Thumbsplus Webp May 2026

Despite its benefits, legacy software struggles with WebP. Microsoft Windows did not natively support WebP thumbnails until very recently (via optional extensions), and older DAMS (Digital Asset Management systems) like ThumbsPlus (versions prior to v10) were built before WebP went mainstream.

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In the digital asset management world, few file formats have caused as much disruption—and subsequent confusion—as WebP. Introduced by Google in 2010, WebP promised smaller file sizes with equal or better quality than JPEGs and PNGs. For nearly a decade, however, software support lagged behind. thumbsplus webp

Enter ThumbsPlus. For over 25 years, ThumbsPlus (from Cerious Software) has been the gold standard for professional image organization, batch processing, and thumbnail management. But a burning question has lingered on forums and support threads: Does ThumbsPlus support WebP? And if so, how do you make it work?

This article dives deep into everything you need to know about using ThumbsPlus WebP workflows, covering native support, plugin setups, batch conversions, and troubleshooting. Despite its benefits, legacy software struggles with WebP

For users clinging to the classic ThumbsPlus v9 (still beloved for its speed on legacy hardware), you are not entirely out of luck. You cannot natively load WebP, but you can use a workaround: External Viewers.

Adobe products have supported WebP since 2022. For users clinging to the classic ThumbsPlus v9

Ensure .webp files are associated with an image viewer (like Photos or IrfanView) that ThumbsPlus can "ask" for data. Right-click a WebP file > Properties > Opens with > Change to "Windows Photo Viewer" or "Photos."

For power users, run a background script that watches a folder.

# Convert all WebP in a folder to JPEG for ThumbsPlus
for file in *.webp; do
  convert "$file" -quality 92 "$file%.webp.jpg"
done

Keep the original WebP in a separate archive. ThumbsPlus catalogs the JPEG proxy, but you retain the WebP for web deployment.

WebP is a modern image format offering superior compression (smaller file sizes) compared to JPEG and PNG. While older ThumbsPlus versions lack native WebP support, newer versions (v10+) handle it seamlessly.