Problem viewing psd pics with PS CS2

[sylvia1065]

Hi,
When I go on Open and select Thumbnails in the View Menu (I use Photoshop CS2), my psd files only show Photoshop's logo, not the actual picture. I have to select the files one by one to have them displayed below File Format and Files of type... Any other format shows perfectly fine.
I would appreciate it if somebody knew how to fix this problem.
Thanks,
Sylvia

[Peter S]

If you go to "Edit/Prefernces/File handling" and make sure "Save Previews" is set to "Always Save". this may be the answer for you.

Peter

[sylvia1065]

Hi Peter,
Thanks for the quick answer. Unfortunately, "save previews" is already on...
Sylvia

[Peter S]

Well maybe at a loss with this one.
Have you maximized PSD & PSB compatiblity with older versions of PS, again in "file handling" prefs?
The only other thing I can think of right now.

Peter

[sylvia1065]

"Have you maximized PSD & PSB compatiblity with older versions of PS, again in "file handling" prefs?"
Yes, it's on "always".
Sylvia

[Peter S]

I've just reread your first post.
You are not alone in this it is a Windows thing and I don't think there is a problem. Windows will not preview PSD files.
Try and right click on a PSD in Explorer and it will not let you preview it with the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer. Although it is not greyed out nothing will be displayed.
Sorry if I built up your hopes. Though there are some picture viewers out there that can!
Irfanview (I think that is the correct spelling) is one I think (Google it), and is a free download.

You could use this to preview and then open in PS.

Hope this helps

Peter

[sylvia1065]

You mean you can't preview psd files within Photoshop???
I'm not trying to view them from Windows Explorer, but within Photoshop. Otherwise I also use ACDSee to view my files but it obliges me to have another program open.
Thanks for your help anyway,
Sylvia

[BobJones]

I'm assuming you use Windows.

You are running into the same issue as not seeing the PSD icons in Windows Explorer. The thumbnails in that dialog are being generated by the operating system, not Photoshop.

Windows uses the Adobe supplied PSICON.DLL module to generate the thumbnails. Adobe stopped shipping the PSICON.DLL module with their products because Microsoft code was causing problems to some users when that was used. Adobe has indicated that they are considering another way to generate thumbnails that uses a different mechanism but it would be far in the future (past CS3) if at all.

I seldom use the Photoshop open dialog. I'll use Open Recent if resuming work in progress. Otherwise, I use Bridge to browse or select the images and open in Photoshop from Bridge -- it works very well (asuming you've installed the updates). Bridge is a much better way to preview your images and this is just as fast as using the open dialog. I've got a fast enough cpu and enough ram that I can leave both Bridge and Photoshop open and switch between them as needed. But, I can understand the reluctance to use it if your system is constrained.

You can google for a copy of PSICON.DLL and instructions for how to change the registry entries to use it, but I recommend against doing it.

[Peter S]

Bob thanks for comong to rescue with this one. Much better explanation than I could give.

Peter

[sylvia1065]

Thanks for your explanation, BobJones. I didn't know it was not possible to preview psd files with Photoshop. Doesn't make much sense!!
I guess I'll just follow your advice and view my files with "browser" instead of "open".
Sorry for the trouble!
Sylvia