Often times we need to edit photos by resizing them, however the common myth is that you need a Photo Editing App in order to do this. In this article, we are showing you how to Resize Photos on Mac using the built-in Preview app.
Resize Photos on Mac
As mentioned above, you don't really need a Photo Editing App to resize Photos, you can make use of the default Preview app on your Mac to resize photos.
This method works for Photos located on the desktop and also for Photos located in a Folder, just about anywhere on your Mac.
Reduce PDF file size on Mac One handy feature of PDF Squeezer is its verification for reduced files. If you were trying to reduce a file below a particular threshold – say you needed the final file size to be 80 percent smaller, but it only reduced to 40 percent of its original size – the app allows you to cancel the compression and start over.
- In the Preview app on your Mac, open the PDF, then choose File Export. (Don't choose Export as PDF.) Click the Quartz Filter pop-up menu, then choose Reduce File Size. See also Add effects to a PDF in Preview on Mac Resize, rotate, or flip an image in Preview on Mac Save a document as a PDF in Preview on Mac.
- Preview allows you to shrink the file size with minimal reduction in quality by using an export filter. Open the PDF file in Preview. Select File and Export. Select Reduce File Size in Quartz Filter and name the file in Export As.
The only place where this method does not work is within the Photos App on your Mac. However, you can easily get around this limitation by simply dragging your Photos from Photo app to your Desktop or any Folder on your Mac.
Note: When you resize photos using the Preview App, you will end up losing the original photo as it will be replaced by the resized photo. In case you want to keep the original photo, make a copy of the original photo and then resize the copied photo.
Resize Photos on Mac Using Preview App
Follow the steps to Resize Photos on Mac using the Preview App.
1. Double click on the Photo that you want to Resize and allow it to open in the Preview app.
Note: If you have chosen a different App as your default Photo viewer, then right click on the photo and select Open with > Preview.
2. Once the Photo opens in the Preview App, click on Tools from the top menu bar of your Mac and then click on Adjust Size… option in the drop-down menu.
3. On the next screen, make sure that the option for Scale proportionally is checked (See image below)
Making the photo Scale proportionally ensures that any change that you make to the width of the photo will result in a proportional change in the height of the photo and vice-versa.
4. Next, you can choose whether you want to resize the image in pixels, centimeters, inches, percent, millimeters or points (See image below)
5. After selecting the resizing Unit, enter the new dimensions (Width or Height) for your image (See image below)
6. As you can see in the image above, the Preview App also allows you to change the Resolution of the images. This is helpful, in case you are also trying to reduce the size of the image.
Mac Preview Shrink Pdf File
Following are the recommended image resolutions for images, based on where you want to use them.
- 72 – 150 pixels – For images to be used on websites
- 240 – 300 – If you will be printing the image
- 600 – If you want the image to be of very high quality, as used in advertising and other uses where high resolution images are required.
Mac Preview Shrink Pdf
7. Finally, click on the Ok button once you have finished resizing the photo (See image in step #5 above)
Resize Multiple Photos on Mac Using Preview App
The Preview app also allows you to resize multiple photos and you can use this option in case you have too many images to be resized.
1. Press the command key on the keyboard of your Mac and then select the Photos that you want to resize
Note: You could also quickly select photos by dragging your Mouse over them.
2. Once the Photos are selected, right-click on one of the photos that you want to resize and then select Open with > Preview option in the contextual menu (See image below).
Note: All selected Photos should open in a single window. Repeat the step above in case the selected Photos open in separate or multiple windows.
3. Next, click on Edit form the top menu bar on your Mac and then click on Select All option in the drop-down menu (See image below).
4. Once the Photos are selected, click on Tools from the top menu bar of your Mac and then click on Adjust Size… option in the dropdown menu.
5. On the next screen, make sure that the option to Scale Proportionally is selected and then enter the new size (Height or Width) for the Photos and click on the Ok button (See image below).
Image Size in Multiple Values?
While trying to Resize images on Mac, you may find the preview App displaying the words 'Multiple Values' for Width, Height and Resolution Fields (See image below).
This is happening because the images that you have selected for resizing are in various units of measurement. In such a case, you can still resize images on your Mac by choosing to resize images in Percent (See image above).
Undo Photo Resize
In case you resized a photo to the wrong size, or simply do not like how the resized photo turned out, you can follow the steps below to undo the photo resize.
1. Double click on the Photo that you want to Undo the Resize for
2. Once the Photo opens in the Preview App, click on File from the top menu bar of your Mac and then click on Revert to > Browse all versions in the drop-down menu and contextual menus (See image below)
3. On the next screen, you will be able to browse and choose from the previous saved versions of the Photo stored on your Mac.
4. Simply, select the saved version of the photo that suits your requirements and then click on the Revert button
Compress PDFs in a click
Download Preview For Mac
When you need to compress PDF files, the choices you have can be confusing. Moreover, it's hard to know if you're doing it the right way, or if whatever method you're using to reduce PDF size may compromise its quality.
Here we'll show you how to compress a PDF the right way, and what to watch out for when reducing the file size of any PDF.
