How can I enable RAW and TIFF thumbnails in Windows 7 Explorer?
Asked 7/24/2010
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2 answers
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Windows 7 shows thumbnails for common image types like JPG and PNG, but not for many photo formats such as DNG, CRW/CR2, NEF, PSD, or TIFF. On a 64-bit Windows 7 system, is there a reliable way to add thumbnail support for these formats in Explorer, or do I need third-party codecs/software?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
16y ago
2 Answers
7
Fast Picture Viewer is $9.99 and works just fine on 64-bit Windows 7 (I'm using it myself).
You can also install the 32-bit codec and then view the folder with Windows Live Photo Gallery, which will generate the thumbnails for you. Other applications, like Explorer, will then be able to use these thumbnails - but you'll have to reopen WLPG every time you add any new files. IMHO, this is an enormous amount of faffing about, just to save $10...
Originally by user206. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user206
16y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes. In Windows 7, thumbnail support for RAW and some other photo formats depends on installing the right codecs. Camera makers provide codecs for some RAW formats, but many of those were only available in 32-bit versions, which limits usefulness on 64-bit Windows 7 Explorer. They can still help in some 32-bit applications that use Windows Imaging Components.
For a simpler solution on 64-bit Windows 7, the community recommendation is FastPictureViewer Codec Pack, which adds thumbnail support for many formats and is reported to work well.
If you use manufacturer codecs instead, support varies by brand and bitness. One workaround mentioned is using Windows Live Photo Gallery with 32-bit codecs to generate thumbnails, which Explorer can then reuse, but this is inconvenient because you may need to reopen Photo Gallery whenever you add new files.
So the practical answer is: install the relevant WIC codecs if available, but on 64-bit Windows 7 a dedicated codec pack is the most reliable option for broad RAW thumbnail support.
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