Open Source C Image Viewers

Reference library for supporting the Portable Network Graphics (PNG) format.

gPhoto is a program and library framework that lets users download pictures from their digital cameras. The libgphoto2 library gives you access to hundreds of models of digital cameras on several platforms. GIT repo and Issue tracker lives at https://github.com/gphoto/ these days.

The Animated Portable Network Graphics (APNG) is an unofficial extension of the Portable Network Graphics (PNG) format. APNG patch provides APNG support to libpng. APNG support was merged! https://github.com/pnggroup/libpng/pull/706

GraphicsMagick provides a set of commandline tools and programming APIs for manipulating, editing, and converting raster and vector images. It is derived from ImageMagick, with the objective of providing better stability and performance than ImageMagick while retaining the original MIT/X11 license.

FreeImage is a library project for developers who would like to support popular graphics image formats (PNG, JPEG, TIFF, BMP and others). Some highlights are: extremely simple in use, not limited to the local PC (unique FreeImageIO) and Plugin driven!

Developer's Image Library (DevIL) is a cross-platform image library utilizing a simple syntax to load, save, convert, manipulate, filter and display a variety of images with ease.

Luminance HDR is a complete suite for HDR imaging workflow. It provides a wide range of functionalities, during both the fusion stage and the tonemapping stage. Its graphical user interface, based on Qt5, runs on a variety of platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X 10.9 and later and several Unix flavors (Linux, FreeBSD and others). Input images can be supplied in multiple formats, from JPEG to RAW files. In the same way, output can be saved in many different formats as well, from JPEG to TIFF (both 8 bit and 16 bit per channel), enabling all the power of your post processing tools.

JarkViewer is a lightweight, lightning‑fast image viewer for Windows 10/11 (64‑bit) that supports a wide range of modern image formats, from traditional JPEG/PNG to newer types such as AVIF, HEIC, JPEG XL, and various RAW files. It is designed as a native portable application with fully static linking, distributed as a single executable with no separate installer, making it simple to run from any folder or removable drive. The viewer handles static images, animated formats (GIF, animated WebP/PNG/APNG/JXL/AVIF), and special “live” photo types such as iOS Live Photos (.livp) and Android Motion Photos/Micro Videos, although audio playback for live photos is not yet supported. It also supports a broad set of RAW formats from various camera manufacturers, allowing photographers to browse their libraries without converting to JPEG first.

libmng -THE reference library for reading, displaying, writing and examining Multiple-Image Network Graphics. MNG is the animation extension to the popular PNG image-format.

void Image Viewer is a minimal, lightweight Windows image viewer designed to open and display common image formats with extraordinary speed and simplicity. It supports a wide range of standard raster image types such as BMP, JPG, GIF, ICO, TIF, and also handles animated images like GIF and WebP, aiming to render them as accurately and quickly as possible for fast browsing without unnecessary UI clutter. Users benefit from its low resource usage, quick startup, and the ability to run multiple instances simultaneously, making it practical for both quick previews and continuous slideshows of large image sets. The application includes options like natural file sorting, drag-and-drop support, basic command-line parameters for automation, and a slideshow mode tailored to straightforward consumption of local photo collections. Because the viewer purposely avoids heavy editing features and complex menus, it feels snappy for users who primarily need to view images, scroll through folders, etc.

FreeWRL is an Open Source, cross platform VRML2 and X3D compliant browser, with script, SAI and EAI support. Platforms supported: Linux and other Unix-style platforms; Mac OS/X; Windows. Support for mobile platforms (iOS, Android, QNX) is under development.

Pix is an image management application with image viewing, browsing, organizing and editing capabilities. It is part of the X-Apps project, which aims at producing cross-distribution and cross-desktop software. Pix supports numerous image types including: BMP, JPEG, GIF, PNG, TIFF, TGA, ICO and XPM; with optional support for RAW and HDR (high dynamic range) images. It is also able to view EXIF data attached to JPEG images. Pix has its own set of image editing tools that enable you to make color, hue, saturation, lightness and contrast adjustments, as well as a number of advanced tools such as slide shows, converting image format and more.

Importer library to import assets from different common 3D file formats such as Collada, Blend, Obj, X, 3DS, LWO, MD5, MD2, MD3, MDL, MS3D and a lot of other formats. The data is stored in an own in-memory data-format, which can be easily processed. www.open3mod.com/ is a 3D model viewer and exporter based on Assimp that is also Open Source.

Retro Computer Image Library decodes Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari Portfolio, Atari ST/TT/Falcon, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, Commodore 16/116/Plus4, Commodore 128, Electronika BK, FM Towns, HP 48, Macintosh 128K, MSX, NEC PC-80/88/98, Oric, SAM Coupe, Sharp X68000, Tandy 1000, Timex 2048, TRS-80, TRS-80 Color Computer, ZX81 and ZX Spectrum picture formats. The project contains a simple viewer, plug-ins for general-purpose image viewers and editors, and an everything-to-png converter.

ImageMagick® is a free and open-source software suite for displaying, converting, and editing raster image and vector image files. It can read and write over 200 image file formats, and can support a wide range of image manipulation operations, such as resizing, cropping, and color correction. ImageMagick is written in C and is available for a wide range of operating systems, including Linux, macOS, and Windows. It can be used as a standalone application, or as a library that can be integrated into other software programs. Overall, ImageMagick is a powerful and versatile software suite for displaying, converting, and editing image files. Its support for scripting and automation, along with its other features, make it a valuable tool for a wide range of image-related tasks.

Togl provides a platform independent Tk widget for using OpenGL rendering contexts.

Sodipodi is general vector illustrating application for Linux/Unix and Windows. It uses W3C SVG as native file and in-memory image format and can do many neat things.

A lightweight image viewer that is simple to navigate, includes thumbnail previews, external editor support, and zoom features.

A document reader for the Sony PSP with native PDF rendering.

Renderer for flam3 cosmic recursive fractal flames implemented on GPU. Requires a CUDA-capable graphics card.

Xdvi is a program for displaying DVI files on the X window system. Xdvik is a variant with hyperlink support and other additions, deployed e.g. in the TeX Live distribution.

Image viewer and browser for the GNOME environment

This is a plugin to GKrellM that cycles through a list of URLs or local filenames, and displays them sized to fit in a panel. This allows you to keep tabs on a webcam, for example, or rotate pictures of your friends or something.

A library and reference application for viewing and analysing raster and vector geospatial data.

Quickplot is a fast interactive 2D plotter with infinite zooming, value picking, pipe input, and unlimited plots displayed. Quickplot is meant for looking at your data quickly and of secondary importance is making static pictures of your data.