How to Install the Older Preview App from Snow Leopard in Mac OS X Lion
Preview in Mac OS X Lion brought with it several improvements and new features like digital signatures, but it also removed some very useful abilities like the file size estimator, Save As, and added the sometimes obnoxious Auto-Save.
If you miss the old version of Preview from Snow Leopard, and you either have a Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard machine or backup handy, you can restore the older version of Preview (5.0.1) from Snow Leopard to run in OS X 10.7 Lion. Here is how to do this without replacing the OS X Lion version of the app (5.5.1), just in case you want to go revert to the newer version again.
- From Snow Leopard, make a copy of these folders and transfer them to the desktop of the Mac OS X Lion machine:
- From OS X Lion, rename the old Preview.app to something else like “PreviewSnow.app”
- Copy PreviewSnow.app to the /Applications/ folder in OS X Lion
- Copy “MeshKit.framework” to /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/ in OS X Lion and authenticate the change – this folder should not exist on the Lion machine already and you will not be overwriting anything else
/Applications/Preview.app
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/MeshKit.framework/
Launch PreviewSnow.app from /Applications and it will run as usual, minus the frustrating Lion features and feature removals. If you want to set PreviewSnow.app as the new default app, right click on an image filetype, select “Get Info” and under the “Open With” menu find PreviewSnow.app and then click the “Change All” button underneath:
A true “Save As” is also back with this version, which is better than using the Export or Duplicate functions for many of us.
Excellent! I still have an image of my old Snow Leopard boot disk so this was very easy to do.
I was wondering if other apps could be copied over too, and found we can do the same thing with TextEdit, at this point it’s only a matter of copying over the same application bundle since it also requires MeshKit
http://www.formaceyesonly.com/2011/11/25/how-to-downgrade-lions-preview-and-textedit-to-snow-leopard-versions/
I haven’t tried others, but for me Preview and TextEdit are some of the more frustrating updates in Lion. Now if only Safari would stop that auto-refreshing crap I could be a happy camper.
Now if we could only rip it off the Snow Leopard disk and install it would be that much handier. Is there anyway of doing it?
Yes, get Pacifist and you can extract and install things from pkg files and the boot disks.
Oh man! Quicktime to pct to jpg… back again! Sweet find!
I tried this tip and found that it kept defaulting to the Lion version of Preview. When I checked permissions, it indicated that Preview was owned by the system file and even when I changed the permissions, was still the default app. It would not allow me to remove System from the permissions list nor would it allow me to add Administrators to the list.
It appears on my machine, that all the applications installed with Lion are listed as System files and the system applications are the default application and it can’t be changed.
Any suggestions, anyone?
You can use the Terminal command:
xattr /Applications/Preview.app
to manipulate OS X extended file attributes. See also:
ls -l@
and
man xattr
for more information.
Thanks for the tip.
I managed to get Preview 5.0.1 as the default by using AppZapper to delete Preview and all it’s associated plists, etc., after I copied it to an external drive.
I copied the Snow Leopard version to my applications folder as “PreviewSnow”, and set it as the default and then copied Preview (Lion) back to my applications in the off chance I might need it for something. That process changed the attributes so that System no longer owned it.
Thank you so much!!! I used CleanMyMac to do the same thing after I read your post. Yaaaay!
::Save As:: ::Save As:: ::Save As:: ::Save As:: ::Save As:: ::Save As:: ::Save As:: ::Save As:: ::Save As:: ::Save As::
Thank you all!!
As a complete amateur when it comes to Terminal etc., would someone kindly explain in baby steps just what to do to make Preview from SnowL become the default in Lion? I have managed to import the older Preview, but can’t make it be the default. If someone could possibly explain how to “manipulate OS X extended file attributes” as David P Oster wrote, I would be most grateful!!!!
Thanks for this tip – frustrated by the lack of ‘save as’ only yesterday, so very timely….
Any thoughts on how to do this with iCal? I tried installing just off the Snow Leopard DVD but it wouldn’t run under Lion. I know that BusyCal would solve my problems with Lion iCal, but I hate to spend $40 for features that were available under Snow Leopard.
re the SAVE AS “missing” in Lion … Is having to do the following not quick enough or elegant enough?
(Have the file open on screen)…
FILE–>DUPLICATE
When new file appears on screen with COPY at end of file name
FILE–>SAVE…
Then rename the file and destination.
Perhaps a keyboard shortcut for the DUPLICATE command would be handy. The Cmd+S keyboard shortcut will work as as “SAVE AS…” after the file has been Duplicated.
No, not quick enough.
[...] without running through the OS installation itself. This would let you use our recent tip to run the old version of Preview in OS X Lion, despite not having Snow Leopard actually installed [...]
You can also use the combo client update and open it with Pacifist.
I’m currently making a PKG with those folders for SL Preview app.
HEEELPPP!!! anyone know the meshkit.framework equivalent folder in 10.5.8 (Leopard)? or anyone know how to transfer the 10.5.8 (leopard) version of Preview.app to Lion? there is no meshkit.framework folder in Leopard.
Mahalo Nui!!!
Hey dano_t, that was something people have been trying to do since Snow Leopard came out – I never saw anyone figure out how to do it (i.e. moving Leopard’s preview to Snow Leopard, let alone Lion).
Thanks for this work around.
ahhhh… much better, thanks!!
Unfortunately, this tip has limited results….
I used Preview to change and attach color sync profile to my photo files. Preview SL could do it without changing the file itself, beside the obvious CS profile change.
Lion Preview will do it only using the Export command and doing so will change the exif.
Restoring PreviewSL does not help. Assigned CS Profile will not be preserved and upon saving it will revert to original profile. Save As will change the file….
It looks like something is missing and has to be restored in addition to two folders mentioned in the article.
Thank You, doing this now. Lion preview is so rubbish.
Just a little that you for this tip
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/5135/preview3h.png
*thank
Really nice touch Nick thanks for posting that, it will look so nice as the icon for SL Preview in Lion.
I want to use the older Address Book App from Snow Leopard in Mac OS X Lion!
Is it possible?
Someone is successful?
How I can get back to Preview 5.5.1 from 6.0 (Mountain Lion)?
Hand tool disappeared in Preview 6.0! This is extremely frustrating!
I agree. Would also like to use the “old” Sow Leopard Preview in Mountain Lion. Is there a trick to get this back. the old trick used for Lion does no longer seem to work.
Thanks for any clues
Anyone know how to get Snow Leppard Preview/Textedit in Mountain Lion!?? Why all the tips for Lion but not Mountain Lion? Whosever idea it was to change the document model in Lion/Mountain Lion should kill himself to preserve the integrity of the human race. Apple is worthless now. Bunch of primates.
Agreed. Please, anybody, I need Mt. Lion’s version of the “MeshKit.framework” because I overwrote it and Mt. Lion will no longer boot up. It just hangs at either the grey screen just before coming up on the desktop, or it hangs at the rotating hash circle and never finishes.
Will somebody please email me a copy of their Mt. Lion’s “MeshKit.framework” found in /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks? PLEASE!
Yes – anyone with tips? I’m trying to even just transfer Lion’s version of preview onto Mountain Lion and it’s not working.
Please a hack to run Preview Snow Leopard on Mountain Lion!
Thanks.
Tom