MAC users- Adding preview photos to your folder view

[maureenreynolds]

I have wanted to do this ever since I switched to a Mac. I always had a pic on the cover of my folders to help my boss 'see' what we/she had as she was very visually oriented. But I never figured out how to do it , AppleWise. (Now you may have known this, but lol..I was clueless.)

I found someone in the Anna Aspnes Album Magic class who spelled out the process. Five Angels: Mac - Placing A Preview Picture On Your Files.

Isn't it always great to get a little gift like this in addition the the class info?!??

[champsarahjoy]

I have wondered that forever! Thanks!

[KerryMac]

Oh my goodness! I have always wished I could do that with my folders! Thanks so very much, Maureen

[anke]

all I get is a larger view of the folder, not the contents. That's why I love ACDSee, it lets you see things so clearly

[bjwtville]

I did not know that and I missed it...thank you!!

[Britgirl]

it works for me -I love it thanks so much!

[HeatherPrins]

This is what I do see preview of kits, in the finder on the mac. Open the .jpg file of the kits contents in the Preview application, select all, then copy. Go to the folder you want to change, select it, hit command i, highlight the small folder icon at the top of the info window, then paste. You should now see the preview of the kits content as your folder icon now.

[maureenreynolds]

Heather, I'm not sure of what you mean or why you would 'select all' with only one file, the .jpeg.

I used your method to test one out...Anna's OpEnduring Freedom, and while it basically works, it gives me the issue I've had on some files/folders.The preview's not the actual picture, but rather the little jpeg icon (some photos incl one of a child and a camera). I've had that happen on the odd file...and seem to recall that the photo was too large?

[teeleedee]

Hi! What I do is click the preview of the kit open it up in photoshop re-save it and then having that jpeg highlighted do Command i. You will see another box open up. Then highlight the kit folder then hit command i. So you should have to extra boxes opened up. One of the Kit folder and one of the preview folder. Click the little picture in the preview photo and go command c then highlight the kit folder picture (which is a little blue folder) then go command v. I hope that makes sense

Tara

[BrittanyLane]

Thanks Heather and Tara! I've been trying to find something that works for me and I love this!

[HeatherPrins]

oh sorry Maureen I meant to say that when you open your folders in finder, go to the kit that needs a preview. double click to open it and find the preview jpeg, double click that, then copy (command a, command c)that pic! then close that jpeg, click the back button to show folders again, click (highlight) the folder you just opened, then command i, then click the tiny folder at the top and paste! It works like a charm, i did all mine yesterday!!

[maureenreynolds]

It worked today though I had to unlock the folder. Thanks all.

[hendon]

Ok guys - this is the one thing that still eludes me!! I've followed you're instructions but I still just end up with the 'jpeg' preview with the child and camera on it! I'm so frustrated ... has anyone got any ideas what I'm doing wrong?

ETA - does the jpeg need a special name or to be under a certain size? I have tried this too but still no luck ...

[maureenreynolds]

Donna, sorry that this is giving you fits.

Once you click and open the preview jpeg, do Cmd A (you'll see marching ants around the image), then Cmd C, close the preview jpeg and close the folder. Right click on the folder, going to Get info, and then when you see the tiny folder on the top of that info panel, right click the tiny folder and do a Cmd V, and you should see it. I HOPE!!!!

[BrittanyLane]

I think Maureen spelled it out perfectly... that's how I do it and have been baffled by this in the past too!

[hendon]

Thank you SO much Maureen and Brittany - it worked! Yay!! I wasn't doing the cmd-a step - I only got my mac last week and this has been the one really big issue for me. Thank you.

[maureenreynolds]

I didn't understand why I had to select all with the cmd-A but that's what Heather said so I finally followed her instructions to a T and hey presto! My husband always says I tend to rush through things and I fear I'm often guilty. Heather's instructions work!

(Donna, I had been tempted to say the instructions are in reverse for the southern hemisphere but I know not to tease a frustrated woman!)

[readstoomuch]

Thanks Maureen & Heather & Tara . . . I've been so frustrated that Mac doesn't have this convenient feature built in. I followed your directions, they worked like a charm! But, think that it would take me years to do this to all of my digi products. I'm wondering how Heather did all of hers in one evening? Any hints Heather?

