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How to Crop an Image in Mac OS X with Preview

Jun 16, 2014 - 22 Comments
Choose the rectangular crop tool

Cropping is an essential image editing function, helping to improve composition of a photo, to emphasize the focus of an image, or to reduce unnecessary parts of a picture. While many Mac users use third party tools to perform image cropping, no additional apps are needed to perform the task in OS X, because the … Read More

Reduce the File Size of PDF Documents on Mac with Preview

Dec 12, 2013 - 35 Comments
Export a PDF to compress the file size in Preview app for Mac OS X

The PDF file format is ubiquitous for good reason, mostly because it allows for perfect preservation of a documents formatting, text, and other elements, but also because it allows for encrypted password protection of documents. But let’s face it, sometimes PDF files can be bloated, and something that should be 200k or less can be … Read More

Convert an Image into Black & White with Preview in Mac OS X

Sep 30, 2013 - 8 Comments
Black and white image conversion in Mac OS X with Preview app

Want to convert a color picture to a beautiful black and white version? Believe it or not, you don’t need any fancy apps like Adobe Photoshop, Pixelmator, or even iPhoto to convert images into black and white, all you need is Preview, which is the preinstalled basic image viewing Mac app that comes with Mac … Read More

How to Add Text to Photos Easily Using Preview in Mac OS X

May 16, 2013 - 26 Comments
Add text to photos in Preview

Adding text to images is a fairly simple process to begin with that is made even easier with Preview, the basic image viewing app that is bundled on all Macs. Most people don’t think of Preview when they think of making adjustments and edits to pictures like this, but it works just fine, and because … Read More

Create a Contact Sheet of Thumbnails with Automator in Mac OS X

Apr 6, 2013 - 42 Comments
Generated Contact Sheet made through Services

Contact Sheets, often called Proof Sheets, are essentially columns and rows of image thumbnails, making a bunch of photos very easy to quickly review. Though they’re commonly used by photographers, they have a wide range of uses outside of the pro-photography world, from artists to designers to UI/UX engineers. Rather than creating a contact sheet … Read More

Make a Transparent Image (PNG or GIF) Easily with Preview for Mac OS X

Jan 27, 2013 - 28 Comments
Alpha tool

It’s extremely easy to make an image transparent with the help of Preview app, the built-in image editing app that comes along with all Macs with Mac OS X. Do note creating transparent PNG or GIF images this way works best on images with uniform colors in the area you want to become transparent. The … Read More

Batch Image Conversion in Mac OS X the Easy Way with Preview

Jan 16, 2013 - 18 Comments
Batch convert image files in Mac OS X with Preview

Preview is a greatly under-appreciated app that has been bundled along with Mac OS X since the beginning, getting better and better with each Mac OS release. One quiet feature that has been around for a while is the ability to mass convert a group of pictures from one file type to another, often referred … Read More

How to Remove EXIF Data from Images on Mac Quickly

Dec 5, 2012 - 16 Comments
Remove EXIF data from an image

Photos taken with digital cameras, including the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, all include some level of EXIF data, which is basically metadata with information about the image. With pictures taken from the iPhone and other smartphones, that data can even include details like precise geographic coordinates where the image was taken, (though that’s easy … Read More

Add Speech Bubbles to Pictures with Preview in Mac OS X

Oct 5, 2012 - 6 Comments
Add speech bubbles to pictures in Mac OS X

The latest version of Preview app from OS X Mountain Lion onward feature a couple of fun menu items that let you quickly add comic book styled speech bubbles to any photo. It’s extremely easy to use, but it’s also easy to overlook, so here’s how to use them to add some humor to any … Read More

Save Images as GIF & Other Image Formats in Preview for Mac OS X

Aug 29, 2012 - 6 Comments
Save Image as Other Image Formats with Preview in OS X

Preview is a great basic image editing app bundled with Mac OS X, but newer versions of Mac OS have simplified the available image Export Format options down to JPEG, JPEG 2000, OpenEXR, PDF, PNG, and TIFF. Or at least that’s what you see on first glance, but it turns out you can still access … Read More

Move a File to iCloud from Mac OS

Aug 28, 2012 - 6 Comments
Move a File to iCloud from Mac OS X

The latest versions of Mac OS let you move files directly into iCloud from your Mac, these files can then be opened on any other Mac or iOS device set up with the same iCloud account. This is extremely convenient if you want to quickly move a file around but don’t want to copy it … Read More

Change the Save Location from iCloud to Local Mac Storage on Mac

Aug 20, 2012 - 8 Comments
Turn Off Documents & Data for iCloud

The latest versions of Mac OS feature deeper iCloud integration than ever before on the Mac, a feature that is extremely convenient for syncing things likes desktop Notes, desktop Reminders lists, documents, emails, bookmarks, and whatever else with iOS devices, but it can also be frustrating when you’re just trying to save a file in … Read More

A Stupid Trick to Quickly Remove All Photos from Camera Roll on iPhone with Preview

Aug 16, 2012 - 22 Comments
Mac users can remove Camera Roll Photos from iPhone quicker with Preview

Removing all photos from the Camera Roll on an iPhone can be notoriously slow, particularly for Mac users with large picture libraries. Deleting all images from an iOS device with Image Capture can literally take hours, and deleting more than one photo directly on an iPhone itself is time consuming and a very hands-on process … Read More

Explore a Mac Apps Graphical Resources & GUI Elements with Preview

Jul 18, 2012 - 7 Comments
Explore applications UI elements and graphical resources

Designers and UI tweakers alike should get a kick out of this one: Launch Preview app, and then drag any application into the Preview Dock icon to view and explore all of that applications graphical resource files. Inside you’ll often find extensive amounts of graphics, icons, interface elements, screenshots, assorted images, and tons of other … Read More

How to View Keynote Presentation Files Without Keynote Installed on Mac Using Preview

Jul 9, 2012 - 4 Comments
View Keynote presentations in Preview app without having Keynote installed

If you don’t have Keynote installed on a Mac but you need to view a keynote presentation slides or a keynote file, don’t fret – you can view them all directly in Preview, the bundled image app in Mac OS X.

Batch Rotate a Group of Images with Preview for Mac OS X

May 11, 2012 - 6 Comments
Batch rotate a group of images with Preview for Mac OS X

If you have a group of pictures which are orientated incorrectly that you need rotated either clockwise or counterclockwise, you can do that in Mac OS X without any third party apps. Bulk rotation of images can be accomplished quickly with the help of the bundled Preview app, we’ll show you how to use the … Read More

How to Install the Older Preview App from Snow Leopard in Mac OS X Lion

Jan 27, 2012 - 45 Comments
Snow Leopard Preview running in 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 … Read More

Convert a PDF to JPG with Preview in Mac OS X

Dec 13, 2011 - 31 Comments
Convert a PDF file to JPG

Preview is an often underused Mac OS X app that can handle a lot of file and image conversion tasks without the need for downloading any third party tools. Preview also happens to be the default PDF viewer in Mac OS X, and as such it can be used to easily convert any PDF file … Read More

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