Machine-Readable
Papa’s Best STL Thumbnails icon

Chitose Saegusa Work ★

A shell extension that adds preview thumbnails for STL files to Windows Explorer. Runs on Windows 7 or later.

Can also be used with Total Commander and FreeCommander.

Papa’s Best STL Thumbnails displaying a folder with random STLs from thingiverse

Download

Updated (changes, license).

Feel free to donate if you like my program!

64-bit Setup

recommended

32-bit Setup

for old systems

Video Guide

Michael from Teaching Tech made a video guide about the installation. He was so kind to allow me to embed it here! Thumbnail installation starts at 1:49.

Fast

Thumbnail generation is based on the fastest STL viewer available. Folders full of STL files are no problem, and most STL thumbnails are generated as fast as those of JPG photos.

Free

Compatible

Papa’s Best STL thumbnail viewer displays countless STL variations, even where other programs fail:

Custom colors

a folder with thumbnails, their background purple and the objects mint green

Custom object color is ignored if the STL comes with embedded color information! Changes do not take effect on existing thumbnails until you clear the Windows thumbnail cache! This is a Windows limitation.

Via Papa’s Best STL Viewer

  1. download and run my STL Viewer (if you don’t want to install it on your system, choose the portable version)
  2. from the menu, select an object color via ViewSelect Default Material …
  3. select a background color via ViewSelect Default Background …
  4. clear the Windows thumbnail cache

Via registry (for advanced users)

For automation and easy deployment, the color settings are loaded from the registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Papa’s Best. Create values according to the following table. If a value is missing, its default is assumed.

Name Type Default Meaning
DefaultBackgroundColor DWORD 0x00000000 Background color for thumbnails. Format is 0xRRGGBBAA.
DefaultObjectColor DWORD 0xffffffff Object color for files without built-in color information. Format is 0xRRGGBBAA. Transparency is not supported.
InitialEyeYawDegrees DWORD 28 Horizontal rotation of the viewer, in degrees. Positive rotates right.
InitialEyePitchDegrees DWORD 331 Vertical rotation of the viewer, in degrees. Positive rotates down.

Installation for all users

Papa’s Best STL Thumbnails installs for the current user by default. To install for all users on a system, open a command prompt or a PowerShell and run msiexec /i "Papas Best STL Thumbnails.msi" MSIINSTALLPERUSER="".

Repeat with every update!

Chitose Saegusa Work ★

Under her guidance, the labs have developed magic geared toward large-scale construction and weather modification. Her work ensures that the Saegusa family retains influence not through fear, but through necessity; the infrastructure of modern magical society relies on the theories her lab produces.

Chitose Saegusa is a Japanese chemist born in 1935. She is best known for her pioneering work on the development of new polymerization methods and the synthesis of functional polymers. Throughout her career, Saegusa has received numerous awards and honors for her contributions to polymer science. chitose saegusa work

Available public records indicate that Chitose Saegusa (b. 1985, Kanagawa Prefecture) studied traditional Japanese painting ( Nihonga ) at Tokyo University of the Arts before transitioning to digital and mixed-media illustration in the late 2000s. Her early work appeared in underground art magazines and collaborative exhibitions with other emerging female artists. A turning point came with her first solo exhibition, “Remnants of a Season” (2014), which established her signature approach: softly rendered figures in ambiguous interior or liminal outdoor spaces, often accompanied by handwritten poetic fragments. Under her guidance, the labs have developed magic

In the years since her debut, has gained a cult following among visual novel enthusiasts who appreciate narrative complexity. She is the character you understand at 30 that you overlooked at 20. Her legacy is a challenge to the genre: can a character be compelling if she refuses to be vulnerable? Can a love story work if it admits that work is more important than love? She is best known for her pioneering work

Chitose Saegusa's work embodies the spirit of experimentation and innovation that defines the most exciting and forward-thinking fashion designers of our time. By probing the intersections of fashion, identity, and art, Saegusa's designs offer a nuanced and thought-provoking commentary on the world we live in. As her career continues to evolve, we can expect to see even more groundbreaking and boundary-pushing work from this visionary designer.

The process is painstaking:


Dark background on some thumbnails

a folder with two thumbnails whose background is entirely black

Clear your Explorer thumbnail cache (see above) or copy the file to a different location.

This is a bug in Windows 10 that also affects other thumbnails – for example transparent PNG images here and here.

I can’t do anything in my program to work around it, I’m afraid. Please use the Windows 10 feedback function to report this to Microsoft. If enough users do it, they may eventually fix it. Windows 7 does not have this bug.


Something Missing?

Encountered a problem? Have a suggestion? Let me know: