Did you know that Apple makes a powerful image editing and PDF manipulation app? And bundles it for free with every Mac? I can even guarantee you’ve used it before. That’s right, I’m talking about Preview, the unassuming Clark Kent of your Mac’s bundled utilities.
In Take Control of Preview, Josh Centers and I reveal Preview’s hidden superpowers. Read this book and you’ll learn dozens of techniques for importing, viewing, editing, and converting images that you can use right away. It also puts you in control of reading, annotating, manipulating, and encrypting PDFs. The book is normally $15, but MUG members can save 30%, dropping the price to $10.50.
There’s a story behind this book. Initially, Josh and I thought we’d publish a single article about Preview in TidBITS. As we outlined it, though, we found that a series of articles was necessary to cover Preview’s many features. Those articles proved extremely popular, with eager readers asking for a book version. “No problem!” we thought. However, as we explored features that we had mentioned only briefly in the articles and responded to queries from Tonya and ex-Macworld editor Scholle McFarland, we discovered that Preview was even more powerful than we’d realized. In the end, that handful of articles turned into the 166-page Take Control of Preview, featuring largely rewritten text, expanded instructions, and much better illustrations.
Preview’s bones are old-school Mac, with clear menus, a large collection of consistent keyboard shortcuts, and a certain ineffable elegance. It’s almost too understated, concealing its power so well that most people never realize that it’s more than a viewer for images and PDFs. I’d love to meet the Preview developers.
For instance, did you know that you can import photos directly from a camera into Preview? Or that Preview can create PDFs from your scanner? Take Control of Preview has step-by-step instructions, complete with explanations of the scanning options and recommendations for the best results. We also teach you all about Preview’s surprisingly capable collection of image-editing tools. You’ll soon be editing imported photos by tweaking the exposure, color saturation, sharpness, and more. You can even mark up your images and PDFs with circles, arrows, and text captions, plus numerous other shapes—try that in Photos! Your holiday cards, Facebook feed, Web site, and more will never be the same.
You know you can read PDFs in Preview—PDF is still the most popular format for Take Control books—but are you using the best view? For instance, have you tried a two-page, full-screen mode with the table of contents showing in the sidebar? We explain how to get that view, along with other ways to make reading PDFs as fluid as possible.
Since so many paper forms now come in PDF, Take Control of Preview also shows you how to fill out PDF-based forms, complete with quick insertion of your signature. Those who read digital textbooks or collaborate on documents will learn to annotate PDFs with highlights, notes, and bookmarks. You’ll even discover how to create PDFs from a scanner, the clipboard, and the Print dialog. Finally, if you want to protect your PDFs from prying eyes or keep people from copying your text, we explain the two types of PDF passwords and what each is good for.
We’ve packed Take Control of Preview with real-world examples from our lives and punched it up with oodles of tips. Preview may look like it’s wearing a rumpled suit and horn-rimmed glasses, but underneath that meek exterior is a super app that’s ready to fly to your rescue whenever you have graphical or PDF needs.
Thanks for supporting Take Control, and we hope you’re as pleased as we were when you see all that Preview can do for you!
cheers… -Adam and Tonya Engst, Take Control publishers
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