Ask Different (Apple)
Q&A for power users of Apple hardware and software
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0
votes
2
answers
42
views
HEIC to JPEG conversion does not work anymore
I used to convert a bunch of HEIC pictures on my MacBook into JPEG format by using Finder, marking the HEIC, and use from the context menu "Quick Actions" and then "Convert Image". Since my update to MacOS 12.7.3 (I think I had before 12.7.1 or 12.7.2), this does not work anymore. I don't get any er...
I used to convert a bunch of HEIC pictures on my MacBook into JPEG format by using Finder, marking the HEIC, and use from the context menu "Quick Actions" and then "Convert Image".
Since my update to MacOS 12.7.3 (I think I had before 12.7.1 or 12.7.2), this does not work anymore. I don't get any error message or other visual feedback either. Clicking on "Convert to JPEG" simply does not have any observable effect.
How can this be fixed?
user1934428
(1458 rep)
Aug 4, 2025, 01:10 PM
• Last activity: Aug 5, 2025, 01:06 PM
0
votes
1
answers
175
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Facebook 360 photo won't work, shows small wide image
I am trying to upload panoramic images via iPhone app to Facebook, but it just uploads them as a small, very wide image instead of an interactive panoramic photo. How can this be fixed?
I am trying to upload panoramic images via iPhone app to Facebook, but it just uploads them as a small, very wide image instead of an interactive panoramic photo.
How can this be fixed?
ChrisB
(201 rep)
Apr 14, 2023, 12:58 AM
• Last activity: May 3, 2025, 07:06 AM
11
votes
6
answers
9759
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How do I extract an image out of a PDF using Preview for Mac?
I have a PDF that is from a scanner that is only an image (no text). Is there any way to extract the image out of the PDF in Mac Preview? Or is that the same thing as converting the PDF to an image?
I have a PDF that is from a scanner that is only an image (no text).
Is there any way to extract the image out of the PDF in Mac Preview?
Or is that the same thing as converting the PDF to an image?
Wimateeka
(432 rep)
Jul 19, 2022, 01:58 PM
• Last activity: Dec 14, 2024, 10:54 AM
6
votes
3
answers
4073
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macOS: lossless PNG to PDF conversion
I have several pages imported from scanner in PNG format. I use image editor to clean some noise, downscale to 100PDI, convert image palette to grayscale, etc. Finally I've got a bunch of PNG images of small size, looking good at computer screen still. Then I need to save these PNG pages to a single...
I have several pages imported from scanner in PNG format. I use image editor to clean some noise, downscale to 100PDI, convert image palette to grayscale, etc. Finally I've got a bunch of PNG images of small size, looking good at computer screen still.
Then I need to save these PNG pages to a single PDF file for distribution. Earlier I was able to achieve this using Preview.app. However in macOS X High Sierra 10.13 this approach does not work any longer because Preview.app is trying to downscale PNG images by 30% to fit page size. After this transform the image is not sharp enough any longer.
In earlier versions of macOS X Preview.app generated PDF file without transforming the images.
Is there a way to make a PDF file from a set of PNG images using these images as-is (without any transformation)?
Anthony Ananich
(263 rep)
Jan 7, 2018, 10:26 AM
• Last activity: Sep 7, 2024, 02:53 PM
2
votes
3
answers
1403
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Can I get Mavericks QuickLook to display Finder images scaled up to full screen like before?
In Lion if I used QuickLook to display an image, and then clicked the double arrows to make it full screen, it would scale the image to the size of my monitor (up too, not just down). Then when I used the arrow keys to navigate in the Finder, all subsequent small images would also display scaled up....
In Lion if I used QuickLook to display an image, and then clicked the double arrows to make it full screen, it would scale the image to the size of my monitor (up too, not just down). Then when I used the arrow keys to navigate in the Finder, all subsequent small images would also display scaled up. That no longer happens. In Mavericks, small images are now displayed at 100% with a black border around all four sides. You can scale individual images up by tapping the Option key, but that only applies one image at a time, not the whole series.
Is there any way to get that setting back? I used that feature a lot, and it's rather disconcerting that it's gone.
valiant66
(21 rep)
Dec 16, 2013, 03:38 AM
• Last activity: Jun 8, 2024, 07:00 AM
2
votes
4
answers
10284
views
Reducing the size of a black-and-white scanned pdf
I have a 352 page pdf that is a scan of a black-and-white text. The file size is 60.9 MB, which seems excessively large too me. (Is it indeed?) Is there an easy way to convert this file to a more compressed one? --- Edit. Here's a little sample: ![enter image description here][1] [1]: https://i.ssta...
I have a 352 page pdf that is a scan of a black-and-white text. The file size is 60.9 MB, which seems excessively large too me. (Is it indeed?)
Is there an easy way to convert this file to a more compressed one?
---
Edit. Here's a little sample:
Řídící
(900 rep)
Oct 26, 2013, 11:03 AM
• Last activity: Feb 12, 2024, 05:52 AM
5
votes
2
answers
4720
views
Filtering a photo of a document to look like a proper scan
So there are a couple of iOS apps that "scan" documents and automatically do some processing to make the image look like a quality scan from a real scanner. When I'm trying this on the Mac with pictures from a DSLR manually with Photoshop the results are usually not as good as what these apps achiev...
So there are a couple of iOS apps that "scan" documents and automatically do some processing to make the image look like a quality scan from a real scanner.
When I'm trying this on the Mac with pictures from a DSLR manually with Photoshop the results are usually not as good as what these apps achieve.
Therefore I'm looking for either a Mac app or instructions for Photoshop on how to achieve this. Or maybe even an Automator script.
