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File Icons on Windows 7


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Following a disastrous Windows update failure, system reset (the one that doesn't delete your data files), and reinstallation of Affinity Designer, I no longer have file thumbnails when viewing files in Windows Explorer. I've tried creating and saving a new file, to compare with one saved prior to the reset. For info I now have Windows 10, version 1607 installed.

 

Thumbnails are displaying Ok for other programme files on same PC. Is there anything I should try?

 

I also on one occasion had the following message popup when saving to the desktop. Despite the message the file did save without any trouble.

post-32390-0-80042800-1472739427_thumb.jpg

v2.4.0 Designer/Photo/Publisher | Mac mini (M1, 2020) | Sonoma 14.3.1

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Hi. my Windows 10 updated yesterday to Windows 10 1607 (Build 14393.105) and when saving affinity files I sometimes have to physically refresh the desktop to see the thumbnail, not always though.

 

for me windows 10 has always occasionally nodded off so I've become accustomed to poking it with a stick every now and then to wake it up

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Hi Jonopen

 

We are already aware of the thumbnails not updating until the app is closed and the desktop is refreshed, this sounds like what you might be experiencing.

 

As far as the save message, I'm not sure on this one so i shall keep my eye out for it

 

Cheers

Serif Europe Ltd - Check the latest news at www.affinity.serif.com

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  • 1 month later...

​Hi, just a quick update to this old thread, but I still can not view any thumbnails in Windows explorer for Affinity Designer. Other graphics files (.png, .jpg, .xar, .ptg, .mp4 etc) all display their thumbnails fine.

 

In the interest of testing I deleted and rebuilt both the Windows icon cache and thumbnail cache, but this has not corrected the problem for AD (1.5.0.24).
 

post-32390-0-16404800-1476437117_thumb.jpg

v2.4.0 Designer/Photo/Publisher | Mac mini (M1, 2020) | Sonoma 14.3.1

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Yes, that option is enabled.

 

I've also tried clearing all my Affinity Design user settings back to their default values with the 'Ctrl start', which by default enables 'Save thumbnails with document'.

 

I've also tried saving files with 'Save History enabled'.

 

Exporting the whole page as, for example, a .png file creates a thumbnail for the file.

 

Attached is test file that doesn't produce a thumbnail for me.

thumb-test1.afdesign

v2.4.0 Designer/Photo/Publisher | Mac mini (M1, 2020) | Sonoma 14.3.1

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  • Staff

Hi Jonopen, 

There should be a thumbnail handler at this location: C:\Program Files\Affinity\Common\Thumbnail.dll 

And that path should be stored in this registry key: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{233d80c6-b8aa-4b99-88da-ee96551d4ca1}\InProcServer32

 

Please could you check that these are both present? (PM me if you need instructions)

Also, if you open an .afdesign file from Explorer, does it start Affinity and load the file? 

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"There should be a thumbnail handler at this location: C:\Program Files\Affinity\Common\Thumbnail.dll"

 

Yes, file is present (see screenshot)

 

"And that path should be stored in this registry key: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{233d80c6-b8aa-4b99-88da-ee96551d4ca1}\InProcServer32"

 

Yes (see screenshot)

 

"Also, if you open an .afdesign file from Explorer, does it start Affinity and load the file?"

 

Yes, both when Affinity Designer is not running and when it is already running.

post-32390-0-95352000-1476779519_thumb.png

post-32390-0-43014800-1476779531_thumb.png

v2.4.0 Designer/Photo/Publisher | Mac mini (M1, 2020) | Sonoma 14.3.1

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Just to mention I've just installed the latest RC1 download, but no change for me.

 

I've no idea if this helps eliminate anything, but I temporarily changed the default .afdesign 'Open with' App to notepad, and all the Designer (large) icons changed accordingly. I then changed the default back again to Designer, which just returned them to their former state (the program icon).

 

Is this just happening to me in the whole world? :o Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to help.

v2.4.0 Designer/Photo/Publisher | Mac mini (M1, 2020) | Sonoma 14.3.1

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Is this just happening to me in the whole world? :o

 

Hi Jonopen,

 

I just tried this with Windows Explorer and Freecommander on my machine. All .afdesign thumbnails display with no problem with their file's content.

 

I know this is of small help and I sincerely hope you and the AD team can eventually track this down  :)

 

d.

Affinity Designer 1 & 2   |   Affinity Photo 1 & 2   |   Affinity Publisher 1 & 2
Affinity Designer 2 for iPad   |   Affinity Photo 2 for iPad   |   Affinity Publisher 2 for iPad

Windows 11 64-bit - Core i7 - 16GB - Intel HD Graphics 4600 & NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M
iPad pro 9.7" + Apple Pencil

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Thanks for looking dominik. I've just tried viewing using a portable (non installing) version of FreeCommander, but still no show.

