Tag Archives: Preview.app

fixed : can I attach an edited online document (downloadable PDF) directly into an eMail ?

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Question :
I am witing an eMail to a service desk to get help on a product and I want to show them which part is broken in a drawing. I found an online document (a downloadable PDF) in which I can easily draw a circle arround the defective part. Do I just need to download the PDF onto my Mac, then draw the circle on it in Photoshop (or something) and then attach it to the eMail I am writing…

Or is there a faster way to do this ?


Answer :
The option you are describing is okay, but it can be done easier. So without having to save the PDF to your Mac first. To do so. do this :

– open Mail.app on your Mac and write the eMail
– then open Safari.app on your Mac and find the webpage with the online PDF that you would like to include in your eMail
– then in Safari.app, right/option-click on the document in your browser window and choose “Open with Preview” from the pop-up list and the PDF web page will be opened in Preview.app
– then, in Preview.app, click on the Markup-button (the icon of a circle with a tip of a pencil in it, in the menu bar of the picture preview window) to see the editing tools
– then, in Preview.app, draw the circle in the color you need onto the PDF
– when done, click on the Share-button (the icon of a square with an upward pointing arrow in it, in the menu bar of the [picture preview window)
– from the pull-down menu that appears, choose “Mail”
– now a new (nearly empty) eMail will open in Mail.app with just the (edited) PDF in it
– now click&hold on the PDF file and drag&drop it from the nearly-empty eMail into the eMail that you want to send out
– then, with the edited PDF attached, send out the eMail

That’s it !
enjoy πŸ˜‰

Note : if you want to double check that it is actually the edited version that you are about to send out, just click on the PDF file in the ready-to-send eMail and you will see that the edited version of the PDF is opened in Preview.app

fixed : insert a picture into a PDF using Preview.app

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I need to fill out a PDF-form and include a picture also. I tried to do this using Preview.app but drag&drop didn’t work and copy&paste didn’t work either…

Is there any way to do this ?

Answer :

Yes, you can add a picture into a PDF using Preview.app. To do so, do this :

  • open the PDF in Preview.app
  • then, open the picture in a separate window in Preview.app
  • then, in the window with the picture, do this :
  • – select all ; by using the [CMD]+[A] key combo
  • – copy ; by using the [CMD]+[C] key combo
  • – paste ; by using the [CMD]+[V] key combo (when still in the window with the picture in it)
  • – resize the picture to about half-size ; by dragging the edges
  • – copy ; by using the [CMD]+[C] key combo
  • then, in the window with the PDF in it, do this :
  • – paste ; by using the [CMD]+[V] key combo
  • – resize the picture to the desired size ; by dragging the edges
  • – move to the desired location on the page ; by dragging the picture
  • then, save the PDF (under a different name if you like)

That’s it !

enjoy πŸ˜‰

fixed : β€œthe file couldn’t be opened because you don’t have permission to view itβ€œ error in Preview.app when trying to open a JPG-file

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Question :

I am trying to open a JPG-picture in Preview.app, but I get this error : “the file couldn’t be opened because you don’t have permission to view itβ€œ

What can I do ?

 

Answer :

It isn’t clear why you get this error message, but the way to fix it is rather simple :

  • first, Quit the Preview.app if it is open :
    • press the [CMD]+[Q] key-combo on your keyboard
  • then reopen the Preview.app
  • then Force Quit the Preview.app :
    • press the [CMD]+[ALT]+[ESC] key-combo on your keyboard
    • when the new window opens, select Preview (the app) from the scroll-list
    • then click on the Force Quit button (bottom-right)
  • then reopen the Preview.app
  • now, the JPG files should open in Preview.app without a problem

That’s it !

enjoy πŸ˜‰

fixed : quickly create a printable grayscale picture from a color photo using Preview.app

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Question :

I often have color pictures (like photos) that I would like to print in grayscale, but I don’t have a grayscale printer.

What is the simplest way to do so ?

