Getting Thumbnails / Previews of your RAW files in Ubuntu

howto.md

Howto

Install these programms

sudo apt-get install gnome-raw-thumbnailer ufraw-batch

Try now if everything works, and your thumbnails show up. If not, try the following part.

Fixing missing mime types

In case the default config does not work for you, try this:

Edit the file /usr/share/thumbnailers/raw.thumbnailer as root and insert the following content:

[Thumbnailer Entry]
TryExec=ufraw-batch
Exec=ufraw-batch --silent --size %s --out-type=png --noexif --output=%o --overwrite --embedded-image %i
MimeType=image/x-canon-cr2;image/x-canon-crw;image/x-minolta-mrw;image/x-nikon-nef;image/x-pentax-pef;image/x-panasonic-raw2;image/x-samsung-srw;image/x-olympus-orf;

Check if the mime type of your RAW images in in the MimeType list.

After that, stop nautlius and clear the thumbnail caches:

nautilus -q
rm -rf .cache/thumbnails/* .thumbnails/*

Hey, works fine on Ubuntu 18.04 too! 👍

Doesn't seem to work with olympus .orf files. Any ideas? I've tried both the gnome-raw-thumbnailer and ufraw-batch thumbnailers. The gnome-raw-thumbnailer generates black previews and the ufraw-batch does not appear to generate any previews.

Also see this (another person has the same problem): https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2392682

Doesn't work form me (ubuntu 18.04)
gnome-raw-thumbnailer standalone works, but is painfully slow, after installing ufraw-batch it does not generate any previews,

uninstalling gnome-raw-thumbnailer didn't help either

Worked for me in nemo on Mint Lmde2 too!

Awesome! Thanks for this, after editing the raw.thumbnail file it works wonders! Cheers!

On 18.10 there wasn't any /usr/share/thumbnailers/raw.thumbnailer file. I added one and done everything above mentioned.
It didn't work. It generates thumbnails painfully slowly, at the same speed as gnome-raw-thumbnailer did by itself.

On 18.10 there wasn't any /usr/share/thumbnailers/raw.thumbnailer file. I added one and done everything above mentioned.
It didn't work. It generates thumbnails painfully slowly, at the same speed as gnome-raw-thumbnailer did by itself.
On 18.10 the file is called gnome-raw.thumbnailer

sudo apt remove --purge gnome-raw-thumbnailer
sudo apt install ufraw-batch
nautilus -q
rm -rf ~/.cache/thumbnails/*

Place the file /usr/share/thumbnailers/raw.thumbnailer with the given content.

Works like a charm on ubuntu 19.04 also. Thank you!

ufraw has been removed from Ubuntu 19.10. Is there an alternative way to get raw thumbnails?

ufraw has been removed from Ubuntu 19.10. Is there an alternative way to get raw thumbnails?

I'm also interested if there is a solution for 19.10.

@hronellenfitsch, @xtermi2: Neither ufraw-batch nor gnome-raw-thumbnailer are available in 19.10, but I got raw thumbnails working by editing the gdk-pixbuf thumbnailer's MIME types. Open up /usr/share/thumbnailers/gdk-pixbuf-thumbnailer.thumbnailer and edit it to read as follows:

[Thumbnailer Entry]
TryExec=/usr/bin/gdk-pixbuf-thumbnailer
Exec=/usr/bin/gdk-pixbuf-thumbnailer -s %s %u %o
MimeType=image/png;image/bmp;image/x-bmp;image/x-MS-bmp;image/gif;image/x-icon;image/x-ico;image/x-win-bitmap;image/vnd.microsoft.icon;application/ico;image/ico;image/icon;text/ico;application/x-navi-animation;image/jpeg;image/x-portable-anymap;image/x-portable-bitmap;image/x-portable-graymap;image/x-portable-pixmap;image/tiff;image/x-xpixmap;image/x-xbitmap;image/x-tga;image/x-icns;image/x-quicktime;image/qtif;image/x-3fr;image/x-adobe-dng;image/x-arw;image/x-bay;image/x-canon-cr2;image/x-canon-crw;image/x-cap;image/x-cr2;image/x-crw;image/x-dcr;image/x-dcraw;image/x-dcs;image/x-dng;image/x-drf;image/x-eip;image/x-erf;image/x-fff;image/x-fuji-raf;image/x-iiq;image/x-k25;image/x-kdc;image/x-mef;image/x-minolta-mrw;image/x-mos;image/x-mrw;image/x-nef;image/x-nikon-nef;image/x-nrw;image/x-olympus-orf;image/x-orf;image/x-panasonic-raw;image/x-panasonic-raw2;image/x-pef;image/x-pentax-pef;image/x-ptx;image/x-pxn;image/x-r3d;image/x-raf;image/x-raw;image/x-rw2;image/x-rwl;image/x-rwz;image/x-samsung-srw;image/x-sigma-x3f;image/x-sony-arw;image/x-sony-sr2;image/x-sony-srf;image/x-sr2;image/x-srf;image/x-x3f;

If you've a raw.thumbnailer or similar, delete it.

