Hi,
I know this is not exactly a photo editing forum, but since I am a pentax user I give it a try:

I am searching a simple photo editor that has the following traits:
following editing functions:
- cropping
- turning in small increments
- brightness, saturation, contrast, gamma
- resizing

following options for presets and general settings:
- working in one window without popups or additional windows

- overwrite changes to a picture with as least as possible, ideally one klick without being asked anything nor opening extra windows for a new saving path, name, file extension etc.
- setting a preset quality of saved photos up to 100%
- quick opening of next photo with one click
- file format .jpeg / .jpg
Photos will come from a Pentax K3 II mostly with a macro 50mm 2.8 and 35mm prime in manual mode in a fixed setting in daylight.
Most photo settings will be preset in camera, so only incremental basic editing adjustments are needed.

I tested many photo editors, but none so far had all features and I have to stack editors.
The editor is needed to crop pictures, adjust small turning percentages, adjust small changes to brightness, contrast etc..
Many pictures need to be edited one for one by hand as quick as possible with least interference by the editor.
I am used to and like this way of basic editing, I do not look for a badge solution.
I am not the biggest Windows fan, but Microsoft 15 years ago had a viewer with editing functions like I am looking for, I was not able to identify the specific software I mean, maybe someone remembers.
I am willing to buy any hardware type and OS needed, but ideally the editor works on PC under Linux or Windows.
Many thanks in advance for your input.
Greetings

[35mmfilmfan]

Have you tried FastStone and XnView ? Both free.

[StiffLegged]

Hi,
... I am not the biggest Windows fan, but Microsoft 15 years ago had a viewer with editing functions like I am looking for, I was not able to identify the specific software I mean, maybe someone remembers...

Maybe that was Microsoft Picture It! which became Microsoft Digital Image. MS dumped it in 2006 and it hasn't been seen since.

I wish you luck finding an editor matching your brief which will also support the K3ii.

[Michail_P]

If I’m not mistaken, FastStone is what you are looking for. Easy adjustments for every taste, from basic to advanced , archaic interface and it’s basically a viewer.

[paulh]

FastStone is good. You might also look for an old copy of Picasa, which I believe has been discontinued. I used it a lot back in the day - full featured and easy to use.

[BigMackCam]

Another vote for Faststone. Way back when, I used to use a shareware application called Photofiltre, and I see that's still current. My Dad was a big fan of this, so if Faststone doesn't meet your needs, it may be worth a look...

[GUB]

Is Irfanview still updated? It was by far the snappiest editor when I was in the windows world.
I am on linux now but still use it in virtual Windows guests.
https://www.irfanview.com/main_what_is_engl.htm

[jumbleview]

Photoshop elements cost money, but its Adobe Raw Converter allows default color adjustment which is adequate for most cases. If default is not enough there are some customization which is easy to do. After that image can be moved to the Photoshop elements, where it is easy to resize, crop and save. No need for year subscription. ~70$ one time purchase.

[hcc]

XnView has some advantages. I use it because of its batch capabilities for a number of functions, e.g. file renaming.
I also use an older software (Photobase) that is very simple but does not have small rotation capabilties. For that, I use DCU (Digital Camera Utility) provided with the Pentax dSLR cameras.

[Dartmoor Dave]

Maybe that was Microsoft Picture It! which became Microsoft Digital Image. MS dumped it in 2006 and it hasn't been seen since.

Yep, Microsoft Digital Image Suite (AKA Picture It) would do exactly what the OP is looking for. Despite its age it still worked well on Windows 7, and I was using it for simple tasks that didn't need Photoshop right up until I finally had to switch to Windows 10. Although, come to think of it, I've never made any really serious attempt to get it working on Windows 10 after trying and failing the first time. I think I'll dig the installation disk out and have another go.

Or it might even run on Linux under WINE! Now there's an intriguing possibility. I've tried over and over again to find a basic editor for simple jobs, and I've never found one that came close to to matching the combination of useful features and ease of use that Digital Image Suite offered.

Edit:

No luck running Digital Image Suite under WINE. And it won't run on Windows 10 64 bit native, but it DOES run perfectly on a Windows 10 32 bit virtual machine. So now I'm feeling quite absurdly happy to have probably my favourite photo editing app of all time available again.

[kypfer]

Hi,
I know this is not exactly a photo editing forum, but since I am a pentax user I give it a try:

I am searching a simple photo editor that has the following traits:
following editing functions:
- cropping
- turning in small increments
- brightness, saturation, contrast, gamma
- resizing

following options for presets and general settings:
- working in one window without popups or additional windows

- overwrite changes to a picture with as least as possible, ideally one klick without being asked anything nor opening extra windows for a new saving path, name, file extension etc.
- setting a preset quality of saved photos up to 100%
- quick opening of next photo with one click
- file format .jpeg / .jpg
Photos will come from a Pentax K3 II mostly with a macro 50mm 2.8 and 35mm prime in manual mode in a fixed setting in daylight.
Most photo settings will be preset in camera, so only incremental basic editing adjustments are needed.

