How to Solve the "Poster Frame" Problem

Published on April 5, 2017

I received an email question about poster frames the other day, so I thought I'd make a video that shows how to solve a problem you might encounter with them.

The problem is basically this: When you have a video file on your computer, the operating system automatically chooses a poster frame to represent the video file.

The poster frame is a single frame from the video. Sometimes the frame the operating system chooses is great. Other times, it's not ideal.

And the challenge is that not all apps allow you to choose your own custom poster frame when you export a video. For example, Final Cut Pro X doesn't let you choose the poster frame when you export a project.

That said, there are ways of dealing with this. In the video, you'll see me use a couple different options for setting a custom poster frame. One of the options feels like a hack, but it can get the job done.

If you're someone who stores video files on your Mac, and you like to see a good visual representation of those videos, this quick tip should be useful.

This article was last updated on April 10, 2019