Slow Finder Preview of RAW files

[aeterno]

It takes Finder much longer to load RAW (in this case .CR2 from a Canon 7D) files on my new 2017 MacBook Pro 15" (2.9 GHz 10.13.4 up to date OS) when tapping the spacebar to preview the file than my 2012 MacBook Pro 15" running Mountain Lion. Any way to speed up these previews on the new machine? Is this a problem other people have?

Also worth noting: I am not previewing the images from the CF card; I am previewing them from the MacBook Pro's built in SSD so USB bottleneck or slow cards is not the issue.

This is a big part of my daily workflow and using an app like LR or Photos doesn't seem to make sense since the goal is to organize RAW files and then send them in the RAW unedited format for post production work elsewhere.

Here is a link to my original Apple discussions forum post. It has all the troubleshooting I've tried so far:

https://discussions.apple.com/message/33206465

Also here is a link to a video I made with screen recordings to show how much slower it actually is. There are skip-ahead points in the comments, separated by laptop.

Any suggestions, info, etc. are appreciated

 

[DeltaMac]

I wonder if the difference in preview response is that you are doing that from an APFS-formatted SSD, compared the the Mountain Lion system, which would be formatted MacOS HFS+
Is there a noticeable speed up if you DO try to preview those files on an external drive NOT formatted APFS?

 

[aeterno]

I wonder if the difference in preview response is that you are doing that from an APFS-formatted SSD, compared the the Mountain Lion system, which would be formatted MacOS HFS+
Is there a noticeable speed up if you DO try to preview those files on an external drive NOT formatted APFS?

Thank you for your response. That is an interesting question...

Just tried previewing from an external drive connected to the new laptop and there is no difference between having the photos locally on the SSD and on my Western Digital External HDD formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Same slow preview speed.

Does this mean that it is an OS issue?

 

[New_Mac_Smell]

It's just a file size issue, preview doesn't work well with large format RAW or PDF files due to the technology, always has been the case.

 

[DeltaMac]

Maybe. Do you get the same, slow preview loading from other graphics files, like .jpg or .tiff files
If it seems more normal, maybe it is related to the .CR2 files, and how the QuickLook function in the Finder is optimized for those files. It might be that the large sizes of the raw files are the sticky point. The newer system may present a higher quality preview, and that might help explain the speed difference between your new system, and the Mountain Lion system that you are comparing.

 

[aeterno]

It's just a file size issue, preview doesn't work well with large format RAW or PDF files due to the technology, always has been the case.

Please watch the video I posted. It was definitely not always the case. It is now 10+ times slower.
[doublepost=1522813965][/doublepost]

Maybe. Do you get the same, slow preview loading from other graphics files, like .jpg or .tiff files
If it seems more normal, maybe it is related to the .CR2 files, and how the QuickLook function in the Finder is optimized for those files. It might be that the large sizes of the raw files are the sticky point. The newer system may present a higher quality preview, and that might help explain the speed difference between your new system, and the Mountain Lion system that you are comparing.

JPGs are super quick, just like the JPGs/CR2s on my 2012 MBP. TIFs are slow like the CR2s on the 2017 MBP. Tried some RAW CR2s from a Canon 5D MK IV as well, same results.

Multiple page PDFs take a little bit to load - not as long as CR2 but still see a spinning wheel. Once PDFs are loaded I can switch between all pages instantaneously without seeing the loading symbol anymore.

That is an interesting point about the resolution - the screen has a higher resolution than the old machines. It would seem odd to code a function with "quick" in the name to take so long to load but you may be right.

 

[prisstratton]

Maybe this will help:

http://www.flange.com

It is available in the App. Store and there is a fee ($6.99)

 

[aeterno]

Maybe this will help:

http://www.flange.com

It is available in the App. Store and there is a fee ($6.99)

Thank you, that has restored the speed for .CR2s! It was actually a few bucks less than you mentioned. Still annoyed I had to pay extra for this functionality but very grateful for your suggestion.

I wonder if there is a solution for all image files (ie, PSD, TIF, DNG). Have you seen anything like that?

