How to preview DDS and WEBP images on nautilus?

I have too many images to search visually, so I cannot open each one of them individually.

What do I have to do or install to show DDS image previews on nautilus?

I would like to preview webp too if possible.

Solution 1:

Create files at /usr/share/thumbnailers with these names and content:

DDS

From here: Write to dds.thumbnailer:

[Thumbnailer Entry]
Exec=/usr/bin/convert -thumbnail x%s %i png:%o
MimeType=image/x-dds;

WEBP

First install webp: sudo apt-get install webp.
Based on this. Write to webp.thumbnailer:
sudo gedit /usr/share/thumbnailers/webp.thumbnailer.

[Thumbnailer Entry]
Exec=/usr/bin/dwebp %i -scale 100 100 -o %o
MimeType=image/x-webp;image/webp;

and restart nautilus after fully quitting it with nautilus -q.

As pointed by @PereJoanMartorell I had to remove the files inside ~/.cache/thumbnails/fail at least.

Note

The problem with this webp approach is that all thumbnails will be 100x100 px.
But this script makes it work properly (and it can be highly simplified, see the answer below here , to not depend on ScriptEchoColor libs). Also the improved one based on it, for animated webp (looks interesting, haven't tried it yet tho, just learned webp could be animated!).
Obs.: on 18.04 and 20.04 it only works on nemo, on nautilus it is failing to generate the thumbnails but works to visualize'm.

Solution 2:

A fairly comprehensive guide to previewing WebP images on Nautilus (GNOME Files) and Nautilus-based file managers (Nemo, Caja).

Originally, this answer only described using dwebp to create thumbnails for WebP images, based on the answer and the script suggested by Aquarius Power. After some research, I have found more methods for previewing WebP plus various details about the thumbnailing process that can make the methods of other users work not only on Nautilus but also on Nemo and Caja. This answer is then updated to discuss all of those methods in detail.

Method 1: Use `dwebp` & `webpmux`

Install webp
```
sudo apt install webp
```
This package provides the dwebp and webpmux tools, which will be used to convert WebP images into smaller PNG thumbnails.
Get the mime-type of WebP images
- Right-click a WebP file, select Properties.
- On the Basic tab, take note of what is in the parentheses for the Type field. It is usually image/webp or image/x-webp, but it could also be audio/x-riff (on older releases like Ubuntu 14.04) or even application/x-wine-extension-webp (if you use a Wine application to open WebP images on older releases).
Alternatively, you can use xdg-mime. For example, to get the mime-type of example.webp in ~/Pictures, issue this command:
```
xdg-mime query filetype ~/Pictures/example.webp
```

Create a thumbnailer script for WebP images

Create a file named webp-thumbnailer-bin in /usr/local/bin:
```
sudo nano /usr/local/bin/webp-thumbnailer-bin
```

Copy this script (based on the methods from Script Echo Color and Aistis) into the file (use Ctrl+C to copy and Ctrl+Shift+V to paste into nano window):

#!/bin/bash

sInFile="$1"
nSize="$2"
sOutFile="$3"

# Check whether the input image is an animated WebP
sInfo="$(webpmux -info "$sInFile")"
nAnimation="$(echo "$sInfo" | grep --count animation)"

# Get the dimensions of the input image;
# For a still image, they are the width and height
# of the canvas;
# For an animated image, they are the width and height
# of the first frame of the image, which might be
# different from those of the canvas.
if [[ $nAnimation -eq 0 ]]; then
    sSize="$(echo "$sInfo" | grep Canvas | cut --delimiter=' ' --output-delimiter=$'\t' --fields=3,5)"
else
    sSize="$(echo "$sInfo" | grep '^ *1:' | sed -r 's|^ *1: +([0-9]+) +([0-9]+) .*|\1\t\2|')"
fi
nWidth="$(echo "$sSize" | cut --fields=1)"
nHeight="$(echo "$sSize" | cut --fields=2)"

# Get the version number of `dwebp`
sVersion="$(dwebp -version)"

# Calculate new dimensions for the output thumbnail;
# `dwebp` 0.5.0 and later support using 0 as a scaling
# dimension;
# With older versions, the smaller dimension has to be
# manually calculated (using `bc`).
if [[ $sVersion < 0.5.0 ]]; then
    if((nWidth>nHeight)); then
        nNewWidth="$nSize"
        nNewHeight="$(echo "scale=10;f=$nHeight*($nNewWidth/$nWidth);scale=0;f/1" | bc)"
    else
        nNewHeight="$nSize"
        nNewWidth="$(echo "scale=10;f=$nWidth*($nNewHeight/$nHeight);scale=0;f/1" | bc)"
    fi
else
    if((nWidth>nHeight)); then
        nNewWidth="$nSize"
        nNewHeight=0
    else
        nNewHeight="$nSize"
        nNewWidth=0
    fi
fi

