Finder doesn't display icon previews for many image files.

Question

Finder doesn't display icon previews for many image files.

I'm on OS 10.13.6, but this issue has plagued me forever now. I work with large graphics files, and finder often doesn't display tif files correctly. All I get is a broken icon.

This has a severe impact when searching for files, because as an imaging professional, often the thumbnail will mean more than a name, and we really need to see the preview to know what I'm opening.

With many files being 500MB +, clicking on each one and opening it to see the contents is just not an option.

I have already gone through the exercise of changing the default program to preview instead of photoshop, but that didn't fix the issue. I've found and deleted the finder plst file, and that didn't help. And its worth noting that I have three Mac Pros and two Macbook pros, and two imacs, and this issue persists across all of them.

What can I do to get images to correctly display the preview icon?

keywords: tif, tiff, jpg, photoshop, mac os, high siera, icons, previews, icon preview, broken tif

Posted on Feb 15, 2019 11:21 AM

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Answer 1

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leroydouglas

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200,208 points

Feb 23, 2019 12:23 PM in response to scottmoore_seattle2

scottmoore_seattle2 wrote:

Finder doesn't display icon previews for many image files.

Photoshop—one of the save-as TIFF options is pixel order ...

tiff images saved w/ option the "Per Channel(RRGGBB)" consequently have no thumbnails recognized.

tiff images saved w/ option "Interleaved(RGBRGB)" mode had thumbnails recognized by Finder

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Answer 2

Feb 15, 2019 6:29 PM in response to scottmoore_seattle2

This is not a permanent solution, but one that, if it works for you, is at least quick. Try clicking on View, then on Show View Options, and move the Icon Size bar to the right or left. I did that on my Finder and all of the images that were displaying the generic icon showed the actual photos/previews. It's annoying, but if it works for you, it is much quicker than opening them in the app.

Best,

GB

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Answer 3

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

Feb 15, 2019 12:15 PM in response to scottmoore_seattle2

Wasn't sure you restarted.

Might consider Graphic Converter that has a great Browse folder function for one thing...

https://www.lemkesoft.de/en/products/graphicconverter/

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Answer 4

Feb 15, 2019 12:22 PM in response to BDAqua

thanks for the reply. I looked at the link and I don't need another editing program. I looked at the features, but I think this third party app will just add another layer of complexity, and there's nothing in the program i want or need.

thanks

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Answer 5

Feb 15, 2019 2:52 PM in response to leroydouglas

Yes I've tried relaunching finder. That didn't help. I've tried downloading GIMP, and saving TIFs in GIMP, but they eventually show up again as broken icons. And yes, these are all TIFs. For many years I've kept my files as uncompressed TIF files as that's a program neutral industry standard.

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Answer 6

BDAqua

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250,259 points

Feb 15, 2019 6:14 PM in response to scottmoore_seattle2

I upgraded my main machine to Mojave just so I wouldn't have to listen to Apple suggest that I be on the latest OS.

Bothersome reminders to update to Mojave cure...

https://x704.net/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=8480

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Answer 7

leroydouglas

Level 10

200,208 points

Feb 15, 2019 6:27 PM in response to scottmoore_seattle2

Yes I've tried relaunching finder. That didn't help. I've tried downloading GIMP, and saving TIFs in GIMP, but they eventually show up again as broken icons. And yes, these are all TIFs. For many years I've kept my files as uncompressed

TIF files as that's a program neutral industry standard.

What industry, print media and archival maybe (?)—yes lossless however—I always found tiffs to be problematic in web design &development specifically. I never had an issue with png, which is also lossless.

I would of suggest your PS was not up to date, however stating GIMP has the same behavior—brings me back to thinking a bug and tiffs, not High sierra or Mojave.

What precipitated this error in behavior or has it been an ongoing issue including Sierra?

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Answer 8

Feb 16, 2019 8:15 AM in response to leroydouglas

This behavior started around OS 10.11.x if I remember correctly. It’s been going on for years and Apple has never fixed it. It’s really about the time iPhone and iPad became the main revenue source for apple, and it started ignoring its long time professional graphics customers. As for PNG, that’s not an option. These are meant as master files that then go to print. Uncompressed Tif is the best format for us, and has been for years.

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Answer 9

Feb 17, 2019 7:15 AM in response to scottmoore_seattle2

? The suggestion does not restore icons. Sorry, but it does not. Even to restore a single directory to find an image, looking at a preview one at a time using command + i is hardly a viable option. I did this for a single directory on Friday and it took an hour. Saturday morning all icons were broken again.

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Answer 10

Feb 28, 2019 7:03 AM in response to leroydouglas

I've checked, and my default save is in fact "interleaved (RGBRGB), so it doesn't seem to matter. The fact is that Apple has trouble displaying image icons correctly, and has for years now. What was once a great graphics editing platform has severely declined as Apple focusses on iphones and ipads.

Please Apple, you can't search for images by using thumbnails anymore.

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Answer 11

leroydouglas

Level 10

200,208 points

Feb 28, 2019 8:30 AM in response to scottmoore_seattle2

I've checked, and my default save is in fact "interleaved (RGBRGB), so it doesn't seem to matter.

The fact is that Apple has trouble displaying image icons correctly, and has for years now.

What was once a great graphics editing platform has severely declined as Apple focusses on iphones and ipads.

Please Apple, you can't search for images by using thumbnails anymore.

Please make your voice heard—Apple Feedback http://www.apple.com/feedback

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Answer 12

Feb 15, 2019 12:09 PM in response to BDAqua

I have already said in my original post that I tried deleting the plst file and it didn't work. Please read my post before responding. I have said I did this already.

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