Mac preview app helps you to preview various files, therefore eliminating the need to open the file in its compatible app. But, are you aware that Mac preview app also works as photo editor as well? So, if you want to do the basic editing on photos that you are previewing, you can do that right in preview app, so you don’t have to use Photoshop or Apple Photos.
The Mac is still the best device for serious photo editing, so you need some serious photo editing apps to make an impact. The built-in Photos app on Mac offers several useful photo editing tools. You can crop, adjust lighting and color, set the white balance, add filters, remove unwanted blemishes, and a few more things. As a Mac photo editor, Affinity Photo is not for the easily intimidated. If you’re willing to put in the time to get comfortable with the less-than-intuitive interface, though, the rewards can be great. Where you can use it: Browsers on Mac and Windows, and as an app for Android and iOS.
- Organizing photos can be fun when you have a third-party app on your Mac. We have listed some of the best photo management apps for Mac. CyberLink PhotoDirector 365. Cyberlink PhotoDirector 365 is a photo management tool that not only helps you to organize your photos in a neat manner but also provides advanced editing tools.
- Instead of opening a picture in Preview.app by double-clicking it, just press space to preview the picture when selected in Finder. This way you can still use the arrow keys to navigate between the pictures. ↑ and ↓ in list view ↑,↓,← and → in icon view; You can still open the picture in Preview.app when needed (top right corner).
In this post, we will talk about how to use Preview app to crop, resize, and edit photos.
The edits made in the Preview app stays with you therefore in case you would like to keep the unedited photo, make sure to have a copy of the file before editing the photo in Preview app
Use Preview App To Crop Photos on Mac
In order to crop your photo, you need to begin with the selecting the section that you need. So for that, you need to use a rectangular selection tool.
To select the area, you need to click & drag the mouse pointer over the area. You get to see the chosen area dimensions, you can check them at the border of the mouse pointer.
If you want to change the displacement selected area to any other part of a photo, then click & drag the area selected to the place where you need it to be.
You can keep the selected area in a square shape, by pressing and holding the shift key while selecting the area. However, if you want to scale that region from top and bottom from the middle of the screen, you need to press and hold the Option key while selecting.
Once you have selected the area, click Tools and then select Crop to crop the photo. However, if you wish to crop out the area you have chosen, click Edit and choose Invert Selection.
If You are not into choosing precise areas of an image, you need to use the Lasso Selection and Smart Lasso tools. With these tools, you can draw the selected area manually around any item in an image. All these tools are available in Markup toolbar.
Use Preview App To Rotate & Resize Photos On Mac
Photo Preview App For Mac Desktop
- To resize an image, you need go to Tools, then select Adjust Size.
- You can change the size of a photo to different default dimensions or also selected custom values. The tool also shows the file size before and after resizing the photos
- The resize tool scales the image in proper proportion and resamples it.
You can uncheck the relevant boxes in case you are not interested to resample the image. Once the resize settings customized accordingly, click OK to trigger resize action.
- You can also rotate & flip an image; these tools are available in Tools menu. You can get Rotate button in a primary toolbar.
- Preview enables you to add text & shapes to the images. You can add notes to the image as well. To do that, go to Tools and then click Annotate.
Use Preview App To Adjust Image Colors on Mac
You can make adjustments to make changes in Colors of photos from Preview on MacOS. You can change sharpen, adjust brightness, saturation of an image. For that, you can use Light and colour adjustment tool. You can access the Adjust Color option from Tools.
The colour tool has sliders to make changes in exposure, saturation, and contrast.
When you replace the sliders, the changes in the image can be seen in the background. You can revert the changes by pressing Cmd and Z. Use the shortcut, until you get the original image. You can also go to Tool window and click the Reset button.
Use Preview App to Batch Resize Photos on Mac
To resize more than one photo in a go in particular dimensions, you could use Preview app.
For that, choose images in Finder & drag it to Preview app Dock icon to access it.
The thumbnails of chosen photos in displayed in Preview sidebar. Choose them and click Edit and Select all or press CMD and A to select all photos.
You can use resize tool to set image dimensions and click OK button. This will change the size of all the photos. You can use batch editing to export photos to the same format.
