Preview Markup Function

[hughvane]

How can I get any Preview image or document to have as its default setting ‘Show Markup Toolbar’?

I use that function a lot, but cannot find anything relating to it in Settings.

It seems I have to set it with each new image each time. Even a saved image that has been modified with Markup reverts to a Nil setting (my definition) of Markup in View. I’d like to have it as a Default, and cancel it if I don’t wish to use it.

TIA … Hugh

 

[pm-r]

I’d like to have it as a Default, and cancel it if I don’t wish to use it.

I would certainly appreciate having such an option as with many others who have been asking Apple for just such a feature for years, but their wishes seem to be falling on deaf ears at the Apple software headquarters.

Denise, similar requests on similar Google search pages such as this one:

Google Search

So I wouldn't hold your breath for expecting any change, but please let me know if you discover a method to enable it. Or maybe there's another Application that does a similar thing that leaves a working menu in place as a default setting. But I haven't really bothered to look as it is certainly easy enough to enable but maybe creating a keyboard shortcut could make it even quicker and easier.




- Patrick
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[Randy B. Singer]

How can I get any Preview image or document to have as its default setting ‘Show Markup Toolbar’?...

It seems I have to set it with each new image each time.

It's that way on purpose. Apple is actually responding to consumers here. Apple dallied with offering some pretty advanced software for a while. Many users whined about those apps being too hard to use. Some wanted apps to go all the way back and to be as easy to use as the original MacWrite and MacPaint.

What Apple learned is that having too many features in their free software applications SCARES and infuriates users. So in response, Apple dumbed down almost all of their free apps, and discontinued some of their more advanced apps entirely.

Pages used to be much more high-end than it is now, for instance. Apps like Preview and Photos offer a lot of functionality that users want and have asked for, but those features are mostly kept well out of sight, so that they don't scare anyone.

Preview is actually a pretty powerful little app. But Apple doesn't want to make it possible to set it up (and users might do so by accident) so that functionality is always in user's faces, scaring them. I know...I know...it would be nice to be able to set things up so those features were optionally the default. But Apple has decided to do things to placate the most users possible, not please the minority of advanced users. That means that some users will be disappointed. I think that Apple assumes that such users will just use more advanced third party products.

Check out this alternative to Preview for working with PDF's. You might like it better:

FoxIt PDF Reader (free)
https://www.foxit.com/pdf-reader/
(View, print, annotate, fill-in forms, and sign PDF documents. )

 

[TotalSolutions]

I take it you are using the keyboard short cut (Shift + Command + A)

 

[hughvane]

I take it you are using the keyboard short cut (Shift + Command + A)

No, I use the Menu Bar>View>Show Markup Toolbar.

 

[pm-r]

I think that Apple assumes that such users will just use more advanced third party products.

Check out this alternative to Preview for working with PDF's. You might like it better:

FoxIt PDF Reader (free)
Free PDF Reader: Download and View PDFs | Foxit

Wowsers... Search users would certainly have to be pretty dedicated with a pretty healthy softer budget to use either of their versions!!!

FOXIT
PDF Editorwith Admin Console
CAD CA$199.57

FOXIT
PDF Editor+with Admin Console
eSign, Smart Redact, Mobile
CAD CA$245.63 /year

But thanks for the information that such a product is out there but it's too bad that Apple doesn't act on some of the wishes many Mac OS users keep requesting, some for several years now and most requests would make most software easier to use so that's a pretty feeble excuse for apples reasons I would say.




- Patrick
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[pm-r]

I take it you are using the keyboard short cut (Shift + Command + A)

Thanks for the reminder that the keyboard shortcut is available.

And for those still using Preview in El Capitan, and maybe even Yosemite, you should be able to customize the preview toolbar by moving the icon up into the toolbar which will open the markup toolbar with a single click, and the icon should look like this:

I don't know if they option is available in between those OS versions and Mac OS 15 Sequoia, but in Sequoia Mac OS 15 the option is still available but the icon was changed slightly with the letter A inside a circle that looks like this:


A single click and the markup toolbar is instantly there almost like it was a permanent feature.

Works for me, and is easier and quicker than using the keyboard shortcut especially if you have rheumatoid arthritis badly in your hands as I do.

Maybe it would work as well for you Hugh and might be a good workaround solution for you?
I know I will enjoy using it.




- Patrick
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[MacInWin]

the icon was changed slightly with the letter A inside a circle that looks like this:

I think actually it's meant to be a pencil or pen point in a circle, but if you see an "A" that's ok.

 

[pm-r]

I think actually it's meant to be a pencil or pen point in a circle, but if you see an "A" that's

I think you're probably right Jake, but why they changed it from a toolbox makes no logical sense, especially for something that's supposed to represent the toolbar.



- Patrick
========

 

[MacInWin]

I think you're probably right Jake, but why they changed it from a toolbox makes no logical sense, especially for something that's supposed to represent the toolbar.



- Patrick
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Well, like every other icon, if you hover over it, it says it's the toolbar icon.

 

[pm-r]

Well, like every other icon, if you hover over it, it says it's the toolbar icon.

