All:
Seeing Photoshop file thumbnails in Windows 11 Explorer would really help. Sure, I have Bridge but even with my two 27" monitors it's not easy to dive through all the other apps open and jump around its less familiar interface.
Windows 10 problems with SageThumbs are broadly documented. However, summaries describe better integration and stability in Win11. No specific reviewer to check with. So I'm hoping someone on FM can share direct experience with the shell/codec.
I tried "fastpictureviewer" but despite an apparent offer of a codec on its website the operation is moribund, abandoned by its author 9 years ago. FastRawViewer does not offer a codec.
Wait -- you can't see Photoshop file thumbnails in Windows 11 Explorer?
from https://sourceforge.net/projects/sagethumbs/
"As SageThumbs is a Windows Explorer context menu extension, there is no an executable file that you should launch to bring it up. To use it, just open any folder with image files in Windows Explorer, and then right-click a file you want to preview. You'll see the thumbnail immediately in the context menu."
Seems clumsy and time-consuming.
https://sagethumbs.org/
"Instantly enables thumbnail previews for Adobe Photoshop (PSD), Illustrator (AI), PostScript (EPS), Acrobat (PDF), Truevision TGA, TIFF, and 160 more image types."
"Right-click any supported file to see a quick, high-quality thumbnail preview directly inside the Windows context menu, along with detailed image dimensions."
Quote: Wait -- you can't see Photoshop file thumbnails in Windows 11 Explorer?
Why not assume that users here on FredMiranda are sane and experienced photo editors? First I actually wrote the answer to this question in the original post starter above. Second, I note that Sage Thumbs' problems in Windows 10 are widely discussed, Third, I noted that I'd researched Win11 performance with this shell enhancer but could not find someone who wrote about their own Win11 experience with SageThumbs, only uncredited/not cited "probably better" (AI?) scuttlebutt, and third, I did not complain about other file format thumbnails so presumably that was not an issue, given that I'm a photographer... if you looked at the profile, former pro.
Yes, I know where to download the code.
No, I won't slap it on my editing tower until I get at least one specific recommendation to the pro-level community that SageThumbs works OK in Win11.
I'll tolerate Bridge when pushed to look through a lot of Photoshop files at one go - until I have confidence.
and I've been customizing my Windows Explorer settings since 1995.
Well, SageThumbs is obsolete since 2017. It won't even open a Canon CR3.
It does create small thumbnails from ARW, but some are quite dark. I think it just sees the embedded jpegs.
I'd be looking at some other options.
I'm restoring C: and moving on.
Recently someone revived Sage Thumbs and it works on my Win11 editing station. I believe the author of the new code used AI to fire up the engines again, so to speak. Here is the download at SourceForge: https://sourceforge.net/projects/sagethumbs-2k/
At the Source Forge info pane it's clear the added "2K" differentiates the new product.