Preview annotation & display not properly working in El Capitan

Question

Level 1

15 points

Preview annotation & display not properly working in El Capitan

I recently upgraded from Yosemite to El Capitan (10.11.4). On my first try of annotation with El Capitan, I can double click and highlight or strikeout, but I cannot insert text nor shapes (e.g. rectangles).

When I insert text, I see a big "Text" in red, but, contrary to previous version, there is no way I can edit the "Text". In Yosemite, I would just type text on my keyboard, but now, with El Capitan, nothing happens. Alternatively, I could double-click "Text", but again nothing happens.

When I insert a shape (rectangle), I am unable to move it, as the cursor remains in text mode.

2. A second problem with Preview is that when I open a PDF file, it is appended to the previous PDF file that I was viewing. When I click print, both files get printed, which is an annoying waste of paper!

Are these general problems with Preview in El Capitan? I must say that when I upgraded from Mavericks to Yosemite, I was so disappointed with Preview annotation that I installed the Mavericks version (7) of Preview next to the standard version (8). I no longer have the Preview7 app, which I deleted. But perhaps, I need to clean up some library files too?

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7), 2x2.0 GHz (Core i7), MacOS X 10.7.2

Posted on Apr 13, 2016 2:47 PM

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Answer 1

dialabrain

Level 10

122,483 points

Apr 13, 2016 3:22 PM in response to garyma

1. Click inside the text frame that says "Text" first, then type.

2. Either make sure to close the PDF you were viewing before you quit Preview or in System Preferences>General: Check "Close windows when quitting an app".

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Answer 2

garyma Author

Level 1

15 points

Apr 14, 2016 1:30 AM in response to dialabrain

Thanks for your quick reply!

1. Click inside the text frame that says "Text" first, then type.

I cannot click inside, because the text cursor disappears when I move inside the "Text" frame.

2. Either make sure to close the PDF you were viewing before you quit Preview or in System Preferences>General: Check "Close windows when quitting an app".

"Close windows when quitting an app" is checked! In any event, this behavior of inserting PDF files into other PDF files in Preview is not natural! Do you have this behavior too?

By the way, my version of Preview is 8.1 (877.7).

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Answer 3

dialabrain

Level 10

122,483 points

Apr 14, 2016 2:59 AM in response to garyma

Sorry it didn't work. I don't have either problem and I am using Preview 8.1 also. Perhaps someone else has an idea.

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Answer 4

Apr 14, 2016 4:35 AM in response to garyma

In Preview->Preferences->General, you may want to select "Open each file in its own window". This will solve your printing issue.

(FWIW, unless something is very awry, Preview is NOT adding one PDF to another, it is showing them together, one after the other, which you may confirm by opening the side bar).

The text issue for the moment I can't think of a reason or rhyme for it, sorry.

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Answer 5

dialabrain

Level 10

122,483 points

Apr 14, 2016 5:00 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

I agree. The only thing I can come up with is some sort of permissions problem. If the PDF locked or read only, you can add a text annotation but you won't be able to edit it or move it. However, a dialog box should open saying it's locked. Perhaps if the PDF is on a NTFS volume. Beats me.

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Answer 6

Apr 14, 2016 5:50 AM in response to garyma

Providing the PDF that you are attempting to annotate has no security content that blocks modifications, you can do normal annotations with Preview.

In Preview, select View menu : Show Markup Toolbar (shift+cmd+A)
On this Markup Toolbar, click the Text item.
Immediately click on the right grip and expand it about an inch or more for working space.
The initial “Text” content is boilerplate, and not editable.
1. Double-click in the Text box to clear it, and see your insertion beam.
2. Change your Text attributes from the A on the Markup toolbar. Use the Border Color toolbar item if needed (e.g. transparent, or color).
3. Add text, resize the Text box, and position appropriately.
4. If you are done, then click once outside of the Text box to set it. This will create an unwanted new Text box. Position your pointer over the upper-right corner until it turns into a hand shape. Click, and this Text box vanishes.
5. If you want to add additional content, you can skip [3a4], and just add a new item (e.g. shape). This will deselect the previous object (Text box), place it in the background, and select the new object.
  1. If you want to add text within a Shape, double-click, and add text. To edit that text, double-click within that text. When done, click on the edge of the shape to reselect it, and allow movement.
If you want to add a hyperlink, you will need PDFpenPro (PDF Editor) in the OS X App Store

Preview will print whatever is in the thumbnail view, unless you select the thumbnail that represents the file that you want to print. Multiple opened PDF in Preview present as icons separated by a thin line, and a black right triangle or down-facing triangle adjacent to the PDF filename.

