Taylor Gibson Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 I've just had AutoCAD 13 installed on my machine, only one complaint so far - the thumbnail previews are a black blob and unreadable. According to support, this is due to them being saved in png format, which is higher resolution! To make them have a white background apparently one has to save them with a white background. Does anybody know any different? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSasu Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 That preview is indeed saved as a small image embedded in drawing file, so it retains the background in use at the save time. I'm quite sure that there is nothing you can do than re-save all drawings with white background. May try to use a script for such task. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor Gibson Posted November 8, 2012 Author Share Posted November 8, 2012 Well there's progress for you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSasu Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Sorry, but I'm afraid I don't understand your reply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor Gibson Posted November 8, 2012 Author Share Posted November 8, 2012 I'm sorry I was being ironic. They've icreased the resolution of the thumbnail, but it's of no use whatsoever because you can't actually see the detail unless you go through the rigmarole of changing the background colour! One could hardly call this an improvement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReMark Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Just so we are all clear on what is being talked about. Have I circled the preview of which you are speaking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor Gibson Posted November 8, 2012 Author Share Posted November 8, 2012 Yes ReMark, If that thumbnail was zoomed out to an A1 dwg, for example, it becomes unreadable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReMark Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 I agree with you but it is only a thumbnail. I'm legally blind in one eye and have been doing CAD a number of years yet I can still recognize the drawing that is pictured in a thumbnail well enough to know if it is the one I want or not. Are you saying that in some version of AutoCAD prior to 2013 thumbnails were clearer? If so, which version of AutoCAD? I have 2012, 2010, 2007 and 2004 all loaded as well as 2013. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor Gibson Posted November 8, 2012 Author Share Posted November 8, 2012 Yes. The ones with the white background, they are 2010, the black blobs are 2013. I know the scale is a bit small but you get the idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLW210 Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Appears to be more a poor layer color for a black background. If the lines were lighter, they would not be as distinct in the white background either, nothing specific to 2013 AFAIK. I deleted your other post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReMark Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 The image shown in post #9 doesn't really have anything to do with AutoCAD per se. You are viewing your files using icons. You are limited to small, medium, large and extra large icons. If there is a setting to be tweaked it would have to be in the Windows Registry. At least that is the way I see it. Feel free to disagree. Personally I don't rely on looking at icons when I want to know what the contents of a folder are when using Windows Explorer. I much rather see the 'Details' (file name, date, size, etc.). Personally choice. Update Just as I suspected, it is a Registry setting that controls thumbnail resolution. One has to create a new DWORD value called Thumbnailsize. Value data is hexadecimal based. Not sure you'll achieve your desired end result though. Still interested? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor Gibson Posted November 8, 2012 Author Share Posted November 8, 2012 Most of the colours are standard, red, green, cyan, magenta etc. The others are lighter versions of other colours. The criss-cross pattern on the bottom left dwg is in colour 254 (almost white) but clearly visible, both black blobs contain the same criss-cross pattern. I'm sorry about the double posting, I'm wasn't aware I had done it. I did open the thread from the first email reply with the original still open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor Gibson Posted November 8, 2012 Author Share Posted November 8, 2012 Although the preview in "open file" is a little clearer it only shows one dwg at once. The file names here contain very little information - just the dwg no. & issue, not my choice I'm just a minnion, so it's quite handy to look at a whole page of thumbnails & try to recognise the dwg one is searching for. Not very efficient I know but he who pays the piper calls the tune. I would be interested in increasing the resolution of the thumbnails, although I may not have the admin rights to do that. They don't like numpties like me messing about with settings! I think i'll end up saving everything with a white background. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReMark Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Thumbnails in Explorer are supposed to have a resolution of 96 pixels which is considered relatively high quality. Not sure how much beyond that it could be pushed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReMark Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 The procedure is as follows. 1. Open the Registry Editor (Start-Run-Regedit) and go to HKEY CURRENT USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer. 2. Create a new DWORD value called ThumbnailSize. 3. When you edit the value data, choose Hexadecimal as the base. 4. In the value data box, enter a number between 32 and 96. The larger the number, the higher the resolution, and the higher the quality of the thumbnails. 5. Exit the Registry Editor. The resolution of the thumbnails will change without your having to reboot. Note: Not all systems will allow you to display thumbnails larger than 96 pixels. Source: www.nidokidos.org/threads/461 by darani Nov 2006 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Hughes Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Taylor, I don't know if this would be any kind of solution for you. I've got a software program called DwgGrid that is designed to provide browsing AutoCAD drawings (and other CAD file) and print contact sheets of the thumbnail previews. The default background color is white and you can size the thumbnail to your liking. You can find a copy of the program here: http://www.engds.com/Products/DwgGrid/DwgGrid.html The catch is, as mentioned 2013 changed the format to .png and I believe that has broken the functioning in DwgGrid. It may still work if files are saved to an earlier release. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor Gibson Posted November 8, 2012 Author Share Posted November 8, 2012 Well that bit worked! The thumbnails with the white backgrounds are really big & clear, the ones with the black backgrounds are big & black with some indistinct coloured in them. Still at least if I save with a white background I'll be able to see them clearly. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor Gibson Posted November 8, 2012 Author Share Posted November 8, 2012 Patrick I'm already saving in 2010 format as not everybody here has 2013 so I'll probably give it a try. It will be tomorrow now as, here in England, it's getting towards the time that I should be somewhere else other than at work. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.