{ Please . . . Mac . . . I'm begging you to do this for us!!! }

[cstaff]

I'm with you Molly... I have spent many days keywording my stash and placing the jpg on the info folder. My sanity was at stake so I took many breaks. However, the filtering and sorting in Bridge is fantastic now and I just hope that it stays in the metadata as Tracy says it will Yes Mac... come on board!

[maureenreynolds]

Molly, I have only done the new things as I buy them. Then maybe bit by bit I'll get around to doing the main stash. I know I'll do it by category with the ones I want most visible first. (btw, December was a huge amount to do once I got back home!)

btw, you can also use a png file as a preview. I tested that and it works!

[LauraBean]

Well: thanks for this tip (CMD-A). I've been doing it this way, which is more tedious: Open the preview jpg in PSE, do something to it (I usually resize to 499 px square, it doesn't matter), save changes, then copy the saved image to the clipboard and proceed as above. For some reason it works once I save the image in PSE. But this approach, opening the jpg in Preview, will be quicker!

[hendon]

Originally Posted by maureenreynolds

(Donna, I had been tempted to say the instructions are in reverse for the southern hemisphere but I know not to tease a frustrated woman!)

I may be frustrated but I do still have a sense of humour!

[arimacias]

i finally figured it out too))
followed heather's formula. YIPPEE!

[Chris]

I know this works in CS3. I can't remember who on DD to give credit to for showing this a few years back, but it's the way I do it. I'm not sure which is quicker - would love someone to test them. The explanation is MUCH longer than doing it.
I first made an action with the image

With the image in Photoshop start recording the action:
1. click on the jpg image (I usually use the preview)
2. save as
3. click format and select "PICT Resource"
4. click save to desktop
5. click ok
6. make sure that "jpeg (maximum quality)", if you don't sometimes it will not work.
7. hit ok
8. close file
stop recording the action

9. Go to desktop and click on the picture and command+ C (save)
10. click on the folder you want to change and select get info
11. click on the tiny folder in the top left and command+v (paste)

I do a batch of folders at the same time and bring all the reviews into Photoshop then just hit my action and they're done in a jiffy. I just timed it and did 3 in a minute with some fumbling. So you could do 30 files in 10 minutes with a lot of fumbling.
Note: sometimes It doesn't paste with my command+V so I just go to the Edit>Paste.

BTW I rarely do the pics on my folders though - I have way too many!

[HeatherPrins]

i am insane that way, lol.

[kdif]

Heather,
Thanks for the tips. It works like a charm. I made icons for entire Katie folder yesterday. One question though, the icons aren't always viewable when you press quick look. Any idea why? Sometimes some of them show up in cover flow view and sometimes some don't (in the finder). However, they all are showing up in bridge. I went and checked in view to make sure "show icon preview" is checked and it is. I am not on snow leopard yet and I didn't know if that is making a difference or not. Thanks.

[maureenreynolds]

I may be mistaken, but I don't think QuickLook is available for a folder. That, to me, is the whole point of having the .jpeg preview as the visible image for a folder.

e.g. I have 4 blue folders on my desktop. If I right click on any one of them, there is no QuickLook option. Now, if I open the one called "Put in Finder" each of the 26 internal Designer Digital purchased item folders will be visible because I have already done the replacement of the blue folder image with the preview image. If I look at all of these 26 folders in any of the 4 view options, they will continue to show the image. I prefer #1 because you can resize there,e.g. Katie's word art "FineLineBorderLines#4", to read the wording.

hth

[kdif]

I attached (hopefully, lol) a screen capture of the problem. The new preview icons show up in grid mode but not in cover flow mode. The same folder is clicked and you can see that in cover flow mode it's a black screen. Any thoughts?


I am still on Leopard 10.5

[scrapyoga]

Thank you Heather and everyone on this thread! This just rocks!!!!!! Making creative life easier to create!!!

[maureenreynolds]

Katemac (and is it Kate or Kathleen?), I think you may be right about SnowLeopard. I can't say what was new with that upgrade but I do have it.

As you can see, that tempate set of Ali's shows up in both views. Sorry I can't be more help!