Apple’s Mac OS X Tiger’s Preview 3.0 application lets you read PDF documents, view images, and, now, take screenshots using features previously available in the Grab application. Preview, familiar to Mac OS X users, lets you view several types of image files, including JPG, GIF, HDR, TIF, PSD, PICT, PNG, BMP, and SGI. You can rotate, resize, and crop images, and you can convert them to different file types. In addition to viewing Portable Document Format (PDF) files, you can search them, annotate them, bookmark them, and fill them out (if they are PDF forms). And when you open a PostScript (PS) or EPS file, Preview converts it to a PDF. In PDF documents, you can highlight important sections, add your own comments, bookmark pages, and fill out forms.
One nice feature in Tiger’s Preview 3.0 is its ability to take screen shots and edit them directly. You can use Preview to take a picture of all or part of your computer screen, and then edit the picture. These pictures are often called “screen shots” or “screen captures.” You can even view elegant full screen slideshow of images opened in Preview! Choose View > Slideshow.
You can take a picture of a pull-down or pop-up menu with Preview. Choose File > Grab > Timed Screen. Press the mouse button to open the menu you want to capture, and keep the mouse button pressed until the Timed Screen Grab dialog closes and the picture appears. Preview captures the menu within 10 seconds. A new window appears with the image of the captured menu.
You can take a picture of a window using Preview. Choose File > Grab > Window. Click the window you want to capture. Preview captures the window within a few seconds. A new window appears with the image of the window.
You can take a picture, or “screen shot,” of your entire screen. Choose File > Grab > Timed Screen. After a few seconds, Preview captures the screen. A new window appears with an image of your entire screen. If you don’t need a picture of your entire screen, you can capture just part of the screen. Choose File > Grab > Selection. Move the pointer to a corner of the area you want to capture. Drag the pointer across the area and release the mouse button. Preview captures the part you selected within a few seconds. A new window appears with the image of the selected area.
The screenshot images are in TIF format, saved to the Desktop, and are named with the word “Snapshot” and the date and time you snapped the shot. For example, a screenshot taken on April 30, 2005 at 10:24:36pm would be named “Snapshot 2005-04-30 22-24-36.tiff”
Working with PDF documents has never been easier than with Preview 3.0. You can bookmark a page in a PDF document so you can quickly return to it, much like a web browser’s bookmarks. To add a bookmark, choose Bookmarks > Add Bookmark, and enter a name. To rename a bookmark, choose Bookmarks > Edit Bookmarks, and double-click its name. To delete a bookmark, choose Bookmarks > Edit Bookmarks, select it, and click Remove. To go to a bookmark, choose its name from the Bookmarks menu. The bookmarks are not saved with the document. When you give the document to others, they won’t see them.
Preview lets you fill out a PDF form. You can then print it or fax it to someone. Whatever you enter is saved with the document and can be seen by anyone who reads it. However, after you save the document, you can no longer edit any of its fields. Before filling out a form, you may want to create a copy of it, so you can go back to the original. And before saving the form, be sure it’s filled out completely and correctly. To fill out a PDF form: Choose Tools > Text Tool. Click a field on the form. When you click in a field, that field is highlighted in blue to show that you can enter text. If the field isn’t highlighted, this is not a form you can fill out.
Mac OS X Tiger’s Preview 3.0 is a valuable application. Take some time and explore the many new things Preview offers. You might find that you’ll never launch Adobe’s Acrobat Reader again.
Find out more about Preview 3.0 here.