Preview in Mac OS 15.0 won't invert colors

Question

Preview in Mac OS 15.0 won't invert colors

Preview in Mac OS 15.0 has lost the ability to invert image colors.

In previous versions of Mac OS, I was able to invert colors in an image using the Mac OS Preview app Tools menu > Adjust Color... > position the Black point slider to the right of the White point slider. But in Mac OS 15.0 the Preview App will no longer allow the Black point slider to move past the White point slider.

This was a widely appreciated feature as described here and here and this post which includes a screen recording of it no longer working. Is this an intentional feature downgrade or a bug?

MacBook Air 15″, macOS 15.0

Posted on Sep 28, 2024 11:42 PM

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Answer 1

Oct 29, 2024 8:35 AM in response to dialabrain

Yes, 15.1 fixed this for Preview. Thanks. But Apple Photos still lacks this functionality with Curves or Levels. This is something that Lightroom and Photoshop do with ease. In fact, Photoshop has a handy “invert” (command-I) function to turn negative to positive or vice-versa.

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Answer 2

Jotap62

Level 1

109 points

Oct 22, 2024 5:09 PM in response to dialabrain

Sorry dialabrain ...

"Tools>Color Adjust" is inactive in my Mac mini M2 with Sequoia (15.0.1) Preview (11.0) menu for PDFs.

So, how can it be active for you?!

Also, as ManHasAspirit says, in Sequoia, it is impossible to revert colors.

And, unfortunately, not only in Preview but in all Apple Apps (Pages, Numbers, Keynote, etc.) that use the "Color Adjust" tool.

In Sequoia, this function is now inactive.

It's no longer possible to invert the right (white) slider with the left (black) slider.

It's a problem for all of us who used to use it to invert photo colors (negative effect).

Unfortunately, I think this is it's not a bug ...it's deliberate.

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Answer 3

dialabrain

Level 10

136,559 points

Oct 28, 2024 11:42 AM in response to Friendly Volcano

Make sure you update to Sequoia 15.1

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Answer 4

Oct 22, 2024 6:03 PM in response to Jotap62

@Jotap62 sorry for the frustration but believe me it's just a bug. I assure you it will be fixed when you have the opportunity to upgrade to 15.1. If you cannot wait for that, then I suggest you revert to a previous operating system

[Edited by Moderator]

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Answer 5

Sep 29, 2024 1:47 PM in response to chabberdabber

I don't believe you can invert colors on a PDF with Preview. My post was about images.

It all depends on what your goals are. If your PDF is only a few pages, you could convert each of them to images and then invert the colors and remake a PDF. Or, if you just want to view a PDF in dark mode there are many ways to do that. See this link and this link for quite a number of ideas.

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Answer 6

Oct 28, 2024 11:03 AM in response to ManHasAspirit

Yes this is indeed a bug. There is no way to invert the image (I use it to check image scans). It is also very hard to do this in Apple Photos. The Curves area makes it very difficult to swap black and white points. Apple: please fix this!

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Answer 7

dialabrain

Level 10

136,559 points

Sep 29, 2024 2:09 AM in response to ManHasAspirit

FWIW, the only Mac I have handy at the moment is running a beta version of 15.1 on an M3 iMac. Still running Preview 11.0. I'd be surprised if that's the reason it works for me but I suppose it's possible.

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Answer 8

dialabrain

Level 10

136,559 points

Oct 22, 2024 6:28 PM in response to Jotap62

Jotap62 wrote:

Sorry dialabrain ...

"Tools>Color Adjust" is inactive in my Mac mini M2 with Sequoia (15.0.1) Preview (11.0) menu for PDFs.

So, how can it be active for you?!

As has already been discussed, Tools > Adjust Color is for images, not documents such as PDFs.

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Answer 9

dialabrain

Level 10

136,559 points

Sep 29, 2024 1:19 AM in response to ManHasAspirit

Still works for me…

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Answer 10

Sep 29, 2024 1:46 AM in response to dialabrain

Can you provide details about your operating system, device, etc?

I've tried it with many images, and include another below.

I'm using Preview Version 11.0 (1069) on Mac OS 15.0 on a MacAir M3

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Answer 11

dialabrain

Level 10

136,559 points

Sep 29, 2024 3:43 AM in response to ManHasAspirit

FWIW, glad it's working for you.

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Answer 12

Sep 29, 2024 3:47 AM in response to dialabrain

Well, you're post was the key to my figuring out that it is indeed a problem with 15.0 -- thanks.

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Answer 13

dialabrain

Level 10

136,559 points

Sep 29, 2024 3:52 AM in response to ManHasAspirit

You're welcome.

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Answer 14

Sep 29, 2024 1:30 PM in response to dialabrain

Can you please explain how you did this. Adjust Color is greyed out and I can't figure out how to make it turn on. I am trying to invert the colors in a pdf document in Preview. Thanks

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Answer 15

Jotap62

Level 1

109 points

Oct 22, 2024 5:29 PM in response to Jotap62

But I'm actually hoping this is a bug because it was a very useful function and a lot of us would like to see it work again.

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