Preview icon
Preview icon

Preview

 123 likes

Preview is a simple and elegant application by Apple for viewing and working with images and PDF documents.

Preview screenshot 1
Preview screenshot 2
Preview screenshot 3

License model

  • FreeProprietary

Application types

Platforms

  • Mac  Included in OS X
3.6 / 5 Avg rating (9)
123 likes
10comments
0 news articles

Features

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Properties

  1.  Lightweight

Features

  1.  Edit PDF
  2.  Fill PDF Forms
  3.  Image resizing
  4.  Built-in Image converter
  5.  PDF annotation
  6.  E-signature
  7.  Combine PDF

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Preview information

  • Developed by

    Apple
  • Licensing

    Proprietary and Free product.
  • Rating

    Average rating of 3.6
  • Alternatives

    157 alternatives listed
  • Supported Languages

    • English

AlternativeTo Categories

Office & ProductivityPhotos & Graphics

Our users have written 10 comments and reviews about Preview, and it has gotten 123 likes

Preview was added to AlternativeTo by genba on Apr 14, 2009 and this page was last updated Jun 22, 2021.

Comments and Reviews

   
 Post comment/review
Comment summary: Preview is praised for its versatility in editing images and viewing PDFs, offering features like annotations and file conversions. Users appreciate its simplicity and multi-format support, but some criticize the lack of efficient image browsing and certain PDF viewing features, such as unwanted phone number detection. While some find Preview indispensable, others are frustrated by its limitations and have sought alternative applications.
Deviated
  
Top positive commentDec 14, 2017

This is not what preview most usefully does on MacOS. You can preview any file in finder via pressing the "space" button if you have an app that opens that file and supports preview feature. It's necessary for every OS.

1 reply
JackBarker

Yes, you can, but that is a Finder function, which is not at all the same as the app "Preview."

Reply written Jun 26, 2020

If this reply contains spam or other abuse, notify admins about it.
0
keofox
  
Top negative commentDec 1, 2023

It is not a good image viewer and not a good PDF viewer, either. For images, it won't allow me go through all images in a directory, such a basic functionality! For PDFs, it thinks every number is a phone number and makes it difficult to copy that number to the clipboard (no way to disable that). I had to stop using it completely and find alternatives for image previews and PDF viewing. So it is a totally useless app for me.

0
Duncan Briggs
CommentMar 7, 2024

"You still cannot disable Data Detectors in Preview. Not even from the Terminal with the defaults command."

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255513312?sortBy=best

1
Hyperbioghost
  
Negative commentJan 24, 2022

The worst there can ever be. If you're from Win and new to macOS, especially use Mac for work, don't even bother to try using this god-be-cursing-it app. This sht is going to ruin ur life! Oh, why u might be wondering? It opens one image at a time, meaning you cannot click on an arrow button or hit the arrow key to view the next image. So if you want to see the next image, or any other image, u need to head back to the Finder, locate the image u wanna view, then double click on it to view it manually. Of course, some might say "oh u've been doing it in a wrong way this is THE MAC don't think of it as if it's the ugly hopeless Win u need to select all the images u wanna view then open the Preview app that's how u...." Man don't listen to their bull sht, find urself a decent proper image viewer that's not gonna waste ur time. I'm doing it now here. Or, if u may, head back to Win and leave all these shts behind. Sometimes, one can pretend that shts don't exist by simply ignoring them.

0
Piztol
  
Positive commentMar 14, 2014

If you need some thing to view PDF and pictures, and sometime do some basic edit, Preview is absolutely a good tool.

0
kscalvert
  
Positive commentSep 27, 2013

I work a lot with images and PDF documents on Linux, Mac, and Windows system. I have tried a lot of image viewers, image editing tools, and PDF viewers. This one is, by far, the best image viewer I have used and gives one the ability to do basic image markup and manipulation. It also allows markup of PDF documents.

It also is very good at performing basic conversion of image and PDFs files from one format to another.

I've tried other image/PDF viewers but I keep coming back to Preview because of its capabilities.

0
Thelle Christensen
  
Positive commentMar 3, 2013

Preview is simply beautiful!! It is so simple and just works as expected for viewing, light formatting and annotations! On top of that it supports a bunch of file-formats including RAW, even microsoft documents formats and lets you edit and sign PDF-files. I absolutely love it!

One downside is that I can't flick through my pictures easily in preview, but really my only complaint!

0
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What is Preview?

Preview is a simple and elegant application by Apple for viewing and working with images and PDF documents.

With a single click, Preview takes your PDF document full screen for an ideal reading or viewing experience. Quickly select text or images and copy and paste them into other applications. Move individual pages around or delete pages altogether, and combine documents with a drag and drop. Easy-to-use annotation tools let you add markup or editorial comments for sharing with others.

You can also view and edit images. Crop, rotate, resize, and save images in a range of formats. Enhance your image files using several Core Image-powered adjustments for easy control over color, exposure, and sharpness.