Change settings in Preview on Mac

Use Preview settings to change options for the window background, for working with files and images, and for editing PDFs.

Go to the Preview app on your Mac, choose Preview > Settings, then click a setting.

General

Use the General pane in Preview settings to change the background color you see on the screen.

Option	Description
Window background	Change a window’s background color.

Use the Images pane in Preview settings to change options for opening image files, and scaling images.

Option	Description
When opening files	Choose whether to open files in a new window. Open groups of files in the same window: Uses one window for each set of files you open in Preview at the same time. Open each file in its own window: Uses one window for each file.
Define 100% scale as	Set how an image appears onscreen or when printed. 1 image pixel equals 1 screen point: Display an image at full resolution, with one image pixel equaling one screen point. Size on screen equals size on printout: Set the print size of an image to be the size that appears onscreen.

Option

Description

When opening files

Choose whether to open files in a new window.

Open groups of files in the same window: Uses one window for each set of files you open in Preview at the same time.
Open each file in its own window: Uses one window for each file.

Define 100% scale as

Set how an image appears onscreen or when printed.

1 image pixel equals 1 screen point: Display an image at full resolution, with one image pixel equaling one screen point.
Size on screen equals size on printout: Set the print size of an image to be the size that appears onscreen.

Use the PDF pane in Preview settings to change settings for working with PDF documents.

Option	Description
Define 100% scale as	Set how a document appears onscreen or when printed. 1 point equals 1 screen pixel: Display a document at full resolution, with one document pixel equaling one screen pixel. Size on screen equals size on printout: Set the print size of a document to be the size that appears onscreen.
On opening documents	Select the checkbox if you want previously viewed documents to open at the last page you viewed. Deselect to open documents at the first page.
Opening for the first time	Choose whether to show documents that you open as Continuous Scroll, Single Page, or Two Pages.
Viewing documents	Choose whether to display page numbers as Roman numerals.
Annotations	To add your name to annotations that you make in a document, select “Add name to annotations,” then type your name in the field.

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