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Answer 7

garyma Author

Level 1

15 points

Apr 17, 2016 2:43 PM in response to Luis Sequeira1

In Preview->Preferences->General, you may want to select "Open each file in its own window". This will solve your printing issue.

(FWIW, unless something is very awry, Preview is NOT adding one PDF to another, it is showing them together, one after the other, which you may confirm by opening the side bar).

Thanks Luis for your reply. I do have the "Open each file in its own window" checked in Preview>Preferences>General... So, indeed, my system is behaving in a weird fashion. I suspect that there are some wrong files in my libraries. But when I type mdfind -name preview I cannot spot anything special. In particular my ~/Library/Application Support/Preview directory is empty. I do have com.apple.sharedfilelist/com.apple.LSSharedFileList.ApplicationRecentDocuments/ com.apple.preview.sfl i the directory above, which has a date of today.

Should I back up, empty all Preview and re-install El Capitan? Or will the same problem occur?

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Answer 8

garyma Author

Level 1

15 points

Apr 17, 2016 3:13 PM in response to dialabrain

Thanks for checking Dialabrain!

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Answer 9

garyma Author

Level 1

15 points

Apr 17, 2016 3:38 PM in response to VikingOSX

Thanks VikingOSX for your detailed reply.

Providing the PDF that you are attempting to annotate has no security content that blocks modifications, you can do normal annotations with Preview.

The files are not write protected. In terminal mode ls -l returns -rw-r--r-- ... Once I try to annotate them, ls -l returns -rw-r--r--@ ...

In Preview, select View menu : Show Markup Toolbar (shift+cmd+A)

On this Markup Toolbar, click the Text item.

Immediately click on the right grip and expand it about an inch or more for working space.

1. works

2. works

3 fails: I cannot click on the right grip: my cursor is in arrow mode inside the Text zone, but is in text mode outside of the zone and one the zone borders (i.e. the right grip).

Preview will print whatever is in the thumbnail view, unless you select the thumbnail that represents the file that you want to print. Multiple opened PDF in Preview present as icons separated by a thin line, and a black right triangle or down-facing triangle adjacent to the PDF filename.

I agree. But I don't understand why every file I open, either by clicking on it in the Finder, or with open in XQuartz, opens at the end of a previously opened PDF file.

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Answer 10

Apr 18, 2016 12:26 AM in response to garyma

Quite often problems that occur immediately after upgrading are caused by incompatible software. It may seem unrelated, but old software or some "cleaners" or antivirus programs are the source of many issues. I suggest you run Etrecheck and post its report here. This may suggest what may be causing the problems.

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Answer 11

garyma Author

Level 1

15 points

Apr 18, 2016 2:43 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Thanks Luis for suggesting checking the machine and software with EtreCheck. I downloaded the application, ran it in standard mode with "No problem, just checking". The report is at the end of this message. One thing (which I could have easily spotted without EtreCheck) was that I had only 1 GB of free RAM (out of 16). So, to be sure, I then rebooted the Mac and opened preview.

Now, I can annotate the files normally!

But, I still have the issue that if I open another PDF file, it is appended to the previously opened one, even though "Open each file in its own window" is checked in Preview>Preferences>General.

Here is the EtreCheck report (before the reboot).

EtreCheck version: 2.9.11 (264)

Report generated 2016-04-18 11:22:25

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime 1:30

Performance: Excellent

Click the [Support] links for help with non-Apple products.

Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.

