Pix42 app icon
Fast desktop viewer
Version 2.0 — Free + Pro license for Windows & macOS

The viewer that opens everything. Pro tools built in.

50+ formats. Non-destructive editing. Map view, culling, batch tools. Free to browse — unlock the full feature set once, forever.

EARLY42
Early adopter — 33% off at checkout.
$29.90 → $19.90 incl. VAT, perpetual license for 2.x.
Get Pro License Download Free
50+ formats — RAW · FITS · PSD · JXL
Signed builds for Windows & macOS
Softpedia 100% Clean Reviewed by Softpedia 100% clean badge
Pix42
Pix42 main application view
Non-destructive editing Map & GPS view Assisted Culling Library Index
Non-destructive editing panel
Edit without touching the original Adjustments, crop, rotate and flip saved to the library — replayed automatically on every open.
Map view with geotagged images
Map view for every geotagged photo Interactive markers, drag-to-tag, GPS metadata write. See your whole library on a map.

Free to browse. One payment to unlock everything.

No subscriptions. No account required. The free tier covers core viewing — the license unlocks the tools serious users need.

Free

Always free

No time limit, no account

  • View 50+ formats: RAW, FITS, PSD, JXL, AVIF, HEIC, OpenEXR…
  • Ratings, flags, favourites, search & filter
  • Timeline view grouped by capture day
  • Find Duplicates (exact mode)
  • Assisted Culling — limited free trial
  • Map view — up to 100 geotagged markers
  • Image sonification (Hubble-inspired)
  • FITS interactive stretch (session only, no save)
  • Batch Rename — limited rules
  • Convert to classic formats (JPEG, PNG, TIFF, BMP, GIF)
  • Audio & video playback with cover art
  • Library index & content hashing
  • Archive browsing (ZIP, RAR, 7z, CBZ…)
  • Print & contact sheets
  • Compare view, Zen mode, slideshows
  • XMP/IPTC metadata — read only
Download free
Pro

Everything, forever

One-time purchase, no subscription

  • Everything in Free, plus:
  • Non-destructive Adjust — saved to library, replayed on load
  • Non-destructive Crop, Rotate, Flip — same ND persistence
  • FITS stretch parameters saved per file across sessions
  • Assisted Culling — unlimited perceptual review
  • Map view — all geotagged markers, no limit
  • Drag-to-tag: drop an image on the map to embed GPS
  • Move GPS markers: drag to update coordinates in the file
  • Apply Lightroom crop & rotation from XMP sidecar
  • Batch Rename — full pipeline, unlimited rules
  • Convert to modern formats (WebP, AVIF, JPEG XL, HEIF, JPEG 2000)
  • Resolution Analyzer — safe downsize estimation & batch rescale
  • XMP/IPTC metadata — full write access
Get Pro — $29.90 $19.90 Use coupon EARLY42 at checkout
Features

Everything you need, nothing you don't

Ten major feature areas — most free, the rest unlocked once.

Format coverage Free

Opens the files that usually trigger a workaround

HEIC without paying for codec packs. JPEG XL and AVIF without opening a browser. RAW, PSD, FITS, OpenEXR, JPEG 2000 — all in one viewer, no plugin hunt.

  • Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm, Hasselblad RAW — plus PSD and FITS with auto-stretch.
  • Animated GIF, WebP, APNG, AVIF, HEIC/HEIF and JPEG XL play back directly.
  • Built-in media player for video and audio, so mixed folders stay in one app.
  • Archive browsing: ZIP, RAR, CBZ, CBR, 7-Zip open like folders.
RAWPSDFITSJPEG XLAVIFHEICOpenEXRJPEG 2000
Pix42 opening scientific and specialist formats
Timeline view with capture-day grouping
Review workflow Free

Rate, flag and review without hitting a paywall

Star ratings, pick/reject flags, favourites and a full timeline grouped by capture day — the tools you actually use when a folder needs decisions, not just viewing.