 

[prisstratton]

The price I quoted was likely in Canadian dollars.

I understand that you can load additional plugins into QuickLook. I have not done anything myself in this regard, I just started getting interested when I read your post yesterday (so anyone with more experience please feel free to chime in).

Here is a list I found, I am guessing that it is not a complete listing and you can likely find other third party plugins on the web:

https://www.quicklookplugins.com

You can also manage options in QuickLook using the qlmanage command in Terminal.

I hope it helps.

 

[aeterno]

The price I quoted was likely in Canadian dollars.

I understand that you can load additional plugins into QuickLook. I have not done anything myself in this regard, I just started getting interested when I read your post yesterday (so anyone with more experience please feel free to chime in).

Here is a list I found, I am guessing that it is not a complete listing and you can likely find other third party plugins on the web:

https://www.quicklookplugins.com

You can also manage options in QuickLook using the qlmanage command in Terminal.

I hope it helps.

Thank you for this list!

Decided to come back to this thread and post again since I am having issues with JPEGs now. Same laptop, 10.13.4. Very slow load time with JPEGs -up to 1-2 seconds per image. Strangely, when uploading images to Squarespace, I clicked "upload" in Safari and the browser that came up (not sure if it was Finder although it looks like it) worked PERFECTLY. Immediate JPEG previews came up and I was able to power through them at lightning speed. I am thoroughly confused as to why it worked in that situation and not in the typical Finder windows.

 

[santolie]

Thank you for this list!

Decided to come back to this thread and post again since I am having issues with JPEGs now. Same laptop, 10.13.4. Very slow load time with JPEGs -up to 1-2 seconds per image. Strangely, when uploading images to Squarespace, I clicked "upload" in Safari and the browser that came up (not sure if it was Finder although it looks like it) worked PERFECTLY. Immediate JPEG previews came up and I was able to power through them at lightning speed. I am thoroughly confused as to why it worked in that situation and not in the typical Finder windows.

Hi, I was just wondering if you finally solved the mystery? I have experienced the exact same problem on my new MacBook Pro 15'' 2018, i9, 32GB. I tried comparing opening up a PDF magazine with just simple graphics and text, roughly 650kb file size on my old early 2013 MBP 15'' 2GHz, 8GB. And the 2013 MBP is an instant open with smooth zooming in and out and scrolling, while the new 2018 MBP takes roughly 3s, and experienced stutter when I zoom in for bigger text size and even scroll down in quick look.

I'm a photographer so the quick look function is crucial for everyday light use of previewing images, really hope this problem gets solved.

 

[aeterno]

Hi, I was just wondering if you finally solved the mystery? I have experienced the exact same problem on my new MacBook Pro 15'' 2018, i9, 32GB. I tried comparing opening up a PDF magazine with just simple graphics and text, roughly 650kb file size on my old early 2013 MBP 15'' 2GHz, 8GB. And the 2013 MBP is an instant open with smooth zooming in and out and scrolling, while the new 2018 MBP takes roughly 3s, and experienced stutter when I zoom in for bigger text size and even scroll down in quick look.

I'm a photographer so the quick look function is crucial for everyday light use of previewing images, really hope this problem gets solved.

The current solution seems to be finding plugins for whichever file format you need to use. If you use many types of files, you need many different plugins, which is a huge pain (I am a photographer as well so I know how much Finder's performance now slows down workflow).

What I found works for .CR2 files is "Raw Right Away" which is linked above via prisstratton (thanks again!). Sometimes it glitches or slows down however, but the tech support is responsive and they update regularly which is good to see.

I've also downloaded a trial version of DNG Suite (currently $10 for a license) for .DNG file preview but nothing for PDFs yet. Still testing it but it seems solid!

Apple didn't provide any solutions that are native to the OS when I contacted them. It is such a pain that we have to spend time researching plugins now (and sometimes paying for them per filetype) rather than having that function built into the OS. Huge disappointment and I am surprised that they would omit something like this.

I'd say your best bet is to use the resources linked in this thread or Google "[filetype] QuickLook plugin" and hopefully you'll find the right one for your needs.

