ImageWalker is a Windows image browser and viewer by Zac Walker. The historical versions, released between 1998 and 2006, are updated to build and run on modern 64-bit Windows. ImageWalker 3.0 continues the series.
| Directory | Application | Year | New in this release |
|---|---|---|---|
src10 |
ArtMate 1.0 | 1998 | Read-only thumbnail browser and viewer |
src20 |
ImageWalker 2.0 | 2001 | Descriptions, print preview and slide shows |
src22 |
ImageWalker 2.2 | 2003 | Compare and Print modes, Filters and Actions views, six batch tools |
src23 |
ImageWalker 2.3 | 2006 | Image tagging, EXIF auto-rotation and the Resize Images wizard |
src30 |
ImageWalker 3.0 | 2026 | Video and audio playback, reviewed file workflows and folder synchronization |
See features.md for release-by-release highlights and known-issues.md for limitations.
Every application is portable and free. Settings sit beside the executable, each executable carries its own help, and there is no registration, reminder screen or feature limit.
All five applications are shown browsing the same original sample illustrations. Click an image to view it at full size.
| ArtMate 1.0 | ImageWalker 2.0 |
|---|---|
 |
 |
| ImageWalker 2.2 | ImageWalker 2.3 |
|---|---|
 |
 |
PowerShell 7.4+, Git, Visual Studio 2026 with C++ and ATL, CMake 3.28+, Ninja and Python 3.9+. The pinned shared dd driver drives CMake; ImageWalker's own CMake recipes fetch and build the third-party dependencies.
.\dd.ps1 build [debug|release|both]
.\dd.ps1 launch iw30
.\dd.ps1 testApplication IDs are iw10, iw20, iw22, iw23 and iw30. launch opens a
persistent session; shared run is bounded to 120 seconds. Executables and the
shared help file (with separate 3.0 topics) are written to exe\, and every
executable embeds that help file.
| Document | Subject |
|---|---|
| history.md | The story of ImageWalker |
| versions.md | Release names, dates and theme songs |
| features.md | Features introduced in each version |
| workflows-3.0.md | ImageWalker 3.0 file workflows |
| known-issues.md | Limitations and workarounds |
| Document | Subject |
|---|---|
| build.md | Toolchain, build, tests, help and dependencies |
| layout.md | Repository ownership and file locations |
| architecture-2x.md | ImageWalker 2.x development guidelines |
| porting.md | Compiler, resource and Win32 constraints |
| app-rules.md | Application development rules |
| reliability.md | File, image and threading safety requirements |
| warnings.md | Warning policy and triage |
| todo.md | Outstanding development |
MIT licensed. ImageWalker's successor is Diffractor.