New Filters: HDR, Dehaze, Reduce Noise, Hue/Saturation, Gradient Fill, Gradient Map, Color Fill, Posterize, Dither, Stippling, Brush Strokes, Frosted Glass, Stained Glass, Underwater, Tiny Planet, Stretch, Perspective, Chromatic Aberration, and Lens Correction
• New Tools: Bloom, Mixer Brush, Spot Healing Brush, and Liquify
• New Figure object
• Support Local Adjustments (Mask)
• Support RAW images (Please visit Mac OS Support: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205272)
• Support German and Simplified Chinese (English, Español, Deutsch, 한국어, 日本語, 简体中文)
• Sort by 'Date Taken'
• Added Perspective Crop option
• Added Crop option to Batch tab
• Added Arrow Style option
• Added 23 film effects, 55 frames, 20 shapes, 917 patterns, and 395 figures more
• Improved UI
• Fixed a possible crash when changing fonts
• Fixed bugs

* Version 2.3 (Oct 28, 2015)

• Redesigned User Interface of the Editor
• New Quick Menu
• New Filters: Film Grain, Channel Mixer, Tint, Threshold, Emboss, Swirl, Wave, Motion Blur, Zoom Blur, Radial Blur, and Glass Tile
• New Objects: Magnifier, Filter object (Mosaic, Jitter, Blur, Crystalize, and Newsprint)
• New Brushes: Dodge, Burn, and Sharpen
• Objects support styles of Outline, Drop Shadow, Outer Glow, and Gradient
• Added Open and Close menu to Editor tab
• Added Align and Snap functions for editing objects
• Added 17 more frames
• Support Spanish
• Fixed bugs

* Version 2.2 (Apr 28, 2015)

• Easy and simple UI/UX
• Animated GIF playable on Viewer tab
• Memorize your last used tab
• Added a vibrance filter to Editor tab
• Added a circular crop option to Editor tab
• Added a watermark function to Create GIF tab
• Added 8 more light leaks, 130 more frames and 4 more patterns
• Added support for Japanese and Korean languages
• Upgraded in many ways
• Fixed bugs

* Version 2.1 (Jan 8, 2015)

• Added a 'Print' tab
• Added 80 more collage templates, 25 light leaks, 40 frames, 6 patterns
• Improved 'Bloom' filter
• Improved 'Rename' tool
• Fixed bugs

Viewing and organizing photos is a common thing people do on their computer. Recently, I received a mail from a reader John. He wrote that he is searching for an alternative to Photos App and what are the best image viewers for Mac.

Hello Saurabh,

I have been using Mac for years, and I store and manage all my photos on my Mac Mini. I know that I can press spacebar to get a preview of the selected photo on the finder. But I don’t like Mac’s built-in photo editing and viewing options and I don’t want to spend money on Adobe’s Image Management apps.

Can you recommend me some of the best image viewers for Mac?

Thanks

John

One thing that I don’t like with finder’s image preview is that to navigate all photos through arrow keys on keyboards, you need to select them with Command-A.

On Windows 10, Microsoft has a good photo viewing app called Photos where you can view photos and start a slideshow. Let’s take a look at some of the best image viewing apps on Mac.

Best Image Viewers for Mac

Sequential

Sequential is a slick and good looking image viewer for Mac OS X. It supports all common image formats including jpg, PNG, GIF. Additionally, Sequential can open files in ZIP, RAR and PDF format. One of the unique features of Sequential is that it can open CBZ and CBR formats that are used for digital comics. With Sequential, you can easily open a folder containing images and then view them in the correct order. At the time of writing, the app is completely free.

Sequential for Mac is a good image viewing software

Its lightweight too, making sure that it will run well even on your aging Mac Mini or MacBook Air.

Xee

While Xee costs $4 on the Mac app store. The streamlined user interface and good functionality. Xee can open all photos inside a folder and compressed archives. After launching Xee, you can see an image and its metadata.

The image viewer of Xee is fairly minimalistic and it hides al unnecessary info when you are inside a preview. Just like Sequential, Xee can also open CBR and CBZ files making it good for reading comics. One of the strong points of Xee is its good support of gestures. You can zoom and rotate images with your touchpad. If all you want is a minimal and strong image viewer for Mac, Xee is worth a look.

XnView

XnView is a popular image viewer. The developer claims that XnView has support for almost 500 different formats. In my testing, it did open most types of image formats that I had. As a cherry on top, XnView can also convert images to another format should you need to.

XnView’s features don’t stop there. It has built-in options for applying basic fixes and filters. Also, it can create slideshows for you. In image management departments, XnView has great support for batch renaming, metadata management, and a duplicate file finder.

XnView is one of the best image viewers for Mac

XnView makes it a great replacement for built-in photo preview in finder if you deal with tons of image formats every day or you want some extra control with your pictures. It is free for personal use and does not include any adware or spyware.

Google Picasa

Picasa is probably one of the most polished image viewers for Mac OS. Sure, Google Killed off Picasa recently, but the photo viewer app is still polished enough for most people. The Picasa Photo Viewer is fast, stable and still looks and performs as good as most other photo viewers for Mac.

Rather than looking like an image viewer in Android’s Gallery app, the Photo Viewer for Mac has a similar feeling to a media player. You can press Enter key on your keyboard to see any image in the fullscreen mode, and if you need, with just one click, you can start a slideshow.

Now that Google has shut down Picasa’s web service, the image upload feature will not be supported. Still, the app should run fine, and you can always use other services to upload photos to the cloud.

Even if you don’t want advanced image editing that Picasa offers, you should give Picasa a try. I have been using it on all my computers, and it has never let me down.

Photos App Location

GIMP

Photo App Location Windows 10

If you have been editing photos for some time, you must have heard about GIMP. It’s a powerful image edition program that has been around for decades. It is an open source application that supports not only viewing but it also has airbrushing, fixing, penciling and a ton of other features. GIMP for Mac UI opens with a folder and file directly tree on is left pace. Next to it is a set of thumbnail images and there are buttons with a set of commands surrounding these panes.

GIMP has a slight learning curve if you have never used professional image editing applications. But. GIMP is the most powerful free image editing and viewing too around.

Which one is your favorite?

Among all the app in this post, which ones do you think is the best image viewers for Mac and why? Share with others in the comments below.

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