  • 0–5 star ratings with keyboard shortcuts; filter and sort by rating in the grid.
  • Timeline view (Ctrl+T) groups images by day, with month scrubber and quick-preview overlay.
  • Favourite folders and photos with one-click access, synced across renames and moves.
  • Right-click context menu in preview matches the grid for flags, ratings, and file actions.
Ratings 0–5Pick/RejectFavouritesTimelineRating filters
Non-destructive editing Pro

Edit without touching the original file

Every adjustment, crop, rotation and flip is saved to the library database and replayed automatically every time the image loads. The original pixel data is never modified.

  • ND Adjust: brightness, contrast, exposure, saturation, color balance, curves — stored by asset ID, survive file renames.
  • ND Crop, Rotate, Flip: per-file persistence with automatic replay on preview and thumbnail load.
  • Dedicated ND toggle in each panel; OK confirms without writing; Reset clears saved state for one file.
  • Thumbnail badge shows when a file has active ND adjustments or transforms.
ND AdjustND CropND RotateND FlipAsset-keyed
Non-destructive editing panel with adjustment controls
Assisted Culling perceptual review
Assisted Culling & Duplicates Free trial / Pro full

Cut a burst of 200 to the 10 keepers — fast

Perceptual duplicate review clusters near-identical images into groups and presents them in tournament order. A quality score picks the sharpest, best-exposed file to keep.

  • Quality score: patch-based sharpness at 80th percentile — discriminates focus differences at subject level, not whole frame.
  • Find Duplicates exact mode (free): pixel-identical file detection with batch Keep Only One.
  • Assisted Culling (pro, limited trial free): perceptual hashing across up to 8 threads, configurable sensitivity.
  • File actions inside the review view: move to Trash, Copy to, Move to — without leaving the comparison.
Quality scorePerceptual hashKeep Only OneSide-by-side
Map view & GPS Free (100 markers) / Pro (all)

See where every photo was taken

Open Ctrl+M for an interactive map with all geotagged images in the current folder. Click a marker to jump to the photo; click a thumbnail to highlight the marker. Fully integrated with the library.

  • Marker popups include thumbnail, filename, metadata title and coordinates.
  • Drag-to-tag (pro): drag an image from the strip onto the map to embed GPS into the file.
  • Move GPS markers (pro): drag a placed marker to update coordinates and write them back to metadata.
  • Search with metadata matching, GPS-status filter (All / Geotagged / Not geotagged).
Leaflet mapDrag-to-tagGPS writeEXIF/piexif
Map view showing geotagged image markers
FITS interactive stretch panel with astronomy image
FITS & scientific imaging Free (session) / Pro (saves)

Astronomy-grade FITS support, from the same team as FITS Liberator

Open .fit, .fits and .fts files with a floating interactive stretch panel. Tune Background and Peak sliders with live preview. Works even on large multi-gigabyte tiled FITS files.

  • Asinh, Linear, Sqrt and Log algorithms — the same stretch engine as FITS Liberator 5.
  • Stretch parameters saved per file (pro): restored automatically on the next open.
  • Export stretched result as 16-bit Photoshop-compatible TIFF. Flip Y toggle for standard orientation.
  • Large FITS: stretch applied per tile during decode — the whole image reflects the chosen curve instantly.
Asinh / Log / Sqrt16-bit TIFF exportTiled rendering
Audio & media Free

One app for your entire media folder

Video, audio, images and archives all open in the same browser. No jumping between apps when a folder mixes file types.

  • Audio files show album cover art as thumbnails and in the viewer. MP3, FLAC, M4A and more.
  • Real-time frequency spectrum in the metadata panel while audio plays (logarithmic, 20 Hz–Nyquist).
  • Auto-next toggle: automatically advances to the next file when playback ends.
  • Video thumbnails show first frame; loop toggle; wait-for-video-end in slideshows.
MP3/FLAC/M4AMP4/MOV/MKVCover artSpectrum
Audio player with cover art and frequency spectrum
Batch rename and convert tools
Batch tools Free limited / Pro full

Rename, convert and optimize entire folders at once

Three complementary batch tools cover the most common file-management jobs: rename pipelines, format conversion, and web export.

