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Creating, Editing & Exporting PDFs

(Michael_Voeller)

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PDF Icons used to Show Preview of Document - Now it shows PDF Icon

Feb 25, 2009 2:36 PM

I am using Adobe Acrobat 8 on a 64bit Windows Vista Home Premium Operating System. I just bought this computer and installed Adobe Acrobat 8 on it. On my other two computers (one vista, one xp) the normal Adobe Acrobat File Icons are changed to show a preview of the first page of the document. I work a lot with long lists of Pdf files, and the preview feature has been a great help. I am wondering if there is a setting on my new computer that I need to change to replicate this function that I have been enjoying on my other two computers.

38132 Views 28 Replies Latest reply: Vienna_Sydney, Feb 8, 2013 7:59 AM

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1. (ccrans),

Mar 2, 2009 5:38 AM in reply to (Michael_Voeller)

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Did you ever find an answer to this?? I have been having the same problem, and nobody knows what I am talking about....

Thanks.

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2. (Michael_Voeller),

Mar 2, 2009 11:09 AM in reply to (Michael_Voeller)

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I have not received a reply to this problem, I just posted last week - hopefully somone will know the answer

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3. (Sanctus_Germanus),

Mar 2, 2009 11:50 AM in reply to (Michael_Voeller)

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Is this in Acrobat or the Windows Explorer? Is XP also the 64-bit version?

Sanctus

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4. (Michael_Voeller),

Mar 2, 2009 1:28 PM in reply to (Michael_Voeller)

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This problem take place in Windows Explorer and Acrobat. If I try and access my PDF files from explorer or by opening my files in Acrobat - the same problem persists. For instance if I go to my computer and then navigate to my documents which contains a pdf file, when I look at the file, If says PDF Adobe with their image, and contains no preview of the document itself. XP is not the 64-bit version.

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5. (ccrans),

Mar 2, 2009 3:16 PM in reply to (Michael_Voeller)

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I have the same issue,.. I am using Vista Home Premium 64bit edition, and Adobe Acrobat 9

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6. paulcu,

Mar 3, 2009 9:56 AM in reply to (Michael_Voeller)

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Single page or single spread PDFs will display a preview in an e-mail client or web browser, but I've never seen multipage PDFs with preview that way.

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7. brenna olwine,

Mar 3, 2009 10:35 AM in reply to (Michael_Voeller)

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I am running in WinXP, but if I change my view to thumbnails, it will give me a first page preview on a multi-page pdf. But only for scanned PDFs, not for PDFs printed from another program.

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8. (Michael_Voeller),

Mar 6, 2009 9:52 AM in reply to (Michael_Voeller)

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I can't view the first page preview of a multi or single page document even in thumbnail view

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9. brenna olwine,

Mar 7, 2009 1:33 PM in reply to (Michael_Voeller)

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Are your PDFs scans, or prints?

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10. (Michael_Voeller),

Mar 9, 2009 12:00 PM in reply to (Michael_Voeller)

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The PDFs are Scans

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11. birdflybluesky,

Mar 22, 2009 9:36 AM in reply to (Michael_Voeller)

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Marin85 on forum.thinkpads.com found a workaround to this problem. Seems that the problem happens on 64 bit systems. Win 7 32 bit version creates the .pdf thumbnail previews automatically with Adobe Pro v9. However, this is not the case with Win 7 x64. Note sure about Vista or XP, but it could be the same 32 bit/64 bit issue.

If the thumbnails are not being generated automatically, in order to create a thumbnail preview instead of the regular pdf icon, you only need to browse to some folder containing pdf files FROM WITHIN ACROBAT READER and select the 'Tiles' view from within the 'Open files' window. Then Acrobat creates thumbnail previews to the pdf documents contained in that particular folder.

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12. davealex_remy,

Apr 7, 2009 6:03 AM in reply to birdflybluesky

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Howdy.

Thanks for this solution, it worked for me. I too just switched to Vista x64 and have the issue where my scans were not previewing and only showing the red Acrobat icon. I opened the reader, chose File Open and pointed it to my folder of PDFs and chose Views/Large Icons and it created thumbnails that were available to Windows Explorer. Thanks, this was, like the other folks, really bothering me!

--dave

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13. groovegsus,

Apr 15, 2010 11:05 AM in reply to (Michael_Voeller)

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There is a fix for it :

http://www.pretentiousname.com/adobe_pdf_x64_fix/index.html

It will fix both the preview of icon is not showing and the preview of the content of the document is not showing

Download the fixes:

With installer: Adobe_Reader_x64_fixes_v2_002_installer.zip (1MB)
Without installer: Adobe_Reader_x64_fixes_v2_002_noinstaller.zip (1MB)

The installer and executables are digitally signed. Thanks to GPSoftware for signing them for me.

You'll need to re-run the preview-handler fixer each time you update Adobe Reader. A start menu shortcut is provided.

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14. ~graffiti,

Apr 15, 2010 12:25 PM in reply to groovegsus

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Keep in mind that the above poster has only posted in these forums one time and the files he is pushing are not coming from the Adobe site.

