OS X Mavericks Portable Genius

Chapter 7 How Do I Work with PDFs in Preview?

Portable Document Format files (PDFs) are the de facto standard for disseminating documents over the Internet and throughout many corporations. This is due largely to their portability across multiple operating systems, their relatively small file sizes, and the availability of security options for sensitive information. Mavericks includes an application called Preview that can open, edit, and save PDFs (most of the graphics on your screen are created with PDF technology). In this chapter, I show you how to work with PDF files using Preview.

Opening and Saving PDFs in Preview

PDF files have become a standard document format that almost anyone who uses a computer has seen at some point. Most documents on the Internet are PDF files. Anyone on any computer can open PDFs, whether the computer runs OS X, Windows, or Linux, as long as a PDF reader application, such as Preview or Adobe Reader, is installed.

Preview can open many types of files; see Chapter 12 for a comprehensive list. This chapter maintains a laser-like focus on PDFs. To open a PDF file in Preview, do the following:

1. From within Finder, choose Go→Applications and then double-click the Preview icon to open the application. You could also launch Preview from Launchpad.

2. The Preview window appears if you’ve enabled your iCloud account. You have the option of choosing ...