Quit Nautilus and delete the thumbnail cache (or it won't even try to regenerate previously-failed thumbnails) with rm -rf ~/.cache/thumbnails/* then open Nautilus and browse to a directory with raw files in it.

Seems a bit slower than the old ufraw-batch method, but it's working here!

@ghalfacree
Fantastic, this works like a charm! Realling wondering why it isn't the default.

E: Unable to locate package gnome-raw-thumbnailer
E: Package 'ufraw-batch' has no installation candidate

@flolu Use the instructions in my comment - you don't need gnome-raw-thumbnailer or ufraw-batch (neither of which is available in newer Ubuntu releases).

https://gist.github.com/h4cc/13450db3d4a7457f9b38#gistcomment-3162296

Wow. I should have read your comment. Thank you so much!

Using --embedded-image causes Segmentation Fault on Ubuntu (it seems this bug https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ufraw/+bug/1768855). You can remove this setting but it will be slower. You might want to add "--rotate=camera" as well.

works perfectly on Mint 19.3, cheers!

I know this isn't the point of this post but none of the recommended solutions here seemed to work of Mint 19.1. It does seem like 19.1 mate has the .thumbnailer file that @ghalfacree mentioned. Haven't had a lot of luck with editing it, quitting caja, and removing the cache

It works. Thank you so much.

Confirmed on Pop!_OS 20.10 with GNOME version 3.38.3. Thanks a lot for the easy fix! 🙌 🥳

PS: If you're reading this make sure to follow the instructions provided in the comment (https://gist.github.com/h4cc/13450db3d4a7457f9b38#gistcomment-3162296), because you will encounter E: Package 'ufraw-batch' has no installation candidate otherwise.

Thanks!!! I didn't go far than the main post before and got stuck!!! But it's working now!!!

does not work with Sony A7c raws on Ubuntu 20.04

does not work with Sony A7c raws on Ubuntu 20.04

Have you tried the approach in my comment? That works for me on Ubuntu 20.04.

does not work with Sony A7c raws on Ubuntu 20.04

Have you tried the approach in my comment? That works for me on Ubuntu 20.04.
Yes, I tried exactly that.

If I run /usr/bin/gdk-pixbuf-thumbnailer with some input and output file, is says
** (gdk-pixbuf-thumbnailer:14225): WARNING **: 21:11:33.733: Could not thumbnail '/home/rattkin/... .ARW': Failed to load TIFF image
I will dig elsewhere

does not work with Sony A7c raws on Ubuntu 20.04

Have you tried the approach in my comment? That works for me on Ubuntu 20.04.

Yeah also doesnt work for me with Sony A6000, or Sony Nex, both use x-sony-arw mime type & have embedded jpg, but it doesnt work.
Using Ubuntu 21.04

I think Sony ARW just isnt supported. There is a workaround to use rawtherapee thumbnailer instead (& remove the mine types from pixbuf if you added) here: pop-os/pop#1484

@hronellenfitsch, @xtermi2: Neither ufraw-batch nor gnome-raw-thumbnailer are available in 19.10, but I got raw thumbnails working by editing the gdk-pixbuf thumbnailer's MIME types. Open up /usr/share/thumbnailers/gdk-pixbuf-thumbnailer.thumbnailer and edit it to read as follows:

