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Pasting images in Preview

Hi! I'm struggling to paste images from one pdf to another using Preview.


Basically I have one document which is a template and I want to copy and paste small images from other documents into the template. I can copy the images no problem (they paste ok into Word) but I can't paste into the pdf (if I right click, copy is an option but paste is not there at all; in the edit menu paste is greyed out; and if I use command+v nothing happens). Everything I have read seems to indicate this is a function I should be able to use.


Welcome any ideas! If it's relevant I'm running OS Monterey 12.6.4 (can't currently upgrade due to lack of space) and Preview is version 11.0.


Thanks!

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 12.6

Posted on Oct 9, 2023 2:55 AM

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Posted on Oct 9, 2023 8:55 AM

I read this trick a while ago and used it successfully albeit it takes some practice and patience.


Open the image you want to paste as its own document (in its own window) in Preview. Select All, Cut, Paste immediately in the same document. Click on the image and Copy. Then go to the other document and Paste. You can paste multiple times in a row.


To really embed the pasted pictures in the destination document and make them unremovable afterwards, "print" the document as PDF even if it's already a PDF document.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 9, 2023 8:55 AM in response to almknight

I read this trick a while ago and used it successfully albeit it takes some practice and patience.


Open the image you want to paste as its own document (in its own window) in Preview. Select All, Cut, Paste immediately in the same document. Click on the image and Copy. Then go to the other document and Paste. You can paste multiple times in a row.


To really embed the pasted pictures in the destination document and make them unremovable afterwards, "print" the document as PDF even if it's already a PDF document.

Oct 9, 2023 1:00 PM in response to Recycleur

All you are doing is pasting an image annotation over the original PDF content in Preview. If opened in Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, the selected content is identified as a Stamp annotation and one can change the opacity of it so that document text appears through it.


And yes, if one prints to PDF and Saves as PDF, the image annotation layer is flattened into the PDF and is no longer editable.



Tested: macOS Sonoma 14.0.

Pasting images in Preview

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