Adjust the zoom-size when previewing PDF in Finder

[Ambrosia7177]

Hi. Is there a way to change the zoom size when I preview a PDF in Finder.

I have thousands of PDF's that I regularly need to quickly preview - and opening up each document would be a major pain.

Is there some way to adjust how the previewed document (PDF) looks when I hit my space bar?

Right now I see the entire portrait PDF - which not quite the size of my Finder window. The problem is that if I need to check a document date or title, the font is like 4-6 point font.

What I would like is a way to adjust things so that the document is screen width or at least big enough that I am not squinting to read tiny text.

This is in MacOS Sonoma 14.8 on a MacBook Pro 14"

 

[!!!]

There is generally no way of adjusting the QuickLook window permanently. You can resize it and that size will remain for the duration of the time the window is up on the screen (so, as long as you don't press space bar to dismiss it).

You can zoom in with the pinch gesture. Images will allow you to zoom with CMD+, but Apple decided not to support that on PDFs for whatever reason.

 

[Ambrosia7177]

There is generally no way of adjusting the QuickLook window permanently. You can resize it and that size will remain for the duration of the time the window is up on the screen (so, as long as you don't press space bar to dismiss it).

You can zoom in with the pinch gesture. Images will allow you to zoom with CMD+, but Apple decided not to support that on PDFs for whatever reason.

I have thousands of PDFs that I want to rename. (PDF's of YouTube video pages.)

Beneath the thumbnail is a DATE, and I am trying to get the zoom level larger enough so I don't have to glue my eyes onto my 14" laptop screen to see the date.

Opening the PDF with Cmd+O and then Cmd+(minus) is a real pain.

Would like to just tap the file in Finder, have it open in Preview to a readable zoom-level, and then tap the spacebar again to return to Finder where I can rename the file.

Sounds like that isn't doable, huh?

 

[MacCheetah3]

This(?):

You can zoom in with the pinch gesture.

 

[sahnert]

I have thousands of PDFs that I want to rename. (PDF's of YouTube video pages.)
…
Would like to just tap the file in Finder, have it open in Preview to a readable zoom-level, and then tap the spacebar again to return to Finder where I can rename the file.

if the PDFs are all in the same folder, here is what I would do:

setup

1. make the finder window as big as possible (or enter full screen)
2. switch to Gallery view (CMD+4)
3. adjust the sidebars to be as small as possible so the document is as large as possible

to rename

1. zoom in on PDF using pinch to zoom
2. press Return key to make file name editable, rename, and press return again to save it
3. use the left or right arrow keys to move between files and repeat

 

[Mr.Ben]

If you have the smart zoom setting on once you've opened the preview with spacebar, you can also double-tap to zoom into specific areas of the pdf. Magic mouse = 1-finger double-tap, trackpad = 2-finger* double-tap. Repeat the tap to return to normal size. You have to tap exactly over the text or element you want to properly zoom in on - if you manage to catch the page background it won't magnify. 👍

* This is on a standalone Apple trackpad, but I believe it's the same for the built in MacBook trackpad?

 

[Ambrosia7177]

This(?):

View attachment 2567917

@MacCheetah3,

Sorta...

What are you doing on your Mac to create that visual effect?

In an ideal world, I would go into Finder, find the file I want to rename, select it, tap on my space bar, and when the Preview opens the PDF, instead of seeing the preview be the document zoomed way out so you see the entire page, Preview would show the document zoomed in so you just see "above the fold" and so it is large enough so I can see the YouTube video date - as I am changing my filenames to be pre-pended by the video date.

Here is an example of what I see now when I tap on the spacebar in Finder...

Here is what I see when I cmd + O to open the PDF in Finder using Preview... (This would be the zoom-level I would like when pressing the spacebar in Finder._

In that second screenshot, the end goal is I can see the YouTube video DATE so that I can know that to update the file name

FROM "How the Senate vote to allow witnesses unfolded -- WP.pdf"

TO "20210213_How the Senate vote to allow witnesses unfolded -- WP.pdf"


It's killing my back having to lunge into my screens to see the tiny date at the current Preview zoom level.

