ProcreateViewer-Windows-

English | 中文

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English

A lightweight Windows Shell Extension that lets .procreate files display their thumbnails directly in File Explorer — no extra software running in the background.

How It Works

.procreate files are ZIP archives containing a QuickLook/Thumbnail.png image. This project registers a COM Thumbnail Provider with the Windows Shell. When Explorer needs to display a .procreate file, Windows calls our provider, which streams the embedded PNG out of the ZIP and hands it back as a thumbnail bitmap. The file is never modified — read-only, stream-based extraction only.

Highlights

• Zero runtime overhead — registers once into the registry, no background process
• Survives reboots — persistent HKLM registration, activate once and forget
• Portable — DLL path auto-detected at registration time, no hardcoded paths
• All drives — works on any .procreate file regardless of disk location
• Read-only — never writes, edits, or touches your artwork files
• One-click uninstall — uninstall.bat cleans up everything

Requirements

• Windows 7 or later (64-bit)
• .NET Framework 4.x (built into Windows 10/11)
• Administrator privileges (one-time, for registration)

Quick Start

1. Right-click Activate.ps1 → Run with PowerShell (as Administrator)
2. The script compiles the DLL, registers the COM component, and restarts Explorer
3. Open any folder containing .procreate files — thumbnails appear immediately

To remove: run uninstall.bat as Administrator.

File Overview

File	Purpose
ProcreateThumbnailProvider.cs	COM thumbnail provider (C# source)
Activate.ps1	One-click compile + register + activate
uninstall.bat	Clean unregister + registry cleanup

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中文

一个轻量级的 Windows Shell 扩展，让 .procreate 文件在资源管理器中直接显示缩略图——无需任何后台程序常驻运行。

原理

.procreate 文件本质上是 ZIP 压缩包，内含 QuickLook/Thumbnail.png 缩略图。本项目向 Windows Shell 注册一个 COM 缩略图提供程序。当资源管理器需要展示 .procreate 文件时，Windows 会调用该提供程序，从 ZIP 中流式提取内嵌 PNG 并以缩略图位图形式返回。整个过程绝不写入、编辑或修改原文件，仅做流式只读提取。

特色

• 零运行时开销 — 一次性写入注册表，无常驻后台进程
• 重启不失效 — 注册信息写入 HKLM，永久持久化，一次激活终身有效
• 随处可部署 — DLL 路径在注册时自动检测，无硬编码路径，换主机直接 git clone 即用
• 全盘生效 — 不限磁盘分区，所有 .procreate 文件均可显示缩略图
• 只读安全 — 绝不触碰、编辑您的画作文件
• 一键卸载 — 运行 uninstall.bat 即可彻底清理

环境要求

• Windows 7 及以上（64 位）
• .NET Framework 4.x（Windows 10/11 已内置）
• 管理员权限（仅注册时需要一次）

快速开始

1. 右键 Activate.ps1 → 使用 PowerShell 运行（以管理员身份）
2. 脚本会自动编译 DLL、注册 COM 组件并重启资源管理器
3. 打开任意包含 .procreate 文件的文件夹，缩略图即刻显现

卸载：以管理员身份运行 uninstall.bat。

文件说明

文件	用途
ProcreateThumbnailProvider.cs	COM 缩略图提供程序（C# 源码）
Activate.ps1	一键编译 + 注册 + 激活
uninstall.bat	清理注销 + 注册表清除

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致谢 / Acknowledgments

本项目部分设计参考了 NothingData/ProcreateViewer，特此感谢。如果您需要在Windows上对Procreate文件作详细处理可以去看看他的项目。

Portions of this project were inspired by NothingData/ProcreateViewer. Our sincere thanks to the original author. If you need to do detailed processing of Procreate files on Windows, you can take a look at his project.