Well, I guess that will help those who remember or like to hover their pointer over icons. that doesn't include me of course.




- Patrick
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[Randy B. Singer]

Wowsers... Search users would certainly have to be pretty dedicated with a pretty healthy softer budget to use either of their versions!!!

If you want an advanced PDF Editor, there are a bunch of them. Let me know and I can offer a list of them. However, for some reason, no true PDF editor (i.e. that can erase text and replace it, and/or do OCR) is at all inexpensive.

 

[pm-r]

However, for some reason, no true PDF editor (i.e. that can erase text and replace it, and/or do OCR) is at all inexpensive.

Well, it may not have been a "true PDF editor" or even advertised as such, but I can recall using AppleWorks.app many times to erase and remove existing text from a PDF file and replace it with different text. It was a bit fiddly but it worked and worked quite well. And the price was excellent. It was an excellent application and often underrated in my opinion and had all kinds of hidden features available for changing graphics and text regardless of format, and it wasn't even officially known as the text to editor. Amazing piece of software, even if Steve Jobs didn't like it and has it killed.




- Patrick
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[MacBiter]

I'm puzzled by the advice to add 'Markup' to the toolbar - all that does is to pick a colour for Strikethrough and Highlight. For me, it would be MUCH more useful if Annotate.. was in the toolbar but Customise doesn't even offer that as an option. I use Annotate quite a lot and would love it to be there by default.

 

[MacBiter]

Well, it may not have been a "true PDF editor" or even advertised as such, but I can recall using AppleWorks.app many times to erase and remove existing text from a PDF file and replace it with different text. It was a bit fiddly but it worked and worked quite well. And the price was excellent. It was an excellent application and often underrated in my opinion and had all kinds of hidden features available for changing graphics and text regardless of format, and it wasn't even officially known as the text to editor. Amazing piece of software, even if Steve Jobs didn't like it and has it killed.

It was very useful - I particularly liked its Subscribe, and Macro features which were never replaced in Apple apps even though Word has had them since the year dot.

But I'm not sure Jobs killed it off through dislike? After all it was Carbonised and would continue to be bundled with / run on PPC Macs. It was killed off by iLife on Intel Macs, though iLife didn't have the inter-suite flexibility of A/Works. I think the suite might have survived if they'd made the effort to improve its UI - after all, despite its power and flexibility it was a fairly ugly app by 2006.

 

[pm-r]

I'm puzzled by the advice to add 'Markup' to the toolbar - all that does is to pick a colour for Strikethrough and Highlight.

Thanks for your alert MacBiter, and you are quite right, clicking on the markup icon in the toolbar does not work the same as using the annotation option or as it worked when I first tried using it.

I have no idea why it changed working the way it did but it's definitely very frustrating but it doesn't work as expected. I guess I'll try some more experimenting but I also noticed that the markup icon is also part of the default settings that Apple provides.

So maybe it just works completely differently when using it??? I have nothing but question so far.

But like so many things I have been experiencing with macOS 15.x Sequoia customized or personalized and actually working properly has been like climbing a sandbank... You take two or three steps up and end up with one or two steps sliding back down, or more. :-(

With all the latest security stuff in place, using a Mac these days reminds me of apples first Super Bowl commercial, but now the big guy on the screen is Apple themselves and their OS Developers.

You're only choice these days is to use it or not, but I'm too old to start changing now, but I sure do miss the days of personalizing one's Mac.



- Patrick
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[pm-r]

Thanks for your alert @MacBiter, and you are quite right, clicking on the markup icon in the toolbar does not work the same as using the annotation option or as it worked when I first tried using it.

@ MacBiter

I stand corrected MacBiter after doing some further testing, using the sharpened pencil point icon to invoke and enable the Preview toolbar apps just the same as using the keyboard shortcut or clicking the drop-down menu as an alternative solution to the OP's question to have the toolbar always show.
Annotation markups work just as they always did, even without using the toolbar showing. For some users having it showing just makes things easier, and no I don't know why Apple doesn't provide an option to enable it permanently whenever Preview is opened.

I just thought it would be best to correct my erroneous reply.



- Patrick
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[MightyGem]

No, I use the Menu Bar>View>Show Markup Toolbar.

You can customise the Preview Toolbar to include the Markup button. Go Preview View Menu>Customise Toolbar and then drag the Markup Icon onto the Toolbar.

 

[pm-r]

You can customise the Preview Toolbar to include the Markup button.

Actually, the Markup Toolbar icon is part of the default Preview toolbar icons, at least it is and macOS 15.3.x Sequoia.




At least that saves a step or two.

Hopefully, that helps the OP and provides a solution for what they were wanting or at least a close workaround.




- Patrick
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- Patrick
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[MacBiter]

You can customise the Preview Toolbar to include the Markup button. Go Preview View Menu>Customise Toolbar and then drag the Markup Icon onto the Toolbar.

Sure, but Markup has very limited usefulness compared to Annotate for which there is no Toolbar button (though when you go through the menus to enable it you get its own toolbar, which has all the annotation functions on it).