Photoshop CC, no icons

[Kurt Lang]

Just installed as many of the CC apps as I could in Snow Leopard, 10.6.8. Photoshop CC will not save desktop icons for any file type. I left Photoshop CS6 on the drive and it still works perfectly to local drives and our server. I have the preferences for CC exactly the same as CS6, but CC never saves an icon. Anyone else seeing this?

[Chris Cox]

Unless you disabled previews and icons in preferences, photoshop CC is saving them.

A few people have run across this problem in MacOS - but not everyone is seeing it.  (on my systems, I haven't been able to reproduce the problem at all)

It is probably related to the MacOS bugs that prevented some users from seeing thubmnails on some systems in some directories.  Previously users have gotten their thumbnails back by using utilities to delete the .DS_Store caches in each directory, and others by reinstalling the OS.

We thought that removing the resource fork thumbnails would help the situation (since Apple thought that's where the trouble was in their code), but apparently there may be other parts to the OS bugs that we didn't realize.

[Kurt Lang]

Hi Chris,

Reinstalling the OS is how I've fixed the issue with CS6, so I suppose I could try that. It still seems strange though that CS6 continues to work as expected, and files saved with CC won't show a desktop icon, even though the preferences to do so are on.

[Inselfotograf]

The same here: In preference > data handling > options for Data storage > Symbol activated + Windows miniature activated

But it is not saved.

I have CS6 extended (Creative Cloud Abo) installed too - no problem there.

So how could that be Mac OS fault???

I find that really helpful to see the miniature picture-icon.

But I will not reinstall the Mac OS 10.8.4 just because Photoshop CC fails what Creative Suite Abo CS6 Extended does without problem.

[Noel Carboni]

Are we talking about icons or thumbnails here?  Please be accurate and specific.

• The term icon is normally used to describe a fixed image that describes a program or document type.

• A thumbnail is more often a tiny version of an enclosed image, used to describe a specific document.

It still seems strange though that CS6 continues to work as expected, and files saved with CC won't show a desktop icon

If we are indeed talking about thumbnails, I don't mean to rub sand but I find it ironically funny that we now seem to be looking back fondly on the quality and reliability of Photoshop CS6's thumbnail generation.

All I can say is, regarding THIS specific issue, I'm glad I have 3rd party software on my PC to generate thumbnails.  It works every time, no matter what version of Photoshop is on the job.

-Noel

[Kurt Lang]

I'm using the terms Photoshop and OS X use. Both refer to the desktop image of a file as an icon:

Normally, I always have "Show icon preview" off. This does not effect CS6 in any way. I always get a desktop icon. Such as this:

The above is the same image saved out of CC and CS6. Preference setting are exactly the same. CC shows no icon when "Show icon preview" is off. If you turn it on, you get this:

Better than nothing, but I shouldn't have to do that. It's also not that simple. Even with that OS option on, CC still never shows an icon of any image it saves. Here, it shows the preview, but not the icon:

CC also never shows the icon at the top of any image window within Photoshop:

Since CS6 was still functioning perfectly, I didn't expect reinstalling the OS to change anything. But you can't just say "no" without actually doing it. The reinstall of the OS changed nothing.

I also noticed that while CC installed in Snow Leopard, 10.6.8, the specs page says PS CC is only for 10.7 or 10.8. So taking that as a possible hint that it may be an OS incompatibility that CC wasn't even supposed to install to, I installed CC again in Mountain Lion, 10.8.4, where I also already had CS6 installed. No change. CC will not create an icon, CS6 does.

This can only be a problem with CC.

[station_two]

Kurt Lang wrote:

… Here, it shows the preview, but not the icon:

I had always assumed that particular Preview in column view was being provided by Apple's Preview application, not by Photoshop.

I have given up all hope of ever sorting this terminology out. 

[Kurt Lang]

I have given up all hope of ever sorting this terminology out. 

