iv is a command-line image viewer that uses graphics protocols offered by modern terminal emulators.
It supports Sixel, iTerm Inline Images and the Kitty Graphics Protocol, selecting the relevant mechanism according to the terminal environment.
The program runs on Linux, macOS and Windows and is distributed through several package systems as well as pre-built releases.
This is free and open source software.
Key Features
- Displays images directly inside supported terminal emulators.
- Supports Sixel graphics.
- Supports iTerm Inline Images.
- Supports the Kitty Graphics Protocol.
- Can open an image file directly from the command line.
- Can open a directory of images.
- Allows the background colour to be configured.
- Cross-platform support – runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows.
Website: github.com/kenshaw/iv
Support:
Developer: Kenneth Shaw
License: MIT License
iv is written in Go. Learn Go with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Related Software
| Terminal-Based Image Viewers | |
|---|---|
| timg | Image and video viewer with good range of features. Written in C++ |
| Chafa | Character Art Facsimile |
| viu | Rust-based image viewer |
| vv | Image viewer for sixel terminals |
| TIV | Tiny C++ program that displays images in a terminal |
| Ranger | Terminal-based file manager supporting high quality previews of image files |
| mcat | Extended cat command |
| icat | Cat like utility can specify multiple image files and/or directories |
| PixelTerm-C | High-performance terminal image browser written in C |
| pho | Lightweight image viewer |
| catimg | Renders images in the terminal |
| PTUI | Real-time image preview capabilities |
| imv | X11/Wayland image viewer |
| iv | Image viewer using terminal graphics |
| ucollage | Extensible command line image viewer |
| TermVisage | Front-end to the term-image library |
| Foto | Simple image viewer |
| rsimg | Uses crossterm and zune as dependencies |
| pxv | Instant feature rich terminal image viewer |
| imgcat | Displays images and gifs in your terminal emulator. |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
 Explore our carefully curated directory of recommended free and open source software, covering every major software category.The directory forms part of our extensive collection of articles for Linux enthusiasts. It includes hundreds of detailed reviews, together with free and open source alternatives to proprietary software from companies such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. LinuxLinks also covers interesting projects worth exploring, Linux-compatible hardware, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. Know a useful free and open source Linux application that we haven’t covered? Tell us about it using our submission form. |
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.