Alternatives to Windows 7 image viewer without pixellated zoom

Default Image Viewer for Windows 7 doesn't do any smoothing when the image is zoomed. I hear that's the case with Windows 8's image viewer too. In Windows XP there was a different image viewer which did smooth out the images, and it was just great.

I just tried out the Microsoft Essentials Photo Gallery, and it's the same as Windows 7's image viewer — no smoothing.

Is there a way to bring the XP's image viewer to Windows 7, or enable Windows 7's viewer smoothing somehow, or should I switch to a different image viewer?

I'm looking for a 1 image viewer. That is, a single image should be shown, not the whole folder.

Must have features:

Smooth scaling (preferably with mouse wheel, zooming in at cursor position)
Keyboard arrows navigation (left and right arrow keys show next and previous images in folder)

Optional:

Fullscreen mode that goes full screen (not just maximized window)
Side mouse button navigation (mouse4 and mouse5, navigate forward and backwards)
Open images directly from Zip archives without unpacking the whole archive

In the end I didn't find an image viewer that perfectly suits my preferences, so I created my own with XNA.

user1306322

Posted 2013-04-10T02:11:46.523

Reputation: 4 237

Possible duplicate of When I zoom in using the Windows 7 Photo Viewer, why do I start seeing pixels?.

– harrymc – 2013-04-17T08:22:37.073

@harrymc this question isn't about the reason of this behavior, but about alternatives to the software. – user1306322 – 2013-04-17T08:27:06.133

Then you should correct the title. You should also clarify what kind of a viewer are you looking for: one-image viewer or folder-viewer. – harrymc – 2013-04-17T09:19:20.720

@user1306322 I would highly recommend trying out MaxView as mentioned in my answer below. Given your criteria, I think you'll definitely find it to be a useful tool to have installed and on hand. – Dane – 2013-04-25T18:47:30.577

Answers

I think the best choice for image viewer is IrfanView.

Smooth scaling, go in View->Display Options and turn off Use Resample
It has key arrows navigation
It supports full screen
Opens images directly from zip archive without unpacking.

It supports a lot of plugins! Try it out and tell me if it fits you.

Devid

Posted 2013-04-10T02:11:46.523

Reputation: 5 566

The smoothing is really bad :( Only a single image can be opened from a Zip archive, then if you press an arrow key, it says the folder's end has been reached. Also, the controls are kind of unusual (ctrl+scroll for zooming), and I like to browse my images with only one hand, and this requires both. – user1306322 – 2013-04-17T10:29:02.550

I don't know but i can open many images at the same time from Zip archive. I just select them and click open, and they open all at the same time. Ctrl+Scroll is a standard for many software, but you can change how you zoom in the options i think. If you click -> or <- arrows and reach the end you can just click again -> and you will start from the beginning. But as i mentioned you can change many things from the options of IrfanView. Try the option apply sharpen after resample and turn on resample, maybe you get better quality. – Devid – 2013-04-17T10:49:55.673

What I mean by opening more than 1 image from Zip archive, is that I double-click one of them, and then freely navigate with arrow keys, exactly like it would be if it was a usual folder, but that isn't happening. Opening a lot of windowed images is not a desired solution, since I'm mostly viewing 1 image in fullscreen mode. The end of folder is being reached because there is only 1 image in folder, and that folder is user's Temp folder, to which every image, double-clicked from within a Zip folder is copied, and then Windows launches viewer with a link to temp file copy, not the original. – user1306322 – 2013-04-17T11:20:39.700

2ok i see now what you mean, well then IrfanView is not the best solution for you. – Devid – 2013-04-17T11:24:55.710

You can use Picasa's Image Viewer which gives great zoom quality.

It can open images from zip archive (but can't navigate inside that zip).
It can zoom in/out based on mouse scroll wheel (or up-down arrow keys).
It can navigate you to next or previous image in folder based on right-left arrow keys.

Apple II

Posted 2013-04-10T02:11:46.523

Reputation: 3 669

It sure can open a single image from a Zip archive, as I believe any application can, because it is first copied to Temp folder and then opened from there, but it can't navigate files directly inside a Zip archive. – user1306322 – 2013-04-17T06:05:44.227

@user1306322 Yup, that's the problem. – Apple II – 2013-04-17T06:55:21.783

Though the smoothing is fine, but I couldn't find a quick combination for 1:1 scaling, and there doesn't seem to be a way to make mouse4 and mouse5 buttons navigate like left and right arrow keys. And the "fullscreen" mode doesn't really go full screen, still showing the taskbar. – user1306322 – 2013-04-17T08:03:32.907

Google's Picasa can do it, altrough its resampling is not very sophisticated (it gets a similar look to the Windows XP's Windows Photo Viewer).

Havenard

Posted 2013-04-10T02:11:46.523

Reputation: 788

When on Windows I use XnView, it should have most of the features you need. There is also a free version of ACDSee, it should be a quality software but I never used it.

Anyway, I suggest you to have a look at the comparison of image viewers on Wikipedia, it has a lot of information and should help you find what you need.

Sekhemty

Posted 2013-04-10T02:11:46.523

Reputation: 6 654

ACDSee free doesn't smooth images, they're still all pixellated. And despite the description on Wikipedia, it can't browse files inside zip archives, though maybe the Pro version can, but it isn't free. – user1306322 – 2013-04-17T13:13:41.550

I'm sorry, I don't have more ideas. Like I said when I'm on Win I use Xnview, but I'm mainly a Linux user, so I think I can't help more than this. – Sekhemty – 2013-04-17T13:16:57.547

The pro version of ACDSee comes with an archive plugin, and I can confirm that it supports smooth scaling and fullscreen. – Fopedush – 2013-04-22T22:08:35.230

Try out MaxView

Smooth scaling with mouse wheel as option. Zoom with left-click magnifier at set ratio.
Keyboard arrows navigation (and additional possibilities)
Fullscreen mode that goes full screen (not just maximized window)
Unsure about side mouse button navigation, but good chance
Open images directly from Zip archives without unpacking the whole archive (main feature)

Dane

Posted 2013-04-10T02:11:46.523

Reputation: 1 682

1This is actually a good viewer. I already made myself one with all the features I wanted, but otherwise I'd go with this one. – user1306322 – 2013-04-25T22:02:32.383

-1

JPEGView is the most straightforward one to use.

Chad

Posted 2013-04-10T02:11:46.523

Reputation: 129

Please provide more details. For starters, where can we get this software? Next, please say something about the program more specific than “it is the most straightforward one to use” — compare to the other answers. Please do not respond in comments; [edit] your answer to make it clearer and more complete. – Scott – 2018-10-15T02:32:53.870