When I download pics from iPhoto to MacBk Pro desktop file I see an icon & not a pic as always. Can open icon in Preview. How can I change it so that I open the file and see pics, not icons for the pics?

You mean you want to see the pictures in finder, not in preview?

You need to change the view in finder, using the view icons

If you choose the icon view, (4 squares) you can also increase the size of the images you see using CMD+ . I can get them as large as this:

Or you can use the column view and then each selected image is shown with its info like this:

Are you really running iPhoto on macOS 12 Big Sur and not Photos? iPhoto is no longer supported and you should not rely on a patched iPhoto version, unless for trouble shooting. It may be causing all kinds of problems.

As for seeing icons instead of previews, it may be depending on the file format. Are your images RAW or JPEGs? JPEGs will typically show an image preview, while RAW files will need third party tools, like RAW Right Away.

Try this:

In finder veiw menu:

view>show view options.

make sure "show icon preview" is checked.

By the way - just a correction on the terminology you are using which has confused me a little.

What you are calling a file, is a folder. A file is an individual item contained within a folder. Eg an image file, in the pictures folder.

What a beautiful image, Tony!

Thanks 🙃