@Dave, I was assuming you were after some mechanism in support of managing your digital assets, not just viewing a thumbnail.

You can simply leverage your XAR files through creating any off-page object with an added Link to file.
When saved, this file is added into the External Assets folder of the XAR file.

I usually link to a TXT file and so properties.txt is added into the External Assets folder.
I include simple meta-data:
---
TitleHeader:
Title:
TitleSlug:
TitleStub:
aliases:
Source:
Created:
published:
revision:
layout:
Theme:
version:
Status:
Author:
Occupation:
tags:
cssclasses:
Password:
assets:
comments:
---

If you click on this off-page object that holds this link you can click on the file's offered link and edit and populate these Properties. Lowercase entries indicate a multi-list structure.
I would actually then save it off as <XAR File Name>.md and relink the off-page object. I have Obsidian as my MarkDown Editor (and repository).

LOCAL

  • ../MyFile.xar
  • ../MyFile_xar_files/
    • properties.txt (redundant)
    • MyFiles.md
    • + [All other added external digital asset files (PDF, PNG, CSV, ...)]
    • Private/
      • [all files that are reference but not for Publish]

PUBLISHED
  • index.html et al
  • index_html_files/
    • XARA internal asset files
    • properties.txt (redundant)
    • MyFile.md
    • + [All other added external digital asset files (PDF, PNG, CSV, ...)]
    • Private/
      • [all files that are reference but not for Publish]


In doing this you now have a location to drop all your external digital assets.
Some are required by the .XAR document for Publish, others may be design detail or other source material you do not want necessarily others to access.
All material, .XAR plus Assets, will be Published so you must either partition out the sensitive stuff or similar in an Obsidian Vault or password protect a Private sub-folder under the Published External Assets Folder, i.e., index_html_files/Private/.

If you update the .md file as you go along, it becomes second nature.
You end up with everything stored locally and good for search at any time and a second copy published that could be used to recover a local crash.
The one thing not duplicated is your .XAR file; you could add it into the Private folder.

I use Notepad++ for file content searches.
I use Everything for filename searches and XAR previews.
I use Obsidian for finer DAM control, design notes and examples.

Acorn