ACDSee vs XnView

By Eva Williams 21 days ago, Software Reviews

Don’t know whether you should pick ACDsee or XnView for viewing, editing, and organizing your files? Both options provide basic management features and include standard editing tools.

ACDSee is chosen by Windows and Mac users because of its fast performance when working with JPG images. It allows you to process and organize huge batches of photos. Other than viewing and organizing images, ACDsee offers editing functionality, a face recognition feature, color tools, and filters.

XnView can be installed on Windows, Mac, or Linux, as well as downloaded on your mobile device. Other than image viewing, the software can be used for conversion into a large selection of formats. As for editing, XnView lets you adjust photos by using tools like rotation, resizing, cropping, brightness and contrast.

What is ACDSee?

acdsee logo

ACDSee is a standalone retouching and Digital Asset Management software for photographers. Being a photo organizer, the software allows you to locate the photo you need to edit instantly while having access to all pictures that are stored on your PC. Images can be sorted by day, month, or year of the shoot, or you can sort them by keywords, ratings, location, camera model, and much more.

ACDSee comes with an array of editing features that allow you to select, reshape, paint, and draw as you see fit. The software also makes use of your device’s font library and allows you to add a selection of quality effects to the images. With the library consisting of over 60 filters, adjusting the colors and textures in your photos requires nothing more than a single click.

ACDSee allows you to open images in over 60 different formats. The software also invites you to send images to your friends or colleagues straight from the desktop. If your goal is to get the best photo viewer in terms of performance when opening a bunch of images, you can’t go wrong with this option.

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  • acdsee interface
  • acdsee interface

    ACDSee: Pros and Cons

    Improved batch options. You can change the size and name of multiple photos simultaneously. Batch resizing enables you to set custom dimensions to as many images as you want with minimum hassle. Meanwhile, the batch processing functionality makes it easy to apply identical changes and edits to all selected photos simultaneously.

    Fantastic map feature. ACDSee provides a map mode for image viewing. If your photos have GPS tags, then you’ll be able to see where they were taken on a map. This addition is very useful when you take photos in remote locations with no named places nearby.

    Advanced editing features. The software provides in-depth editing functionality including haze removal for landscape photos and a Skin Tune feature that allows you to make the skin tone more even, recover glow, and deal with various blemishes.

    Other editing functions include cloning, touch-up, and vector graphic tools that can completely change the image while deleting all possible flaws or background objects. However, if you don’t have time to edit yourself, you can always request help from professionals.

    Highly accurate face detection and recognition. This tool locates all humans in your image, allowing you to name the models and easily find them in all your photos later. ACDSee instantly assigns the name to a specified face and will suggest potential matches when possible.

    Moreover, you can import facial data from Lightroom or Picasa to save time on giving everybody a name, as all imported data will be instantly added to ACDSee's Facial Recognition Database.

    Simple lighting adjustments to specific image parts. Enhance the parts of your photos that look overly bright or dark without changing the rest of the image. The software comes with the patented Light EQ technology specifically for this purpose, as it allows adjusting tonal values across the entire tone map. With its help, you can brighten overly dark parts and darken overly bright parts at the same time. 

    Convenient image storage in baskets. Manage up to 5 photo baskets that can contain images stored across your entire HDD/SDD. Give each basket a name and employ them for viewing, editing, and sharing the images that you put inside. You can add photos both from your PC and cloud storages.

    Doesn’t have a hand tool for zooming and panning.

    What is XnView?

    xnview logo

    XnView is a bundle of free software designed for viewing, resizing, and editing. This photo management software for Mac comes with various viewing modes including full-screen, thumbnail, slideshow, and filmstrip. You can also view photos next to each other to examine them and delete blurry or out-of-focus shots.

    This photo catalog software comes with batch rename and conversion tools, duplicate picture finder, photo compare, slideshow, and contact sheet designer features. XnView also allows you to perform image conversion, resizing and watermarking, as well as add text or apply filters in batch mode.

    XnView lets you manipulate your photos by relying on a variety of editing features including resize, rotate, crop, brightness and contrast, auto-leveling, filters, etc. The software is even compatible with Photoshop plugins, making it easier for you to expand its functionality further. The number of supported file formats is also highly impressive and currently stands at over 500.

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    • xnview interface

      XnView: Pros and Cons

      Convenient interface. XnView has a convenient, intuitive UI with a section for browsing through images on the left. Whenever you pick the folder you want to view, you’ll see the thumbnails of your photos in the primary viewing window as well as data regarding the file type and resolution of your files.

      Provides intuitive editing tools. This ACDSee alternative can be switched to editing mode for cropping, rotating, and adjusting other aspects of your photos. Automatic features like red-eye effect removal and auto-leveling make simple adjustments a breeze, while more significant edits can be performed by using one of the available effects or filters.

      Incredible compatibility. XnView allows opening and editing over 500 image formats (including multi-page and animated ones like TIF, GIF, and so on) and exporting files in one of 70 formats.

      Advanced batch functionality. With the help of XnView, you can convert the format of multiple photos simultaneously. There are also batch processing features for applying watermarks and resizing a group of photos at the same time.

      Change image size without losing quality. XnResize allows you to make images smaller without a drop in quality. However, whenever you need to enlarge a photo, the tool automatically adds pixels based on the original file, which can lead to a blurry look. That’s why it’s advised to take photos in the largest resolution possible and then downsize them if needed later.

      Free exclusively for personal use.

      ACDSee vs XnView: Price

      acdsee vs xnview price

      XnView can be installed for free as long as you only use it for non-commercial purposes.

      ACDSee Photo Studio can be purchased for $29.95. Additionally, the developers offer several software packages:

      Home Plan for $8.90/month or $89/year. You'll receive four ACDSee products, the ability to use the software along with your family members (up to 5 users per product), and 50GB of cloud storage.

      Home Pack for $74.95. It includes four main ACDSee products that can be activated on up to 3 different devices.

      ACDSee vs XnView: Who Wins?

      The winner of the ACDSee vs XnView battle depends on your skillset and the tasks you set for yourself. With ACDSee, you can view and professionally enhance shots in a matter of seconds. You’ll have access to both basic editing options and more advanced tools like Color EQ, Light EQ, Face Detection, and Facial Recognition.

      XnView comes with all the features beginners need to view, manage, and improve their images. Regardless if you’re organizing photos from your recent trip or creating a business-related slideshow, this software will allow you to complete such a task with speed and ease.

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