PSE 18 Saving File

I highly recommend free Advanced Renamer for high-speed volume renaming of files; it can rename a folder full of files in a flash.

It has numerous parameters that you can specify and you can watch the effect on the filenames as you set them up.

For instance, in your case, you could set two "Methods", "Remove" with backwards box checked and "4" and it will remove the 4th letter/digit/symbol from the end of the filename (you can specify it to remove any number of figures from that position)

Then "Add"  "_" at "4" (or maybe it would now be 5).

You would then run both methods at once and it will remove the specified positions and add whatever you entered, in effect, replacing the "." with a "_"

With the Backwards check box enabled, it matters not how long the file name, nor whether it is a confusing mixture of varied length filenames, it will do it's work in relation to the back end of the file name; the same works in reverse when Backwards is not enabled.

I could not get along without my Advanced Renamer.

Thanks I'll check this out. 

When we uninstall a program, residual files are usually left behind. So, if the culprit is indeed PSE 2018, then, I strongly advise using such a tool. 

I'm assuming you are talking about the Adobe CC Cleaner Tool. I don't remember having used it. I tend to use RevoUninstaller; it works really well.

Now, a piece of advice, .  .  .

As of this writing, I see no evidence that PSE 2018 is to be blamed for the blank thumbnails. As to the problem being caused by the use of "." in the file name, my experience described above proves otherwise. If I were in your shoes, . . . I would not engage in a mass renaming of the files. Neither would I uninstall/reinstall PSE 2018. Instead, I would use the Paint trick suggested earlier. If it didn't solve the problem, I would use another version of PSE to check those files. If other versions of PSE are behaving the same way, then, the problem is not with PSE but something on your OS.

I'm going to make you an offer. Feel free to decline it; it won't hurt my feelings. If you accept it, send me a PM confirming it. I will give you my e-mail address. You can send me some of the problem files and I will test them in PSE 2018 (2 copies). I can even test them in other versions. I will return to this thread and post my findings.

To anyone following this thread:

Jim e-mailed me a couple of the files whose thumbnails were being displayed blank in Windows Explorer.  I started the troubleshooting process. As of this writing, here are my findings . . .

The thumbnail displayed was a blank one with the top right corner turned down. This was a good sign. A blank thumbnail with a jagged line going across diagonally would have indicated a corrupted file.

When I opened the file in PSE 2018, this error message popped up -- "Could not complete your request because it is not the right kind of document."

I opened the file in Paint and saved it as JPEG picture. 

Results: The thumbnail is no longer blank; it now shows a preview of the image. PSE 2018 will open it; no error messages.

Note: The additional "." in the file name doesn't seem to the culprit. I even added an extra "."

It's too early to declare a success story but things are looking good. More files with blank thumbnails need to be tested. 

Frank, as a matter of fact, I did. I tried it with two thumbnails, the results were mixed.

- With both thumbnails, I got the standard warning that, if I changed the file name extension, the file might become unusable.
- One of the thumbnails reverted to the blank thumbnail.
- The other generated a preview thumbnail.

I asked Jim to e-mail me more files so that I can test this variable.

BuckSkin, I tried both ways -- using F2 (the hotkey to rename a file or folder) and right-clicking on the file name/selecting "Rename".

If you are on Windows 10, you need to be careful when using F2; there have been reports on the Windows 10 forums that this key stops working. Then, you need to use a workaround such as adding the FN key. If this doesn't work, you may have to remap the F2 key.