[Thumbnailer Entry]
TryExec=/usr/bin/gdk-pixbuf-thumbnailer
Exec=/usr/bin/gdk-pixbuf-thumbnailer -s %s %u %o
MimeType=image/png;image/bmp;image/x-bmp;image/x-MS-bmp;image/gif;image/x-icon;image/x-ico;image/x-win-bitmap;image/vnd.microsoft.icon;application/ico;image/ico;image/icon;text/ico;application/x-navi-animation;image/jpeg;image/x-portable-anymap;image/x-portable-bitmap;image/x-portable-graymap;image/x-portable-pixmap;image/tiff;image/x-xpixmap;image/x-xbitmap;image/x-tga;image/x-icns;image/x-quicktime;image/qtif;image/x-3fr;image/x-adobe-dng;image/x-arw;image/x-bay;image/x-canon-cr2;image/x-canon-crw;image/x-cap;image/x-cr2;image/x-crw;image/x-dcr;image/x-dcraw;image/x-dcs;image/x-dng;image/x-drf;image/x-eip;image/x-erf;image/x-fff;image/x-fuji-raf;image/x-iiq;image/x-k25;image/x-kdc;image/x-mef;image/x-minolta-mrw;image/x-mos;image/x-mrw;image/x-nef;image/x-nikon-nef;image/x-nrw;image/x-olympus-orf;image/x-orf;image/x-panasonic-raw;image/x-panasonic-raw2;image/x-pef;image/x-pentax-pef;image/x-ptx;image/x-pxn;image/x-r3d;image/x-raf;image/x-raw;image/x-rw2;image/x-rwl;image/x-rwz;image/x-samsung-srw;image/x-sigma-x3f;image/x-sony-arw;image/x-sony-sr2;image/x-sony-srf;image/x-sr2;image/x-srf;image/x-x3f;

If you've a raw.thumbnailer or similar, delete it.

Quit Nautilus and delete the thumbnail cache (or it won't even try to regenerate previously-failed thumbnails) with rm -rf ~/.cache/thumbnails/* then open Nautilus and browse to a directory with raw files in it.

Seems a bit slower than the old ufraw-batch method, but it's working here!

Worked great on Linux Mint 20.2 with dng raws! Thanks!!

@hronellenfitsch, @xtermi2: Neither ufraw-batch nor gnome-raw-thumbnailer are available in 19.10, but I got raw thumbnails working by editing the gdk-pixbuf thumbnailer's MIME types. Open up /usr/share/thumbnailers/gdk-pixbuf-thumbnailer.thumbnailer and edit it to read as follows:

[Thumbnailer Entry]
TryExec=/usr/bin/gdk-pixbuf-thumbnailer
Exec=/usr/bin/gdk-pixbuf-thumbnailer -s %s %u %o
MimeType=image/png;image/bmp;image/x-bmp;image/x-MS-bmp;image/gif;image/x-icon;image/x-ico;image/x-win-bitmap;image/vnd.microsoft.icon;application/ico;image/ico;image/icon;text/ico;application/x-navi-animation;image/jpeg;image/x-portable-anymap;image/x-portable-bitmap;image/x-portable-graymap;image/x-portable-pixmap;image/tiff;image/x-xpixmap;image/x-xbitmap;image/x-tga;image/x-icns;image/x-quicktime;image/qtif;image/x-3fr;image/x-adobe-dng;image/x-arw;image/x-bay;image/x-canon-cr2;image/x-canon-crw;image/x-cap;image/x-cr2;image/x-crw;image/x-dcr;image/x-dcraw;image/x-dcs;image/x-dng;image/x-drf;image/x-eip;image/x-erf;image/x-fff;image/x-fuji-raf;image/x-iiq;image/x-k25;image/x-kdc;image/x-mef;image/x-minolta-mrw;image/x-mos;image/x-mrw;image/x-nef;image/x-nikon-nef;image/x-nrw;image/x-olympus-orf;image/x-orf;image/x-panasonic-raw;image/x-panasonic-raw2;image/x-pef;image/x-pentax-pef;image/x-ptx;image/x-pxn;image/x-r3d;image/x-raf;image/x-raw;image/x-rw2;image/x-rwl;image/x-rwz;image/x-samsung-srw;image/x-sigma-x3f;image/x-sony-arw;image/x-sony-sr2;image/x-sony-srf;image/x-sr2;image/x-srf;image/x-x3f;

If you've a raw.thumbnailer or similar, delete it.

Quit Nautilus and delete the thumbnail cache (or it won't even try to regenerate previously-failed thumbnails) with rm -rf ~/.cache/thumbnails/* then open Nautilus and browse to a directory with raw files in it.

Seems a bit slower than the old ufraw-batch method, but it's working here!

To make this even better copy /usr/share/thumbnailers/gdk-pixbuf-thumbnailer.thumbnailer to ~/.local/share/thumbnailers/gdk-pixbuf-thumbnailer.thumbnailer and make the edit there.

I still cannot get it running with my Sony A7 ARW files on Ubuntu 20.04. I also tried the workaround with the rawtherapee.thumbnailer from here: pop-os/pop#1484.

Has anybody had more success and can maybe share some information?

Thanks, it works 😄 !
I had to add image/x-fuji-raf; to the end of the raw.thumbnailer, for fuji files.

@rebernet I also don't get it to work with Sony ARW files on Ubuntu 21.10. Would be nice to see thumbnails of my photos in the file manager.