XCViewer

Instant open from Finder

Double-click an image in Finder and XCViewer shows it sharp, with no empty window, folder picker or animation first. The rest of the folder is listed after the image is on screen, so the next image is one key away.

• Smooth zoom and pan: the point under the cursor stays in place. Show Pixels keeps pixels sharp when you zoom in
• Swipe or drag sideways to go to the next image; the image follows your hand. Space, Delete, the arrows, Home, End, Page Up and Page Down also browse
• The status bar shows position, zoom, pixel size, bit depth and colour model, colour profile, format, file size and date. Click the zoom value to go between Fit, 100% and your zoom
• View-only rotate and flip (R, Shift+R, H, V), fit the window to the image, Float on Top and full screen

The screenshot at the top of this page shows the viewer with the status bar and the Info panel.

HDR and EDR display

On a screen with EDR headroom (XDR and HDR displays, and most Mac screens below full brightness) XCViewer shows HDR images in extended dynamic range: gain-map HEIC and JPEG from iPhones and cameras, PQ and HLG HEIF/AVIF, OpenEXR, Radiance HDR and float TIFF. When the image is brighter than the screen can show, it is tone-mapped to the current headroom. Turn off View > Show HDR to see the SDR version.

Colours are managed: each image is converted from its own colour profile, so SDR colours match Preview.

Gallery and slideshow

The gallery shows all images in a folder, in a grid or masonry layout, with sort, search and filters by type and date. The slideshow plays the folder with a slow Ken Burns pan and zoom. Settings > Formats makes XCViewer the default app for each file type you choose.

Photos by XCStudio (Unsplash @videolut) and Unsplash photographers.

Info, EXIF, Metadata and Scopes

Press I to open the side panel. It stays open while you go from image to image, and you can drag its edge to make it wider.

• Info: pixel size, bit depth, colour profile, compression, JPEG quality estimate and chroma subsampling, progressive, DPI, HDR gain map, frame count and file size
• EXIF: camera, lens and exposure. For photos with GPS data, Location shows the place name, the coordinates and a map; click the map to open it in Maps
• Metadata (M): AI generation prompts from Stable Diffusion WebUI (AUTOMATIC1111), Forge and ComfyUI: prompt, negative prompt, seed, sampler, model and LoRAs, with Copy buttons
• Scopes (Shift+Cmd+W): histogram, waveform, RGB parade and vectorscope, one above the other

Compare two images

Select two images in Finder and open them with XCViewer or choose Quick Actions > Compare in XCViewer, or select two thumbnails in the gallery and press Cmd+K.

• Split with a divider you can drag (1), Side by Side with one zoom and position for both images (2), and Difference (3)
• Difference with a gain from ×1 to ×32
• Hold B to see image B in place of A; X swaps them
• Metrics: PSNR, and mean and maximum ΔE 2000

LUT viewer

Open a .cube, .3dl, .csp, .look, .spi3d or other LUT that CocoaLUT reads, and XCViewer applies it to a preview photo with a before/after split and a ColorChecker band. You can choose your own preview image in Settings > LUT Preview. A folder of LUTs opens as a LUT gallery.

• Properties: size, input and output range, identity check, format and variant
• Cube: the LUT as a 3D lattice that you can turn, with an amount slider
• Curves: the red, green and blue response to a grey ramp, with a readout under the cursor

XCViewer also draws LUT thumbnails in Finder and Quick Look previews, so a folder of LUTs shows what each one does.

Organise your photos

• Colour labels: Ctrl+1 to Ctrl+7 set the seven Finder labels. They are real Finder tags, so Finder and Spotlight see them
• Copy to or move to up to nine folders with Opt+1 to Opt+9 and Shift+Opt+1 to Shift+Opt+9. Nothing is overwritten
• Export a Copy (Shift+Cmd+E) as JPEG, PNG, HEIC or TIFF. It keeps EXIF, GPS and the colour profile, HEIC keeps HDR, and it exports a gallery selection in one step. Nothing is overwritten
• Move to Trash, Copy, Share, Open in your editor (Cmd+E) and Open With

Keyboard first

Almost every action has a key, and every key can be changed in Settings > Keyboard: search for an action, click its key and press the new keys.

Settings has seven tabs: Browsing, Style (black, grey or white background, checkerboard), Formats (make XCViewer the default app per file type), Keyboard, Copy & Move, LUT Preview and Folders. Every setting applies at once.

Formats and requirements

Images: JPEG, PNG, GIF, HEIC, HEIF, TIFF, BMP, WebP, AVIF, OpenEXR, Radiance HDR, PSD, TGA, JPEG 2000, MPO and ICNS. RAW files (DNG, CR2, CR3, ARW, NEF, RAF and more) open through macOS, depending on the camera.

LUTs: .cube, .3dl, .csp and the other text LUT formats that CocoaLUT reads.

Requires: macOS 14 Sonoma or later. XCViewer is free.

Privacy

• XCViewer reads only the files and folders that you open or allow. It does not upload your images.
• When the Info panel shows a photo with GPS data, XCViewer requests a map image for that location from Apple Maps, and the place name from Apple's geocoder. It does this only for photos with GPS data, and only when you view them in the Info panel.
• XCViewer sends anonymous usage statistics (Firebase Analytics) and crash reports (Firebase Crashlytics), not linked to your name or email.
• No ads, no tracking across other companies' apps and websites, and no sale of data.

Full details: XCViewer privacy policy.

Support

Questions, bugs or ideas: write to us with the contact form. Tell us your macOS version and, for a file that does not open, its format.

The Compare Quick Action is not in Finder? Open XCViewer once. Then turn on Compare in XCViewer in System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions > Finder, or in Finder's right-click > Quick Actions > Customize. It shows only when exactly two images are selected.

XCViewer asks for a folder? The Mac App Store requires apps to ask before they read a folder. Allow the folder once and XCViewer remembers it. Settings > Folders lists and removes the folders you allowed.