pxv 1.0.3

A Python clone of the classic Unix xv image viewer

pxv

A simple image viewer and manipulator built with Python/Pillow/Tkinter that takes inspiration from the classic Unix xv image viewer.

Quickstart

Run directly from the GitHub repo (requires uv):

uvx --from git+https://github.com/linsomniac/pxv pxv photo.jpg

Or install locally:

uv pip install git+https://github.com/linsomniac/pxv
pxv photo.jpg

Pass files, directories, or nothing (opens a file dialog):

pxv image.png              # single file
pxv *.jpg                  # multiple files
pxv ~/Photos/              # all images in a directory
pxv                        # open file dialog

Debian / Ubuntu (.deb)

Each GitHub release includes a pxv_<version>_all.deb. Install it (apt pulls in python3-tk and Pillow):

sudo apt install ./pxv_1.0.1_all.deb

It targets current distributions (Debian 13 / Ubuntu 24.04 or newer, which ship Pillow ≥ 10). After installing, pxv is on your PATH and appears in the applications menu and image "Open with" lists.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Key	Action
?	Show keyboard shortcuts help
>	Double zoom
<	Halve zoom
.	Increase zoom 10%
,	Reduce zoom 10%
n	Zoom to 1:1 (normal)
M	Zoom to fill display
Space / Right	Next image
Backspace / Left	Previous image
c	Crop to selection
A	Autocrop background borders
u	Uncrop (undo last crop)
t	Rotate clockwise
T	Rotate counterclockwise
D	Toggle dark/light background
e	Enhancement dialog
i	Show image info / EXIF
Ctrl+s	Save as
Escape	Clear selection
q	Quit

Right-click for additional options: rotate, flip, resize, grab (screenshot), print, and more.

Enhancements

The enhancement dialog (e) provides real-time adjustment of:

• Brightness, contrast, gamma
• Sharpen, blur
• Saturation, hue rotation
• Per-channel RGB color balance

Features

• XV-style window sizing: window grows/shrinks to fit the displayed image, capped at the current monitor's bounds
• Multi-monitor aware: detects per-monitor geometry via xrandr so windows don't span displays
• EXIF-aware orientation
• Rubber-band selection for cropping
• Wrap-around file navigation
• Supports PNG, JPEG, BMP, TIFF, GIF, WebP, PPM, PGM, PBM, ICO

Requirements

• Python 3.10+
• Tkinter (usually included with Python; on Debian/Ubuntu: sudo apt install python3-tk)
• Pillow 10+

Development

git clone https://github.com/linsomniac/pxv
cd pxv
uv sync
uv run pxv test_images/

Lint and type-check:

uv run ruff check src/
uv run ruff format --check src/
uv run mypy src/pxv/