Questions tagged [pdf]
Documents in the Portable Document Format, created by Adobe Systems, and readable with Adobe Reader, Apple Preview, and other software programs
243
questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
8
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answers
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views
Change Redact color in Mac Preview
I am running MacOS Monterey, and I want to remove some text from a PDF file using the Redact option in Preview. However, redacting the text marks it with black background with white crosses in it. Is ...
- 201
7
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Disable auto-save in Preview (only Preview): Mojave edition
This has been asked before, on earlier OS versions, but doesn't seem to have gained satisfactory answers. I'm looking for a way to disable auto-save in Preview (only).
Background:
In OS X Lion, ...
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6
votes
0
answers
310
views
How do I prevent Preview.app from confirming each time I click on a web link?
Prior to MacOS Ventura, clicking on a web link within a PDF viewed in Preview.app would immediately open that URL in my default browser. Since upgrading to Ventura, however, clicking on such a web ...
- 313
6
votes
0
answers
506
views
How to disable Mac Preview blurring / smoothing images in a PDF?
I scanned a paper document to a PDF. Each page of the PDF is an image of a paper page. When I view the PDF in Mac's Preview app and zoom in, Preview blurs / smooths the image. When I view the PDF in ...
- 403
5
votes
0
answers
263
views
File associations for pdfs keep getting set to open with Word
Not sure if it's a mac-specific problem (let me know if I should move it), but every time I try to open a pdf file, Microsoft Word tries (and fails) to open it. I have tried "open with..." > Preview ...
- 51
5
votes
0
answers
4k
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Random flickering in Preview when viewing PDF files
I'm running the latest MBP 15" with the built-in Intel HD Graphics 530 and the AMD Radeon Pro 460 with automatic switching.
When viewing PDF files in Preview (it happens with all of them, all kinds of ...
- 51
5
votes
0
answers
3k
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macOS Preview: Bug in PDF highlights that displays an additional offset highlight
I update from OSX El Capitan to macOS Sierra yesterday. Now when I open PDFs containing highlights there are 'double highlights', ie. the original highlight and an additional highlight which is offset ...
- 309
5
votes
0
answers
1k
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Exporting sized PDF in Omnigraffle
In Omnigraffle, if I want to export a fitted PDF that only encloses the objects I've drawn, I can select "export all objects" from the export menu.
However, I don't know what to do if I have a multi-...
- 223
4
votes
0
answers
1k
views
PDF with hyperlinks: disable printing of link "boxes" in Preview app
I am creating a lot of PDF documents using LaTeX.
Prior to Catalina, when using Preview, embedded hyperlinks in those PDF documents were shown with a red or cyan border, but that border didn't appear ...
- 141
4
votes
0
answers
4k
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Use automator to make pdf look like scanned
I like the idea of the site - http://lookslikescanned.com
But sometimes it doesn't work as expected.
I'd like to automator script on my Mac, so I can right click on a pdf in finder click convert to ...
- 41
4
votes
1
answer
2k
views
How to force preview to open window in current desktop
I am facing a super stupid problem which is completely killing my productivity.
I have my laptop attached to an external monitor. Desktop 1 is on the laptop and desktop 2 is on the external screen.
...
- 141
4
votes
0
answers
110
views
On iPad or iPhone, how to progress PDF with "Fade" or "Appear" instead of slide-in from right?
The pages of my pdf presentation add incremental changes to the first page. The second page, for instance, consists of the diagram on the first page in addition to a few more lines. This way a complex ...
- 140
4
votes
0
answers
2k
views
blurry pdf in Preview & Safari on OSX Mojave
I have just updated from High Sierra to Mojave and discovered that Preview displays PDF files in an extremely blurry way (before the update it was fine). My screen is 27'' Thunderbolt display.
The ...
- 141
4
votes
0
answers
261
views
Literally odd smoothing issue in PDF Preview
I have an odd smoothing issue with Preview in MacOS Sierra 10.12.6 on my retina MBP. Every right-hand (odd-numbered) page is very blurry, almost unreadable, while the left hand pages are somewhat ...
- 191
4
votes
0
answers
967
views
How to use Automator to batch process images into single PDF per image?
I have thousands of JPGs (old OS X screenshots) I would like to convert to individual PDF's - one PDF per image file preferably using OS X Automator. This is in preparation for setting up an automated ...
- 41
4
votes
0
answers
98
views
Convert Adobe Reader form document to general pdf
I have problems with a provider that refuses to deliver important documents in anything but Adobe Reader specific documents. I think these are with Adobe Experience Manager pdf forms. Their documents ...