They may be perfectly fine but I'm just saying...

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15. groovegsus,

Apr 15, 2010 3:41 PM in reply to ~graffiti

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That's why i also posted the link to the original author's site ,
you can take the file directly there if you don't trust my links.

It solved my problems so i just wanted to share it.

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16. ~graffiti,

Apr 15, 2010 4:58 PM in reply to groovegsus

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Sorry. Not trying to sound like I was accusing you of anything.

Guess I'm just trying to point out that it isn't an Adobe product so it's user beware.

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17. kdm1,

Jul 27, 2010 2:22 AM in reply to ~graffiti

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It does not matter if it is from adobe or not, but it makes me angry, that adobe did not solve the problem themselves. A lot of time went by and we still have to patch after each update from adobe again. Thats a shame

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18. arvo-42,

Aug 13, 2010 6:11 AM in reply to (Michael_Voeller)

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I am having the opposite problem, so I am hoping that the solution to yours might also entail a solution to mine. I just installed Adobe Reader 9 on Windows 7 Professional (32 bit), and now my pdf icons show up as previews. It's a nifty feature, but I'd prefer to turn it off. Does anybody know if there is a way I can get Adobe Reader 9 to use a fixed icon rather than a preview? Thanks.

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19. DrDominee,

Dec 26, 2010 2:12 PM in reply to kdm1

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Thanks for that fix! It worked on my new Win 7 64 bit machine.

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20. xiaoban7,

Jan 3, 2011 6:34 PM in reply to davealex_remy

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Following the steps as your suggest ,i still have the issue. so sad!

Win7 32-bit Ultimate
who knows the workaroud ,please let me know. thanks very much.

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21. J_Graphic_Designs,

Jul 5, 2011 4:28 PM in reply to groovegsus

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groovegsus wrote:

There is a fix for it :

http://www.pretentiousname.com/adobe_pdf_x64_fix/index.html

It will fix both the preview of icon is not showing and the preview of the content of the document is not showing

Download the fixes:

With installer: Adobe_Reader_x64_fixes_v2_002_installer.zip (1MB)
Without installer: Adobe_Reader_x64_fixes_v2_002_noinstaller.zip (1MB)

The installer and executables are digitally signed. Thanks to GPSoftware for signing them for me.

You'll need to re-run the preview-handler fixer each time you update Adobe Reader. A start menu shortcut is provided.

...

Well yeah this is it! This fixed it for me.
It's too bad Adobe doesn't take care of these bugs that they create.

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22. All-USA,

Dec 26, 2011 8:49 PM in reply to (Michael_Voeller)

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To show a PDF thumbnail / Icon:

1. Open Acrobat program
2. Select File, Open and then select a folder with pdf documents
3. Select View Menu, then select "Tiles"

Acrobat now shows a thumbnail / Icon / preview for pdfs in that folder

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23. cobellski,

Dec 29, 2011 12:50 PM in reply to arvo-42

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Did you ever find an answer for this??? I am sure you have since your post is rather old but just in case someone else gets here and needs it. I had the same issue and was searching for an answer. I saw this and since I fixed mine I thought I would tell you what I did.

Opened Windows Explorer -> Tools -> Folder Options
Go to the View tab
Check "Always show icons, never thumbnails"
Hit Apply

All your PDF files on your desktop should now show with the generic PDF icon.

Reverse this to get the preview icon "thumbnails".

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24. grantbout,

Jun 20, 2012 10:07 AM in reply to groovegsus

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wow, awesome. thank you for the fix, been searching for exactly this.

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25. Grammylk,

Nov 16, 2012 3:31 PM in reply to (Michael_Voeller)

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I just got a new computer with Windows 8 O/S and Reader XI . My preview icons have now disappeared and only the pdf icon shows. Will this fix also work for Windows 8? Thanks!

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26. Grammylk,

Nov 24, 2012 10:37 AM in reply to Grammylk

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I didn't receive any replies so decided to try the fix anyway - it worked! Thank you!

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27. _xxminixx,

Feb 5, 2013 9:43 AM in reply to Grammylk

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Tried the fix - it ran correctly on Windows 8 64 bit, Adobe Pro - but the icons remain Adobe Logo no matter what I do - tried changing file properties to every conceivable combo - no luck - posted question in support forum... we shall see what Adobe says...

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28. Vienna_Sydney,

Feb 8, 2013 7:59 AM in reply to _xxminixx

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I am using Adobe Acrobat X Pro on Windows 7, 64 Ultimate. I generate the thumbnails by opening the first one and then save as PDF in the directory. This will generate the correct thumbnails. I also browse through several directories, whilst the save as is open. So, now I have all thumbnails, showing the first page of the documents.

After about a week, or sometimes more, all thumbnails turn back into generic pdf's. I use the same procedure again, to regenerate all thumbnails. I have done this now for the past few months and is driving me nuts. I have no idea as to why and when they will turn back to generic ones. I has happened again today. Nothing downloaded, nothing installed

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