Project

gnome-thumbnailers

maintained

File thumbnails for RAW, HEIC, and 3D models in GNOME Files.

Overview

Python thumbnailer scripts adding GNOME Files thumbnail support for RAW photos (CR2/NEF/ARW/ORF/RW2), HEIC/HEIF, and FBX/OBJ/STL 3D models. Register with make install — no restart required.

How it works

Each script takes a source path and target PNG path. GNOME's thumbnailer infrastructure calls these in a bwrap sandbox when it encounters a registered MIME type. Scripts exit cleanly if a required library is missing — GNOME silently skips that file type without crashing anything.

Features
📷
RAW formats

CR2, NEF, ARW, ORF, RW2 via rawpy.

🍎
HEIC/HEIF

Via Pillow's HEIF plugin.

🧊
3D files

FBX, OBJ, STL thumbnail renders.

🔧
Drop-in

make install, thumbnails appear immediately.

Architecture
GNOME Files thumbnailer call RAW/HEIC dcraw · libheif 3D (STL/OBJ) blender headless PNG thumb ~256px cache
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