Multiple photo viewer for comparison

Escapees

I'm looking for a basic (and free!) photo viewer, like the bog standard one that comes with Windows which lets you move easily backward and forward through a directory of photos, but one that also lets you vary the number of photos fitted on the screen for side-by-side comparison and selection purposes.

I've tried downloading several viewers/editors that facilitate side-by-side photo comparisons, but you need to pre-select the photos first which isn't practical. I'd imagine what I'm looking for would be a common enough requirement for folk who take a load of photos and want to see several on the screen at once (and importantly in as a large a size as possible, so not thumbnails!) to help cut the number down.

Thanks!

magicbastarder

try faststone image viewer - but i don't think it will do everything you're asking for.

sheesh

infraview is good for going through loads of images and putting them into various folders supports camera raw too

Escapees

Thanks folks. Actually already tried both of these but neither is quite what I'm looking for. That said, it looks like the IrfanView Thumbnails application is the next best thing so far!

J_A_F_A

XnView http://www.xnview.com/en/index.php

Wabbit Ears

thanks for the link, that xnview is great, its kinda like notepad++ for images.