- 488
4
votes
0
answers
2k
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PDF - Can select text, but empty lines are copied
Preview app allows me to select lines and words of text. However, when I copy and paste it into another app, empty characters are pasted.
For example, I select 3 rows of text and paste it, but 3 ...
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4
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Mac Preview app: Background color in full screen mode
The macOS Preview app has the option to change the background color (the one behind, say, a pdf file).
However, in fullscreen mode it seems that the background color remains unchanged.
Is this a bug? ...
- 141
4
votes
1
answer
3k
views
How to print as PDF using Acrobat 10, when no printer is installed?
Preview or Acrobat can both print out individual pages of a PDF file, as a new PDF file containing only those pages, but I think Acrobat 10 probably can print out page 1, 10-12, and 5 -- in any order, ...
- 9,628
3
votes
0
answers
132
views
Keynote equation export to PDF shows different
I am writing an equation with an absolute value:
d(c,x)=|c_1-x_1|+|c_2-x_2|
In Keynote, it looks good:
But when I export to PDF, the equation becomes
(absolute notation is not rendered).
I am using ...
3
votes
0
answers
1k
views
How to check a certificate-based signature on a PDF document on Preview?
Let's say I received a PDF document that supposedly was signed with a digital certificate, instead of pasting a hand-drawn signature. Can I use Preview to see the signature's properties and check if ...
- 131
3
votes
0
answers
1k
views
iCloud deletes my PDFs in Books App; How do I get them to be stored locally again
So, last month I decided to enable iCloud for Books in order to transfer all 400+ of my PDFs to my iPad automatically. However, in doing so, all of my PDFs were deleted from my iPhone!
I did the whole ...
- 31
3
votes
0
answers
1k
views
Apple Preview resets notes and highlighting on a PDF. How do I recover them?
I ended up having exactly the problem described here: I was highlighting and taking notes on a PDF file with macOS 10.14 Apple Preview and I realised only yesterday after finishing studying a ...
- 161
3
votes
0
answers
61
views
Others can't read my annotated PDFs
I annotate PDFs in the Mail app on iOS with the pen. Some people complain that they cannot see the annotations at all. On my Mac, using Preview, I can see everything well.
Things I tried:
Printing ...
- 261
3
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Dynamic XFA PDF forms on a Mac and Safari
I am using Mac OS 10.13.6. I have downloaded and installed the latest version of Adobe Reader. I use Safari as my browser.
I am going to a website which has Dynamic XFA PDF forms. Each time I click ...
- 1,669
3
votes
0
answers
909
views
Text box gets cut off in Preview for PDF files
Sometimes when I edit a text box in a PDF in Preview App the text gets cut off like this. Is there any way to fix this? It's happened in multiple files. I have Mac OS X 10.14.1.
- 1,355
3
votes
0
answers
601
views
Preview in High Sierra not functioning properly
I am suddenly finding certain strange behaviors in Preview app Version 10.0 (944.4). Current OS version is High Sierra 10.13.3.
1) On selecting a section in Table of Contents, the selection gets ...
- 141
3
votes
0
answers
1k
views
How to prevent default pdf viewer from being changed to iBooks
Every so often the default viewer for PDF files gets changed to iBooks. I want PDF files to be opened with Preview, and I want that setting to persist.
I know how to manually change the default back ...
- 4,057
3
votes
0
answers
1k
views
Zoom-to-fit in preview application when viewing pdf full screen
Several generations of OSX ago, it was possible to view PDFs full-screen in Preview, and they would automatically fit to the screen, which was great for PDF presentations (e.g. Beamer, or PDF-exported ...
- 31
3
votes
0
answers
505
views
macOS Preview has graphical glitch when copying using rectangular selection
Whenever I open a .pdf (haven't tried with other formats) with many pages (at least > 5), Preview does this really annoying thing:
I use the Rectangular Selection tool to select an area of the .pdf I ...
- 252
3
votes
0
answers
35
views
Preview looks cleaner when changing page
I was reading a pdf document in full screen mode with preview (MBP mid-2009 with El Capitan) and I've noticed something wired : the document is prettier right when I'm scrolling pages.
Is this a bug ...
- 205
3
votes
0
answers
491
views
Word 2016 for Mac is truncating the PDF page
When I try to "Save as PDF" a single-page, 8.5" x 14" Microsoft Word 2016 document, it's cutting off the edge. Does anyone know how to resolve this? It almost seems as if 8.5" x 11" (standard letter ...
- 454
3
votes
0
answers
4k
views
Preview freezes whenever I try to edit and save a pdf
Preview always freezes (beachball) whenever I try to modify and save a .pdf. I've tried resetting the preferences for Preview (as per Preview hangs when opening any image or pdf) and have also tried ...
