Some Mac users may not be aware that their computer’s operating system has fully embraced Adobe’s PDF format. You can save any file, any web page, basically anything as a PDF right from the File > Print command.
Apple machines also come with Apple example (opens in new tab)a free pdf reader for macsdesigned to preview many different types of image file formats and PDFs.
Apple Preview: Getting Started
So how good is Preview? At first glance, it seems like you can do pretty much anything Adobe Acrobat Reader DC does (without being bombarded with ads to upgrade, of course).
Double-click on a PDF (or image – but we’ll take that as a given and focus on the documents in question for this review), and it opens, just as you’d expect. You can scroll through the document, zoom in or out, and even print if you want.
There is a thumbnail sidebar that you can activate on the left that makes it easy to browse a multi-page document by displaying a small version of all available pages one above the other. By dragging the border between it and the main preview area, you can increase or decrease the size of those thumbnails.
Scrolling can be set per page, or as continuous scrolling, and if your screen is big enough to see them without squinting too much, you can also set Preview if you want to show you two pages side by side.
At the top right of the interface you will find a large search field that you can use to find specific words in the document (as long as the PDF is formatted correctly of course and not just a JPEG of a page formatted as PDF, but this is a problem for any pdf reader).
Apple Preview: Take Notes
If that’s all you need, fantastic! Preview can meet all your needs. But there’s more. For example, what if you need to take notes? You’ll find a wealth of tools to help you achieve this.
There’s a highlighter, for instance, which comes with a choice of five colors and even offers the option to underline or strikethrough text (only in red for those two options, note).
But if you need more, say hello to the Markup Toolbar. It’s not enabled by default, but a simple click on an icon reveals plenty of other features.
Allows you to add text boxes to any page should you wish to add a comment. The editing flexibility of these boxes is as extensive as you’d expect from a simple word processor: you can change the font, alignment, style, color, add a background fill or an outline color – there’s a lot of flexibility there. Preview remembers those settings and applies them to the next text box you create – but of course you’re free to change it if you want.
But that’s not all: you have freehand tools to create editable shapes. If you prefer more defined templates, you have a handful of ready-made templates, such as a line with an arrow, a speech bubble, a circle, a square, another with rounded edges, that sort of thing. These shapes are also fully customizable.
If post-it notes (or equivalent) are more your thing, you can add those too and place them wherever you want (only if they’re minimized). And if you’re tired of those yellow notes, that’s just the default color – the five colors of the highlighters are also available for your notes.
With eSign software becoming more and more popular, you have the option to add a digital signature and use that toolbar to insert it wherever you want in the document.
To create such a signature, Preview gives you the option of scanning in one (with your Mac’s built-in camera — not the most ideal option), or scribbling on your laptop’s trackpad. The option we liked the most is the ability to connect to your iPhone or iPad. No installation is required, just choose it from the list of available devices and use that screen and your finger to recreate your signature.
This should cover most people’s needs. But Apple went even further…
Apple Preview: Create PDF
Now this title can be a bit misleading as you can’t really edit the contents of an existing file using Preview. What you can do, however, is delete unwanted pages, rearrange them, change their orientation, and essentially tweak a document to focus on exactly what you need.
Even better, you can copy one or more pages from one document and paste them into a brand new document. Or, if you have two documents open side-by-side with the thumbnail sidebar enabled, just drag a page from one sidebar to another to duplicate it in that second document.
This kind of flexibility is very welcome, and while you can’t create a PDF document from scratch, an alternative would be to use Pages and save it as a PDF. You can just save the sections you are most interested in to create a custom PDF that is perfect for your needs.
When it’s time to save this new document, click on the ‘Permissions’ button to get a wealth of options: you can choose to password protect it and even allow the reader certain possibilities , even if they don’t know the password, such as printing, inserting pages, or filling out form fields.
Apple Preview: Final Verdict
For a free PDF reader that comes preinstalled on every Mac, Apple Preview is a remarkably powerful tool that gives you the basics while also letting you run what could be considered pretty powerful editing and note-taking functions. You’ll even find a PDF merge tool and a seamless way to combine PDFs.
Unless you’re a full-fledged PDF editor (or even a free PDF editor) to actually change the content of a PDF, Preview must be able to meet all your needs. It’s just a shame it’s only available on Macs.
Apple Preview Scorecard
| Attribute | Comments: | Score (out of 5) |
|---|---|---|
| Easy start | Simple, accessible and stylish | 5 |
| Tools | Many tools for broad usage scenarios | 5 |
| PDF editor | Not a real editor, but document reordering features | 4 |
Should I try it?
