Preview is auto saving changes

[Nancy Withrow]

When I change the size of a graphic in Preview and do NOT save the change and then reopen the graphic, it opens with the size change I made. It seem that Preview is automatically saving the temporary size change I made to the graphic file. I'm on iMac, El Capitan 10.11.6, Preview vers. 8.1. From now on, I'll try to remember to open a COPY of the original file. Any idea of why this is happening?

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Preview should not be doing that. Once you modify a file, the title in the top changes to include the word "- Edited" and you have to save the file manually. If that isn't working as it should, you can always hit CMD+z to revert your change and move on.

 

[ferrarr]

What type of documents does this happen with? Any/all types, or only specific types?

 

[pine man]

I have certainly noticed that if I open .pdf file with preview and then make some changes to it by annotating it, that change remains after I close it without saving it. This has happened for as long as I can remember and now I always make a copy to work on first.

 

[pm-r]

When I change the size of a graphic in Preview and do NOT save the change and then reopen the graphic, it opens with the size change I made.

It sounds like you have Mac OS X''s Auto-Save or Versions enabled, it's been around for a while now and has been driving users crazy ever since, along with the lack of Save As... in some cases. Check it out here:
Using the Mac's Auto-Save and Versions Feature
Using the Mac's Auto-Save and Versions Feature



- Patrick
======

 

[chscag]

It sounds like you have Mac OS X''s Auto-Save or Versions enabled, it's been around for a while now and has been driving users crazy ever since,

The Auto Save feature for Apple Apps is turned on by default and can not be turned off. But I agree, most users are not even aware of it nor how to use it.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Interesting, I'm on Catalina and I opened an image in Preview, and re-sized it. I got the "- Edited" in the title. I quit Preview without saving anything and re-opened the image again and it was back to its original size.

 

[pm-r]

The Auto Save feature for Apple Apps is turned on by default and can not be turned off. But I agree, most users are not even aware of it nor how to use it.

I did not know that and I guess they dropped that option after Mavericks.
Turn Off Auto-Save in OS X Mountain Lion & Mavericks

If you don’t like the Auto-Save feature of OS X, you’ll be pleased to discover that turning it off system-wide on a Mac is just a matter of checking a settings box within OS X Mountain Lion and OS X Mavericks. This will disable the automatic saving behavior for all files across all documents on a Mac.

Turn Off Auto-Save in OS X Mountain Lion & Mavericks

It's nice having the option, but I must admit I don't change it very often as I do like the old classic fashion method using my Mavericks OS.



- Patrick
======

 

[pm-r]

Interesting, I'm on Catalina and I opened an image in Preview, and re-sized it. I got the "- Edited" in the title. I quit Preview without saving anything and re-opened the image again and it was back to its original size.

Hmmm...??? It seems that Catalina's System Preferences > General still has the option to "Ask to keep changes when closing documents".

So I assume if it wasn't checked nothing would happen????

I have no idea if that is a Catalina OS default setting or not.


- Patrick
======

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Hmmm...??? It seems that Catalina's System Preferences > General still has the option to "Ask to keep changes when closing documents".

So I assume if it wasn't checked nothing would happen????

I have no idea if that is a Catalina OS default setting or not.


- Patrick
======

But having that setting enabled (which I do not) would just prompt me to save the file as opposed to saving it automatically for me which the OP is complaining about.

 

[Nancy Withrow]

OK. I see where others have noticed the same problem with Preview and auto-saving changes. I went to link Patrick shared about Mac's AutoSave feature. The article states that the AutoSave is turned on by default and cannot be turned off. So, that is what has been happening when I resize/modify a .jpg or .png graphic and I do not save the changes, close the window, and then later open the same graphic and see that Preview saved the change I made and the original version is no longer available. So, from now on - I need to remember to work from a copy of the original. I don't know why Apple did that - not making it possible to even turn off that default! As I mentioned earlier, I'm using El Capitan.

- - - Updated - - -

Apparently this can't be turned off in El Capitan.

 

[chscag]

Apparently this can't be turned off in El Capitan.

That's correct. You would need to update macOS. In Mojave for example, it can be turned off... note what Ashwin posted above.

 

[pm-r]

Apparently this can't be turned off in El Capitan.

One would think they would just leave the options available and at least be consistent about the thing among the different OS X versions. I sure can't see any value or benefit of disabling the option.


