Thumbnail Preview Orientation

This article describes the process of changing a model's orientation in its thumbnail preview. For many users it is easier to search for SOLIDWORKS documents when a thumbnail image of the document is displayed in Windows Explorer. 

Steps:

Enabling Thumbnail Graphics

To enable this functionality, open SOLIDWORKS, navigate to Tools > Options > System Options > General , and enable 'Show thumbnail graphics in Windows Explorer'. Restart SOLIDWORKS and Windows Explorer to view this change. 

Preview Orientation

By default, an isometric, zoom to fit view is used for the thumbnail image. However, the orientation of the model in the image can be changed by enabling/disabling the option 'Use isometric, zoom to fit view for document preview.' This option is found in Tools> Options> Document Properties> Image Quality. 

To update the image with a different orientation, uncheck this option, and save the file. The new image will show the current view in graphics area when the file was saved. Please note, you may need to reopen/refresh Windows Explorer for the thumbnail image to update. 

Option Enabled                 Option Disabled

Contact Us:

For further technical support please contact Hawk Ridge Systems at 877.266.4469 for the U.S. or 866.587.6803 for Canada.