how to open a file in preview

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how to open a file in preview? i thought I had it figured out . Evertime I try to open jpeg file adobe photo comes up. I suck at this computer stuff so sorry if this sounds like a dumb question. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
 

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While you're browsing in Finder - hit the space bar - this will open the highlighted file in Preview
 

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Finder is the OS X equivalent of Windows Explorer. It is the program you use to copy/move/see files. It is represented by the icon which looks like a blue face (for lack of a better description).
 
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Finder can also be accessed by clicking on the Macintosh HD icon on your desktop. Undoubtedly you are already using it to find the JPEG and try to open it, unless it is on your desktop. Anyway, find the file you are trying to open, right click on it (or hold down Control and click), and select "Get Info". When the window pops up you will see about halfway down an option labeled "Open with". You may have to click the small triangle next to this to see the options below it. There will be a small drop down menu which lists all of the available applications to open the file with. Select Preview from the list, then click the "Change All..." button. This will change all JPEG files' associations so from now on they will always open with Preview.
 
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I could open it in photoshop but I wanted to open it in preview to print it out. I did the above steps but now when I click to open it does'nt open. Sorry to be such a nuisance. I am not very knowledgaable about this stuff. Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 

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I did the above steps but now when I click to open it does'nt open.
Do you get any sort of response after double clicking the JPEG?
 
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Yes. All that happens is the an icon appears very quickly on my dock then dissappears. not sure why. It is an icon that looks like an A.
 

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That's not Preview. The Preview icon looks like this (without the word preview at the bottom). Are you sure you set Preview as the application to open your jpegs?
 
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Thanks! I was wondering how I got that box up, guess I just accidently hit the spacebar and didn't know it!

I don't think I can help the OP any more than what has already been said, But when you highlight a file and hit the Space Bar the file will open Quick Look not "Preview"..
Quick Look is a previewing program that comes with Mac OS X version 10.5 Leopard, but doesn't use Preview. If Preview is not open and you hit Space Bar on a Highlighted file you will notice Preview stays closed. The Quick Look program lets you view a sample of a document, picture, movie, or other file without opening an application. This will even play a music file or display a PDF file, just about any common file type. You can also use the arrow keys to go to the Next or Previous file with Quick Look.
 
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Yes. I did as the gentleman stated above. Clicked on file and the select to get info and then went down to open and selected preview. The weird thing is it says preview bot has an icon with paper and an A looking character next to it. It has a pencil and a bruch forming this A looking shape. So I don't kow what the deal is. I think it might be the apllications icon if I'm not mistaken. But it does say preview.
 
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If you go to your Applications folder in Finder is the Preview app in the folder? If so, is the icon the same as the one you are seeing when you try to open a JPEG?
 

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I don't think I can help the OP any more than what has already been said, But when you highlight a file and hit the Space Bar the file will open Quick Look not "Preview"..
Quick Look is a previewing program that comes with Mac OS X version 10.5 Leopard, but doesn't use Preview. If Preview is not open and you hit Space Bar on a Highlighted file you will notice Preview stays closed. The Quick Look program lets you view a sample of a document, picture, movie, or other file without opening an application. This will even play a music file or display a PDF file, just about any common file type. You can also use the arrow keys to go to the Next or Previous file with Quick Look.

Yep he got it right - I was wrong - what I get for trying to do this stuff while I'm suppose to be working.
 

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It sounds as if something is wrong with Preview itself. Execute the following command in the Terminal (/Applications/Utilites/Terminal.app):
Code:
/Applications/Preview.app/Contents/MacOS/Preview
I'm not on my Mac right now so the Preview at the end may or may not be capitalized.

Do you get any output in the Terminal window?
 
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Not sure what you mean by terminal. Sorry I suck at this computer stuff.
 

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Like I mentioned in my previous post, open /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app and execute the command I listed.
 

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