 

My workaround is to make a whole page .png export to save alongside the Affinity Designer file and be a bit more descriptive/logical with my file naming (good practice in any case).

v2.4.0 Designer/Photo/Publisher | Mac mini (M1, 2020) | Sonoma 14.3.1

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Is this just happening to me in the whole world? :o Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to help.

Hi Jonopen, 

I'm currently adding some diagnostic code to our thumbnail handler, so we can figure out what's going wrong. 

Watch this space...

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  • Staff

OK, please could you try the following:

1. Download and extract the attached file: Thumbnail.zip

2. Back up the existing file: C:\Program Files\Affinity\Common\Thumbnail.dll

3. Replace it with the one from the zip

4. Open a folder containing .afdesign files in Explorer (you might have to create a new file or copy & paste an existing one)

5. Open %temp%\AffinityThumbnailHandler in Explorer. There should be some log files in there.

6. If there are, please post the contents of one here. 

7. Restore the old version of C:\Program Files\Affinity\Common\Thumbnail.dll

 

Thanks, 

Jon

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Hello! New to the forum. I have been banging around in Affinity Photo for the last day and have figured pretty much everything out I needed as a deal breaker. I am cautious but extremely optimistic that I will not be renewing my PhotoshopCC sub this time around. Been using it since early 90s as a digital painter and would love to see a viable option, mainly because I believe stiff competition keeps everyone on their toes.

However my thumbnail previews are not there either, only the Affinity icon for files still saved in that format. If I save as a .jpg, etc., I get a thumbnail preview. This is consistent whether going to the specific folder or viewing through Bridge. All other apps previewing thumbs just fine. 

On October 14, above, Mark Ingram posted a screen grab of the Designer General Pref but I do not have that option in Photo:
Save Thumbnails with Document 
I seriously want to make the move to Affinity, but not being able to quickly see which file to open, even though my naming conventions are stellar, could be a major slog.

Downloaded the trial this past week: Mac Pro, OS El Cap 10.11.6

P.S. Crashed it three times last night. Appreciated the file restoration choice! However it blew my workspace all to pieces each time. Had to pull my "studio" layout back into place which was disappointing. Is there not a way to save the workspace like in Photoshop? Any known conflicts on Macs?

Harddisk space 2Ts clear for use, increased the available juice to 50kmg, set undo to 8. Got no warning before the crashes and have not crashed anything in over a year. Hoping increased available ram will solve the crashing problem. So far so good.

Thanks much!
Kathryn Ault Noble


 

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Jon W, apologies for delay in getting back to you.

 

At step 5. "Open %temp%\AffinityThumbnailHandler in Explorer." I'm not sure where to look for this folder. I can't seem to find using a file search.

 

Thanks

v2.4.0 Designer/Photo/Publisher | Mac mini (M1, 2020) | Sonoma 14.3.1

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Jon W, apologies for delay in getting back to you.

 

At step 5. "Open %temp%\AffinityThumbnailHandler in Explorer." I'm not sure where to look for this folder. I can't seem to find using a file search.

 

Thanks

 

Hi Jon,

 

in Windows Explorer's adress field simply type in "%temp%" (without the quotes) and press Enter. Explorer will then jump to the correct location on your harddrive. There you could look for the folder "AffinityThumbnailHandler".

 

I hope this helps.

 

d.

Affinity Designer 1 & 2   |   Affinity Photo 1 & 2   |   Affinity Publisher 1 & 2
Affinity Designer 2 for iPad   |   Affinity Photo 2 for iPad   |   Affinity Publisher 2 for iPad

Windows 11 64-bit - Core i7 - 16GB - Intel HD Graphics 4600 & NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M
iPad pro 9.7" + Apple Pencil

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Thanks dominik. I did as you suggested but still could not see the AffinityThumbnailHandler folder.

 

Jon, I've followed your instructions and attached is a screen shot of the result of entering %temp% in File Explorer. The html file relates to Affinity's Help. I don't think the others are Affinity log files, but let me know if they are relevant and I'll upload them. I've also updated to Beta RC2.

post-32390-0-36985800-1477299067_thumb.png

v2.4.0 Designer/Photo/Publisher | Mac mini (M1, 2020) | Sonoma 14.3.1

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  • Staff

I did as you suggested but still could not see the AffinityThumbnailHandler folder.

OK, thanks for trying that. It sounds Explorer just isn't calling our thumbnail handler. 

Please could you try the following?

1. Run RegEdit

2. Press the Home key to go to the root "Computer" node. 

3. Edit > Find

4. Paste this into the "Find what" box: 233d80c6-b8aa-4b99-88da-ee96551d4ca1 

5. Tick "Keys", untick "Values" and "Data"

6. Click Find Next

 

It should find HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{233d80c6-b8aa-4b99-88da-ee96551d4ca1} (Affinity Thumbnail Handler).

Then Press F3. Does it find anything else? 

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