To work with photographs, you need two types of programs: for viewing and for editing. There are applications that contain both those and other functions. Some users work with standard programs, others are looking for alternatives.
Windows has a standard image viewer called Photo Viewer. Many people use the default application, but some lack its functionality, so they prefer to use other "viewers".
One of the most popular alternative programs is ACDSee (https://www.acdsee.com). The undoubted plus of the program is the ability to work with a huge number of formats. The application has such additional functions as an image manager, converting to other formats, finding and removing duplicates, editing.
A kind of "clone" of ACDSee, but without some "extra" features, is FastStone Image Viewer (https://www.faststone.org). Other popular image viewers include:
- IrfanView;
- Firehand Ember;
- ThumbsPlus;
- FreshView;
- Alteros Viewer, etc.
Another class of programs is designed for processing and editing images, including photographs. The standard Windows operating system tool is Paint. It has the minimum set of functions required for editing. A small set of functions for photo processing is possessed by the "Microsoft Office Picture Manager". Both of these applications do not always meet the needs of the users.
The most famous image editor is Adobe Photoshop (https://www.adobe.com/en/products/photoshopfamily.html). In addition to the fact that the program has the widest built-in capabilities, third-party plugins can be connected to it, providing additional application capabilities. A separate program aimed at mass processing of photos is Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.
A competitor to Adobe products is Corel Paint Shop Pro (https://www.corel.com/corel/product/index.jsp?pid=prod4130078). It also has a wealth of tools to suit photography enthusiasts.
However, these programs are commercial, and not every user can afford to buy one of them. The alternatives are free apps, which often meet basic needs. Some of the viewers, such as ACDSee or Irfan View, already have specific editing tools. Among the specialized programs are:
- PhotoFiltre;
- PhotoPad Image Editor;
- Zoner Photo Studio;
- GIMP, etc.
