wbinaz1952

Q: el capitan installed. Macbook Pro 2010. Preview now cannot edit PDFs

Sat Jan 16, 2016

 

I have installed OS 10.11.2 in Macbook Pro 2010. But Preview is only available in iCloud, and more importantly, I now cannot edit PDFs in Preview. I have a chain of PDFs where I just want to make small  changes. I can do a work-around by switching PDFs to TextEdit, making changes and reformatting into updated PDFs. But: 1. What am I doing wrong with Preview on this issue. Can it be fixed. Or, 2, is there another piece of software (prefer free as I live on a hard cap fixed income) I can obtain that will allow me to make updated copies of PDFs, make edits, and then save as later versions?

I prefer to get all answers via e-mail (some folks love this Apple system, some do not; some love chicken soup, some do not; leave it at that).

Please send any replies, suggestions to: ***** (unless posting replies will lead to direct alerts to my e-mail that someone has responded.).

 

Thanks for your help!

Wayne B

 

<Email Edited by Host>

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6.8), null

Posted on Jan 17, 2016 11:35 AM

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Q: el capitan installed. Macbook Pro 2010. Preview now cannot edit PDFs

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  • by judysings,

    judysings judysings Jan 17, 2016 11:49 AM in response to wbinaz1952
    Community Specialists
    Jan 17, 2016 11:49 AM in response to wbinaz1952

    Hi wbinaz1952,

    The Preview application is part of OS X El Capitan and the application is on your hard drive in the Applications folder.  The only explanation I can think of for your documents opening in iCloud is if you saved or moved them to the new iCloud Drive (see information below).  Otherwise, the PDF documents and Preview should be on your Mac.

    Preview is capable of editing PDF files.  The resource below explains how:

    Mac Basics: Preview app views and edits images and PDFs

     

    Edit PDF files

    Preview opens PDF (Portable Document Format) files so that you can view, edit and share them. To open a PDF file in Preview, double-click its icon. You can also open files directly from the File menu in Preview, or by dragging a PDF file onto the Preview icon in the Dock or Finder.

    You can annotate PDF files using Preview to highlight areas that need changes, or that you may want to refer back to later. You can also use Preview to fill out PDF forms and sign PDF documents. You can even reorder the pages in a PDF document or add pages from another document.

    Select text

    Use this tool to select text in a PDF document. You can then copy the selected text to place it on the clipboard so it's ready to paste into another document.

     

    Add a shape

    Use these tools to insert a box, oval or line in your document. You can change the color, thickness, or fill of these shapes by using the tools that appear on the right side of the toolbar when you've selected them.

     

     

    Select an area

    Use this tool to select an image or other non-text part of your document, including any shapes or other annotations you have added to the PDF.

     

     

    add text tool showing text within a box

    Add text

    Select this tool, then drag your pointer across a document to create a text box you can type in. Choose Tools > Show Fonts to open the Fonts window for more options.

     

    the annotations icon looks like a notepad

    Notes

    Use this tool to create annotations you can embed in your PDF. Select the tool, then click or drag on the document where you'd like a note to appear. Notes are minimized until you click on them. Choose View > Show Highlights and Notes to see all of your notes appear in a separate pane of the Preview window.

     

    signature icon showing Sig on a line

    Signature

    Use this tool to insert your signature into a PDF document. See the "signing documents" section of this article for more information.

     

     

    Fill in forms

    If you receive a form in PDF format, you can easily fill in form blanks by clicking or double-clicking each form field. This also works with most checkboxes in PDF forms.

    scale your image using width and height adjustments

    If you are unable to fill in a form by clicking it, you can also use the Add Text tool to place an editable text box onto a form

    Sign documents

    Preview allows you to add a digital image of your signature to PDF documents. First, you'll need to create a signature using the built-in camera of your Mac.

    1. Click the Edit button in the Preview window so that the editing toolbar is displayed.
    2. Click the Signature button in the editing toolbar. 
    3. Choose the option to create a signature.
    4. Sign your name to a piece of paper, then hold that paper up to the camera on your Mac.
    5. Move the paper so that the signature is drawn along the line that appears on screen.
    6. Click Accept to save the signature.

    Once you've created a signature, you can sign your PDF files.

    1. Click the Edit button in the Preview window so that the editing toolbar is displayed.
    2. Click the Signature button in the editing toolbar. If you have added more than one signature, click the Signature button again and choose the image of the signature you want to use.
    3. Drag your pointer across the document where you want the signature to appear.

    To reposition your signature, click it to select it. Then, move the signature where it should appear on the page, or drag the handles around the signature to make it smaller or larger.

    scale your image using width and height adjustments

    Additional tools

    Additional PDF-related tools are available from the Tools menu when you open a PDF in Preview. For more information about each tool, hover over the tool to see its name. Or, search for the description of the feature you want to use from the Help menu in Preview.

    Share files

    When you're done editing a file, you can save it as a new file. Choose Export from the File menu to save the file in a new format. Select the format you want to use from the Format pop-up menu that appears in the save sheet.

    scale your image using width and height adjustments

    You can also share files directly from Preview by using the Share button share icon in the toolbar of the Preview window. This makes it easy to quickly email or chat a file, or add images to iPhoto. You can also share files using any social network accounts you've set up in Internet Accounts.

    Learn more

    To learn more about Preview, choose Preview Help from the Help menu in Preview.

    Last Modified: Jun 10, 2015

     

    You can find other PDF editors on the Mac App Store. Click on the icon on your dock, or click on the Apple in the menu bar and choose App Store.  If you type "PDF editor" in the Search bar you will see some other other options besides Preview to try.  If you see the word "Get" beside an application, it means it is free to download (but may have In-App purchases.).

     

    iCloud Drive

     

    Cheers!