Embed Image of Design in c2d file

Request to embed an image of the design when saving a .c2d file, so that it can be identified visually within the File Explorer or Finder.

Other programs do this, for example, Lightburn does it with their .lbrn extension:

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Doesnā€™t your OS use the app icon?

If not, should be a simple matter of file association:

or customizing the file type?

itā€™s not the icon that Iā€™m looking for. If you have the preview panel open, and you click on the .c2d file, the image of the design would pop up in the preview panelā€¦as per my .lbrn example. My logo is showing in the preview panel, because I clicked on the .lbrn file (photo in my original post)

What is that column named?

How does one get it to appear?

Are there any commonly available programs (ideally free/opensource) which support it?

Itā€™s not a columnā€¦itā€™s called the ā€œPreview Paneā€ and itā€™s a standard Windows function (also on Finder).

You turn it on here:
image

I believe itā€™s part of the file structure for the various files, so it doesnā€™t matter which application saves themā€¦but:

Applications that work with it include:
Word (or OpenOffice)
Excel (or OpenOffice)
Powerpoint (or OpenOffice)
Lightburn

Any programs (Open source or otherwise) that save:

  • Docs
  • PDFs
  • JPGs
  • MP4s
  • AVIs
  • Txt (so Notepad and Notepad++)
  • wmf (Including Inkscape save as WMF)
  • webp
  • MOV
  • csv

Last thing Iā€™ll add in EDIT:
Instructions for FINDER:
Mac Show preview in Finder

Use the Preview pane in the Finder on Mac

  1. On your Mac, click the Finder icon in the Dock to open a Finder window.
  2. Select the folder or file. ā€¦
  3. Choose View > Show Preview Options, then select the checkboxes for the options you want to show for the file you selected (available options depend on the file type).
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All those programs ā€˜workā€™, but it looks like they are taking advantage of Windows providing the preview for those file types. What would be needed is a program that writes its own file format (that Windows doesnā€™t know about), that also provides previews so there is an example of the code needed to generate the previews.

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@mhotchin Yes. Thatā€™s exactly what Lightburn must have done. The .lbrn format is not a standard Windows formatā€¦whatever they did is what Iā€™m asking Carbide to do!

I did a little bit more research and the appropriate terminology for what Iā€™m trying to see (and the one that Google Search actually shows tips for doing it) is ā€œEmbedding Thumbnails into your fileā€. Apparently, there is a fairly simple way to embed a thumbnail image - it bloats your file size slightly, but then both File Explorer and Finder (as well as every other program that shows thumbnails) will display them. The thumbnail is added to the exif data and, like magic, it works.

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There is a product called Exiftool that is open source pearl scripts that manipulate the exif data. It only works on certain file types - I was not able to embed a thumbnail in a c2d file - but I donā€™t know why that wasā€¦Iā€™m certain this is the route to go to make this happen - and it would be really nice feature for organization of designs (to be able to click on a design and see it without having to open it).

I find two tools very handy for snipping & clipping files or frames on my computer.

  1. Is the Scissors Tool which can select and save as a .PNG file.
  2. Is PrimoPDF which set into your computer along with the Printer selections - so you ā€œPrintā€ whatever is selected as a file.
    With that said . . . . .
    IF you pull your Scissors Tool onto your Task Bar then you can take a clip of the whole window, or less if you wish, and save that, as a .PNG file, in the same Folder as your other files for the Project youā€™re working on it will be a convenient reminder of just what youā€™ve worked on for that file.
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@JayGee Yupā€¦certainly is a workaround. Would be nice not to have to do that, since the tech to embed the thumbnail exists and works in other similar programs.

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