HTH.

 

[Ambrosia7177]

if the PDFs are all in the same folder, here is what I would do:

setup

1. make the finder window as big as possible (or enter full screen)
2. switch to Gallery view (CMD+4)
3. adjust the sidebars to be as small as possible so the document is as large as possible

to rename

1. zoom in on PDF using pinch to zoom
2. press Return key to make file name editable, rename, and press return again to save it
3. use the left or right arrow keys to move between files and repeat

Thank you for the suggestion, but a little more cumbersome.

In an ideal would I would tap to preview, tap to close. (2 taps)

You idea is tap to preveiw, pink to zoom, tap to close. (3 actions)

As a workaround, I have been doing cmd + O to open/preview, cmd + Q to close. (2 actions) **But sometimes when I open a PDF in Preview that way, I have to scroll depending on the YouTube page layout.


**NOTE: I know all of this is SUPER PICKY, but I have tens of thousands of files I need to re-name, and saving even one click or gesture or whatever adds up. My cmd + O / cmd + Q seems to be the quickest way so far - unless I can achieve what I asked for in my OP.

(Of course, prepending nes articles with a date 10,000 articles ago would have been an even better solution!!) *LOL*

 

[Ambrosia7177]

If you have the smart zoom setting on once you've opened the preview with spacebar, you can also double-tap to zoom into specific areas of the pdf. Magic mouse = 1-finger double-tap, trackpad = 2-finger* double-tap. Repeat the tap to return to normal size. You have to tap exactly over the text or element you want to properly zoom in on - if you manage to catch the page background it won't magnify. 👍

* This is on a standalone Apple trackpad, but I believe it's the same for the built in MacBook trackpad?

Tried your solution too. It sorta works, but I think my trackpad on my Mac isn't working so great, so it doesn't always work.

(I spent $6,000 on my MBP and I think there is something wrong with the trackpad - mayeb a swollen battery? You would think for that much $$$ it would work?)

So far cmd + O / cmd + Q seems to be the quickest and most reliable.

 

[Ambrosia7177]

There is generally no way of adjusting the QuickLook window permanently. You can resize it and that size will remain for the duration of the time the window is up on the screen (so, as long as you don't press space bar to dismiss it).

You can zoom in with the pinch gesture. Images will allow you to zoom with CMD+, but Apple decided not to support that on PDFs for whatever reason.

Yeah, bummer on your last comment. ;-(

 

[MacGizmo]

I can certainly sympathize with the desire to have the Quick Look preview windows offer the ability to "zoom" or show at 100% size (rather than fit to window) – I often run into the situation where I'm using Quick Look to compare two documents where the only difference is a block of text in the file.

But that's just not what Quick Look was designed for. The idea is to just show you a preview of the document for the sake of seeing if it's the document you want/thought it was vs. another document that's completely different, not to actually read the text in it.

If opening the document isn't optimal for your workflow, I would recommend choosing an image viewer (though that won't help you with non-image formats like MS Word, etc.). I don't use any, but I've read a lot of positive reviews of XnView.

 

[Ruggy]

There's a full screen Quick Look if that will help?
Hold down the option key and then hit the spacebar

('esc' gets you straight back again)

 

[BigBlur]

Would like to just tap the file in Finder, have it open in Preview to a readable zoom-level, and then tap the spacebar again to return to Finder where I can rename the file.

Change your workflow. You can rename the file in Preview; there's no need to go back to Finder to rename it.

In Preview, click the filename in the title bar and rename it there.

So go on a renaming spree by opening up a bunch of PDFs at once in Preview, zoom if needed, and rename the file in title bar.

...and just to be clear, I'm talking about the Preview app. What you've been calling Preview (when pressing the spacebar) is actually called Quick Look.