Ha! Me too. I'm just describing it as best I can according to Apple's and Adobe's own terminology, as related to the Mac OS. It certainly doesn't help that the two major OS's can't, or won't use the same terms for the same thing. Like Windows using "Shortcut", and the Mac OS using "Alias" for the same thing - a link file to the original.

Notice in the image you reposted of the Open dialogue box from PS CC that it still properly shows the desktop icon of the image saved out of CS6, while its own image is the generic TIFF icon. This with the desktop option to show icons "on".

Also just to note, this is an issue with any file type saved out of CC, not just TIFF.

The only thing I haven't tried yet is installing PS CC on another partition I have with only Mountain Lion on it. This copy of ML was installed on an erased drive, not over an older OS. No third party drivers of any kind, or any other apps installed. It would just be a way to test if somehow, some way, the existence of CS6 on the same drive as CC is causing a problem with icon generation. I doubt it does, but installing CC on that ML drive would rule it in or out.

[station_two]

Kurt Lang wrote:

…Notice in the image you reposted of the Open dialogue box from PS CC that it still properly shows the desktop icon of the image saved out of CS6, while its own image is the generic TIFF icon. This with the desktop option to show icons "on".

…

Well, that "desktop icon of the image saved out of CS6" you reference is what I was calling the Preview that I have always assumed is provided by Apple's Preview application, not by Ps.

[Kurt Lang]

I think we're confusing which one is which. The image preview, which is marked Preview, does of course work. I was referring to the desktop icon to the left of that in the file column. The CC image has no desktop icon. The image directly under that from CS6 does.

[station_two]

Kurt Lang wrote:

I think we're confusing which one is which. The image preview, which is marked Preview, does of course work. I was referring to the desktop icon to the left of that in the file column. The CC image has no desktop icon. The image directly under that from CS6 does.

Confusing it is… 

[Noel Carboni]

Sheesh, icons, icon previews, thumbnails...  It's not quite that amgibuous in the environment on the other side of the fence, thankfully.

I apologize for not being up on the terminology as applies to the Mac Photoshop flavor.  But the fact that there is some ambiguity says that you did exactly the right thing, Kurt, by illustrating the issue clearly, supported by images.

Kurt Lang wrote:

CC shows no icon when "Show icon preview" is off. If you turn it on, you get this....

Please pardon my naivety, but is there a downside to enabling "Show icon preview"?  That seems to be getting the job done.

If that's insufficient - and it must be or you wouldn't be posting here - how is it really SUPPOSED to work?

-Noel

[Kurt Lang]

Please pardon my naivety, but is there a downside to enabling "Show icon preview"?

That's a good and fair question. With the option on, the OS tries to display an icon of all files. So a PDF looks something like this:

I much prefer the desktop icon option off since I can spot PDFs far faster when they look like this:

It's a visual preference thing in that respect.

How is it really SUPPOSED to work?  Does anyone actually know?

That's a really good question. OS X didn't always have this desktop option. I can't remember when they added it. In Snow Leopard, I think. Before that, all desktop icons were sorted two ways, which was the same as OS 9 and earlier. If it was a photo image of any kind (JPEG, TIFF, PSD, etc.), you got an image icon of what it looked like. If it was anything else (Illustrator, Quark, you name it), the desktop icon was a generic application icon, like the lower PDF image here.

However, the basic fault here is that CC never shows an icon of its own images within the app, regardless of the desktop preference setting. Not in the Open dialogue box, or on the top of the image window of an open file. Something is not being created that CS6 does.

[Noel Carboni]

Oh, I see, you're looking for that tiny thumbnail in the list view at the left as well.

-Noel

[Kurt Lang]

Correct. That's what's broken in CC on the Mac side. The icon (Mac term) shows nothing for any file saved out of CC.

[station_two]

Kurt Lang wrote:

…The icon… shows nothing for any file saved out of CC.

The Cash Cow subscription model begins to look like a Crippled Cow too! 

