How to Install Gwenview on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

Gwenview is a simple and easy-to-use program for viewing images on the KDE desktop. It can show you full-screen slideshows, crop an image or rotate it in many different ways without much effort from yourself!

Features:

• Supports simple image manipulations: rotate, mirror, flip, and resize
• Supports basic file management actions such as copy, move, delete, and others
• Functions both as a standalone application and an embedded viewer in the Konqueror web browser
• It can be extended using KIPI plugins.

In the following tutorial, you will learn to install the Gwenview on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS Jammy Jellyfish using three methods: apt package manager, flatpak package manager, and snapcraft package manager, with some tips for maintaining or removing Gwenview in the future.

Update Ubuntu

Before you begin, make sure your system is up-to-date to avoid any conflicts during the installation, and for good practice, use the terminal command as follows.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Install Gwenview – APT Method

The first option is to use the Ubuntu 22.04 default APT repository. This is a stable and secure version and is most recommended to install over any other package manager but can be outdated compared to Flatpaks alternative option that is usually up-to-date.

First, execute the following apt install command.

sudo apt install gwenview -y

The following two methods provide newer GwenView packages, especially as Ubuntu 22.04 LTS ages.

Install Gwenview – Snapcraft Method

The second option is to install with Snap. The Snapcraft package manager should be installed on your Ubuntu desktop unless you have removed it previously.

Note that Flatpak has faster releases of Gwenview than Snapcraft.

For users that removed snapd, re-run the following command:

sudo apt install snapd -y

Once installed, you will need to restart your system, or else the icons may not appear; if you skip a repeat and notice any issues, reboot.

reboot

Snap installed? Skip the following few lines and proceed straight to the installation with Snap

Next, some packages come in classic, so you need to create a symlink to enable classic snap support, so it is best to run this command for the best snap compatibility.

sudo ln -s /var/lib/snapd/snap /snap

Install the core files to avoid conflicting issues.

sudo snap install core

Next, enter the following snap command to install.

sudo snap install gwenview

Install Gwenview – Flatpak Method

The third option is to use the Flatpak package manager. This comes installed on Ubuntu unless you removed it. This is another popular option similar to Snap but is featured amongst many distributions as an alternative third-party installation package manager for the latest packages.

First, re-install Flatpak if you have removed the package manager previously.

sudo apt install flatpak -y

Next, you need to enable Flatpack using the following command in your terminal:

sudo flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

Ideally, you should reboot at this stage; if you skip this and notice icons not appearing, the reboot will generate the paths required for the future.

reboot

Now run the installation using the following flatpak command.

flatpak install flathub org.kde.gwenview -y

How to Launch Gwenview

Now that you have the software installed, launching can be done in a few ways.

In your terminal type:

gwenview

If you would like to launch GwenView and continue using the terminal, use the <application-name> & command.

gwenview &

Snap users need to use the snap run <application> command.

sudo snap run gwenview

Lastly, Flatpak users can run from the terminal using the following command.

flatpak run org.kde.gwenview

However, this isn’t practical, and you would use the following path on your desktop to open with the path.

Activities (top-right corner) > Show Applications > Gwenview

Example:

Once you open Gwenview, you will see the first default landing screen.

Example:

How to Update/Upgrade Gwenview

Updates should appear in notifications, but if these fail to show sometimes, it is recommended to check using the terminal regardless use one of the following commands to check for updates.

APT Method

sudo apt update

Flatpak Method

flatpak update

Snap Method

sudo snap refresh

How to Remove (Uninstall) Gwenview

Use one of the following commands to suit the original installation method for users who no longer require the application.

APT Remove Method

sudo apt autoremove gwenview --purge -y

Note, autoremove will also delete any unused packages from Gwenview and any other leftovers from previous applications. Most times, this is safe to do and should be done to keep your system from being bloated.

Flatpak Remove Method

flatpak remove  --delete-data org.kde.gwenview -y

Next, run the following command for any leftover clean-ups required, similar to the autoremove command described for the apt remove example command.

flatpak remove --unused

Snapcraft Remove Method

sudo snap remove gwenview

Comments and Conclusion

Gwenview is a great image viewer because it is simple and easy to use. You can open an image and view it full-screen or crop it to get just the part you want. It also rotates images in different ways to see them from all angles.