macOS has excellent in-built tools for creative professionals, especially photographers and photo editors. For instance, Preview is an in-built macOS tool that works as a default viewer for PDF documents and images. The Preview application is also an image editor. Although this isn’t the most sophisticated image editor, it gets the job done.
So, if you need to perform some basic manipulations on your clicked pictures, you can use the Preview application. There’s no need to look for third-party software. Keep scrolling to learn how to get started using this app.
- Viewing and editing pictures
The Preview application is a default photo viewer with several editing tools.
You can view an image in this app by double-clicking the photo or right-clicking the image and selecting Open With > choosing Preview as the default option.
To edit an image, you can use the tools present in the menu bar by clicking Tools and choosing your preferred editing tools. You will read more about these tools below.
- Basic image editing functions
The Preview application offers a wide range of basic image editing functions. These functions can make a significant difference in the way your images look. The different functions are:
- Rotating the image – Open the image you want to rotate and then click Rotate Right or Rotate Left to turn the image in your desired direction.
- Cropping the image – You can crop an image by choosing an area of interest and dragging the mouse pointer over the area of the image you want to keep. You can also drag and reposition your selection. Once you are satisfied with your selection, click Crop.
- Reduce the image size – If you need to scale down an image file so it becomes sendable or needs to resize it so it can fit a presentation, you can do it easily using the Preview app. How to reduce image size Mac? You can do so by clicking Tools and selecting Adjust Size. Then, enter your desired dimensions, and the app will automatically resize the picture while maintaining the desired aspect ratio.
Additionally, you can flip the picture by clicking Flip Vertically or Flip Horizontally.
- Adding text to the picture
The Preview app lets you do it without a fuss when annotating images. You can add text to an image by clicking the Text icon from the Markup Toolbar. You can adjust the width of the text frame by dragging the side handles. Then, you add the text of your choice and format the text by adjusting the color, size, and font.
- Combine images into one
You can use Preview to place an object present in one photo over the background of another picture. To do this, open both images and remove the background from the first photo. Then, combine the images by pressing Command + A to select all the remaining parts of the picture and pressing Command + C to copy. Then, choose the second picture and press Command + V on your keyboard to paste the copied items and combine the photos.
- Removing the background
While Preview is not the most advanced image editing software, it does offer advanced image manipulations. For instance, you can use the application to remove background from your photos. If there are unwanted parts in your photos, you can remove them by clicking the Instant Alpha icon in the Markup Toolbar and clicking anywhere on the unwanted parts of the photo to remove them.
You must select all the unwanted parts and then release the button when you are ready to delete them. Choose the Delete button, and the background will be removed.
- Save images
If you are satisfied with the alterations and changes you have made to the images, it is time to save the picture. Click on the File option and select Save. This is going to overwrite the original picture with the edits.
- Export images
Do you want to keep the original picture and also the edits? You can have both versions if you choose to export the edited image. Click File and choose Export to save the edited picture in your desired location. While exporting the edited picture, you can select an image format of your choice and set the quality.
Sometimes, you may also need to export images because you simply want to change the file’s format.
The Bottom Line
Congratulations! You are ready to start using the Preview application to edit pictures on your Mac. All the basics of image editing are covered in this guide to give you an in-depth idea of how you can start using this image viewer and editor application.
Do you still have doubts? You can refer to Apple’s official website to find assistance and support on how you can master the Preview application and make excellent modifications to your images.