[Trevor.Dennis]

Noel Carboni wrote:

Oh, I see, you're looking for that tiny thumbnail in the list view at the left as well.

-Noel

Noel I try to stay well clear of Mac related posts.  It's a peculiar world in which strange folk use stranger terminology, and there be dragons if thee wander too far in that direction.

[Kurt Lang]

Funny! But no, it's still a good thing. Ya' never know what kind of ideas someone else may come up with that couldn't find its way into yer' own noodle.

But it's no help at all when the the terminology people are trying to use is interpreted differently by others. I mean, look at the image I posted above of the CC prefs (CS6 is identical). Preview, Icon and Thumbnail are all words used on the same panel, and they all describe the same thing. The desktop preview/icon/thumbnail.

Having started a bit over 30 years ago doing digital color and retouching on Scitex Imager III workstations, I still call image resolution DPI. That's what both Scitex and the Hell Chromacom systems referred to it as. Nobody called it PPI until much later. To me, it's all the same. You're talking about one pixel (dot), or one point of color on the image, so what's the difference? Some folks sure get their undies in a bunch over it, though.

[station_two]

Trevor.Dennis wrote:

…I try to stay well clear of Mac related posts.  It's a peculiar world in which strange folk use stranger terminology, and there be dragons if thee wander too far in that direction.

That's the way I feel about Windows-centric posts.  I still think merging the Macintosh and Windows Photoshop forums was a bad idea.

[Chris Cox]

>> This can only be a problem with CC.

I'm not seeing the problem on my MacOS systems - I always get icons/thumbnails/previews in the Finder.

Most users are not seeing the problem.

It seems to be system or user specific.

[Kurt Lang]

Definitely not user specific. When the preferences are identical in CS6 and CC, and the OS and Adobe software are both freshly installed, I have no further control over the failure of a desktop icon appearing from PS CC.

System specific I can maybe believe. Like this one:

https://discussions.apple.com/message/22235171#22235171

See my main post about halfway down. This color issue in Mountain Lion happens on both of our Mac Pros. A 2008 and 2010 model. As you can see in the post, I've spent hours installing the OS and software in different ways to isolate the problem. It always comes down to Mountain Lion itself. Which really stinks since I use the CoCo filter a LOT. This color bug in ML is literally keeping us in Snow Leopard (I refuse to use Lion). I've been able to use ML on other newer Macs, such as a 27" iMac, and the color issue does not affect that hardware.

Coming back to PS CC, though, this doesn't explain why I get no icons with CC in either Snow Leopard or Mountain Lion. I would find it rather difficult to believe the hardware in use can prevent an icon from CC appearing when they do appear from any other app I use, including CS6.

[lenny_eiger]

This just started happening to me. I am using CS6 on 10.8.4. The icon previews are totally blank. I have tossed the .DS_Store files for a specific folder and tried different options in the PS preferences. Show Icon Preview is definitely on. I use my system for a lot of things and reinstalling is not something I do lightly...

I am sending these files out to my clients who have me do high end drum scans for them and it seems quite unprofessional. I need a good answer...

[station_two]

Noel Carboni wrote:

Are we talking about icons or thumbnails here?  Please be accurate and specific…

This ambiguity has been fostered by Adobe, and it has irritated me for years.  At this point, I'm never sure what is being referenced by anybody. 

[paulburd]

This is clearly a problem with Photoshop CC. I'm running it under 10.8.4, and no files saved from Photoshop have an icon other than the generic ("graphic") icon. In other words, the icon represents the file type on not the contents of the file.

This is reproducable every time:

1. Save a file from Photoshop CC and get a generic file-type icon.

2. Open the file in CS6 and re-save will change the icon to represent the contents of the file (small picture - non-generic icon).

3. Open the file in CC and re-save changes in back the generic icon.

You can do this all day. I've tried deleting the .DS_Store files but that doesn't help. Hopefully Adobe will come out with a fix.

[Kurt Lang]

Yes, exactly. I can't see how the problem can be related to anything but PS CC.