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On Windows, I've been using IrfanView as my image viewer of choice for about 15 years. I use it for things like resizing, cropping, flipping and rotating images; converting between different formats; and also certain effects such as blurring or obfuscating part of an image where there is sensitive data.

On Kubuntu 19.10 I've got Gwenview as the default image viewer. It caters for most of my use cases above, but I haven't yet found a way to obfuscate an area of an image.

I've also tried running IrfanView itself under Wine, but the problem there is that it can't see the Linux filesystem, making it pretty useless. I also don't know how to get it into an Open with... context menu when I right-click an image.

I had also written my own cross-platform alternative to IrfanView a few years back, but although it supports some nice image transformations, it still lacks some basic features such as copy & paste as well as area selection.

So basically, what's the easiest way to have a lightweight image viewer with simple editing functions and filters that works as closely to the Swiss army knife that is IrfanView as possible, and be able to obfuscate parts of images with it? (I'm looking for specific features, not just for any alternative.)

Possible solutions that would be acceptable:

  • Some way for Gwenview to obfuscate parts of an image
  • Other software that can cover all the features I need
  • Getting IrfanView under Wine to be able to see images on the Linux filesystem
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    Wine apps can totally see the linux FS, I believe it is under the Z drive but that depends on the wine config. As far as the "open with" goes, I'm sure that once you get the first part going, you can write a script that opens wine with irfanview and that file and register it as an "open with" handler. Too lazy to make it an answer though...
    – Kryštof Píštěk
    Commented Nov 24, 2019 at 20:37
  • @KryštofPíštěk you are absolutely right, that Z drive is something I totally missed. I can live without the "open with" for the time being... this is a pretty good solution in itself (go ahead and make it answer if you ever feel more energetic).
    – Gigi
    Commented Nov 25, 2019 at 19:08

10 Answers 10

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I'm running Ubuntu Studio 19.10 and installed a (wine) snap of Irfanview using the provided GUI "Software". A link to the executable appears in my menu tree in the photography section.

I'm able to open, modify and save files to/from my home directory path using Irfanview, it can use my entire 4K screen, no errors reported.

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As a long time user of IrfanView myself, I was also looking for a worthy successor on Linux.

I have not found a single app for all my use cases, but I am happy with combining a couple of tools.

For adding basic info (e.g. arrows or text) or in order to obfuscate parts of an image, I use GIMP.

For other basic manipulation like cropping, rotating or color adjustments I found gThumb.

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I use Geeqie as a fast viewer (it can rotate and flip though), and Screenshot-Tool Shutter as minimalist Editor that can blur, crop and put markers into a picture.

With Geeqie I can say ("Open in external editor...")

Don't know how well this works under Kubuntu though.

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GIMP can obfuscate part of an image with Filters -> Blur -> Pixelize or one of GIMP's other 6 Filters -> Blur options that have different ways of obfuscating a selected area.

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IrfanView works great for me using Wine under Ubuntu Mate 18.04. I do see the Ubuntu file system, but generally don’t migrate too far from the Desktop. I do have difficulty with using disks other than the OS disk.

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You can consider KolourPaint from the Universe repository.

You can use it to draw a filled rectangle or ellipse over what you want to obscure or you can use the spray can tool:

Obscuring parts of an image using kolourpaint

kolourpaint's tools

Since you're using Kubuntu, the additional dependencies will be minimal if that's a concern.

I use the AppImage version of something called ksnip but don't recommend it because it isn't in the standard repositories. That said, if you're interested the homepage is here.

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  • ksnip is available now as snap on the official snap store.
    – Damir Porobic
    Commented Sep 9, 2020 at 13:36
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I can recommend nomacs. I am also IrfanView user under Windows and this nomacs is the best replacement you can find for Linux

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I have used geeqie as an image viewer. I has very limited editing features, but other software may be launched from it. I used to use rawstudio for basic editing and raw developing, but unfortunately it has not been developed anymore. I think even that can not obfuscate parts of images, but you could always use gimp.

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IrfanView works fine for me with wine. Another option is XnView MP. Is available as an appimage.

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  • What do you mean by "available as an appimage"?
    – Gigi
    Commented Dec 31, 2019 at 21:23
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Pinta

Simple, halfway between Paint and Gimp, lots of features and on official universe repo.

screenshot

  • Drawing Tools: Use easy drawing tools to draw freehand, lines, rectangles, ellipses, and more.
  • Adjustments and Effects: Pinta includes over 35 adjustments and effects for tweaking your images.
  • Multilingual: Use Pinta in your language. Pinta is at least partially translated into over 55 languages.
  • Full History: Don't be afraid to experiment, Pinta tracks your full history so you can always undo.
  • Multiple Layers: Use layers to help separate and group elements of your image for easy editing.
  • Your Workspace: Like docked windows? No problem. Floating windows? No problem. You can even mix and match.

Issues on Launchpad, forks/PRs on Github. Last release was on 2015.

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