How to quickly flip through my photos. Maybe I mean a slideshow?

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Guern2020 Author

Level 1

39 points

How to quickly flip through my photos. Maybe I mean a slideshow?

I have some directories containing jpeg photos, imported from my Windows PC.

I would like to simply scroll through them one by one, and view them to see which ones to keep or delete.

Does anyone know how to do that, please?

The suggested "Create a photo slideshow using the Preview app" as follows doesn't work:

Launch the Preview app from the Dock
Select the images you want to include in the slideshow and click Open"
Click View at the top of your screen and select the Slideshow option from the drop-down menu."
Use the buttons on the screen to control the slideshow." Nothing happens!!

I don't want to use the Photo app and create copies of photos and do all the wonderfully complicated things it can do such as adding music or text to a slideshow.

I just want to see my photos and flick through them one after another! As in windows; where I can double click to open one photo, then use the right and left buttons to scroll through the next photos. Simples!

Thanks in advance

Guern

[Link Edited by Moderator]

iMac 27″ 5K, macOS 12.4

Posted on Jul 31, 2022 12:06 PM

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Answer 1

Guern2020 Author

Level 1

39 points

Aug 1, 2022 1:33 PM in response to Guern2020

Thank you everybody:

Thank you, VikingOSX.

Unfortunately, all I get with that method is a big white window with one small picture (Contact sheet size), and no way that I can find to view the other pics. It does not look like a string of 35mm slides

Thank you MartinR.

Unfortunately, thumbnails are no help most of the time – to select the best pictures one has to see them in full window size, and be able to scroll through them quickly. One does not want to waste time changing the thumbnail size.

Another irritating thing about using thumbnails is that one can be in (i.e. selected) the folder with the photos, and select thumbnails view, and suddenly one is in a completely different folder 2 or 3 levels up looking at icons of lots of folders.

Weird! Why does Finder focus not stay where one’s cursor is positioned?

Another very unfortunate outcome with thumbnails is that, once one has navigated all the way down to the folder containing the photos, to look at the thumbnails, and then one changes back to list view, the view does not change to list for all the other folders higher up the levels! Why?

Thank you also, MartinR, for your other post about “Open With > Preview… click View > Slideshow”. Unfortunately, (as I said in my post) nothing happens after that point – none of the arrows change the picture/scroll through them.

Thank you moderator for deleting the link to the article explaining Open With > Preview… click View > Slideshow” so people would not see what article I was referring to.

Thank you Mal-S

However, I did say I did not want to use the Photos App – it is too complicated.

Thank you Dialabrain. Well done. Yours is the solution, except I’d add that one must use the up-down arrows, not right left arrows like in Windows.

(As an aside, I wonder why the up down arrows don’t work to scroll through pics when one has selected just one of the photos in the folder.)

(As another aside, I also wonder why ‘Spacebar’ does not appear in Apple’s list of shortcuts. Mac keyboard shortcuts - Apple Support. Does anyone know what it is supposed to do when not making a space?)

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Answer 2

dialabrain

Level 10

124,421 points

Aug 14, 2022 12:12 PM in response to Guern2020

Guern2020 wrote:

Thanks Dialabrian

What I meant is that, if one opens a directory full of pictures, and double clicks on one to open it, then the up-down arrows don't work to scroll through the rest of the pics in the directory.

One has to do your trick - when in List, Column or Gallery View for a folder of images, select one image and press the space bar to invoke Quick Look, then use the up-down arrow keys to scroll through them.

The reason, I assume is that double clicking a photo opens it in Preview, whereas the spacebar opens it in "Quick Look", (although there is nothing to say it is "Quick Look", it is just a different "Finder" window.

Thanks for the feedback.

That would be correct although Quick Look is not a Finder window.

You're welcome.

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Answer 3

dialabrain

Level 10

124,421 points

Aug 1, 2022 1:47 PM in response to Guern2020

Guern2020 wrote:

Thank you Dialabrain. Well done. Yours is the solution, except I’d add that one must use the up-down arrows, not right left arrows like in Windows.

Sorry, I could have mentioned it but I had faith you would figure that out.

As an aside, I wonder why the up down arrows don’t work to scroll through pics when one has selected just one of the photos in the folder.)

They do if the folder is in Column or List View.

As another aside, I also wonder why ‘Spacebar’ does not appear in Apple’s list of shortcuts. Mac keyboard shortcuts - Apple Support. Does anyone know what it is supposed to do when not making a space?)

Besides making a space, pressing the space bar opens Quick Look when you select a file.

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Answer 4

MartinR

Level 7

21,448 points

Jul 31, 2022 4:49 PM in response to Guern2020

Guern2020 wrote:

Launch the Preview app from the Dock
Select the images you want to include in the slideshow and click Open"
Click View at the top of your screen and select the Slideshow option from the drop-down menu."

Don't launch Preview first. Use the Finder to navigate to your folder and select all the images you want to view. Then, right-click (Control-click) somewhere in the selected list and an action window will open; select Open With > Preview. There may be a brief delay, after which all your selected images will be visible in Preview. Then click View > Slideshow.

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Answer 5

MartinR

Level 7

21,448 points

Jul 31, 2022 12:36 PM in response to Guern2020

The easiest way to see all of the photos in a folder is to use the Finder ... open the folder, then select thumbnail view at the top of the window:

If the thumbnails are too small you can adjust their size & spacing by doing View > Show View Options (or CMD-J) and adjust the icon size & grid spacing to your preference. You can scroll through the thumbnails at will.

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Answer 6

Jul 31, 2022 12:18 PM in response to Guern2020

You could use the Apple Preview application's Open… menu item and point it at the folder name containing your images, not the contained images. Let it open the entire folder contents. Then, from the Preview View menu, select Contact Sheet, or its option+cmd+6 shortcut. Now you have a light table effect.

It is somewhat comparable to having 35mm slides printed on a 16x20 contact sheet.

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Answer 7

Guern2020 Author

Level 1

39 points

Aug 14, 2022 12:07 PM in response to dialabrain

Thanks Dialabrian

What I meant is that, if one opens a directory full of pictures, and double clicks on one to open it, then the up-down arrows don't work to scroll through the rest of the pics in the directory.

One has to do your trick - when in List, Column or Gallery View for a folder of images, select one image and press the space bar to invoke Quick Look, then use the up-down arrow keys to scroll through them.

The reason, I assume is that double clicking a photo opens it in Preview, whereas the spacebar opens it in "Quick Look", (although there is nothing to say it is "Quick Look", it is just a different "Finder" window.

Thanks for the feedback.

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Answer 8

dialabrain

Level 10

124,421 points

Jul 31, 2022 12:21 PM in response to Guern2020

Just to add, if you use List, Column or Gallery View set for a folder of images, you can select one image, press the space bar to invoke Quick Look, then use the arrow keys to scroll through them.

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Answer 9

Mal-S

Level 5

4,972 points

Jul 31, 2022 1:12 PM in response to Guern2020

If you use Photos.app you can do this

Select the photos you want in the Photos Library or Album
Then File > Create > Slideshow > Photos

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Answer 10

Jul 31, 2022 5:14 PM in response to MartinR

Unless the OP wants to view all images in a designated folder, then your approach would be more practical.

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How to quickly flip through my photos. Maybe I mean a slideshow?

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