Only happens in Elements !

[Storm1]

Every time I open up one of my Image Files, which are kept in My Pictures the file shows as a List. I click Menu change to Thumbnails but next time it is List again . How can I get them to show each time as Thumbnails .?
It is very aggravating and only happens when I am using Elements .
Hope someone can help me.
Thanks. Storm

[annc]

I'm finding the same problem!

[NickLewis]

Sorry, can you be a bit more explicit about what you are doing?

Am I right in thinking you mean you are looking at the Open File dialog box in Editor? Or have I misunderstood you?

I'm a bit confused about what you mean by "the file shows as a List" and what "Menu" you are clicking. Sorry.

Nick

[scrapperjlc]

After changing it to Thumbnails view, go to Tools, Folder Options, then click on the View tab and click on the button that says Apply to All Folders. This will change the view of all folders on your computer, not sure if that is what your are looking for. Are you specifically talking about when you look at the folder on the computer, or when you have done File..Open in Elements? Not sure if it works for that or not.
Jodi

[NickLewis]

But the folder by folder settings should be sticky anyway. It shouldn't be necessary to change everything.

[TonyW]

I do recall a discussion about this before. Elements uses a Windows routine for File>Open. If it really is in My Pictures (the folder should have a little picture icon on it) then it will show thumbnails and is sticky in Elements (mine is) - as are any subfolders. However if you made your own My Pictures folder and didn't use the Windows one (and some camera downloaders will do that) then it's not a true Windows My Pictures folder and the thumbnail view isn't sticky. Think that's right (I'll add the original thread if I can find it :) )

Tony

PS Here's the original thread:

http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10315

[quillabee9]

What I do frequently, particularly, if I know I'm going to want to look at many pictures; is to open "My Pictures" and then open the particular folder I'm interested in seeing. That way, the computer displays a full screen of thumbnails. I double click the one I want and it opens in PSE Editor, minimizing the "My Pictures". Then, if I want to open another I click on "My Pictures" on the bottom of the screen and it brings up the thumbnails with the last picture I opened highlighted. This way, I avoid having to try chasing down the pictures in the Editor's "open" feature. Fortunately, I have a 200gb hard drive and 1.0 gb RAM so I usually don't have a slow down on screen. That is, until I build up a 20-30mb psd file. Then I have to delete most of the files I have open. I have no idea how/if this can be done on a MAC.

Gail

[Storm1]

Thank you all for answering . Have to do some sorting out will get back to you later.
Thank you Storm

[Storm1]

Thank you Gail I think I will follow your method for the time being. Like you I have lots of Hd & 2G Ram.
Tony I got a new computer 10 days ago. I have 2 seperate Hard Drives & I think its something to do with that . Preety certain I did not have this problem before , at least not on a permanent basis.
Thanks Storm

[TonyW]

That would probably be the reason. If you have a My Pictures folder on a second drive then it won't be the one that's hard coded into Windows (and appears on the Window "Start menu". Don't know if it's possible to change it but that would likely involve fooling around with Windows.

Tony

[NickLewis]

I think you can only have one "My Pictures" folder, in the sense of it being the only special system folder. You can create as many ordinary folders called "My Pictures" as you want. (obviously in different locations....)

But you can move My Pictures, simply by dragging from Explorer, and Windows should pick up that move, and hence reflect the new location as the special My Pictures location. Cutting and pasting it probably works as well.

So if you have a machine with My Pictures in its default location, as a subfolder of My Documents on the C: drive, and you actually want to store your pictures on D:, say, then just move My Pictures to D: and place your files in there. Everything should then treat them in the special My Pictures way.

However, since you've already got your images in Organiser, you should move the image files themselves (not the My Pictures folder) from inside Organiser, or you'll break all the catalog links to them, and have to Reconnect them. That should be simple, but there have been varying reports of how successfully Organiser reconnects large volumes of files.....

Nick

[Greg B]

I too have been driven crazy with this problem. Here are my thoughts (I use the standard Windows "drag & drop" method of adding photos to the Elements Editor workspace).

1) Every time I select File / Open in the Elements Editor pane, the view reverts back to the "Details" view. This does not bother me because, even after I change the view display to "Thumbnail", I do not see actual thumbnail renditions of my photos. All I see are the thumbnails with the .jpg or .psd icons displayed. Elements MAKES me click on each to display the rendition of each photo at the bottom of the thumbnail view screen (one at a time). This drives me crazy!

Like quillabee9, I have devised a workaround of sorts. Here's my workaround:

First, I do NOT set up ANY photo files to open using Elements. I prefer setting photos to open in Windows so I can view any photo in a full screen mode without having to wait on Elements to open.

With Elements open to the Editor workspace, I click on "Start / My Computer and drill down to the desired photo folder (it can be anywhere on my system). I have previously set all photo folders to open in the thumbnail view. I open the folder containing my desired photos and size it to fit on the right half of my Windows desktop. I now can see both the Elements tab and the folder tab displayed in my Windows taskbar at the bottom of the screen. If I click on the photo folder in the taskbar it is displayed on top of Elements. I then select one or more photos and "drag" them into the Elements workspace. Viola!! The photos are ready to be edited . . . This allows me to see all thumbnails as actual photos (not icons) in the standard Windows folder underneath, making selections easier.

2) With regard to the "My Pictures" folder discussions this may be of some value . . . To make any folder mimic the "My Pictures" folder, open the desired folder and select View / Customize this Folder / Click on the “Customize” tab / In the "Use this folder type as a template” field, select “Pictures (best for many files) / Click “Apply” / Then check “Also apply this template to all subfolders” / Click on the “Apply” button and close the window. The folder will be set up just like the “My Pictures” folder and will have the little photo icons on it (although Elements will not default to the thumbnail view when opening a file - my workaround makes this a moot point).

3) FYI - If your file icons do not match the desired application (for example, PSD files do not display the Elements icon as expected) select Tools / Folder Options / Click on the “File Types” tab / Scroll to PSD and highlight it / Click on the “Change” button in the “Opens With” field / Select Adobe Photo Shop Elements / Click on the ”Apply” button and close the window.

You may have to right-click on one of the files and select "Refresh Thumbnail" to make this happen. Sorry for the length of this posting!!

[Chuck S.]

Greg, thanks for all the good advice in your first post! I was especially happy to learn about being able to customize the view of a folder to get it to act like a picture folder. That was driving me nuts.

Welcome to the forum!

Chuck

[Storm1]

Hi Greg never aplogize for length of post when everthing is relevant to the thread & also good advice .Thank you. I am printing it.
Tony its all to do with the way my son moved things over using Files & Transfer Wizard. Funny I did not have this Thumbnail problem before in Elements, yet other people here say they have. Its weird.
What I keep getting which I think is much more serious is BSOD's ever since he installed 10 days ago.
It is some device Driver causing the problem but I do not have sufficent knowledge to do much about that.
Thanks again. Storm