Preview stores changes without cmd-s

Question

Level 1

8 points

Preview stores changes without cmd-s

Hi,

I am using Preview version 5.5.2 on Mac OS 10.7.4.

1- When I carry out changes on a JPG file, Preview automatically saves the changes to the ORIGINAL FILE! I never press cmd-s or do anything else to save the changes as I want to store the resulting picture in a new file. The original should NEVER be changes! Obviously I am doing something wrong!

2- There is no "Save as" menu item in the File menu. Why? Instead there is "Export ..." that I don't really understand. What was wrong with "Save as"? The rest of the world is using "Save as". So why did Apple change this menu item to something different?

3- When I export a export a file, it is changed WITHOUT file extension even when you specify the file type like JPEG or PNG. So instead of storing the file as "somename.jpg", it simply stores it as "somename"! Is this again another change of Apple because they think it is better to do so for the user?

PLEASE: Never touch a running system!

Preview was good enough previously. This modernisation is just a pain!

Is there anyway to fix these issues in Preview?

Thanks

G.

Mac Mini, 4GB RAM, Intel C.2D., 2GHz, 3MB L2 Cache, NVIDIA GeForce 9400 (256MB), Mac OS X (10.5.8), 4GB RAM

Posted on Jun 17, 2012 1:05 AM

Reply

Answer 1

dominic23

Level 10

83,910 points

Jun 17, 2012 6:20 AM in response to Glorius

It is the AutoSave feature.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4753

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3195475?answerId=15682233022#15682233022

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3195475

Reply

Answer 2

Zyriab

Level 4

3,344 points

Jun 17, 2012 7:19 AM in response to Glorius

Open the file you want to edit, select File -> Duplicate, then edit the duplicate copy and save it as a new file. That seems to be the Lion way! 🙂

Reply

Answer 3

Glorius Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 17, 2012 7:57 AM in response to dominic23

Hi dominic23,

Thanks for the feedbacks.

Well it is not the AutoSave. I never wait 5 minutes. Preview simply changes the original file!

BTW, it would be very silly if any application would simply change the original file without giving you the chance to get back to the original!!! Even MS Word has auto save but still gives you the possibility to restore your original file. Older editors simply renamed the original file name to kind of .BAK and created a new file with the same name; so you had anyway the original file in the .BAK file.

Really strange and absolutely destructive for users!

Reply

Answer 4

Glorius Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 17, 2012 7:59 AM in response to Zyriab

Hi Zyriab,

Also thanks to you for your feedback.

Well what a solution should this be???

What if I simply forget to duplicate my original file??? In this case it gets lost by this silly application!

What kind of thinking the developers had as they produced this kind of software??? I am sooooo disappointed! I really wanted to get rid of silly Windows problems but the more I work with Apple the more problems I get! Maybe I should switch to Linux! I am so disappointed!

Reply

Answer 5

Zyriab

Level 4

3,344 points

Jun 17, 2012 8:32 AM in response to Glorius

Forgetting to duplicate is like forgetting to choose 'save as', in either case when you save you lose your original. It's just a case of changing your thinking slightly. It does actually work pretty well.

Reply

Answer 6

Glorius Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 17, 2012 8:39 AM in response to Zyriab

Yeh! as usual it is the user who has to learn to work in another way because Apple know it better!!!

DISAPPOINTED!!!

OK, I see there is no chance to resolve this issue. As I have paid so much for the computer I have to learn to work Apple-wise :-(

Thanks anyway!!

Reply

Answer 7

Glorius Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 17, 2012 8:41 AM in response to Zyriab

Well Zyriab, thanks for your feedbacks.

All other applications are working more or less uniquely and all users have learned to deal with the saving issues. Just Apple has to do things of course differently!

Thanks anyway!

Cheers

G

Reply

Answer 8

Jun 17, 2012 10:02 AM in response to Glorius

Glorius wrote:

...Preview was good enough previously. This modernisation is just a pain!

Is there anyway to fix these issues in Preview?

Thanks

G.

Actually, there is. The version of Preview in Snow Leopard 10.6.8 will run in Lion and preserve good old Save As. While there is a way to return to the original condition of your file in Lion's Preview, I agree that shouldn't be necessary; keep any changes in RAM and either discard them or save them with an explicit Save or Save As command when the file and/or application is closed, as had been done since 1984.

Reply