'Preview'

[JackHobbs]

As someone who has moved over, I have to agree. Even now I still have hidden Windows attitudes. The idea that if I change machines that my software will migrate to the new machine was amazing. I was fully expecting to have to buy all new software for my shiny macbook pro but I didn't have to!!!
Thanks to this site and the slew of magazines that I buy I am constantly discovering things that I can do for nothing.
As a need arises, you ask on a forum and some kind soul answers. I didn't go to forums much when I was a Windows user so it's a little unfair to make comparisons but Macrumors has really helped me a lot. No honest question, however stupid, seems to be spurned.

 

[odinsride]

If you find yourself missing the way Windows handles folders full of pictures (by opening just one and being able to navigate through them), I would recommend the program Xee. It's an excellent replacement for Preview, and I've been using it for years.

 

[stroked]

If you find yourself missing the way Windows handles folders full of pictures (by opening just one and being able to navigate through them), I would recommend the program Xee. It's an excellent replacement for Preview, and I've been using it for years.

He beat me to it. Xee is a very fast pic viewer, easy to use, and free. It is not a replacement for preview, because it will not do everything that preview does.

 

[Peter Franks]

May I ask (and I don't mean this to be snarky, I'm asking genuinely) what you would expect it to do when you clicked on it?

OK, It was because it's in the Dock. If I open something to view, it's located wherever else the file is I'm opening that will be viewable in Preview, hence my question was why is it in the dock as i have no reason to open it, It opens automatically when I click on a file to view that will open in Preview.... Hope that makes sense.

 

[Peter Franks]

If you find yourself missing the way Windows handles folders full of pictures (by opening just one and being able to navigate through them), I would recommend the program Xee. It's an excellent replacement for Preview, and I've been using it for years.

He beat me to it. Xee is a very fast pic viewer, easy to use, and free. It is not a replacement for preview, because it will not do everything that preview does.

Thanks for this too...

to be honest with you I'm still at that stage of 'Am I ever going to get used to this OS and be as proficient as I was on Windows', even weeks in, because I thought it was going to be as easy as the iPhone. Although I became more and more resentful of Windows day by day and it's need for AV that grinds it to a halt on some occasions. Those occasions became much more regular, and who were they to tell me I can't get XP anymore. Vista, slated, Windows 7 not interested. My stuff works with XP, WHY can't I have that? Well you can if you buy a child's netbook? No thanks. So basically that's why I ended up with Apple, and the fact I had an android phone for 18 months which I hated, THAT got me into the iphone about 6 months ago and was sold from then on. I bet a lot of people have gone Mac because of the iPhone.

And I agree, this forum has great people who don't look down on us pathetic old Window users jumping on the Apple bandwagon for freedom, so kudos to you guys, without whom....

 

[samh]

OK, It was because it's in the Dock. If I open something to view, it's located wherever else the file is I'm opening that will be viewable in Preview, hence my question was why is it in the dock as i have no reason to open it, It opens automatically when I click on a file to view that will open in Preview.... Hope that makes sense.

Sure. You can remove it from the Dock. Just drag it right off and let go. But some of us do have reason to open it because to open Preview & a file from the most recently used list is quicker than opening Finder and navigating to a specific folder.

 

[AdeFowler]

OK, It was because it's in the Dock. If I open something to view, it's located wherever else the file is I'm opening that will be viewable in Preview, hence my question was why is it in the dock as i have no reason to open it, It opens automatically when I click on a file to view that will open in Preview.... Hope that makes sense.

PDFs on my Mac are set to open in Acrobat. Jpegs open in Photoshop. However, occasionally I might prefer to open them in Preview. The easiest way is to drag and drop the files onto the Preview icon in the Dock. Just another reason to have it there

 

[AdeFowler]

As others have said, the easiest way to view images – regardless of where they're stored – is in the Finder using QuickLook. If you increase the icon size using the slider, that might even be good enough.

 

[Peter Franks]

Sure. You can remove it from the Dock. Just drag it right off and let go. But some of us do have reason to open it because to open Preview & a file from the most recently used list is quicker than opening Finder and navigating to a specific folder.

But even if I've used it recently, it still won't open from clicking open, nothing happens, that's what I meant, where is most recently used list shown?

PDFs on my Mac are set to open in Acrobat. Jpegs open in Photoshop. However, occasionally I might prefer to open them in Preview. The easiest way is to drag and drop the files onto the Preview icon in the Dock. Just another reason to have it there

Ahh, that makes sense, to drag onto the icon....

As others have said, the easiest way to view images – regardless of where they're stored – is in the Finder using QuickLook. If you increase the icon size using the slider, that might even be good enough.

thanks

 

[GGJstudios]

But even if I've used it recently, it still won't open from clicking open, nothing happens, that's what I meant, where is most recently used list shown?

