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Macbook Air Preview Issue with Cropping, Changing JPEG size and Then Saving

I just bought a Macbook Air with OS 10.7.3 and the Preview menu has really changed from my old Macbook. In Preview I can no longer "save as" and change the size of a jpeg on the sliding scale as I did on my old Macbook. How can I crop, resize & save as.... in the new Preview? It seems to save automatically and I can't manually change the size to what I want and "save as".

I usually resize jpegs in a Batch for uploading to the web but sometimes individual jpegs still need more cropping and resizing to get them down to the size I want.....so I would use the sliding scale in Preview.,,,,,,,,,,, Thanks for any input. Much appreciated.

MacBook Air, Mac OS X (10.7.3), Recently purchased a Macbook Air

Posted on Oct 3, 2012 7:22 PM

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17 replies

Oct 4, 2012 6:59 AM in response to penaris

Change your workflow. You need to Duplicate first (it is in the File menu or you can click on the file's name in the title bar to see a menu there). Now you can make your edits and change.


If you upgrade to 10.8 (as of 10.8.2) the old Save As functionality seems to be restored.

Oct 4, 2012 7:37 AM in response to dwb

Thank you for your quick response..........I had played with all the options while waiting for a reply here and figured out the Duplicate functionality but it seems like a lot of extra work if you have to duplicate every image first before you can edit and change it......I am dealing with many jpegs daily.......so this is a real bug for me. Before I upgrade to OS10.8.2 ...........in the Save As function.......does the sliding scale show the kb size under the scale so you know how small/large you are changing it to, as in previous OS 10.6.8 version?

Oct 4, 2012 8:33 AM in response to penaris

It isn't a bug - it is a feature and one that I actually like since I can't count the number of times I've edited a file and then saved it instead of doing Save As. Duplication doesn't have a default keyboard shortcut but it is possible to add one using the Keyboard tab of System Preferences - this makes is a bit less onerous to use. In fact, my wife used a Macro program (Keyboard Maestro) to give Duplicate and Save as a shortcut. She opens a file, duplicates and Saves with a new name then does her edits and Saves when done.


It has been so long since I used Snow Leopard that I don't remember how Preview worked in it. I do know that the 10.8.2 Preview shows the new file size after you've edited its dimensions.

Oct 4, 2012 4:32 PM in response to dwb

Thank you for your suggestions. I think I have figured a way around the problem.

P.S. I would still like to know if 10.8.2 shows the kb size under the sliding scale in the Save As function in Preview so that you can see how large or small you are making it when you slide the quality slide from Best to Least?

Feb 22, 2013 12:14 PM in response to penaris

I would still like to know if 10.8.2 shows the kb size under the sliding scale in the Save As function in Preview so that you can see how large or small you are making it when you slide the quality slide from Best to Least?


I know it's an old thread but is there an answer to this?


When I'm saving a jpeg out of Preview, I used to be able to slide the "Quality" slider, and Preview would estimate the file size (in KB) of the file I was about to save.


Is this possible any more under OS 10.8.2? I can't figure out how to do it and I need it.


Thanks for any help.

Feb 22, 2013 4:03 PM in response to sberman

Thanks for your reply.


This isn't quite what I mean. I need to adjust the quality of the image during the "save-as" step, with an estimate of the file size as I slide the slider.


I need to turn on the "file-size" estimator -- if that makes sense. This feature is missing from the new version of Preview, at least in its default settings-set.


I did this little side-by-side illustration to show what I mean, using the OLD version of Preview:


User uploaded file


Here's another thread about it where I think I've articulated the problem more clearly:


https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4832266?answerId=21324941022#21324941022&ac_cid=op123456#21324941


If you can help me turn this feature back on I would be VERY GRATEFUL.

Feb 22, 2013 10:08 PM in response to sberman

Thanks very much. Yes, command-i is helpful when you just need to know the size of the file.


Here's what I use it for: I need to make all images under 250KB to post to a particular website. I do this all the time, but all the images start off in different quality, resolution and size because they're all from different sources. I don't want to change proportions, image size, or resolution -- just the file size (quality slider).


So I used to click through them all, one by one, in Preview, and "save-as." I slide the quality slider down for each successive image until the file size is just under 250KB, then I save it.


Without this feature, I have to do a trial-and-error for each image, then "command-i" each one. Some end up over 250KB, some too far under. So I try again on perhaps 90% of them, trying to remember which were too big and which were too small, and over and over again, getting just a few right with each pass, until all images are about the correct size.


Something that used to take 5 minutes (for, say, 50 images) now takes -- no joke -- two hours.


It doesn't seem possible that Apple really eliminated this feature -- and for what reason?


Anyway, thanks for your reply. Much appreciated.


If there is a good workaround in Preview I would love to know it, and I would be VERY GRATEFUL.


My productivity at work just dropped about 95%.

Macbook Air Preview Issue with Cropping, Changing JPEG size and Then Saving

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