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For Photoshop-quality images, try IrfanView free photo viewer

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In this article, I'll tell you how to create Photoshop-quality images for your website and product photos.  We'll use Irfan Skiljan's popular IrfanView free media viewer. IrfanView has basic image editing and color correcting tools. We'll add some free filters designed for Photoshop, that also work in IrfanView.

The setup is divided into three parts:

1) Download and install IrfanView.
2) Install the Adobe Photoshop Filter plugin for IrfanView (available from http://irfanview.com).
3) Add Photoshop .8BF filters to the IrfanView plugins folder.

You can start editing your photos after installing IrfanView (Step 1). Then follow Steps 2 and 3 when you're ready to take on more advanced topics like color correction and resizing.

You'll need to know a few Windows basics: how to install a file, how to find a file and how to work with ZIP files. (Hint: Use 7-Zip from http://7-zip.org). The entire setup should take 10 - 15 minutes if you know the basics.

Step 1: Download and install IrfanView.

The first step is to install IrfanView on your computer. Get the latest version from the IrfanView home page: http://irfanview.com. IrfanView is a photo viewer with basic image editing capability. IrfanView is free for non-commercial use. You can try the full version of IrfanView at no cost. IrfanView does a lot more, like thumbnails, batch resizing and screen capture. Read the instructions for more info.

Install IrfanView using the default settings. The default location is your C:\Program Files\IrfanView folder. In the IrfanView setup dialog, click the "Images Only" button to make IrfanView your default image viewer.

During installation, make IrfanView your default image viewer

If you use IrfanView for business purposes, the author asks that you buy a $12 license. That is a real bargain compared to $700 for Adobe Photoshop CS4. As you'll see, IrfanView supports many of the same cool photographic effects achieved with Photoshop. See also my advice below on color correction and photo editing.

Once you've installed IrfanView on your computer, you're ready to go to Step 2. In Step 2, we'll set up IrfanView to work with Photoshop filters.

Step 2: Install Adobe Photoshop Filter plugin for IrfanView (available from http://.irfanview.com)

This next step is a bit more advanced. It requires some file handling. To reduce the size of its footprint, many of IrfanView's files are distributed in separate packages. To work with Photoshop filters, first you must install IrfanView's Photoshop plugin.

Go to IrfanView.com's home page and click on Plugins. On the Plugins page, find and download the "IV Effects" ZIP file. Download the iv_effects.zip file to your desktop or other convenient location.

Download the IrfanView Effects Plugin Pack

Find the file you just downloaded. Right-click on it to extract the files. Copy those files and place them in the IrfanView plugins folder. (The folder is usually located at: C:\Program Files\Irfanview\Plugins.)

Contents of the IV Effects ZIP archive - put this in IrfanView's plugins folder

Readme_Install.txt manual installation instructions

If IrfanView is running, you'll need to restart it in order to use your new filters.

In addition to the Photoshop plugin, IrfanView's Effects plugin pack comes with a number of free Filter Factory and Filters Unlimited filters. You'll find them in the Image menu under the Effects sub-menu item.

Now you can start editing like a pro. But before we begin, let's add some more free Photoshop filters.

Step 3: Add Photoshop .8BF filters to the IrfanView plugins folder

Smashing Magazine has a large list of free Photoshop filters here:

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/08/03/a-z-of-free-photoshop-plugins-and-filters/

SmashingMag is a great resource for artists and developers alike. Be sure to visit their site! I like the collection of free plugins from Xero Graphics, especially the Illustrator and Bad Dream filters. Demo and download here:

http://www.xero-graphics.co.uk/freeware.htm

The procedure for adding these Photoshop filters is the same as above: Download the ZIP file, then extract the contents of the ZIP file to IrfanView's Plugins folder (usually located at C:\Program Files\IrfanView\Plugins). Restart IrfanView to use the new filters. (Remember, not all plugins designed for Adobe Photoshop will work in IrfanView!)

I also like the Convolution Shaman filter that comes free with Amphisoft's demo pack: http://photoshop.msk.ru/as/download.html. If you don't want all the demos, just grab the .8BF file called "Convolution Shaman" and put it in the plugins folder.

Editing Your Photos With IrfanView

I can only mention the most basic photo editing issues here. The first is that in marketing and digital production, you always want to give an accurate and honest representation of your product. This is especially true when your product is of a particular color or pattern. Never use your photo editor to pump up your product or airbrush out some imperfections.

The idea behind photo editing is to correct imperfections introduced by the photographic medium (cheap digital cameras). You want to show your images as they appear to the eye. In digital photography, that often means increasing the contrast, brightness and color saturation. Use your own eye's best judgement of what is an accurate photo of the item.

Color Correction

IrfanView's basic color correction tools are located in the Image Menu. Click on Image >> Color Corrections to bring up the Color Corrections dialog box. Most of the controls are self-explanatory. The Gamma controls the midrange brightness and is useful for correcting dark photos. Make small changes and remember it's often not possible to fix a bad photo. Start with good quality pictures.

Resizing

Today's megapixel cameras produce print-size images that are too large for a computer screen. The most common digital photography job is to resize your photos down to a viewable size on your computer screen, typically around 800 pixels width and 600 pixels height. Experiment to see which sizes look best on your monitor.

Resizing a big photo down causes the photo to become slightly blurry, so it's recommended you use a Sharpen filter after resizing. To resize a photo in IrfanView, click on Image >> Resize/Resample.... In the Resize/Resample Image dialog box, make sure Preserve Aspect Ratio and Apply Sharpen After Resize options are selected.

The best sharpening filter for resized photos is called Unsharp Mask. The Unsharp Mask filter comes with Adobe Photoshop. You can find a free unsharp mask filter called AIM USM here. In most cases, IrfanView's built-in Sharpen filter works fine.

Saving

Note that IrfanView has several saving options, depending on the file type you choose. Most photos use JPG format. When saving a JPG file in IrfanView, you have the option to adjust the file's compression settings. Less compression results in a better picture, but also a larger file size (in Kb). In most cases you can use the default settings to get good results.

Always work from a copy of your original image. Never save over your original file. Saving in JPG format results in a loss of photo quality. Repeated saves will degrade your image.

Working With Adobe Filters

IrfanView supports Adobe plugin filters (8bf files). These filters have their own dialog boxes (like IrfanView's Color Corrections dialog) which usually consist of a set of sliders to control the effect.

To apply a filter, load the Adobe 8BF Filters dialog box by clicking it in the IrfanView Image >> Effects >> Adobe 8bf Filters menu. Highlight a filter name, then click Start Selected Filter. Experiment with different filters to discover their effects. Remember not all filters designed for Adobe Photoshop will work in IrfanView.