User Guide for IRFANVIEW

What is IrfanView?
IrfanView is a very fast, small, compact and innovative FREEWARE (for non-commercial use) graphic
viewer for all versions of Windows,
It was created in Austria by a Bosnian, Irfan Skiljan. The first version was released on 1 June 1996.
Since then it has been further developed with many updates.
It tries to be simple for beginners, and powerful for professionals.
Download IrfanView
1. Download from www.irfanview.com
2. Click on IrfanView in the 32 bit or 64 bit box; click Download Now
3. In window “You have chosen to open” click on Save File
Install IrfanView
1. Install from the “Downloads” folder: open iviewXXX_x64.setup.exe (or
iviewXXX_setup.exe)
2. The “Welcome to IrfanView Setup” window opens; uncheck “Create IrfanView thumbnails
shortcut on the desktop” box; click Next;
3. For “What’s new in this version?”, click Next
4. For “Do you want to associate extensions with IrfanView?”
a. Images only for InfanView as your default application for viewing pictures
b. Select all as default application for pictures, videos, and audio
c. Or otherwise None
d. Click Next
5. “Ready to Install”: click Next; “Are you really sure?”: click Yes
6. “Installation successful!”: uncheck “Visit IrfanView FAQs homepage” box to uncheck it; click on
Done! (IrfanView opens); maximise the window.
Some suggested adjustments
1. Display pictures to fill the screen: click on View > Display Options > Fit images to window
2. Change the background colour of the screen: click on Options > Properties/Settings >
Viewing > Choose; click on a colour box (e.g. grey); click OK; click OK
Open Pictures in IrfanView
1. If IrfanView is the Default App for Pictures: locate and double-click on a file in File/Windows
Explorer.
2. If IrfanView is open: click on the Open icon in the toolbar; OR: click on File > Open; OR:
press O – then locate and double-click on the file in File/Windows Explorer.
3. If you have placed a picture on the Clipboard (e.g. using
PrintScreen): press Ctrl + V
View the Next/Previous Pictures in a Folder
Click on the arrows in the toolbar
OR: press the Right/Left cursor arrow key
Rotate a Picture 90°
Click on Image > Rotate Left (counter-clockwise) or Image >
Rotate Right (clockwise)
Straighten a Picture
1. Click on Image > Custom/Fine Rotation
2. Type in Angle (degrees; “-” if anticlockwise); click on OK
3. Crop to remove the border area (see later section)
Change the File Size of a Picture
1. Click on Image > Resize/Resample
Making a picture smaller reduces the file size (useful for emailing pictures) – see (f) below.
For the following “Preserve aspect ratio (proportional)” must be selected.
2. Either:
a. Enter a new width or height (these are in pixels;
dimensions can also be set as centimeters or
inches);
a d
b. Click on Set new size as percentage of original
button; enter a percentage for width or height;
c. Click on Half or Double; b c
d. Click on one of the preset sizes (640 x 480 pixels,
etc f
e. (Optional) For better quality printing, type in a
higher value for “DPI” (dots per inch) — printers e
commonly print with 300 or 600 DPI (this will
change the file size)
3. Click on OK
Crop a Picture
(a) Without Retaining the Original Ratio
1. Hold down the left mouse button, draw a rectangle to enclose the part to be retained
2. Adjust the size by dragging the borders.
3. Move an area with the right mouse button.
4. Finalise a cropped area: click on Edit > Crop Selection
(b) Select a Ratio for your Crop
1. Click on Edit > Create custom selection
2. Click on one of the ratios: “Actual ratio (from image)” or one of
the other options (1:1, 2:1, etc.)
OR: Set the Width and Height (select pixels, cm, or inches), and
DPI (dots per inch) in boxes at the right.
3. Click on Save and apply to image
Adjust a Picture’s Quality
Colour Corrections: click on Image > Color Corrections
1. Make adjustments: Move the sliders; OR click on a slider
and press the Left and Right cursor keys (adjustments
are shown in changes in the right-hand picture).
 Brightness: adjusts the brightness.
 Contrast: adjusts the contrast.
 Gamma correction: adjusts Brightness and Contrast
together (very useful).
 Color balance: separate adjustments for Red, Green,
Blue.
 Saturation: adjusts the colour intensity
2. When satisfied, click on OK
Sharpen: Click on Image > Sharpen
Remove Red eye from a Picture
1. Draw a rectangle around the red part of the eye
2. Click on Image > Red eye reduction (selection)
Convert a Picture to Greyscale
Click on Image > Convert to Greyscale
Change a Picture Using “Effects”
There is little or no change with most of the Effects – the most useful is Sepia.
1. Click on Image > Effects
2. Select one of the Effects: 3D Button, Blur, Emboss, Oil Paint, Edge Detection, Median Filter,
Explosion, Pixelize, Sepia, Raindrops.
3. Undo (press Ctrl + Z) before you try another.
Add a Border to a Picture
1. Click on Image > Add border/frame
2. Select the Frame style from the options in the
box
3. Change the width of the border(s) if desired
(pixels)
4. Change the colour of the border(s) if desired:
click on Choose, select a colour
5. Click on OK.
Clear a Picture from the Screen
Press D
Insert Text Into a Picture
1. With the mouse, draw a rectangle where text is to be placed.
2. Click on Edit > Insert text
3. Type the text in the “Text” box.
4. Make changes to the font: click on the “Font” box to make changes to “Font”, “Font Style”,
and “Size” (make this at least 48pt), and on the “Color” box to select the Font Colour.
5. Click on OK; click on OK
Print a Picture
1. Click on File > Print; OR: click on the Print icon in the Toolbar; OR: press Ctrl + P.
2. Make sure the correct printer is selected and
turned on.
a. Select “Portrait” or “Landscape”
b. Click on Printer Setup > Properties to a b
select best choices for paper and colour.
c. To print full size of the page: select “Best fit c
to page (aspect ratio)”
For smaller sizes (select “cm” at bottom) d d
d. With “Custom” selected and “Aspect ratio” e
ticked, type in the Width or Height; OR
e. With “Scale” selected, type in identical f
Width and Height values, as decimals.
f. Adjust the “Position on page” values if
desired. g
g. Click on Print
Save a Picture (illustrations are over page)
1. Click on File > Save as; OR click on the Save icon ; OR Press S
2. In the “Save Picture As ...” bar, select a folder to save the file in.
3. In the “File name” bar, type in a filename.
4. In the “Save as type” bar, select the graphics format to be saved in (BMP, GIF, JPG, PNG).
5. Select the level of compression
6. Click on Save
 Level Size of file
100 1000KB
BMP has no compression, large files. 90 416KB
GIF and JPG can be set 1 - 100. 80 289KB
PNG can be set 0 - 9.
70 232KB
Lower numbers mean smaller file
60 194KB
size and lower quality. Higher
numbers mean larger file size, 50 170KB
higher quality. “80 – 90” give good 40 148KB
quality with reasonable file size. 20 90KB
10 51KB

This table shows file sizes

for a JPG file saved at
different levels.
Options not included in these notes:
Panorama: This does not produce panoramas where pictures are fused seamlessly together.
Suggested alternative: Microsoft Image Composite Editor.
Slideshow: Complete instructions are complex. Suggested alternative: Microsoft Photo Story 3

Prepared by Neal Utting: http://nealsresources.weebly.com/irfranview.html