Even long-time users of Mac’s often don’t realise how powerful many of the simple tools, built-in to macOS, actually are.
Two of the most underrated are Preview and QuickTime Player, with both able to do much more than many people realise, and just like we dug into Finder in a previous article, we decided to the same with these two.
In this article, we’ll look at a few hidden features that you might not have discovered yet.
TLDR? Scroll to the bottom for a video version, to get the run down in under 60 seconds.
1. Copy and Paste Text from Images and PDFs
Preview has an underrated Live Text feature that lets you copy text directly from images and PDFs.
Just open a file in Preview and hover over any visible text. If the feature is supported (some low-res images or password-protected PDFs are excluded), your cursor will change to a text selector. From there, highlight the text and press ⌘ + C to copy it (as always).
2. Remove Backgrounds from Images
Preview also includes a surprisingly effective background removal tool, giving a cleaner result than a lot of automated tools.
To use it, open an image in Preview, and go to Tools > Remove Background.
Preview will automatically detect the subject and remove the background, with a subtle feather added to soften the outline of the shape.
You’ll see a live glowing preview before applying changes, and we were impressed by how well it worked with long hair, which is always a good place to test background removal tools.
3. Trimming a Video
Using QuickTime, you can quickly trim the start or end of a video.
Start off by opening the file in QuickTime, then Press ⌘ + T (or go to Edit > Trim).
Drag the yellow handles to select the portion you want to keep, then press Trim to finalise the edit.
4. Extract Audio from a Video
You can convert any video in audio without needing additional software.
Open the video, and go to File > Export As > Audio Only.
This exports your audio as an .m4a file - great for a quick export.
5. Add Multiple Clips Together
Possibly the most underrated QuickTime feature is one that lets you append multiple clips together.
After opening the video, go to Edit > Add Clip to End, select the file you’d like to add, and you can switch between the files on your timeline, editing them individually.
For quick edits and simple pieces of content, Preview and QuickTime are surprisingly capable, and if you’ve got any macOs tricks worth sharing then we’d love to hear them!