I tested many photo editors, but none so far had all features and I have to stack editors.
The editor is needed to crop pictures, adjust small turning percentages, adjust small changes to brightness, contrast etc..
Many pictures need to be edited one for one by hand as quick as possible with least interference by the editor.
I am used to and like this way of basic editing, I do not look for a badge solution.
I am not the biggest Windows fan, but Microsoft 15 years ago had a viewer with editing functions like I am looking for, I was not able to identify the specific software I mean, maybe someone remembers.
I am willing to buy any hardware type and OS needed, but ideally the editor works on PC under Linux or Windows.
Many thanks in advance for your input.
Greetings

Is Irfanview still updated? It was by far the snappiest editor when I was in the windows world.
I am on linux now but still use it in virtual Windows guests.
IrfanView - Official Homepage - One of the Most Popular Viewers Worldwide

Irfanview … does it all and yes, it's still updated regularly … do read the help file, it's extremely comprehensive, if a little cryptic in places.
It's my "image front end" of choice. It can also be configured to send a loaded image to another program for fine tuning, if necessary.
Most regularly used features are available from keyboard shortcuts and it has extensive undo/redo levels.
It'll read Pentax PEF and DNG files, albeit not re-save them, also, it doesn't mess with the EXIF


My typical workflow :
Ctrl-U : adjust rotation (if necessary)
Shift-C : crop to pre-determined aspect ratio (if required)
Ctrl-R : resize if required
Shift-U : auto-adjust levels (can be based on selected area if necessary)
Shift-S : sharpen, if needed
S : save as


Hope this helps


Afterthought :
Of course, if the original files are coming from a Pentax camera, there's always the Pentax-supplied Digital Camera Utility (on the CD in the camera box), which, in it's latest incarnations (download available here https://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/english/support/download_digital.html ), is reasonably user-friendly and extremely competent, though there is a bit of a learning curve to become familiar with it
DCU does have the advantage of being updated to keep up with the latest Pentax lenses etc., if that's a consideration.

Thank you all for the quick replies, I was surprised by so many responses.
I will keep xnview, irfanview and faststone.
First off, it made me realize I had xnview installed in a weird version were basic functions were missing.
I installed it new, all works, but I did not find a save option (in contrast to save as). I will contact their support for it and hope I can make it work. Same with faststone.
Irfanview has a overwriting save option without opening further windows with ctrl & s and option set to not ask again in general options.
Backin the day I used Irfanview a lot because it had specific options to minimize the amount of colors.
The english version of Photofiltre that I did manage to install had not all features that I need.
Photoshop elements seems to open new windows and wants an account from me and from my work as IT supporter I have low trust in adobe since they managed to update unwantedly and created regular mess to the point where the company banned the software.
Photobase is actually not that bad, but I only did find it as arcsoft photostudio (or is this another software maybe?) and did not manage to find a .jpeg quality setting and no one click next photo option.
@hccIn contrast to your statement in version 6 it actually does have a small rotation option under rotate canvas, than arbitrary, but in an insanely small new window, I guess my version is different.
MicrosoftPicture It! and Microsoft Digital Image do not look like the software that I mean but thank you anyways, I will try to buy them and see if I can make them work.
Thanks for the tip and test with wine and win VM 32bit.
Picasa on one hand seems to be an awful software. It managed to open edge and IE in the first setting without my consent, it has not all needed settings, but it is actually convenient and I fully understand why you use it.
Since I bought my camera used without CD, I did manage to install DCU 5 with the usb stick rename trick. I did not manage to find most options I am looking for.
I did not look in detail into all suggested editors, please excuse any misconceptions from my side.
Working in only one window with basic slides on the side, editing, pressing enter, picture gets auto saved and opens next picture with the additional abilities of quality preset and cropping and incremental turning seems not to be available, so I think I will settle with the software that at least spares me the ocd of do you really want to save it, where do you really want to save it, let me open three new windows you need to confirm, which in the moment seems to be surprisingly irfanview.
From all the microsoft store apps I tested I thought fotor was quite convenient but missing certain abilities, still worth a mentioning.
If in the future I find a better editor for these specific quick settings of many photos I will mention it here.

[pacerr]

Another Faststone vote. I've been using it since the first version for for about 90% of my JPG processing. One big advantage is its a very straight forward image browser and file manager. Access to all tools is just a mouse flick to a margin. Combining images to print or to save save is easy. All of the BASIC color, drawing and batch tools are available. You can link to other resources like the NIK tools as stand-alone add-ons. There's good Help/tutorial links. You can learn everything you need for basic PP simply by clicking on the menu items around the margins.

It does NOT provide for layers or complex brushes but saving original files and before making trial adjustments provides a back up if done diligently.


Just for fun -- 20 minutes messin' about in FSIV:

[35mmfilmfan]

I think, with both XnView and FastStone, you have to use 'Save As' in order to prevent you overwriting the original image. That has been my experience, anyway.

[GUB]

I think, with both XnView and FastStone, you have to use 'Save As' in order to prevent you overwriting the original image. That has been my experience, anyway.

To my knowledge it is universal in destructive editors for
"Save" means overwrite original
"Save as" create copy with changes applied
and in some
"Export" means saving a copy in a different file type.
But it has always amused me how the opposition has invented a term (destructive editing) with such negative connovations for a procedure so well based in commonsense.