- 131
3
votes
0
answers
672
views
PDFs showing blank pages in all apps on El Capitan
Hey I'm having an issue where if I open PDFs then sometimes the last few pages are just totally blank. Then sometimes it doesn't display any of the pages at all, and sometimes it works fine. I can't ...
- 151
3
votes
0
answers
266
views
How to automatically find corrupted PDF files?
Due to a recent syncing issue with Dropbox I ended with a lot of conflicting copies and corrupted files across different machines. Especially PDF documents seemed to be corrupted in some way that ...
- 31
3
votes
0
answers
371
views
Using old-style comment in Preview 7.0
My group at work writes a lot of papers, and as a result we all proofread for each other. However, some people like to print out the documents and edit by hand, while some prefer to edit ...
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3
votes
0
answers
632
views
Cannot export pdf highlights from Preview.app using skim in OSX10.8.3
When I 'convert to notes' in skim, only the page numbers of the highlighted text gets displayed. I can click on those page numbers and it will go to the highlighted part of the document but the actual ...
- 31
3
votes
0
answers
3k
views
Exporting PDF with table of contents hyperlinks in Microsoft Word 2011?
When I save a document in Word 2011 to PDF, the hyperlinks in the documents' table of contents and other cross-reference links aren't clickable. That is in the PDF document when I click on a table of ...
- 1,313
3
votes
1
answer
846
views
Reduce file size of pdf text file scanned with app
I had scanned 11 sites of a document in black and white and exports it as an pdf file. With two different known apps I got a file size of about 8MB. I tried different solutions with ColorSync filter ...
- 131
2
votes
1
answer
122
views
iOS default PDF viewer - go to specific page number
Is this actually possible?
I’ve tried long pressing on the page counter, looking in all the menus and typing page numbers into the search box…
On an iPhone using iOS 17, if the iPhone and iPad apps ...
- 835
2
votes
0
answers
18
views
Use Preview to edit at PDF which asks for two different phone numbers
I need to edit a PDF which has two fields marked "Phone no.". The phone numbers should be different from each other. Preview recognizes that these fields are for phone numbers, and "...
- 21
2
votes
0
answers
35
views
How to select camera for "create signature" in PDF document in Preview 11.0
I am trying to add a new signature to a document in Preview, but when I click on "Create Signature" to use the webcam attached, it instead wants to use the virtual camera defined in OBS, ...
- 51
2
votes
0
answers
434
views
How to share a scanned document from the Notes app with a shortcut
I have scanned PDFs I want to share to a shortcut to process them further. However, when sharing from the share sheet that props up when I click on the share button in the Notes app for my shortcut it ...
- 71
2
votes
0
answers
3k
views
Why is the Bookmark button disabled in Apple Books?
I'm reading a PDF manual downloaded from the internet in Apple Books. The Bookmark icon is disabled. How can I fix this? Can I fix it directly from my iPad?
- 73
2
votes
0
answers
568
views
Manually adding PDF to iBooks on iOS 6, using Linux
There's a long story behind using iOS 6, but basically: I have an iPad 2 WiFi, and it's still a pleasure to read on - but performance on iOS 9 is horrendous, so I use iOS 6 thanks to Coolbooter.
I ...
- 131
2
votes
1
answer
630
views
Freehand Preview Pen Missing
Freehand Preview Pen Missing
Context:
Essentially preview has two pens - the shape pen, if you will, one which has automatic shape detection and will smooth out your shapes and lines after you draw ...
- 171
2
votes
0
answers
1k
views
Prevent downloads in Safari and instead open them directly in the browser
In the web, there is often a link to a file, like a pdf document.
If clicked on it, Safari (on the Mac) downloads the file.
I want to prevent this and instead open the file directly in Safari (as ...
2
votes
0
answers
961
views
Solid purple colour appears when trying to view large files in Preview
I'm trying to do some editing of large uncompressed .tif files (800MB-3.5GB).
While I'm able to open them in Adobe Photoshop and Bridge, I am having real trouble opening the images in Preview as the ...
- 21
2
votes
1
answer
1k
views
How to reorder highlights in Preview according to page numbers?
I read a book, while reading it, I highlighted some parts of the text. Now, in the side bar, when I choose the highlights and notes option, I see the highlights shown in random order, i.e the ...
- 121
2
votes
0
answers
138
views
Unable to modify or save pdf files
When I try to fill a pdf file from the preview app it says "The original document can't be changed, a duplicate has been created". When I try to quit it asks me where I want to save the new document ...
- 41