Problem: No problem - just checking

Hardware Information: #

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015)

[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro11,5

1 2.5 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 4-core

16 GB RAM Not upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0

8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported

Wireless: Unknown Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 86

Video Information: #

AMD Radeon R9 M370X - VRAM: 2048 MB

Color LCD 1440 x 900

PLX2780H 1920 x 1080 @ 60 Hz

Intel Iris Pro

System Software: #

OS X El Capitan 10.11.4 (15E65) - Time since boot: about 9 days

Disk Information: #

APPLE SSD SM0512G disk0 : (500.28 GB) (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB

Macintosh HD (disk1) / : 499.06 GB (244.78 GB free)

Core Storage: disk0s2 499.42 GB Online

USB Information: #

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Broadcom Corp. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

PIXART USB OPTICAL MOUSE

Thunderbolt Information: #

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Apple Inc. Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter

Gatekeeper: #

Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions: #

/Applications/Tunnelblick.app

[not loaded] net.tunnelblick.tap (20141104 (Tunnelblick build 4546) Unsigned - 2016-03-20) [Support]

[not loaded] net.tunnelblick.tun (20141104 (Tunnelblick build 4546) Unsigned - 2016-03-20) [Support]

/Applications/zoom.us.app

[not loaded] zoom.us.ZoomAudioDevice (1.1 - SDK 10.8 - 2016-03-04) [Support]

/Library/Extensions

[not loaded] com.Logitech.Control Center.HID Driver (3.9.1 - SDK 10.8 - 2016-04-05) [Support]

[not loaded] com.Logitech.Unifying.HID Driver (1.3.1 - SDK 10.8 - 2016-04-05) [Support]

[not loaded] com.m-audio.usb.midisupport.driver (1.4.1 - SDK 10.7 - 2016-04-05) [Support]

Startup Items: #

M-Audio Firmware Loader: Path: /Library/StartupItems/M-Audio Firmware Loader

Startup items are obsolete in OS X Yosemite

System Launch Agents: #

[not loaded] 7 Apple tasks

[loaded] 139 Apple tasks

[running] 92 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons: #

[failed] com.apple.csrutil.report.plist

[not loaded] 41 Apple tasks

[loaded] 147 Apple tasks

[running] 99 Apple tasks

Launch Agents: #

[running] com.Logitech.Control Center.Daemon.plist (2015-09-19) [Support]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (2016-03-03) [Support]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (2016-01-13) [Support]

[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer.plist (2016-04-17) [Support]

[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer_desktop.plist (2016-04-17) [Support]

[running] org.macosforge.xquartz.startx.plist (2015-10-16) [Support]

Launch Daemons: #

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (2016-04-05) [Support]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (2016-03-03) [Support]

[running] com.m-audio.usb.firmwareloader.plist (2014-07-24) [Support]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (2016-01-13) [Support]

[loaded] com.teamviewer.Helper.plist (2016-02-01) [Support]

[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer_service.plist (2016-04-17) [Support]

[loaded] net.tunnelblick.tunnelblick.tunnelblickd.plist (2015-10-28) [Support]

[loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist (2015-10-16) [Support]

User Launch Agents: #

[loaded] net.tunnelblick.tunnelblick.LaunchAtLogin.plist (2015-07-10) [Support]

User Login Items: #

Flux Application (~/Applications/Flux.app)

iTunesHelper Application (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)

Dropbox Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)

SpeechSynthesisServer Application (/System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks /SpeechSynthesis.framework/Versions/A/SpeechSynthesisServer.app)

XQuartz Application (/Applications/Utilities/XQuartz.app)

Emacs Application (/Applications/Emacs.app)

Activity Monitor Application (/Applications/Utilities/Activity Monitor.app)

Other Apps: #

[running] com.etresoft.EtreCheck.131552

[running] com.tableausoftware.tableaureader.130592

[running] com.wolfram.Mathematica.56992

[running] net.tunnelblick.tunnelblick.62432

[loaded] org.gnu.Emacs.5472

[running] org.herf.Flux.72992

[running] org.macosforge.xquartz.X11.8352

[loaded] 387 Apple tasks

[running] 243 Apple tasks

Internet Plug-ins: #

FlashPlayer-10.6: 21.0.0.213 - SDK 10.6 (2016-04-08) [Support]

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2016-03-12)

Flash Player: 21.0.0.213 - SDK 10.6 (2016-04-08) [Support]

Default Browser: 601 - SDK 10.11 (2016-03-12)

o1dbrowserplugin: 5.41.3.0 - SDK 10.8 (2015-12-16) [Support]

googletalkbrowserplugin: 5.41.3.0 - SDK 10.8 (2015-12-11) [Support]

