Inspiring

P: No image preview on Open dialog box on Windows

Forum|Forum|17 years ago
December 23, 2008
485 replies
34039 views

The preview window in the "Open" dialog box on Windows is gone in Photoshop. So if I click on a PSD file (once) to preview it, there isn't one. I have to completely open the file or go digging for it in Bridge. This is a very fundamental feature that needs to return, especially for those of us that have hundreds of files to dig through. PLEASE fix this.

Windows

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F

FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor

Inspiring

How do I get a directory in windows 10 to show the image in the thumbnail of PSD files instead of the PS logo

F

FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor

Inspiring

I could do this in CS2 but can't in the new version after what I paid for the suite? Why? I have a lot of older files that aren't labeled well. Not having this feature is wasting so much time.

F

FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor

Inspiring

Not sure why you felt the need to defend the removal of a very useful aspect of the old program... it is not a bug, but it is a step backwards and STILL needs to be fixed 8 years later! 😞

J

Josh Tempelaars

Participating Frequently

Ok so I have been battling this problem for a while now, and yes I am aware that MS for what ever reason does not support (natively anyways) of having adobe products having thumbnails. But I've been happily using Mystic Thumbs for several years with no issue, how ever in the last 6 months or more, .psd thumbs no longer seem to work, that is a thumb of the project I'm working on within the psd, not a program icon. So I tried Sage thumbs with similar problems though this time it was .ai files. I tried in vain once to get an answer as to why MS doesn't support adobe programs natively to no avail they said to ask adobe who intern said to as MS, so that was a circular problem never going to be answered to anyone satisfaction. I read somewhere a while back that MS asked adobe not to support thumbnails on MS platform, why I have no idea but there you have it. I have been trouble shooting this problem to no avail for a long time, and short of switching to a Mac (which in all honesty I really would rather not for one small all be it an annoying issue) I can't seem to find a solution. Has anyone else come across such a problem and figured it out. I have tried all the most common problem solving issues I can find in regards to 3rd party software to no avail.

A

Anonymous

Hi

You haven't mentioned what version of Windows you're on but if it's Windows 10, check in settings to make sure .psd files are set to Photoshop

J

Josh Tempelaars

Participating Frequently

Sorry windows 10, It was not set to photoshop but had no impact on allowing mystic thumbs to create thumbnails for any psd files.

L

Lengo67

Inspiring

Photoshop has been around for a long, long time. Still, after all these years, a user cannot get a display of existing psd files in a directory. Why?

Having the ability to see what you're opening is a valuable thing. Sometimes, the name alone is insufficient.

And get this. I know a program that can view psd files and it can even make a slide show out of them. If this program can view thumbnails, then why doesn't photoshop allow this?

MAKE IT HAPPEN! There SHOULD be a way to view your existing psd files so that you're sure to open the correct one. That's just plain common sense.

gener7

Community Expert

How can I view .PSD files in Windows? - Microsoft Community

SageThumbs download | SourceForge.net

Livingston1030

Participant

Sagethumbs worked with psd's for years for me. But when Adobe updated pshop about a week ago, Sagethumbs no longer works :/

Is there a fix for this?

E

ekramullah70

Participant

In my windows explorer, I can't view the thumbnails for PSD files. I used view option but nothing happened. So how can I view the thumbnails?@

JJMack

Community Expert

You need to install a package like FastPictureViewer Codec one you windows system Microsoft code does not do display thumbnails for RAW and PSD files. Some Addone will generatle them in File explorer and window's file dialogs.

JJMack

B

Baddog II

Inspiring

Why should I have to pay for 3rd party software to view the thumbnail view while I am in the native PhotoShop App, trying to open a .PSD file? Seems kinda of stupid, since I already pay for the app annually.

alan.a.mick

Participant

My photoshop files (PSD) do not show an image preview / thumbnail in Windows File Explorer, as do JPG and other image files. I see an option when saving to save a thumbnail, but this does not show up in Windows File Explorer. (Windows 10, Surface Studio)

How do I get PSD image thumbnails / previews for Windows Explorer?

D

defaultq0q0w8qyftdn

Participant

how about adobe gets off its ass and fixes this in the program rather than relying on third party fixes? This has been a problem for at least five years. It's a shame that my monthly subscription fee isn't being used to give us the features we expect but instead to line the shareholder's pockets

Earth Oliver

Legend

I dare say that's not entirelly accurate, since obviously there must be a team at Adobe that actually create and maintain the Windows versions of their software.

