The thumbnail panel is the fastest way to move through a study with many series. This article covers how to customise its position, change thumbnail size, and interpret the badges that appear on a thumbnail.
Step 1: Change the panel position
Click the settings cog at the top of the thumbnail panel and choose Left, Top, Bottom, Right, or Quick menu. Top and Bottom give you a wider viewport, which helps with mammography and wide-FOV CT reads. Quick menu hides the panel completely and shows it only on right-click.
Step 2: Resize thumbnails
In the same settings menu, set thumbnail size between 50 and 150 pixels. Larger thumbnails help identify series faster on a dense study, at the cost of panel real estate.
Step 3: Interpret thumbnail badges
A star (*) indicates a Key Object has been marked in that series. A PR badge means a Presentation State with annotations is saved. A KO badge appears on dedicated key-object series. A SEG badge marks segments. Click a badged thumbnail to load it.
Step 4: Load multiple series into one viewport
Drag a second thumbnail onto an already-loaded viewport while holding Shift. Both series are available via the instance selector, useful for comparing pre- and post-contrast sequences without changing layout.
Tips
- For CT, MR, and PET studies, the viewer shows one representative thumbnail per series by default. Change this via the settings menu if you prefer to see every instance.
- Study descriptions can be added to thumbnails for long worklists. Turn this on in the thumbnail settings to label each series with its protocol name.
Related articles
- Viewing images with the DICOM Viewer
- Working with layouts, panels and viewports
- Hanging protocols