  • Batch Rename (limited free / pro full): pipeline of rules — Case, Delete, Replace, Add text, Serialize, Randomize — with live preview and conflict detection.
  • Convert Images (classic formats free / modern pro): JPEG, PNG, TIFF free; WebP, AVIF, JPEG XL, HEIF, JPEG 2000 require a license. Resize, strip metadata, preserve subfolder structure.
  • Web Optimizer: batch export to WebP or JPEG with configurable quality, optional resize, and before/after size estimate.
Batch RenameConvert ImagesWeb OptimizerAVIF/JXL/HEIF
Library & organization Free

Your library stays intact even when files move

Ratings, flags, and adjustments are stored by content ID — not by path. When you rename or move a file, nothing is lost. The Library Index keeps everything linked.

  • Content hashing: files up to 256 MB get a full SHA-256; larger files use a versioned sample fingerprint.
  • Library Index tab: see every indexed folder, per-folder progress, add/remove folders, toggle recursive indexing.
  • Relocate: when a folder is moved outside Pix42, use Relocate to update records — no data loss, no re-import.
  • Hashing is lazy: starts only after your first rating, flag or adjustment in a folder. Pure viewing never triggers it.
Content hashLibrary IndexRelocateLazy indexing
Library index and folder organization
Image sonification overlay on a colorful image
Image sonification Free

Hear your images — Hubble-inspired sound synthesis

Inspired by NASA's Hearing Hubble project, the sonification engine scans any displayed image and turns its luminosity or color data into musical tones in real time.

  • Scan directions: Clockwise, Out, and linear scans (horizontal/vertical).
  • Data modes: Brightness or Color. Choose from multiple harmony presets and instruments (including harpsichord).
  • A live overlay line or ring traces the scan position on the image, anchored to the current zoom/pan view.
  • Speed control; animated feature pulses highlight bright peaks as they are played.
Hubble-inspiredLive overlayHarmonyBrightness/Color
Resolution Analyzer Pro

Find out how much you can safely downsize

Before shrinking a batch of scans or exports, know exactly how many megapixels are actually carrying detail — and how many are just interpolated. Then batch-rescale only what makes sense.

  • Patch reconstruction and detail-loss analysis: estimates safe downsize potential for each file.
  • Side-by-side compare view: preview the proposed downsize versus the original before committing.
  • Detects heterogeneous batches from EXIF optical-chain metadata; lets you exclude outliers.
  • Batch rescale the analyzed set in one step. Supports JPEG, PNG, TIFF, WebP, and RAW (decoded to TIFF).
Patch analysisSide-by-sideBatch rescaleEXIF-aware
Resolution Analyzer side-by-side comparison

Also built in

Smaller features that matter every day.

Compare view Free
Ctrl+click two images for a synchronized side-by-side with locked zoom/pan. Rating and flag controls inline.
XMP / IPTC editing Read free / Write pro
Read and write Title, Description, Keywords, Creator, Copyright. Unified All tab merges EXIF + XMP with precedence rules. Requires exiftool on PATH.
Lightroom sidecar Pro
Apply the crop and rotation from a Lightroom XMP sidecar to the main preview of RAW files (Ctrl+Shift+L). Filmstrip thumbnails stay untransformed.
Histogram & metadata Free
Live RGB + Luma histogram in the metadata panel. Technical media section: duration, codec, bitrate, resolution, sample rate. GPS shown in Camera section.
Print & contact sheets Free
Print single images or a contact-sheet grid with configurable rows/columns, header/footer text, filename labels, and a live preview (Ctrl+P).
Protected folders Free
Right-click any folder to lock it behind a PIN. Highlighted in amber; PIN required once per session. Secure hashed storage.
Zen mode & Frameless Free
Tab hides all panels for a full-screen image view. Frameless option removes the title bar entirely; a thin drag strip keeps the window movable.
Folder package Free
Collapse multiple sub-folders into a single stacked-folder package entry. Click to expand. Ideal for large structured archives.
Database & backups Free
Scheduled database backups (daily/weekly/monthly). Integrity verification, orphan cleanup, and restore — all from the Database dialog.
Format support

Handles virtually any file you throw at it

From everyday JPEGs to specialist scientific and professional formats — all free to view.

