XnView MP
Fast picture viewer, browser and batch converter. Reads camera RAW, PSD, HEIC and most other image formats.
Our verdict
XnView MP is the rare case where a Windows favourite simply comes with you. The developer supports Windows, Mac and Linux from the same product, so the program you open on Linux is the one you already know.
It is a viewer and organiser first. Browse folders, flip through pictures quickly, rename hundreds of files in one go, convert a folder of RAW files to JPEG. It also does light edits like cropping, resizing and rotating. Anything heavier belongs in GIMP or Krita.
It stays free for home use, and there is nothing to sign up for. If you use it inside a business you need to buy a licence from XnView, same as on Windows. Your pictures are untouched by any of this, since XnView reads the files where they already sit.
What's good
- The same program as the Windows version, made by the same developer, with Linux listed as a supported system
- Opens a very wide range of formats including camera RAW, PSD, HEIC, WEBP and PDF
- Batch renaming and batch conversion for whole folders at once
- Free for private and educational use
What to know first
- Not open source, and a company has to buy a licence to use it
- The interface is busy and dated next to newer Linux photo viewers
- The Flathub listing is packaged by the community rather than by the developer
- No advanced photo editing, so heavy retouching goes to another program
The details
- Cost
- Free
- Open source
- No (Freeware, free for private and educational use)
- How you install it
- App store (Flatpak)
Windows apps it can replace
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