Click on the Preview icon on the Dock, then on the Menu Bar, click File > Open Recent

Remember, Preview is an app used to open existing files. Unlike Word or TextEdit or other apps, it's not used to create new documents. Therefore, when you click on the icon to open the app, it won't open with a blank page, like Word or TextEdit, or with a screen of existing messages like Mail. It does open, but simply clicking the icon won't open a file, because you haven't specified which file you want to open.

 

[AdeFowler]

Acrobat also opens to with no window, which makes sense. What does it do on a PC?

 

[Peter Franks]

Click on the Preview icon on the Dock, then on the Menu Bar, click File > Open Recent

Remember, Preview is an app used to open existing files. Unlike Word or TextEdit or other apps, it's not used to create new documents. Therefore, when you click on the icon to open the app, it won't open with a blank page, like Word or TextEdit, or with a screen of existing messages like Mail. It does open, but simply clicking the icon won't open a file, because you haven't specified which file you want to open.

Ahhh, now I get it. Thanks
But Word does open, even with blank background, that's what I meant, although this new Word if you click page to get rid of, it shuts whole programme, the old one left open on blank background, or I might be doing something wrong! Wouldn't be the first time right....

Acrobat also opens to with no window, which makes sense. What does it do on a PC?

Ooooh, so long ago, weeks.... , Erm, yeh Reader opened with blank background it didn't just do nothing when clicked on

 

[GGJstudios]

Ahhh, now I get it. Thanks
But Word does open, even with blank background, that's what I meant, although this new Word if you click page to get rid of, it shuts whole programme, the old one left open on blank background, or I might be doing something wrong!

In Mac OS X, apps like Word, Preview, TextEdit, Mail, Safari, etc. which are capable of having multiple windows open (multi-window apps) do not quit the app when the last window is closed. Word opens with a blank document. If you close that document by clicking the red button in the upper left corner, Word remains open. Only the document is closed. The Word icon on the Dock still has the light under it, indicating the app is running. To quit such apps, select Quit from the Menu Bar, or use Command-Q. The only apps that quit when you close the window are single-window apps like Photo Booth, System Preferences, Disk Utility, etc.

 

[Peter Franks]

In Mac OS X, apps like Word, Preview, TextEdit, Mail, Safari, etc. which are capable of having multiple windows open (multi-window apps) do not quit the app when the last window is closed. Word opens with a blank document. If you close that document by clicking the red button in the upper left corner, Word remains open. Only the document is closed. The Word icon on the Dock still has the light under it, indicating the app is running. The only apps that quit when you close the window are single-window apps like Photo Booth, System Preferences, Disk Utility, etc.

Is there a down side to them all being open at any time or OK to leave them like that.

Also, what's the quick way to close instead of clicking the red x all the time in windows or is that what most do. Can track pad be set to touch pad style instead of clicking all the time and is there no way of all of them sitting in the dock unless clicking minimise I presume? When going from Mail to open email I have to keep clicking each one to get back to them or is it just a F3 thing

 

[GGJstudios]

Is there a down side to them all being open at any time or OK to leave them like that.

No, there's no down side to leaving them open, unless you have a need to maximize performance when running something CPU/GPU intensive. I currently have open Finder, Safari, Mail, iCal, Address Book, iTunes, Skype, Preview, TextEdit, Excel, and several widgets, with no performance problems at all.

Also, what's the quick way to close instead of clicking the red x all the time in windows or is that what most do. Can track pad be set to touch pad style instead of clicking all the time and is there no way of all of them sitting in the dock unless clicking minimise I presume? When going from Mail to open email I have to keep clicking each one to get back to them or is it just a F3 thing

To close an individual window, you can use Command-W. To close all windows associated with an app, use Command-Option-W. To minimize, Command-M.

Apple Keyboard Shortcuts from: Helpful Information for Any Mac User

 

[Peter Franks]

Thanks, and the click thing, can't be set to use as touch the pad type commands, you have to click? because it gets an awful lot of clicks....

 

[GGJstudios]

Thanks, and the click thing, can't be set to use as touch the pad type commands, you have to click? because it gets an awful lot of clicks....

I'm not sure what you mean by a lot of clicks. You can do all of this with keyboard commands, never touching the mouse or trackpad.

 

[Peter Franks]

When for example hovering over links on a website, on other laptops the pad was touch sensitive instead of actually clicking the button, you just touched the pad, and on the MBP you have to click the trackpad button, that kind of thing

 

[GGJstudios]

When for example hovering over links on a website, on other laptops the pad was touch sensitive instead of actually clicking the button, you just touched the pad, and on the MBP you have to click the trackpad button, that kind of thing

System Preferences > Trackpad > Tap to Click (check this)

 

[Peter Franks]

Oooh, Thanks