feh is a lightweight, configurable image viewer and cataloguer aimed primarily at command-line users. It provides a fast way to display pictures without the overhead of a conventional image management application. It can also be launched from graphical file managers.
Rather than relying on an elaborate interface, feh uses specialised viewing modes selected through command-line options. This makes it particularly useful for keyboard-driven workflows, inspecting collections of photographs and integrating image viewing into shell scripts.
feh uses Imlib2 for image loading and rendering. It is designed for X11, although it can run through XWayland on Wayland desktops. Its desktop background functionality is intended for X11 sessions.
This is free and open source software.
Key Features
- Image formats – opens JPEG, PNG, TIFF, BMP, PNM and other formats supported by Imlib2. Animated GIFs display their first frame.
- Slideshow mode – browse images manually or automatically advance through pictures at configurable intervals.
- Thumbnail mode – display clickable thumbnails for browsing image collections, with optional thumbnail caching.
- Montage and index modes – generate image grids and contact sheets with filenames, dimensions and other information.
- Multiwindow mode – open multiple images simultaneously in separate windows.
- List and custom list modes – display image information including dimensions, file sizes and formats, with configurable output.
- Filelist management – save and load collections of image paths for subsequent viewing.
- Directory browsing – recursively search directories and sort images by filename, dimensions, file size and other criteria.
- Viewing controls – fullscreen display, automatic scaling, zooming, panning and borderless windows.
- Image adjustments – rotate, mirror, sharpen and blur images. Optional editing mode saves rotation and mirroring changes to files.
- Image information – display filenames, captions and optional EXIF metadata as overlays.
- Custom actions – execute shell commands on selected images for tasks such as organising or processing files.
- Keyboard and mouse controls – extensive configurable shortcuts, including support for mouse-free operation.
- Remote images – optional HTTP and FTP support through libcurl.
- Automatic reloading – periodically reload displayed images at configurable intervals.
- Wallpaper setting – configure X11 desktop backgrounds with scaling, centring and tiling options.
Website: feh.finalrewind.org
Support:
Developer: Tom Gilbert, Birte Kristina Friesel and contributors
License: MIT License
feh is written in C. Learn C with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
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