The best free photo managers on PC

You are looking in vain for the latest photos from your vacation… You have certainly gotten into the bad habit of copying all your photos to your hard drive without sorting or taking the time to organize them correctly. And now you’re biting your fingers…

Whether you’re a photography enthusiast or simply someone who loves capturing precious moments, managing your photos on your computer can quickly become a real challenge. Between sorting, organizing, editing and sharing your photos, it is essential to have a powerful tool adapted to your needs from the first stage of organization. Fortunately, there are many photo managers on PC that can make your job easier.

What are the essential features of a photo manager?

Before introducing you to the different free photo managers, it is important to familiarize yourself with the main features you should look for in such a tool. A good photo manager must, above all, be compatible with many file formats, but also many sources (digital camera, memory card, smartphone, etc.), in order to quickly import all your photos and then sort them optimally.

By default, photo managers integrate some sorting filters, such as the date, to organize them chronologically, but the most efficient tools also allow the user to add personalized tags, labels, and create albums. , folders, categories… And depending on the EXIF ​​metadata retrieved, it may be possible to sort by camera, location, lens…

A viewer is also one of the essential features, allowing you to preview photos before sharing them, retouching them, editing them, deleting them, etc.

Of course, it is possible to find more advanced tools using AI to recognize faces, colors, the type of shots (selfie, landscape, etc.), but generally, these software are paid or accompany an editor paying. In this selection, we only chose free toolsfocused on the management and organization of your photos.

What are the best photo managers?

XnView MP, the most complete

XnView MP is a cross-platform photo manager (Windows, Mac and Linux) that stands out for its versatility and the number of features it includes for free. Although its interface may seem a little complex at first, once you become familiar with its tools, you will discover a real Swiss army knife for managing your photos.

One of the main strengths of XnView MP is its ability to support a wide range of image formats, including raw RAW formats from SLR cameras. In terms of management tools, it is possible to create categories to organize your photos, take advantage of the viewer and the explorer. The built-in editing tool gives you plenty of editing, cropping and adjustment options, giving you precise control over the appearance of your photos.

The batch processing feature lets you quickly perform repetitive tasks on multiple images, such as resizing, format conversion, or adding metadata.

FastStone Image Viewer, a light and fast solution

To download only on Windows PCs, FastStone Image Viewer is ideal for users who want a simple and effective solution without having to get lost in a complex interface. Despite its small size, this software offers a complete set of tools for viewing, editing and managing your photos. Its interface reminiscent of Windows Explorer allows you to get started quickly.

It supports a wide range of popular image formats as well as RAW formats. It can even play video and audio files. When it comes to organizing multimedia files, the software helps you mark and evaluate your photos, so you can find the best ones quickly, and it is even possible to associate a comment with JPG files.

The full-screen viewer, slideshow editor, color editing and correction tools as well as filters and special effects are among the many features available free of charge (for personal use).

Adobe Bridge, the power of Adobe for photo management

If you are already familiar with the tools in the Adobe suite and have an account (free or paid), Adobe Bridge is probably the photo manager best suited to your needs. Closely integrated with other Adobe applications like Photoshop, Lightroom or InDesign, Adobe Bridge provides a photo management experience perfectly synchronized with the entire Adobe ecosystem.

With Adobe Bridge, you can browse, view and manage your media files directly from a centralized interface. The software for Windows and Mac also offers powerful non-destructive editing tools, allowing you to adjust the parameters of your photos without altering the original files. So you can edit, apply presets, add metadata, and more, all in a familiar, intuitive environment.

IrfanView, a free and lightweight photo manager

IrfanView is a free and lightweight photo manager for Windows, which stands out for its ease of use and well-thought-out basic functionality. Although not as comprehensive as some more advanced software, IrfanView is still a great choice for users looking for a simple and effective photo management tool.

IrfanView’s interface is clean and intuitive. Navigating your photo library is seamless, with sorting, zooming, and rotating options easily accessible. You can also perform basic tasks like cropping, adjusting colors or adding text to your images.

Although the editing possibilities are limited, IrfanView proves to be an excellent tool for sharing and exporting your photos. You can resize, convert and save your files in a wide variety of formats, including developing photos in raw RAW format. Additionally, the software offers handy features, like creating slideshows and taking screenshots.

DigiKam, a more complete solution for photographers

DigiKam is an open source photo manager particularly suited to professional photographers and advanced users. With its many advanced features and great flexibility, DigiKam positions itself as one of the most complete solutions for managing, editing and organizing your photos.

Thanks to its cataloging and classification system, you can easily organize your photos by date, by location, by tag or even by personalized collections. In addition to its management features, DigiKam offers a comprehensive set of non-destructive editing tools for RAW photos. This allows you to perform advanced edits, apply filters and effects, while maintaining the integrity of your original files.

Other great features of DigiKam include advanced metadata management, creation of custom slideshows, export to many online services, and the ability to use plug-ins to expand its capabilities. Download on Windows, Mac and Linux.

Microsoft Photos, the photo manager integrated into Windows 10/11

If you are using a Windows PC, you have a built-in photo manager, Microsoft Photos, which can be an interesting option for managing your photos. In particular, it allows you to organize your photos into albums, add tags and sort them according to the different filters available: type of media (photos or video), date taken, date modified, favorites, folders, etc. .

With Microsoft Photos, you’ll enjoy a slideshow editor and the Memories tool that lets you sync the manager with your OneDrive cloud storage account. And directly from the image tree, it is possible to start a slideshow, with a simple right click.

In terms of additional tools, you will have an intuitive editor to crop, rotate, correct, make some brightness or color adjustments, and apply some automatic filters. And if you have the Microsoft Clipchamp video editor, you can directly import your photos there.

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