 

[santolie]

The current solution seems to be finding plugins for whichever file format you need to use. If you use many types of files, you need many different plugins, which is a huge pain (I am a photographer as well so I know how much Finder's performance now slows down workflow).

What I found works for .CR2 files is "Raw Right Away" which is linked above via prisstratton (thanks again!). Sometimes it glitches or slows down however, but the tech support is responsive and they update regularly which is good to see.

I've also downloaded a trial version of DNG Suite (currently $10 for a license) for .DNG file preview but nothing for PDFs yet. Still testing it but it seems solid!

Apple didn't provide any solutions that are native to the OS when I contacted them. It is such a pain that we have to spend time researching plugins now (and sometimes paying for them per filetype) rather than having that function built into the OS. Huge disappointment and I am surprised that they would omit something like this.

I'd say your best bet is to use the resources linked in this thread or Google "[filetype] QuickLook plugin" and hopefully you'll find the right one for your needs.

Thank you for the detailed reply!! I'll try out some. I just don't know the cause of this problem, because both of my 2013 MBP and 2018 MBP are running on the High Sierra (only difference is the 2018 MBP is after Supplemental update patch for throttling). And 2013 is much faster on previewing majority of files, so maybe it's not an OS version issue?

 

[aeterno]

Thank you for the detailed reply!! I'll try out some. I just don't know the cause of this problem, because both of my 2013 MBP and 2018 MBP are running on the High Sierra (only difference is the 2018 MBP is after Supplemental update patch for throttling). And 2013 is much faster on previewing majority of files, so maybe it's not an OS version issue?

No problem! This is something that drives me absolutely crazy so I have no problem trying to help others with the same experience.

That is really interesting about your two laptops. I have no idea why they are functioning so differently but the fact that you have two computers on essentially the same OS with different performance - not to mention the fact that the newer machine's performance is worse - could make it easier to figure out what's going on. Just one less variable, especially if you update the 2013 to the throttling patch as well. If you do end up finding something new out as a result, definitely post here with that info.

 

[foliovision]

Maybe this will help:

http://www.flange.com

It is available in the App. Store and there is a fee ($6.99)

Brilliant, bought instantly. Installed. Run the Raw Right Away app, run

qlmanage -r

in Terminal, restart the Finder (via command-option-esc).

All those Sony ARW, Canon CR2 and Nikon NEF photo files now available with histogram and exif prevew straight in the Finder via Quicklook. Tested on 10.11.6.

 

[samueldanielnathaniel]

I literally registered an account just to comment: thank you! Seriously, this is incredible... it feels like I spent $8 to hack my computer and boost its performance ten fold.

 

[thom7577]

Same for me!! I was struggling with this since maybe 2 years, fixed for 9€ ??

Thank you prisstratton for the tip ?

 

[iMacDragon]

I'm guessing quicklook is doing a full develop of the raw whereas the quick previews are loading the embedded jpg?

 

[Pugilares]

My MBP 16 2019 is really MUCH slower at browsing .NEF files than my MBA 2017.
BUT if I connect the exterernal monitor full HD and close the lid then NEF browsing is fast as it should be on the MBP. So I think it's RETINA what is slowing down. NEF browsing is also disappointingly slow on my iMac 24 2020 (M1 16 GB RAM 512 SSD) - also retina. This is much faster to browse NEFs on the really old Windows machine with 2 core AMD x2 8GB RAM DDR2

 

[piporro]

My MBP 16 2019 is really MUCH slower at browsing .NEF files than my MBA 2017.
BUT if I connect the exterernal monitor full HD and close the lid then NEF browsing is fast as it should be on the MBP. So I think it's RETINA what is slowing down. NEF browsing is also disappointingly slow on my iMac 24 2020 (M1 16 GB RAM 512 SSD) - also retina. This is much faster to browse NEFs on the really old Windows machine with 2 core AMD x2 8GB RAM DDR2

Thanks to your comment I found a free workaround for the issue. What you can do is to use an external program to change the panel resolution. In my case, I have used Easyres, which can be found in Appstore. When I want to browse large RAW pictures in Finder I switch to a non retina resolution.