Irfanview
Fix your messy file names, deter photo thieves, and prepare images for printing
Rename multiple files
Bring order to your chaotic photo file naming with Irfanview’s ‘Batch conversion’ tool, which does far more than convert photo formats (though it’s good at that).
Open Irfanview and press B to launch the tool, then click ‘Batch rename’. Select your files then click Add (or ‘Add all’ to select all in a folder). Next, click Options. Now type a batch name over ‘image’ - for example, 2016-madrid-holiday (see screenshot below). By default, Irfanview includes four hashes (####) then uses them to generate sequential numbers (0001, 0002 and so on). You can also use ‘placeholders’ to automatically add dates and other data to filenames – click Help to see the full placeholder list. Click OK, Browse, select a save location, and then click Start Batch to save.
If you select ‘All files’ from the ‘Files of type’ dropdown menu, you can batchrename your documents, videos, audio files and more. Leave any system and program files alone, however.
Prepare photos for printing
Most print services use the traditional 3:2 (6x4in) ratio, but digital cameras often shoot in 4:3. To avoid any unexpected cropping of printed photos, open a photo in Irfanview, click Edit, then click ‘Create maximized selection (ratio)’. Choose 3:2 for landscape, 2:3 for portrait (see screenshot above). Right-click and hold down to drag the selection box into place.
You could then use Irfanview’s handy Ctrl+y keyboard shortcut to crop your photo, but its JPG Lossless tool is better for retaining print quality. Click Options, JPG Lossless Crop, then Start. By default, the new version will have a ‘_crop’ suffix at the end of the filename.
Watermark a batch of photos
Watermarks don’t look very nice, but they do protect your best photos from online thieves. Press B in Irfanview, select photos to watermark, then click Add. Tick ‘Use advanced options’, then Advanced. Tick ‘Add watermark image’, then Settings, Choose, and select a PNG image to overlay on your photos. (This ‘Copyrighted Image’ PNG is free from Smugmug: www.snipca.com/27426).
Alternatively, tick ‘Add overlay text’ (see screenshot above), click Settings, type your watermark text in the Text box, then click ‘Semi-transp’ to fade the words. Click OK. You can then apply basic image edits such as sharpening and contrast to the batch of photos, if you want. Click OK again, then Start Batch.
Add soundtracks to slideshows
To create a basic slideshow in Irfanview, click the Slideshow icon (below Edit), navigate to the photos you want to use, then click Add. If you add an audio file with the photo files, it will play as a soundtrack. Any MP3 will do - say, the song that reminds you of your holiday, or a voiceover recorded using this free web tool: https://recordmp3online.com. You’ll also need to install the latest Irfanview plug-ins ( www.irfanview.com/plugins. htm). They’re all free and work automatically once installed.
Back in the Slideshow window, select ‘All files’ from the ‘Files of type’ dropdown menu, find your MP3 file, then click Add. Click the MP3 in the ‘Slideshow files’ list, then click ‘Move up’ until it’s at the top of the list. A bonus tip: untick ‘Show text’ to get rid of the ugly green filename strap across the top of your slideshow.