Best way to compress PDF on Mac
First things first: When you shrink a PDF file on your Mac, it should never harm the document. It also shouldn't take a long time. If you need to shrink PDF files, and it's taking longer than a few seconds (for most files), that's an issue.
It's entirely possible the compression is compromising the file, which could have devastating effects.
The Best PDF File Compressor
Compress multiples PDF files at once without loss of quality.
Your best bet is to find a reliable app to compress PDF file sizes without harming the document. One of the best options is PDF Squeezer for Mac. It can reduce size of PDF by up to 90 percent. It also has an option to limit a PDF's image quality – allowing you to purposefully reduce an image's quality to make the reduced file size even smaller when it's compressed. This is really handy when you have something like a text document that doesn't need to be pixel-perfect.
You can also choose the final resolution of a PDF, convert its color profile, eliminate annotations, choose a sampling rate, and convert to bitmap if desired. PDF Squeezer simply has a ton of fine-tuning you can do to find that sweet-spot for a reduced PDF that retains as much (or little) quality as you like.
Reduce PDF file size on Mac
One handy feature of PDF Squeezer is its verification for reduced files. If you were trying to reduce a file below a particular threshold – say you needed the final file size to be 80 percent smaller, but it only reduced to 40 percent of its original size – the app allows you to cancel the compression and start over. This is when you could fine-tune the file's image quality to further reduce its final size.
For those of you who really need a powerful, free PDF compressor, PDF Squeezer also batch-reduces PDFs. It can take several files, shrink them individually, and allow you the same granular fine-tuning options!
PDF Squeezer even lets you squeeze entire folders and sub-folders full of PDFs. It really is the most powerful option we've found for reducing the file size of a PDF.
Your Mac has a built-in way to reduce the make PDF smaller. The Preview app has a really straightforward way to compress PDFs. We'll show you how
Combine Pdf Mac Preview
The most popular way: Use Adobe to squeeze PDFs
If you're wondering how to make a PDF smaller using the most popular method, Adobe Acrobat is the answer. It's far and away the leading name for PDFs, including reducing file sizes. Adobe premiere the install may be damaged mac.
There's good reason we're not recommending it, though. Adobe Acrobat is very expensive. If all you're looking to do is reduce PDF file sizes, there's just no reason to use Adobe Acrobat. It's also a really cumbersome process. Here's how to use Adobe Acrobat to reduce the file size of a PDF:
- In Adobe Acrobat Pro, Select ‘File' from the menu bar.
- Select ‘Open.'
- Select the file you want to open.
- Select ‘File' in that document's menu bar.
- Select ‘Save as Other.'
- Select ‘Reduced size PDF.'
- In the pop-up window, select ‘Retain existing' in the ‘Make compatible with' selector.
- Select a location to save the file.
- Click save.
Compressing PDFs online
There are many, many options to reduce a PDF file online. One of the better options is SmallPDF. It's a pretty straightforward process, and it's free – but there are drawbacks.
To download a file, you have to upload it to SmallPDF's servers. This is how it's able to compress a file; there's just no way for it to compress a file remotely. If you're uncomfortable with having your document living on a server, don't use an online service. They will all do something similar.
SmallPDF.com says your file only lives on its server for an hour, which seems like a way to keep it handy in case you retrieve it later for some reason.
You also have to download your compressed PDF from its server, which means you are relying on a connection. While the download isn't large, you may find yourself unable to download it if your connection isn't good.
Learn more about how to search a PDF on Mac
Tips for compressing PDF files
There are a few things to keep in mind when compressing PDF files that may save you a lot of time:
- Delete anything unnecessary. If your file doesn't absolutely need the images or graphs you've included, eliminating them can really help when reducing a PDF. Images and other visual assets take up a lot of file space.
- Remove unnecessary pages. Consider why you're exporting the file. If you need someone to read through a whitepaper, they may not need to look at the three pages of positive customer feedback at the end of the document. Consider which pages can be eliminated.
- Create multiple files. If you need someone on one team to look at a specific portion of your PDF, consider creating a separate PDF file with only the assets they need, which you can send just to them. That's what batch-reduction was made for!
- Try exporting to other formats first. Sometimes opening a file in Word, then saving as a PDF – and then using PDF file compression actually works best.
Conclusion
There are several reasons you may need to shrink a PDF down. One of the more common reasons is to send it along as a mail attachment. Email services can be really finicky about how large an attachment can be, so reducing the size of a PDF is advantageous.
Edit Pdf Mac Preview
You may also just need to save space on your computer. If you've ever let your ‘documents' memory get overly full, reducing file sizes can definitely help.
Whatever your needs are, we suggest PDF Squeezer. It's fast, easy to use, and has a robust feature-set that's great for all users. It's simply the best PDF file size reduction app we've ever used.
Best of all, PDF Squeezer is free as part of a seven day trial of Setapp for Mac. Setapp is a subscription service that also provides you with access to dozens of other productivity apps for the Mac. Once your trial ends, Setapp is only $9.99 per month, a massive savings when compared to buying even a small portion of the apps you'll gain access to.
So don't wait – give Setapp a try today!
Meantime, prepare for all the awesome things you can do with Setapp.
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