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# QLThumbnailRepresentation

Information about the thumbnail that the thumbnail generator returns.

```
class QLThumbnailRepresentation
```

## Overview

QuickLook Thumbnailing is a non-UI framework, so your app doesn’t have to link to either <doc://com.apple.documentation/documentation/UIKit> or <doc://com.apple.documentation/documentation/AppKit>. Quicklook Thumbnailing generates a thumbnail as a Core Graphics image object and makes the thumbnail available as the [`cgImage`](/documentation/QuickLookThumbnailing/QLThumbnailRepresentation/cgImage) property. If an app links to AppKit or UIKit, the thumbnail is available through the [`nsImage`](/documentation/QuickLookThumbnailing/QLThumbnailRepresentation/nsImage) or [`uiImage`](/documentation/QuickLookThumbnailing/QLThumbnailRepresentation/uiImage) properties.

For more information on the different types of thumbnails that [`QLThumbnailGenerator`](/documentation/QuickLookThumbnailing/QLThumbnailGenerator) can create, see [`QLThumbnailGenerator.Request.RepresentationTypes`](/documentation/QuickLookThumbnailing/QLThumbnailGenerator/Request/RepresentationTypes-swift.struct).

## Topics

### Thumbnail Images

[`CGImage`](/documentation/QuickLookThumbnailing/QLThumbnailRepresentation/cgImage)

A thumbnail in the form of a Core Graphics image object.

[`NSImage`](/documentation/QuickLookThumbnailing/QLThumbnailRepresentation/nsImage)

A thumbnail in the form of an AppKit image object.

[`UIImage`](/documentation/QuickLookThumbnailing/QLThumbnailRepresentation/uiImage)

A thumbnail in the form of a UIKit image object.

[`type`](/documentation/QuickLookThumbnailing/QLThumbnailRepresentation/type)

The type of thumbnail.

[`contentRect`](/documentation/QuickLookThumbnailing/QLThumbnailRepresentation/contentRect)

The rectangle within the thumbnail image of the document that represents its contents.

[`RepresentationType`](/documentation/QuickLookThumbnailing/QLThumbnailRepresentation/RepresentationType)

The different types of thumbnails that you can create.

## Relationships

### Conforms To

[`CustomStringConvertible`](/documentation/Swift/CustomStringConvertible)

[`Hashable`](/documentation/Swift/Hashable)

[`Equatable`](/documentation/Swift/Equatable)

[`NSObjectProtocol`](/documentation/ObjectiveC/NSObjectProtocol)

[`CVarArg`](/documentation/Swift/CVarArg)

[`CustomDebugStringConvertible`](/documentation/Swift/CustomDebugStringConvertible)

### Inherits From

[`NSObject-swift.class`](/documentation/ObjectiveC/NSObject-swift.class)

---

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