# Generate output thumbnail;
# If the input image is an animated WebP, the first
# frame is extracted with `webpmux` and used as input
# for `dwebp`.
# Versions of `dwebp` older than 0.4.1 do not support
# reading WebP data from standard input, so the frame
# has to be written to disk first.
if [[ $nAnimation -eq 0 ]]; then
        /usr/bin/dwebp "$sInFile" -scale "$nNewWidth" "$nNewHeight" -o "$sOutFile"
else
    if [[ $sVersion < 0.4.1 ]]; then
        /usr/bin/webpmux -get frame 1 "$sInFile" -o "$sOutFile".webp
        /usr/bin/dwebp "$sOutFile".webp -scale "$nNewWidth" "$nNewHeight" -o "$sOutFile"
        rm "$sOutFile".webp
    else
        /usr/bin/webpmux -get frame 1 "$sInFile" -o - | /usr/bin/dwebp -scale "$nNewWidth" "$nNewHeight" -o "$sOutFile" -- -
    fi
fi

Press Ctrl+O and Enter to save the file, and Ctrl+X to exit nano and return to the terminal.

Make the file executable with:

sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/webp-thumbnailer-bin

Notes:

This script creates thumbnails for both still (non-animated) and animated WebP images.
I originally put the script in /usr/bin, but as this answer suggested, it is safer to place it in /usr/local/bin.
If you use Nemo or Caja, you can actually place the script somewhere in your home directory (e.g. ~/.local/bin) and run commands like the above without sudo. If you use Nautilus, however, you can only do so with Nautilus using libgnome-desktop older than 3.28.2. This is because libgnome-desktop 3.28.2 and later implement thumbnailer sandboxing and do not allow for the execution of any thumbnailer programs or scripts in the home directory by default. To get the version number of libgnome-desktop in use, run this command:
```
apt list --installed | grep libgnome-desktop | cut -d ' ' -f 2 | cut -d '-' -f 1
```

Create a thumbnailer entry for WebP images
- First, create a folder named thumbnailers in ~/.local/share.
```
mkdir -p ~/.local/share/thumbnailers
```
- Create a file named webp.thumbnailer in that folder.
```
nano ~/.local/share/thumbnailers/webp.thumbnailer
```
- Copy the following lines into the file (use Ctrl+C to copy, Ctrl+Shift+V to paste into nano window):
```
[Thumbnailer Entry]
Exec=/usr/local/bin/webp-thumbnailer-bin %i %s %o
MimeType=image/webp;
```
- Press Ctrl+O and Enter to save the file, and Ctrl+X to exit nano.
Notes:
- If the mime-type you got in step 2 is not in the third line listed above (the MimeType key), add it to the end of the line and optionally end the line with a semicolon (;).
- If you want thumbnails for WebP images to be available to all users, place the thumbnailer entry in /usr/share/thumbnailers instead of ~/.local/share/thumbnailers:
```
sudo nano /usr/share/thumbnailers/webp.thumbnailer
```
- A GUI text editor like gedit can also be used to create and edit the thumbnailer entry, but if you plan to place the entry in /usr/share/thumbnailers, using nano is strongly recommended.
Clear old cached thumbnails and restart the file manager
- First, fully close the file manager with one of these commands:
```
nautilus -q
nemo -q
caja -q
```
- Next, delete cached failed thumbnails:
```
rm -r ~/.cache/thumbnails/fail
```
- Optionally, delete all cached thumbnails (if you previously used unoptimized thumbnailer entries or scripts that created large thumbnails):
```
rm -r ~/.cache/thumbnails/*
```
- Finally, reopen the file manager. WebP images should have their thumbnails now.

Method 2: Use `dwebp`

Install webp (which provides dwebp)
```
sudo apt install webp
```
Get the mime-type of WebP images (see Use dwebp & webpmux, step 2)
Create a thumbnailer entry for WebP images (see Use dwebp & webpmux, step 4 for details)

The contents of ~/.local/share/thumbnailers/webp.thumbnailer with dwebp as the thumbnailer program:
- For Ubuntu 18.04 and later (or dwebp 0.5.0 and later):
```
[Thumbnailer Entry]
Exec=/usr/bin/dwebp %i -resize %s 0 -o %o
MimeType=image/webp;
```
- For older Ubuntu releases (or older dwebp):
```
[Thumbnailer Entry]
Exec=/usr/bin/dwebp %i -o %o
MimeType=image/webp;audio/x-riff;
```
Notes:
- dwebp does not support animated WebP decoding, so these thumbnailer entries will only create thumbnails for still WebP images.
- If you use Nautilus on Ubuntu 18.04 or later or Caja on Ubuntu 20.04 or later, which do not automatically scales down thumbnails larger than the default thumbnail size (128x128 or 256x256 pixels), then you should employ method 1 (with which output thumbnails are properly resized).
Clear old cached thumbnails and restart the file manager (see Use dwebp & webpmux, step 5)

Method 3: Use `convert`

The convert tool (from imagemagick) can be used to create thumbnails for WebP images on Ubuntu 16.04 and later. The idea of using convert as a thumbnailer program for WebPs came from Tiana's and ustmaestro's answers.