In any case, I suspect why Adobe don't create their own thumbnail Explorer plugin is at least two fold. First, they know there are other solutions out there and may not want to create an extra vector of support inquiry for themselves. Second, the PSD and other file formats (there are heaps of them if you think about it - brushes, palettes etc.) Photoshop create are complex beasts, PSD in particular supports a very diverse set of file modes other than generic 8 bit RGBA, with channels, layers, Lab mode, layer effects,16/32 bit and so on and probably the most important one of all - saved with or without a (maximize compatibility) flattened image.

MysticThumbs does its best to decode pretty much all the image modes as long as the maximize compatibility option is used to save files - or files are saved with an embedded thumbnail - another option on save. If neither of those are set when a file is saved, it's ignored. It's a lot to work with and support. If you use some of the other PSD Explorer thumbnail plugins out there and save files in Lab format for example and/or with extra channels etc. you will start seeing issues fast. These reasons are why Adobe just doesn't bother as it won't do anything other than affect their bottom line negatively when users start complaining about the thumbnail support. To support PSD files not saved with a thumbnail or maximize compatibility, you literally need Photoshop to open and render the file to create an accurate representation.

I disagree. If any of their designers worked in Win10, they'd be horrified at what they find. The Layers panel alone has at least a dozen mistakes and has for years now. Not to mention the misery of stuck buttons, check boxes, menus and the inability to scrubby zoom while using the UI. Coming from 25 years of Mac use, the Win10 experience is an absolute nightmare. It's obvious to me that very few of the Ps team use both OS with any regularity.
And if SageThumbs can manage to maintain thumbnail support for free, i'm pretty sure that a $400B company can manage the same.

E

eikonoklastes

Legend

When is it going to happen? Don't say it's a Microsoft issue either. FastPictureViewer can do it just fine for $15. Why can't you? Other apps do it for free! What's stopping you exactly?

Every other app out there can generate thumbnails in Explorer, including 3D apps like Cinema 4D. What's holding Photoshop up for so long? What special draconian measures have Microsoft taken to specifically deny PSD thumbnails from soiling their OS, and no other app?

Acrobat DC does it out of the box now:

Where is that option for Creative Cloud that says: Enable thumbnail previews in Windows Explorer for all CC apps? When is it going to come?

When is Photoshop going to do it? If I sound frustrated, it's because I am. It's been years now of this nonsense. Using Bridge is not an acceptable alternative. I have no use for that bloatware. Don't say submit a feature request either. That's been done multiple times with no result.

There is no excuse any more. Just get it done for heaven's sake!

JJMack

Community Expert

So use Acrobat DC if you do not want to use other codec packages. Adobe removed that type of support from Photoshop years ago when Adobe started to use Operating system File System Dialog s not Adobe's own dialog s by default. Windows does not display thumbnails for all image file type. I forget what version of Photoshop had that support. You would not want to use it if it could still be installed.

JJMack

brian704

Inspiring

Or just use Bridge when you want to look through psd files

G

Godaften

Participant

Hi,

for once Google can't help me 100%.

I'd really like to see .psd (and other adobe files) as thumbnails previews directly in Windows 10, so I don't need to open Bridge or Photoshop itself to browse my pictures.

As far as I can understand, there's no way to do this in Windows itself and you need to install some thirdparty software.

Does anybody know

1) a workaround to make Windows 10 show a preview psd thumbnail

2) or know a SAFE (no malware, virus) extension to use so thumbnails are shown directly in Windows?

Thank you.

JJMack

Community Expert

Install FastPictureViewer Codec Package it cost around $15.

JJMack

W

waRjul

Participant

Hi there,

does anybody know how to get the PSD-icon back on my fastpictureviewer-thumbnail?

InD/AI are shown with the pecular icon on it. so i can distinguish the jpgs from the original InD/Ai-file.

Doesn't work anymore with PSDs... what makes it complicated, as i always need to look up which file is which format.

annoying!

The file in the "blue box" should be tagged as PS, but is not < _<

Thanks for any help

Merken

ssprengel

Inspiring

I use the Fast Picture Viewer codec pack for Windows that is able to show embedded previews from various documents, including Photoshop, and it works in the PS File / Open dialog. I've used it since XP and it is still working with Windows 10:

http://www.fastpictureviewer.com/codecs/

You don't need the viewer, just the codec pack, for $10-$15.

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