Markup Toolbar
The Markup toolbar comes with a lot of editing tools which makes editing easy. The tool is stays concealed. To unhide the tool, Click Show Markup button located at the left bottom corner of search bar from the primary toolbar.
Photo Preview App For Pc
It comes with editing functions like Crop, Resize, Adjust Color. It also has annotation and selection tools.
You can edit photos, split & merge PDFs, and more by using Preview app on a Mac computer
So, this is all you can do with the Preview app. You can not only preview various files and do basic editing in your photos. Try it and let us know what you think in the comments below.
Preview User Guide
You can use the editing tools in the Markup toolbar to mark up an image file, providing feedback or pointing out something you want to remember.
If the image is on a page in a PDF file and you want to comment on only the image, you can extract the image as a separate image file. See Extract a PDF page as an image for instructions.
If you only want to comment on part of an image that you’ve opened in Preview, you can select part of it, choose Edit > Copy to copy just that part, then choose File > New from Clipboard to create a new file. You can also crop the image to remove areas that you don’t want.
Note: If you annotate an image file, you can’t edit, move, or delete the annotations after you save the image. If you think you’ll need to change annotations later, you can convert the image file to a PDF file, then add annotations to the PDF.
In the Preview app on your Mac, if the Markup toolbar isn’t showing, click the Show Markup Toolbar button .
Use the tools in the toolbar to mark up the image (or use the Touch Bar).
Tool
Description
Rectangular Selection
Use any of the following shape tools to select an area in an image and then crop, copy, or delete:
Rectangular Selection
Elliptical Selection
Lasso Selection
Smart Lasso
See Extract an image or remove a background.
Instant Alpha
Remove the background from an image.
Sketch
Sketch a shape using a single stroke.
If your drawing is recognized as a standard shape, it’s replaced by that shape; to use your drawing instead, choose it from the palette that’s shown.
Draw
Draw a shape using a single stroke. Press your finger more firmly on the trackpad to draw with a heavier, darker line.
Note: Unlike the Sketch tool, the Draw tool doesn’t recognize standard shapes.
This tool appears only on computers with a Force Touch trackpad.
Shapes
Click a shape, then drag it where you want. To resize the shape, use the blue handles. If it has green handles, use them to alter the shape.
You can zoom and highlight shapes using these tools:
Loupe : Drag the loupe to the area you want to magnify. To increase or decrease the magnification, drag the green handle; drag the blue handle to change the loupe size.
Highlight : Drag the highlight where you want. To resize it, use the blue handles.
See Rotate and modify shapes added to a PDF for more options.
Text
Type your text, then drag the text box where you want.
Sign
If signatures are listed, click one, then drag it where you want. To resize it, use the blue handles.
To create a new signature:
Using your trackpad: Click Trackpad, click the text as prompted, sign your name on the trackpad using your finger, then click Done. If you don’t like the results, click Clear, then try again.
If your trackpad supports it, press your finger more firmly on the trackpad to sign with a heavier, darker line.
Using your computer’s built-in camera: Click Camera. Hold your signature (on white paper) facing the camera so that your signature is level with the blue line in the window. When your signature appears in the window, click Done. If you don’t like the results, click Clear, then try again.
Using your iOS or iPadOS device: Click iPhone or iPad. On your iPhone or iPad, sign your name using your finger or Apple Pencil. When your signature appears in the window, click Done. If you don’t like the results, click Clear, then try again.
Your devices must meet Continuity system requirements. See the Apple Support article System requirements for Continuity on Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Apple Watch.
See Fill out a PDF form.
Adjust color
Change values for an image’s exposure, contrast, saturation, tint, and more.
To have the values automatically adjusted, click Auto Levels. To return to the original values, click Reset All.
Adjust size
Change an image’s size and resolution.
Shape Style
Change the thickness and type of lines used in a shape, and add a shadow.
Border Color
Change the color of the lines used in a shape.
Fill Color
Change the color that’s used inside a shape.
Text Style
Change the font or the font style and color.
Annotate
Annotate the item by sketching or drawing on it using your nearby iPhone or iPad. The Annotate tool appears blue when your device is connected; to disconnect your device, click the tool again.
Your devices must meet Continuity system requirements. See the Apple Support article System requirements for Continuity on Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Apple Watch.
Preview App