Install imagemagick which provides convert
```
sudo apt install imagemagick
```
Note: convert can handle WebP images natively on Ubuntu 20.04 and later; however, on older releases such as Ubuntu 18.04 and 16.04, WebP compression and decompression are actually delegated to cwebp and dwebp from the webp package. As a result, if you are on those older releases, you also have to install webp:
```
sudo apt install webp
```
Get the mime-type of WebP images (see Use dwebp & webpmux, step 2)
Get the version number of libgnnome-desktop used by Nautilus and fix sandboxing issues if needed (skip this step if you use Nemo or Caja)

Issue this command to get the version number of libgnome-desktop:
```
apt list --installed | grep libgnome-desktop | cut -d ' ' -f 2 | cut -d '-' -f 1
```
If the result is 3.28.2, then you have to do the following (otherwise proceed to the next step):
- Create a file named bwrap in /usr/local/bin:
```
sudo nano /usr/local/bin/bwrap
```
- Copy the contents of this script (by Nicolas Bernaerts) into the file (use Ctrl+C to copy and Ctrl+Shift+V to paste into nano window).
- Save the file and exit nano (press Ctrl+O, Enter, Ctrl+X).
- Make the file executable with:
```
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/bwrap
```
Rationale: convert needs certain files in /etc and /var in order to work properly, but Nautilus that uses libgnnome-desktop 3.28.2 (on Ubuntu 18.04 specifically) does not mount those directories on the sandbox, resulting in failed thumbnails. The bwrap script above fixes the issue by adding the directories needed by convert to the sandbox (see this article for more details).
Create a thumbnailer entry for WebP images (see Use dwebp & webpmux, step 4 for details)

The contents of ~/.local/share/thumbnailers/webp.thumbnailer with convert as the thumbnailer program:
```
[Thumbnailer Entry]
Exec=/usr/bin/convert %i[0] -thumbnail %sx%s png:%o
MimeType=image/webp;
```
Rationale:
- The format of the output image file is explicitly specified with png: because Nemo, Caja, and certain versions of Nautilus do not give output thumbnails the .png extension. Without png:, convert would just creates files in the same format as the input (WebP in this case) for those file managers, leading to failed thumbnails.
- -thumbnail %sx%s is used instead of just -thumbnail %s or -thumbnail x%s to ensure that both the width and height of the output thumbnail are at most 256 or 128 pixels, which is in line with the behavior of official thumbnailers. -thumbnail %s only limits the width and -thumbnail x%s only limits the height (see Image Geometry from ImageMagick).
- [0] is specified so that, if the input image is an animated WebP, only the first frame is decompressed to a PNG thumbnail.
Notes:
- With imagemagick 6.9.10-68 or later (on Ubuntu 21.04 and later), which supports animated WebP encoding and decoding, this thumbnailer entry will create thumbnails for both animated and non-animated WebP images. With older versions, however, only thumbnails for still WebP images will be created.
- If you are using Nautilus with libgnnome-desktop 3.36.1 (on Ubuntu 20.04 specifically), then /usr/bin/convert-im6.q16 must be used instead of /usr/bin/convert:
```
Exec=/usr/bin/convert-im6.q16 %i[0] -thumbnail %sx%s png:%o
```
  This is because, with this version of libgnnome-desktop, /usr/bin/convert-im6.q16 is visible to the sandbox, while /usr/bin/convert is not (Tiana also noticed this).
Clear old cached thumbnails and restart the file manager (see Use dwebp & webpmux, step 5)

Method 4: Use `gm`

gm (from graphicsmagick) supports WebP on Ubuntu 16.04 and later.

Install graphicsmagick which provides the gm tool
```
sudo apt install graphicsmagick
```
Get the mime-type of WebP images (see Use dwebp & webpmux, step 2)
Create a thumbnailer entry for WebP images (see Use dwebp & webpmux, step 4 for details)

The contents of ~/.local/share/thumbnailers/webp.thumbnailer with gm as the thumbnailer program:
```
[Thumbnailer Entry]
Exec=/usr/bin/gm convert %i[0] -thumbnail %sx%s png:%o
MimeType=image/webp;
```
Note: gm does not support animated WebP files, so this thumbnailer entry only creates thumbnails for non-animated WebP images.
Clear old cached thumbnails and restart the file manager (see Use dwebp & webpmux, step 5)

Method 5: Use `totem-video-thumbnailer`

As suggested by Jan Broms, totem-video-thumbnailer can also be used to thumbnail WebP images.

