For a while now my sister has been badgering me about how she can't see PSD thumbnails - when she can see BMP, JPG, PNG etc etc quite easily. So I've finally decided to fix it, and I thought I would share it.

After some googling, I found that you need a reg file and a dll file to make this work. Don't worry I've included everything you need in the following RAR file - make sure to read it's Readme.txt.

<old link removed>

My sister is using Adobe Photoshop CS2, and all the files made in CS2 (and below) are viewable through Explorer using this tweak.

If the above link doesn't work, then use this one:

Click to view attachment

Thanks SO much for this

I didn't even think this was possible, now I don't have to open up PS to view them

THANK YOU!

This work for the built in image viewing app? I hate thumbnail view.

No problem people.

@Sinbad, I just checked, and no sorry it doesn't work with the built-in image app in xp. You could always use this tweak in conjunction with TweakUI - to increase the size of the thumbnails.

Thanx alot
this is really very helpful

Thanks man, i couldnt get it working earlier, i think i edited registry wrong.

Hi There, first post!

Well i too was wondering why i couldn't see Thumbnails in CS/CS2, but it turns out this is the explaination why



I did also Search on google, found the instructions to fix the registry, downloaded the "psicon.dll" and installed it,
while i can now veiw thumbnails, there is one problem....

I dont know anything about the Windows Resistry or how it works, but using the registry fixes to enable thumbnails appears to do 2 things
1. Enables the .dll in windows explorer so it can make the thumbnails
2. Re-assigns all the PSD icons from their Deafult New CS2/CS PSD icons (C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS2\Photoshop.exe,1)
to the old Photoshop 7 PSD Icon which is contained within "psicon.dll"

i personly dont like the Photoshop 7 Icons, but love having the thumbnails... , you only see the PS7 icon when Explorer is in "List" or "details" veiw, all others are actual thumbnail previews of the actual PSD file, i was wondering if anyone would know how to edit this Registry fix, or what/how to edit in the regestry, to change icons for PSD files back to the CS2 Icons... yet still having thumbnails
that or how to replace icons inside .dll files...
however, it may be so that the "psicon.dll" has the Thumbnail option and PS7 icon built into eachother... meaning you cant have one without the other.... but i dont know anything about it

for those who dont like the photoshop 7 icon,
this is the dll with the icons replaced, there are 2 version, the cs version and the cs2 version, so it matches all the other picture icons, hope im allowed to post this.
this file only has the dll's, so if need the reg file u should download the other one too, and follow the instructions

Thanks alot! however i did kind fix this myself..

after googling i found a program called Iconcool, its not free, but the demo version alows editing and saveing, so i was able to edit the icons contained inside the .dll... but since i only had CS2 i could only do CS2 icons, so its great that you've done CS icons aswell

Btw, you can extract and replace the icons inside libraries using Microangelo Trial Version

all i used was reshacker, which is free, took a bit of time looking for the icons in the exe's but lucky they were the second icon sets in the programs, so it was a quick find, then used the same program to replace em in the dll.

I didnt change any icons, I can still see the cs2 icons. :\

Just a quick heads up. This trick works in Windows Vista too.

Depending on how the (if) the manafest file is coded/embeded in the .dll file could make this behavior Hit-or-Miss.

(I don't have time to check now) But if the file has no embeded manafest (or it's coded wrong), Windows will create one for it, and that (if the file is changed after the fact) leaves which icon is displayed up to the whim of the shell.

I registered to simply thank you so much for your efforts. It worked just as you claimed and without any unpleasant surprises, like most home grown products.

What puzzled me is I've got PS CS2 on my home desktop system and had no problems viewing thumbnails without having to take any extra steps. However, with my job's laptop, I did need your utility.

PS CS2 continues to be a major PITB due all the memory it demands and all the little things Adobe didn't bother to maintain to keep their customers happy.

desiree

I have always been able to see the thumbnail for photoshop.

it seems it only works on windows vista 32-bit, i have the 64-bit version of vista ultimate, and tried to apply the fix, but it doesn't seem to work... or at least it seemed to not work, until i tried to upload a file.... i opened the "browse" window and i happened to see a psd file as a thumbnail.... this puzzled me because i cannot see thumbnails in the folders themselves... but i could in the browse window. after i closed this window i went to the folder in windows explorer.... and the thumbnails where there! however it seems that the browse window is the only one that renders these thumbnails since psd files in other folders still don't show up... can anyone help me figure out what the problem is? thanks

This is just cool!