- Patrick
======

 

[Nancy Withrow]

I can't update my macOS unless I buy a new iMac. El Capitan is as far as I can go. My old iMac is working fine. Buying new computer w/new OS would mean updating a bunch of apps like Quark Xpress, Photoshop, etc., and since I'm now retired - no need to go to all that expense.

 

[Nancy Withrow]

I'm a long-time member, but have been off the forum for several years. I need a refresher on how to reply to a specific post - like I thought I did to cshcag when he suggested I update my OS. I read his post, then clicked on "reply" in the same block his post was in, but my reply ("I can't update my macOS...") shows up in a new box. What am I doing wrong?

 

[krs]

Gosh - if one doesn't log into this forum several times a day, one can easily fall way behind....

So - I'm on ElCapitan and I don't have this problem with Preview.
Normally, when I change an item with Preview, I give it a slightly different name and use "Save As..."
That way I keep the original and also have the modified version.

But if I don't, say I changed my mind and just close the window after I made the change, I get the option to revert back to the original.
This is a bit different than the way the Mac used to work and I think it all came about when Apple changed the way one accesses "Save As...'
I have it in my File dropdown the way it used to be rather than having to use the Option key.

 

[MacInWin]

I'm a long-time member, but have been off the forum for several years. I need a refresher on how to reply to a specific post - like I thought I did to cshcag when he suggested I update my OS. I read his post, then clicked on "reply" in the same block his post was in, but my reply ("I can't update my macOS...") shows up in a new box. What am I doing wrong?

Nancy, that is how it works. If you want to quote the post you are replying to, click on "Reply with Quote." But you don't need to quote every time you post as we generally can follow the thread as we read along. If you want to respond to a specific person without the quote, then start the post with "@<<name>>," where you put the name of the poster. So, if I wanted to respond to you, I would start "@Nancy Withrow" or just "@Nancy" so you, and everybody else, know that I am responding to you.

 

[Nancy Withrow]

Nancy, that is how it works. If you want to quote the post you are replying to, click on "Reply with Quote." But you don't need to quote every time you post as we generally can follow the thread as we read along. If you want to respond to a specific person without the quote, then start the post with "@<<name>>," where you put the name of the poster. So, if I wanted to respond to you, I would start "@Nancy Withrow" or just "@Nancy" so you, and everybody else, know that I am responding to you.

OK - ty for your reply. I'm trying this - let's see if I did it right!

 

[Nancy Withrow]

Gosh - if one doesn't log into this forum several times a day, one can easily fall way behind....

So - I'm on ElCapitan and I don't have this problem with Preview.
Normally, when I change an item with Preview, I give it a slightly different name and use "Save As..."
That way I keep the original and also have the modified version.

But if I don't, say I changed my mind and just close the window after I made the change, I get the option to revert back to the original.
This is a bit different than the way the Mac used to work and I think it all came about when Apple changed the way one accesses "Save As...'
I have it in my File dropdown the way it used to be rather than having to use the Option key.

View attachment 30635

Yes, I would LOVE to do a "save as" in Preview - which is what most apps let you do. But the only choice I have under File dropdown is a "save". And, I'm using El Capitan as you are with the latest OS available to me (OS 10.11.6; Preview vers. 8.1). And, I'm not sure how to show you a screen capture - I just dragged a copy here - don't know if it will show up. If not - how DO I insert a screen capture like you did?
/Users/nancywinthrow/Desktop/Screen Shot 2019-11-13 at 8.42.12 AM.png

 

[krs]

Nancy - inserting an image is actually poorly set up in this software - at least from my perspective (part of my full time job)

If you use the "Quick Reply" field like I do most times, to insert an image that you have on your Mac, you click on the third icon just above the "Quick Reply" field (If you hover the mouse over it, 'Insert Image" will show up. The tab 'From Computer (at the top left) is pre-selected, if not, select it.
There you click at the bottom right where it says "Basic Uploader"
Now a "Browse" button shows up at the top left, when you click on that, a window opens up that shows the files on your Mac.
You select the image you want to attach and select it - or double click
And then you select "Upload File(s)" just below that.

You then end up with a in your 'Quick Reply' filed that is your image.
Note that only jpg, png and gif images are allowed - I usually end up using the grab.app to select the image I want to attach. Grab saves as a tiff image so I always have to convert the tiff to a jpg first.
Oh, and the image file has to be 800 pixels or smaller, so if you do a screenshot you may have to reduce the size

This, btw, is the EASY way of adding an image