Mathematica: 10.0.0 - SDK 10.10 (2016-03-03) [Support]

JavaAppletPlugin: Java 8 Update 74 build 02 (2016-02-17) Check version

User internet Plug-ins: #

ZoomUsPlugIn: 3.5.40307.0206 - SDK 10.11 (2016-03-04) [Support]

Safari Extensions: #

AdBlock - BetaFish, Inc. - https://getadblock.com (2016-03-31)

DuckDuckGo - DuckDuckGo - http://duckduckgo.com (2015-10-30)

Reload Button - John Siracusa - http://siracusafamily.org/safari/extensions/ (2015-10-30)

Translate - SideTree.com - Apps for Mac and Web - http://SideTree.com/extensions.html#Translate (2016-01-31)

URL Rewrite - Sijmen Mulder - http://github.com/sjmulder/urlrewrite-safari (2014-08-07)

3rd Party Preference Panes: #

Flash Player (2016-04-05) [Support]

Java (2016-02-17) [Support]

Logitech Control Center (2015-10-30) [Support]

TeXDistPrefPane (2015-10-22) [Support]

Time Machine: #

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 499.06 GB Disk used: 254.28 GB

Destinations:

My Book 2TB [Local]

Total size: 2.00 TB

Total number of backups: 2

Oldest backup: 02/04/2016, 13:51

Last backup: 02/04/2016, 15:39

Size of backup disk: Excellent

Backup size 2.00 TB > (Disk size 499.06 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU: #

21% WindowServer

2% fontd

1% Finder

1% kernel_task

0% WolframKernel(2)

Top Processes by Memory: #

2.05 GB Preview

1.72 GB kernel_task

1.17 GB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(11)

508 MB Finder

426 MB Mail

Virtual Memory Information: #

1013 MB Free RAM

15.00 GB Used RAM (2.80 GB Cached)

3.61 GB Swap Used

Diagnostics Information: #

Apr 17, 2016, 03:53:25 PM ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/fontd_2016-04-17-155325_[redacted].crash

/System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/ ATS.framework/Versions/A/Support/fontd

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Answer 12

Apr 18, 2016 3:43 AM in response to garyma

Having 1GB of free RAM should not be a problem. It is normal that as you restart, free RAM will be larger and will diminish over time.

I don't see any obvious red signs in the etrecheck report. I do wonder about this tunnelblick software. It appears to be an open source vpn software, that I had not heard of. It is probably legit, but I wonder why this would need to install kernel extensions. I would try uninstalling it and see if there is any change.

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Answer 13

garyma Author

Level 1

15 points

Apr 18, 2016 3:48 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Umm, Tunnelblick was recommended by my Systems Administrators at work. If I quit Tunnelblick and Preview, and relaunch Preview, both issues have disappeared! I propose to let things run until Thursday evening, to make sure that the issues do not return without Tunnelblick, before closing the discussion.

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Answer 14

jkbull

Level 1

86 points

Apr 18, 2016 8:33 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Luis Sequeira1 wrote:

I do wonder about this tunnelblick software. It appears to be an open source vpn software, that I had not heard of. It is probably legit, but I wonder why this would need to install kernel extensions. I would try uninstalling it and see if there is any change.

Tunnelblick is legitimate, with hundreds of thousands of users. It sometimes needs to load kernel extensions because certain OpenVPN configurations requires the use of a "tun" or "tap" device that is different from the "utun" device built into OS X. Tunnelblick loads the extensions only if and when they are needed, and only while a VPN is connected, so simply having Tunnelblick running does not load any kexts -- you need to be connected to the VPN (or trying to connect).

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Answer 15

jkbull

Level 1

86 points

Apr 18, 2016 4:57 AM in response to garyma

Please try the following: Launch Tunnelblick, but do not connect to a VPN. See if the problems in Preview still happen.

If the problems only happen while you are connected to the VPN, the most likely cause of the problems is that Preview is making Internet requests that are being routed through the VPN and not handled properly. Preview and other Apple applications "phone home" to perform a variety of functions, and if that is interfered with a lot of strange things can happen.

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