Install totem and gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad
```
sudo apt install totem gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad
```
The totem package provides totem-video-thumbnailer, while the gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad package comes with the codecs needed by totem-video-thumbnailer to handle WebP images.

Note: totem is the default video player on GNOME desktops, so it's pre-installed on Ubuntu. gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad is not pre-installed, however, probably because it's only listed as a suggested package for totem.
Get the mime-type of WebP images (see Use dwebp & webpmux, step 2)
Create a thumbnailer entry for WebP images (see Use dwebp & webpmux, step 4 for details)

The contents of ~/.local/share/thumbnailers/webp.thumbnailer with totem-video-thumbnailer as the thumbnailer program:
- For Ubuntu 16.04 and later (or totem 3.11.90 and later): see Jan Broms's answer
- For older Ubuntu releases (or older totem):
```
[Thumbnailer Entry]
Exec=/usr/bin/totem-video-thumbnailer -s %s --raw %u %o
MimeType=image/webp;audio/x-riff;
```
Rationale: totem-video-thumbnailer from totem older than 3.11.90 add borders (film strip overlay) to thumbnails by default. The --raw option is used to disable that feature.

Note: totem-video-thumbnailer does not support animated WebP, so this thumbnailer entry will create thumbnails for still WebP images only.
Clear old cached thumbnails and restart the file manager (see Use dwebp & webpmux, step 5)

Method 6: Use `ffmpeg`

ffmpeg supports WebP decoding on Ubuntu 16.04 or later.

Install ffmpeg
```
sudo apt install ffmpeg
```
Get the mime-type of WebP images (see Use dwebp & webpmux, step 2)
Create a thumbnailer entry for WebP images (see Use dwebp & webpmux, step 4 for details)

The contents of ~/.local/share/thumbnailers/webp.thumbnailer with ffmpeg as the thumbnailer program:
```
[Thumbnailer Entry]
Exec=/usr/bin/ffmpeg -y -i %i -filter scale=%s:%s:force_original_aspect_ratio=1 -f apng %o
MimeType=image/webp;
```
Rationale:
- -y is specified to force ffmpeg to overwrite output thumbnails in the temporary directory. Without this option, failed thumbnails may not be regenerated.
- The output format is explicitly specified with -f apng (see Use convert, step 4). apng is actually for creating animated PNG files, but if the input is a still image, only a normal PNG is created.
- scale=%s:%s:force_original_aspect_ratio=1 is used so that the largest dimension of the output thumbnail is at most 128 or 256 pixels (which matches the behavior of official thumbnailers). See FFmpeg's documentation for the scale filter for more specifics.
Note: ffmpeg does not support animated WebP images, so this thumbnailer entry only creates thumbnails for still WebP images.
Clear old cached thumbnails and restart the file manager (see Use dwebp & webpmux, step 5)

Summary

Tested on →	Ubuntu 14.04	Ubuntu 16.04	Ubuntu 18.04	Ubuntu 20.04; Linux Mint Cinnamon 20; Ubuntu MATE 20.04	Ubuntu 20.10	Ubuntu 21.04
dwebp & webpmux	✔️`^animated`	✔️`^animated`	✔️`^animated`	✔️`^animated`	✔️`^animated`	✔️`^animated`
dwebp	✔️	✔️	✔️`^{-resize 0}`	✔️`^{-resize 0}`	✔️`^{-resize 0}`	✔️`^{-resize 0}`
convert	❌️	✔️`^webp`	✔️`^webp^bwrap`	✔️`^{convert-im6.q16}`	✔️	✔️`^animated`
gm	❌️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️
totem-video-thumbnailer	✔️`^--raw`	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️
ffmpeg	N/A	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️

How to preview DDS and WEBP images on nautilus?

Solution 1:

DDS

WEBP

Note

Solution 2:

Method 1: Use `dwebp` & `webpmux`

Method 2: Use `dwebp`

Method 3: Use `convert`

Method 4: Use `gm`

Method 5: Use `totem-video-thumbnailer`

Method 6: Use `ffmpeg`

Summary

Related

Recent Posts

How to preview DDS and WEBP images on nautilus?

Solution 1:

DDS

WEBP

Note

Solution 2:

Method 1: Use dwebp & webpmux

Method 2: Use dwebp

Method 3: Use convert

Method 4: Use gm

Method 5: Use totem-video-thumbnailer

Method 6: Use ffmpeg

Summary

Related

Recent Posts

Method 1: Use `dwebp` & `webpmux`

Method 2: Use `dwebp`

Method 3: Use `convert`

Method 4: Use `gm`

Method 5: Use `totem-video-thumbnailer`

Method 6: Use `ffmpeg`