 

Answer :

Having a color printer is great, and the easiest way to print grayscale pictures is to just select the grayscale-option before printing :

  • open the picture (ussuallyΒ a .jpg) in Preview.app
  • in the top-bar, go to File and selectΒ Print from the pulldown list ; or press the [CMD]+[P] key-combo on your keyboard
  • in the pulldown window that opens, click on Preview and select Graphics from the pulldown menu
  • then, at Color Mode, select “Grayscale” (instead of “Color”)
  • then click the Print-button and see what comes out of your printer
  • Note that if you would make a PDF now, that it’s not going to be a grayscale picture…

Sometimes this will do just fine, but often that isn’t enough, and you will need to do a few extra steps to get an acceptable result out of your printer :

  • open the picture (usually a .jpg) in Preview.app
  • click on the “Show Markup toolbar”-button (the circle with the pen-point in it, just left of the Search-bar top-right)
  • first, crop the image if needed :
    • then, click on the DashedSquare-icon (top-left) and select the “Rectangular Selection” option
    • on the picture, select the area you want to use (click the top-left of the envisioned area, thanΒ botom-right) and the selection area will be displayed
    • if you need to, adjust the selection area by dragging it’s edges
    • then, in the top-bar, go to Tools and select Crop from the pulldown list ; or type the [CMD]+[K] key-combo on your keyboard
    • now the picture will be croped to the smaller ‘selection only’ size
  • then, in the top-bar,Β go to Tools and select Adjust Color from the pulldown list ; or type the [CMD]+[ALT]+[C] key combo on your keyboard
  • in the AdjusColor-window that opens there is a ‘histogram’ (a picture with red/green/blue (a.k.a. RGB) graphs) with an AutoLevels-button, a list of 9 sliders and a ResetAll-button below it
  • attached to the base of the histogram, there are 3 slider-pointers (a.k.a. histogram-sliders)
  • set the middle histogram-slider lower (a little to the left)
  • then set the right histogram-slider lower (a little to the left)
  • then set the Exposure-slider higher (a little to the right)
  • set the Contrast-slider higher (a little to the right)
  • set the Sepia-slider in the middle
  • set the Sharpness-slider higher (a little to the right)
  • see if the (color) picture’s look is now clearer …if not go back and adjust the sliders until it is a brighter picture with more detail
  • then,Β in the top-bar, go to File and selectΒ Print from the pulldown list ; or press the [CMD]+[P] key-combo on your keyboard
  • in the pulldown window that opens, click on Preview and select Graphics from the pulldown menu
  • then, at Color Mode, select “Grayscale” (instead of “Color”)
  • then click the Print-button

that’s it !

Note :Β if you would make a PDF now, that it’s going to be a color-picture, not a grayscale picture… if you need a grayscale picture digitally, you will need to use Photoshop Β or something similar…

Important extra note :Β once the picture is a PDF, you can no longer adjust the colors

enjoy πŸ˜‰

 

fixed : animated GIFs not playing in Preview.app

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Question :

For my work I regularly get animated-GIF for online advertising campaigns send to me offline. As it turns out I can only view them in the Finder’s preview, but when I double-click on them, they open in Preview.app as a static picture…

What can I do ?

 

Answer :

As any .gif-file is considered as a picture by OSX, both static and animated GIFs will be opened in Preview.app by default. Too bad, but Preview.app can only display static pictures, no movies, nor dynamic pictures…

The solution is simple ; just make OSX by default open all .gif-files in an application that can handle animations, like your web browser.

to do so :

  • locate and select any of your animated .gif-files in the Finder
  • then press the [cmd]+[i] key-combo on your keyboard (a.k.a. “get info”)
  • in the info-window that opens, scroll down to “Open with:”
  • make sure the triangular arrow in front of “Open with:” is pointing down
  • if the triangular arrow isΒ pointing to the right, click on it
  • just below “Open with:” you will see “Preview (default)”
  • click on that, and change it to “Safari” (or any other application that can handle animated GIFs, if you don’t see the application you’re looking for listed, select “Other…” and select the one you prefer from you Applications folder)
  • then, don’t forget to click on the “Change All…”-button also

…that’s it, from now on, any .gif-file on your Mac will be opened in Safari (or your chosen alternative) by default, and you will see all animated-GIFs opened as animations when you lick on them.

enjoy !

πŸ˜‰

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