Static images

JPEGPNGBMP TIFFWebPICO GIFPSDFITS SVG / SVGZHEIC / HEIFAVIF JPEG XLOpenEXRJPEG 2000 JPEG XR

RAW camera

CR2 / CR3NEF / NRWARW / SRF RAFORFRW2 DNG3FRPEF + more

Video

MP4AVIMOV MKVWMVWebM FLVMPEG

Audio

MP3WAVFLAC AACOGGM4A OPUS
Next-generation formats

Opens the files your other viewer refuses

Most image viewers are frozen in 2012. Pix42 supports the formats being used today. No codec packs, no subscriptions, no registry hacks.

JPEG XL
The successor to JPEG nobody told you aboutBetter compression than JPEG and PNG combined, lossless mode, HDR, wide gamut. Native support, no browser workaround.
AVIF
AV1-based, next-gen quality at half the file sizeIncreasingly common on the web and from modern cameras. Pix42 opens them natively.
HEIC / HEIF
Every iPhone photo since 2017 is a HEICWindows can't open them without paying for a codec. Pix42 opens them for free, with full EXIF.
OpenEXR · JPEG 2000
Professional and scientific imaging formatsOpenEXR for VFX and HDR pipelines. JPEG 2000 for archival and medical imaging. No plugins, no converters.
RAW · PSD · FITS
Professional & scientific formats, no paywall for viewingCanon, Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm RAW. Photoshop PSD with layers. FITS with interactive stretch. All free to view.
Pix42 viewing astronomy imagery
Pricing

One price. Yours forever.

No subscription, no account required, no annual renewal. Buy once, activate locally on your machine.

Free

Download and start viewing immediately

$0
  • 50+ image, video and audio formats
  • Ratings, flags, favourites, timeline
  • Exact duplicate finder
  • Assisted Culling — limited trial
  • Map view — up to 100 markers
  • Convert to classic formats
  • Archive browsing, print, compare
  • FITS stretch (session only)
Download Free

Pro License

Everything, forever — one-time payment

$29.90 $19.90 USD incl. VAT
33% off with early adopter coupon
EARLY42 → enter at checkout for 33% off
  • Everything in Free
  • Non-destructive Adjust, Crop, Rotate, Flip
  • FITS stretch parameters saved per file
  • Assisted Culling — unlimited
  • Map view — all markers + drag-to-tag
  • Convert modern formats (WebP, AVIF, JXL…)
  • Resolution Analyzer + batch rescale
  • Full Batch Rename pipeline
  • XMP/IPTC full write access
  • Lightroom sidecar crop/rotation
Buy Pro License

Perpetual for Pix42 2.x · Local activation · Signed .pix42-license file
Cloud services (coming) priced separately. Major version upgrade optional.

Activation is fully local — no internet required after purchase. Re-import the license file on any machine you own.

Keyboard shortcuts

Navigate at the speed of thought

Full keyboard control — no mouse required.

Previous / Next← →
Fit to windowF
Actual size (1:1)1
Zoom in / out+ −
Compare two imagesCtrl+⇧+C
Find DuplicatesCtrl+⇧+D
CropC
Adjust / Auto AdjustA ⇧+A
Rotate / Flip / ResizeR L Z
RenameF2
Select allCtrl+A
Timeline viewCtrl+T
Map viewCtrl+M
SlideshowF5
Zen modeTab
FullscreenF11
PrintCtrl+P
Play / PauseSpace
Move to TrashDelete
Focus searchCtrl+F
Toggle metadata panelCtrl+I
SettingsCtrl+,
Exit current modeEsc
QuitCtrl+Q
Release history

What's new in 2.0

Every release, every fix — nothing hidden.

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Free to download for Windows & macOS. No account, no subscription, optional Pro license.

Get Pro — $19.90 with EARLY42 Download Free
Version 2.0.0  ·  Windows & macOS Digitally signed — safe to install
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