Art Licensing: Tips on Using the Indispensable Mac Preview App

One of the most useful application that is included with Macintosh OS X operating system is Preview. Preview makes it fast and easy to view and edit pdf, jpeg, tiff, png, etc. files. Also image files such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator can be opened in Preview as non-layered files.

Preview also has other functions such as scanning documents or photos, sharing files via email or chat, changing the file format, capturing screen shots, editing photos, and batch processing actions. Learn how to use these functions by reading the articles listed in the Related Articles section at the bottom of this post.

Note: The features found in Preview for the Mac are available in Windows QuickView for PCs. However, QuickView is no longer shipped with Windows. But a third party equivalent that supports XP, Vista and 7 is available according to the QuickView section in Wikipedia.

PDF files
Preview is best known as an alternative to using Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat to view and alter PDF files. It is faster to launch Preview than Reader and had lots of useful features. PDF documents can be combined; pages can be moved between PDF files, reordered and rotated. Pages can be bookmarked, comments added, background color changed, view a PDF slideshow, a rectangle or circle can be drawn to emphasize an area. It also has other features depending upon the OS X Preview version. For instance, OS X Lion Preview version and greater allows PDF documents to be digitally signed. Note: Preview does an excellent job in displaying large PDF documents and allows some editing and other features, which may be all that is needed. But, it does not have all the bells-and-whistles of the latest versions of Adobe Reader and Acrobat support.

Images
As an artist, I find the Preview app viewing function indispensable as I manipulate and edit my art and collections into pleasing compositions. Preview also includes helpful tools such as the ability to add text to the image, some image editing capabilities, batch processing, view slideshows and animated gif files, and change file formats. It is much faster to open an image in Preview and use Previews functions and tools than to open the image in Photoshop or Illustrator to do the same thing.

A single image or several images can be dragged onto the Preview app to open it. Or, images can be opened from the Preview app. Or, if the image file is a jpg, png, etc., it can be opened in Preview by double clicking on the image. To temporarily open images in Preview select the image or images with the mouse and then hold down the command key and push the Y key. Hint: Place the Preview app in the desktop tool bar so that it is easily accessed.

Useful ways of using Preview

• Viewing Images
– When manipulating parts of the image in Photoshop, it is difficult to look at the entire image to determine if the composition is pleasing and balanced unless you standup and move away from the monitor. I have found that it helps to instead reduce the size of the image when viewing the composition. A quick way to do that is make sure the Photoshop file is saved and then open the image in Preview by selecting the file, hold down the command key, and pressing the Y key. The image in the Preview window can be quickly enlarged or reduced by pulling on the bottom-right window handle. For information about composition read "Creating Licensable Art: Composition Tips"

– Using Preview to view multiple images in one window is a wonderful way to compare the images and determine if the collection is cohesive. Select all the images you wish to view at one time and use the command and Y key strokes to open the images in Preview. The four images displayed together at the top of this article is an example of opening multiple images in a Preview window.

– If you have a large photographic reference library like I do, you may have trouble finding what photos you wish to use as a reference for new art. By selecting a slew of images in a folder and opening them in Preview you can quickly scan and select the ones you wish to use.

 • Marking Images to be edited
When refreshing art, adding images to a collection, and working with art directors, there are times that you may want to mark changes and write comments on the image. Instead of printing the art and marking-it-up by hand, Preview allows you to do it on image files. See an example of a mark-up on the above tulip image.

• Labeling Images
Preview allows you to quickly label images with copyright and contact information. This is helpful if you want to place the image on a blog or submit it to manufacturers for licensing consideration.

• Changing size, resolution, and formats
Images can be resized; the resolution and the format can be quickly changed in Preview. So instead of waiting for a large high resolution file to open in Photoshop, Preview can converted it to a smaller size, lower resolution jpg file in a fraction of time. That is very useful when submitting art to manufacturers for licensing consideration.

• Rotating images and editing color
In Preview, images can be rotated and colors adjusted. I found the ability to rapidly adjust the color saturation useful when placing images in the sidebar on my blog. For some reason, when images are placed in the sidebar the color saturation is reduced. Thus, I need to increase the saturation of the image before placing it in the sidebar.

Related Articles
While in Preview, open Help at the top right of the function bar to find out how to use its many functions. Also read the following articles for more information on using Preview.

• "Mac Basics: Preview app views and edits images and PDFs"

• "What IS Preview (and Why You Should Use It)"

• "Scanning with Preview in Mac OS X"

• "How to use Preview in OS X Lion to digitally sign documents".

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