Finder image previews (macOS Ventura) - square vs proportional icon thumbnails are not helpful...Any new workarounds?

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Level 1

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Finder image previews (macOS Ventura) - square vs proportional icon thumbnails are not helpful...Any new workarounds?

I really just want to see the entire image boundary when viewing a folder full of images. I can zoom those images, and select the best image for my purpose quickly without having to open each image in preview.

Currently the only workaround I can find is to select ALL images in a folder, open with preview and view/contact sheet. This is several more steps and clicks that should be necessary. The only reason I should have to open an image prior to selecting is to check things like eyes or minute details. I should be able to see if an image will work as a horizontal crop or contains details unseen in the square preview.

Although I don't really want a workaround, are there any others?

Mac Pro (2023)

Posted on Sep 27, 2023 9:17 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Barney-15E

Level 10

117,112 points

Sep 27, 2023 1:33 PM in response to dburch

Have you not heard of QuickLook? Select the image and press the spacebar.

Or, select all of the images and press the spacebar to view all, individually. If you start in List view, you can just arrow up and down. If you are in icon view, the select changes in the underlying folder, so if you use arrows you will get to end of rows and columns as you arrow. The tab key will sequence through the selected items.

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Answer 2

dburch Author

Level 1

11 points

Sep 27, 2023 2:47 PM in response to Barney-15E

That would be great and all I'm really looking for, but are you referring to the Finder? I am not experiencing the finder with proportional icons until after I open all in Preview. The Finder/settings/View Options window shows that, while you can change the default size as you mentioned, they are still square crops:

Is there a setting where you can change them to proportional? If so, where can I find it?

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Answer 3

dburch Author

Level 1

11 points

Sep 27, 2023 1:50 PM in response to Barney-15E

Haven't really used it I guess...and it IS helpful and way faster than opening with preview, but does require pre-identifying an image(s) that might work and then using quicklook or flipping through multiple images to select. Still a seemingly extra step. I do a lot of high volume work and am usually selecting image content first, closely followed by the crop-ability of that image. That is what I lose with the squared thumbnails. I use the finder icon view as more of a contact sheet.

Interestingly, and not sure if this happened before (I upgraded to Sonoma between my first question and this reply), I noticed that when I do select all images in a folder with the intention of using Preview's contact sheet function, which opens in a separate window, the images in the original folder start to show their native proportions as the Preview contact sheet populates. As long as you let it completed before clicking back into the folder, you can then use either Finder or Preview as the contact sheet. Doesn't save the clicks I was looking to save, but is interesting.

Just wish the newish finder worked like it used to OR there would be a preference setting for sq. or original ration thumbnails. Thanks for your help.

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