Some PDF thumbnails/snippets only shown as grey symbols - no visual representation of the PDF

[Berthold 2]

I collect a lot of PDF files in Evernote and love that you can easily see a visual of each as a thumbnail in the overview. Now I find that only some of my PDFs are shown as visual thumbnails, while others (seems to be newer ones I uploaded later) are only shown as generic grey icons (see screenshot attached).

How can I make sure all PDFs are shown as visual thumbnails?

I di currently use 10.39 on the iPad.

[PinkElephant 8,340]

The thumbnailing runs in a queue on the server. When the queue is longer, it can take a while.

Usually all thumbnails will be created after a little wait. The grey placeholders will then be replaced.

[Berthold 2]

I'd love to believe that the thumbnails show up at some point. But the first PDFs in my notes that show this behaviour date back to 2019 and don't show up as thumbnails in the latest versions of Evernote since, while they all show up correctly in the legacy version (see comparison of screenshots). So I suspect there may be another issue?

 

[gazumped 11,804]

Hi.  If you open the PDF to read it and then re-save,  does that kick start the image?  The 'old' Evernote used to have a separate thumbnail index which is maybe compromised on your device in some way.  The only way to restart v10 might be to uninstall / restart / reinstall,  but it might be worth a try...

[Berthold 2]

Unfortunately nothing changes after opening/closing the pdfs. By the way, also when viewed on the iPad and iPhone the pdfs don’t show. So it may not be linked to the installation on the Mac, but something somewhere deeper in Evernote’s backend system?

[PinkElephant 8,340]

As I already posted, thumbnails are created on the server and attached to notes there.

To check whether the thumbnail is not existing, or it is just not passed on, you can open the server copy using the web client.

[Boot17 1,494]

48 minutes ago, Berthold said:

also when viewed on the iPad and iPhone the pdfs don’t show

Like they don't show at all -- even as attachments? PDFs can't show inline on iOS or iPadOS like they can on Desktop and Web.

If it's not showing at all, then it the PDF hasn't finished syncing -- either to the server from the original source -- or down to the mobile device (or both).

[Berthold 2]

I checked on the web client and it looks exactly as on my Mac when using the most recent version of the app, i.e. PDFs that were uploaded prior to a certain date (around early 2019, I guess) are shown as thumbnails. Any PDFs that were uploaded later don't.

[Berthold 2]

As to the statement that PDFs can not be shown inline on iOS (iPad or iPhone) in the way they are shown on desktop versions and web, this is correct and it isn't. Please have a look at the attached screenshot from my iPad:

It is correct that PDFs are not shown in the right pane of the screen so that I could immediately scroll through individual PDFs - instead I need to open them to see their content. That's fine and is not the issue I'm having.

The issue I'm having is concerning the thumbnail view in the center pane of the screen. This is where I'd normally see thumbnail representations of the attached PDF (showing 1st page of any PDF). And for and up to now unclear reasons, thumbnails there are only created for PDFs uploaded up to a certain date - and not for any PDFs uploaded thereafter.

 

[Berthold 2]

Unfortunately, opening and then closing attached PDFs does not change anything when in the latest version of the app. They still don't show up as thumbnails in the center pane of the latest version on the Mac, and only as PDF-file symbols in the right pane of the screen (need to double click an open even on the Mac to be able to see/read them). Please have a look at the two screenshots attached: #1 shows the look in the latest app version on the Mac with thumbnails only as grey symbols. #2 shows the same view in the legacy version, where all thumbnails are shown as visual representations of the attached file.

[gazumped 11,804]

Have you checked Evernote Web to see whether the server copy is a better one,  per @PinkElephant?

EDIT - sorry;  just read previous posts and I see that you have.  I think we're out of ideas - I can only suggest you report this to Support and see what they say!

[Berthold 2]

Thanks all - will now contact support to see what they’ve to say.

[Crackersgirl 0]

Hi there

This is exactly the same problem I am having - attaching PDFs to a note and expecting to see the first page of the PDF as the thumbnail. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Seems to not work when the PDF is large(ish) +5Mb. It is the same for both the Windows app and the IOS app.

Does anyone know how to resolve this?

Cheers

Jocelyn

[Hosoku6 0]

Having the same problem here with photographs - no thumbnail is being rendered.

It’s the case for every image I’ve tried to upload for the last month or so. I’m not even scratching the surface of my upload limits, and the images themselves are small (<3MB).

Help us please, Evernote!

[gazumped 11,804]

On 3/24/2024 at 2:49 PM, Hosoku6 said:

Help us please, Evernote!

Mostly other users here - contact Support via https://help.evernote.com/hc/requests/new to -eventually- get individual attention.

Thumbnails have been a lottery for some time,  and AFAIK are chosen by some formula from all images available.  Larger files may be slow / problematic because there are a lot of options.  If it's important to you that the right thumbnail exists,  maybe create your own with a screenshot.  I asked Claude.ai whether there were standard sizes for thumbnails and it came up with:

 

Yes, there are some general industry standards and preferred formats for thumbnail images:

Size:

• The most commonly used thumbnail size is 160x160 pixels square.
• Other popular sizes include 100x100 pixels and 200x200 pixels square.
• For video thumbnails, a common size is 120x90 pixels (4:3 aspect ratio).

Formats:

• JPEG (.jpg) is the most widely used and preferred format for thumbnail images.
• PNG (.png) is also commonly used, especially for thumbnails with transparent backgrounds.

Some additional best practices:

• Keep file sizes as small as possible, ideally under 50KB for faster loading.
• Use compressed images optimized for web delivery.
• For JPEGs, use an image quality of 60-80%.
• Consider using the WebP format for even better compression if widely supported.
• Maintain aspect ratio when resizing to avoid stretched/distorted thumbnails.

By following these guidelines, you'll create thumbnail images that meet industry norms, display well across devices, and load quickly - providing a good user experience.

However, keep in mind that specific platforms like social media, ecommerce sites etc. may have their own recommended thumbnail dimensions that could vary slightly.

I took a screenshot of a PDF cover that did not have a visible thumbnail,  reduced to a 150x150 JPG at 60% compression and added the image to the file - 30 seconds later - thumbnail!  (Of course it might already have been loading in the background regardless of what I did...)

Yes it's added work and extra keystrokes,  but entirely your choice whether or not you want to bother...