Bluebeam 2018 Preview Windows Explorer
If File Explorer is not showing thumbnail previews for videos or photos in Windows 10, try out the following solutions. Solution 1 of 4. Check if thumbnail preview supported view is turned on. Upgrade to Bluebeam Revu eXtreme 2018.5, From any older Revu eXtreme by Bluebeam is on sale from Novedge for $399. A recommended hardware configuration would be 64-bit Windows with an Intel i5 Dual Core or better processor, as well as at least 8 GB of RAM. This component requires Internet Explorer 11.
Windows Explorer displayed .pdf files as preview thumbnails on Zill Niazi’s old Windows 7 laptop. But on a new laptop, also running Windows 7, it displays them only as icons. Can this be fixed?
Be aware that there is a significant drawback to using the preview pane in Windows Explorer on Windows 7. When the contents of the file are visible in the preview pane, the file is considered open. When the file was opened in the corresponding application, the file was opened in a read-only state because it was considered open and in-use.
I’m going to guess that your older computer--the one that previewed .pdfs--ran the 32-bit version of Windows 7, and that your new one, with its more powerful processor, uses the 64-bit version. In its 32-bit incarnation, Windows 7 supports .pdf previews, but not in the “improved,” 64-bit product.
Why? If I could read Microsoft’s corporate mind I’d…well, I’d probably suffer a nervous breakdown.
[Email your tech questions to answer@pcworld.com.]
But there are solutions—at least for Windows 7 x64. I'm sorry to say that I haven't found a Windows 8 solution. (If any of you have, please tell us the comments section below.)
Windows 7 users should try Vivid Document Imaging’s PDF Preview for Windows 7. Install it, and Windows Explorer will display thumbnails of each .pdf’s first page. You can also preview the document in Explorer’s Preview pane. I tried this on two computers, and it worked on both.
But not without issues: The installation routine asks if you want to put a shortcut to the program on the desktop. Whether you uncheck that option or not, you’ll get not one but three such shortcuts. You can easily delete them.
More troubling, the installation saddles you with the company’s own PDF viewer, called simply PDF Viewer. Worse, it tells Windows to make that the default program for .pdfs.
You could, of course, change that default back to your preferred viewer. But in my tests, setting Adobe Reader as the default program robbed PDF Preview of the ability to show thumbnails, although it could still use Windows Explorer’s preview pane. I had no such problem when I set Foxit as my default .pdf program. That’s fine with me, because Foxit is my preferred viewer, anyway.
Note, however, that in my tests, this program doesn't work with Windows 8. Kimberly Taylor of Foxit confirmed, 'On Windows 8.1 64-bit, our PDF Preview program does not work very well. The preview window might fail to show.'
If you used Windows 7 32-bit for significant amount of time before upgrading to Windows 10, you would know that Windows Explorer in Windows 7 (only 32-bit) supported thumbnail preview for PDF files.
For some reason, Windows 10 doesn’t support thumbnail preview for PDF files in File Explorer (Windows Explorer). Windows 10 supports PDF viewing in its Edge browser and also allows users save any text file as PDF file using Microsoft Print to PDF feature but it doesn’t show preview and thumbnail preview for PDF files in File Explorer.
On your Windows 10 PC, if you would like to get preview and thumbnail preview for PDF files, you can do so with the help of third-party utilities.
Following are the two free utilities for Windows 10 to enable thumbnail preview support for PDF files in Windows 10 File Explorer.
NOTE: If you have issues with thumbnail preview, please refer to our how to clear and reset thumbnail cache in Windows 10 and fix to thumbnail previews not showing in Windows 10 guide.
Adobe Acrobat Reader DC to enable thumbnail preview for PDF files
Many users likely have been using Adobe Acrobat Reader DC to open and read PDF files in Windows 10. But what many users are not aware is that the fact that the Acrobat Reader DC can be used to enable preview and thumbnail preview for PDF files in Windows 10 File Explorer.
The Adobe Acrobat Reader DC generates superior quality thumbnails compared to other programs.
Enable thumbnail preview for PDF files using Acrobat Reader DC:
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Step 1: Head over to this page, download and install Acrobat Reader DC on your Windows 10 PC.
Step 2: Once installed, set Acrobat DC as the default PDF reader. For directions, please refer to our step-by-step guide on how to change the default PDF reader in Windows 10 guide.
Step 3: launch Acrobat Reader DC, navigate to Edit > Preferences > General.
Step 4: Check the option labelled Enable PDF thumbnail previews in Windows Explorer. Click OK button to save the change. That’s it!
Open a folder containing PDF files to see thumbnail preview for PDF files. Please make sure that the thumbnail preview is turned on in File Explorer settings.
If you have any issues with previews, please refer to our fix to thumbnail preview not working in Windows 10 File Explorer guide. To get preview (not thumbnail preview), select a PDF file and then simultaneously press Alt+P.
Use Nitro Reader (free) to generate previews for PDF files in Windows Explorer
Nitro Reader is another free tool which you can use to enable thumbnail preview for PDF files in Windows 10 File Explorer. After downloading and installing Nitro Reader on Windows 10, set it as the default PDF reader using Settings app or Control Panel to see preview and thumbnail preview for PDF files in Windows 10 Explorer.
Download Nitro Reader from this official page.
PDF Preview for Windows 10 to enable PDF thumbnail preview
PDF Preview for Windows 10 is a free add-in for File Explorer to generate and show thumbnail preview for PDF files.
In addition to thumbnail preview, PDF Preview for Windows 10 utility also enables preview for PDF files in File Explorer of Windows 10. That is, you can simply select a PDF file and then click Alt + P hotkey to preview the file.
If are wondering about password protected PDF files, this utility can’t generate preview for protected PDF files.
Of course, PDF Preview for Windows 10 is compatible with both 32-bit and 64-bit systems. However, PDF Preview for Windows 10 doesn’t support earlier versions of Windows such as Windows 7 and Windows 8. For Windows 7 or Windows 8, you need to download PDF Preview for Windows 7/8 software from the same developer.
Overall, PDF Preview for Windows 10 is a must have utility if you often deal with PDF files.
Bluebeam 2018 Preview Windows Explorer 7
How to install and use PDF Preview in Windows 10:
Step 1: Visit this official page of PDF Preview for Windows 10 and download the latest version.
Step 2: Run the setup file to get it installed. The setup automatically tries to set itself as the default PDF reader. Note that the PDF Preview must be the default PDF reader in order to generate thumbnails.
That’s it! Thumbnail preview and Explorer preview should now work in Windows 10 File Explorer as well as on desktop.