Is it possible to tweak this to work with other adobe formats, such as .ai and .indd..??

There is a tweak for AI:- http://board.iexbeta.com/index.php?showtopic=71028&hl=

I found this worked really well after one brief glitch..... When I installed XP Home Edition on my rebuilt computer (for reasons beyond my understanding) it designated the boot drive as "F:" and the slave drive as "C:". In order for this PSD thumbnail viewer installation to work correctly The dll file must be installed in the appropriately named folder on the "C" drive - even if it is not the boot drive where Photoshop itself is located. Once I created a dummy Photoshop subdirectory on the "C:" drive and moved the dll file over I had no problems.

just replace the "C:\Program Files\Common Files" path in the .reg with %CommonFilesDir%", and windows will find the file automatically, regardless of the drive letter.

Sweet, you registered just to help someone. Heads up

hi, the link u posted on the 1st page, whenever i click on it, it says " Sorry, some required files are missing, if you intended to view a topic, it's possible that it's been moved or deleted. Please go back and try again."

please help!!

Yeah the link is broken (files missing / May 2008) can somebody who still has the zip repost a new link please? Much appreciated from a Vista + CS3 user!!!

Hey guys, I just registered to let you know you can still download the file from here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?3fidyniy1x3

The instructions are inside the .zip file. Cheers.

Nice one!

Indeed. Appreciate it cherny2004.

Sorry lads, I will re-up the original soon.

Edit* The one cherny2004 linked to, is for Adobe Illustrator, not Photoshop.

Noted Singh400 and thanks for looking at correcting that broken attachment.

The link still seems to be broken

True, not working..still :S

Here you go guys. Sorry about the massive delay

Click to view attachment

Re-uploaded the file. To this post and opening post.

Ok, those with Vista and CS2 or CS3, and yet cannot see the icons this maybe why...

I have ACDSEE installed in vista, and I didn't even think about this, but look at the PSD icon, it might have an ACDSEE icon on it. This means windows does this in the registry...

PSD -> ACDSEE, it never goes to the registry hack into the adobe DLL you copied into the common area as instructed.

Simply right click and open with...
->Photoshop CS2/CS3 etc...
->checkmark always open with this program

you will now notice momentarialy that your psd files are visible thumbnails again.

voila, associations from other stinking programs stealing your attention.

Good Morning!

I was wondering if anyone has tried this thumbnail fix for PS CS2 on PS CS4? I would dearly love to see my .psd thumbnails in Explorer. If anyone has information on using this fix with CS4 and Vista, I would so appreciate the response.

Thank you kindly!
Babs

No reason why it shouldn't work. I don't have a copy of CS4 to test it.

Hi, everyone! I tried this download but it will not work on Vista 64. I still cannot view images in thumbnails. Is there help yet for vista 64?

Yeah I don't think it works for Vista x64 at all. Sorry.

Quick update

This is the updated .reg file for Brazilian Portuguese systems.

İt worked but you need to restart the machine. I use Windows 7.
Thanks for sharing.

oh my gosh! Thank you soooo much!
I too google'd for a solution to view .psd files on my computer.
Your solution is the 1st I found. So so happy it was free and easy.
thank you again. -Jules

I'm on vista 64 and CS3, this does not seem to work for this set up...

The main difference is that the path to the file is not C:\program files\ but C:\program files (x86)\, I replaced that in the registry as well, but either with the "as is" set up, or the "modified" set up, the result is still the same, no image icons....

You know I remember having a "BAT" file that would actually create the dll based on all of your computer settings to generate the icons, I bet that if I ware able to find that file again that would probably nicely replace all of the files posted here giving a "one click" simple install....

If I find it (don't count on it) I'll post it here....

For the impatient, just close all explorer windows after installing the dll and importing the reg file, open the task manager's "Processes" tab, highlight "explorer.exe" and kill it via the "End Process" button (don't get panicked when the task bar disappears, that's supposed to happen). Then switch over to the "Applications" tab, click "New Task..." and type in "explorer". Tada... the thumbs should show up without a reboot.

Oh, and big thanks from me too for sharing