Just to be clear: I do not need OCR!
Phantrast
(193 rep)
Jul 4, 2014, 09:51 AM
• Last activity: Oct 5, 2023, 06:43 AM
4
votes
2
answers
1389
views
Create MacOS style screenshots with drop shadow using Imagemagick
How do I add the drop shadow to any image with imagemagick to create the same effect that the screenshot on MacOS adds to screenshots when screencapture shadow is true? Before and after pictures are to clarify the effect I am seeking. [![Source image][1]][1] [![Target image][2]][2] [1]: https://i.ss...
How do I add the drop shadow to any image with imagemagick to create the same effect that the screenshot on MacOS adds to screenshots when screencapture shadow is true?
Before and after pictures are to clarify the effect I am seeking.
Vishal
(962 rep)
Mar 14, 2020, 06:21 AM
• Last activity: May 1, 2023, 12:48 AM
1
votes
1
answers
1511
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How can I convert a High Efficiency Image File to AVIF Image?
I want to get a [HEIF image](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Efficiency_Image_File_Format) from my Sony camera published to AVIF for the Web and it would appear `ffmpeg` can't recognise the "HEIF Image HEVC Main 10 Profile" file format and show the error: ffmpeg -hide_banner -loglevel error -i mi...
I want to get a [HEIF image](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Efficiency_Image_File_Format) from my Sony camera published to AVIF for the Web and it would appear
ffmpeg can't recognise the "HEIF Image HEVC Main 10 Profile" file format and show the error:
ffmpeg -hide_banner -loglevel error -i milan2023.HIF -c:v libaom-av1 -still-picture 1 milan2023.avif
[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0x12ce04ca0] moov atom not found
milan2023.HIF: Invalid data found when processing input
[Here is a sample image](https://s.natalian.org/2023-04-05/milan2023.HIF) .
hendry
(161 rep)
Apr 5, 2023, 12:44 PM
• Last activity: Apr 28, 2023, 08:30 AM
2
votes
1
answers
303
views
Is there a way to keep Preview contact sheet from dis-proportionately scaling?
I've been looking for a nice contact sheet facility. I learned that Preview has such a thing — "Oh joy!" I thought! But Preview (Version 11, from Catalina) disproportionately scales height and width, yielding square images in the contact sheets! AAARRRGGGHHH!!! **NOBODY** wants that to happen to the...
I've been looking for a nice contact sheet facility.
I learned that Preview has such a thing — "Oh joy!" I thought!
But Preview (Version 11, from Catalina) disproportionately scales height and width, yielding square images in the contact sheets!
AAARRRGGGHHH!!! **NOBODY** wants that to happen to their images! Looking back on the historical meaning of "contact sheet," how could they even THINK that would be acceptable?
I've been poking around, trying to see if this could be changed somehow. Holding down any of the meta keys while selecting "Contact Sheet" does nothing useful. I've glanced through Preview's .plist file in ~/Library/Preferences.
I don't know enough about defaults(1) to know if there's anything in there that could be hacked.
I posted this on Apple's community site, and apparently this is fixed in newer MacOS releases, but there are no plans to fix this for Catalina, and my hardware won't run anything newer. Alternatively, anyone know if a newer version of Preview (with aspect-preserving contact sheets) works in Catalina?
Thanks in advance for any information offered! I'm a retired developer, and am willing to poke around if given a decent likelihood of finding something.
Jan Steinman
(663 rep)
Jul 19, 2022, 04:45 PM
• Last activity: Dec 18, 2022, 07:03 AM
0
votes
0
answers
386
views
Consistent and robust options to convert ICNS files to PNG in macOS?
I've been having a terrible time getting `sips` and/or ImageMagick (`convert`) to consistently convert `.icns` files to `.png`. I frequently hit very unclear errors when using `sips` to make the conversion (eg, `sips -s format png "/path/to icns file/file.icns" --out "/path/to png file to generate/f...
I've been having a terrible time getting
sips and/or ImageMagick (convert) to consistently convert .icns files to .png.
I frequently hit very unclear errors when using sips to make the conversion (eg, sips -s format png "/path/to icns file/file.icns" --out "/path/to png file to generate/file.png") and when I end up with problems with that, I have usually been able to use ImageMagick (eg, convert "/path/to icns file/file.icns" "/path/to png file to generate/file.png"). I'm suspecting there are inconsistencies in the .icns files that I'm attempting to convert, but the sips error/output messages are sometimes nonsensical and unhelpful in this regard. When I hit these issues I can usually use ImageMagick, but not always.
Has anyone come up with a reliable method for converting .icns to .png?
ylluminate
(5787 rep)
Aug 3, 2022, 06:12 PM
3
votes
2
answers
3371
views
How to remove "where from" xattr data from image files downloaded in Mac?
Hi so I'm at my wits end coz I am trying to remove xattr data in an image file that is a "Where from" xattr data. This is on a Mojave mac. This data is written via chrome browser for mac whenever an image is downloaded via this browser. So I tried this command: xattr -d com.apple.metadata:kMDItemWhe...
Hi so I'm at my wits end coz I am trying to remove xattr data in an image file that is a "Where from" xattr data. This is on a Mojave mac.
This data is written via chrome browser for mac whenever an image is downloaded via this browser.
So I tried this command:
xattr -d com.apple.metadata:kMDItemWhereFroms test.jpg
but it shows the following result:
xattr: test.jpg: No such xattr: com.apple.metadata:kMDItemWhereFroms
How do I remove this data from the image file then? Thanks in advance!
sd100
(145 rep)
Jul 24, 2019, 03:51 PM
• Last activity: Jul 19, 2022, 04:22 AM
1
votes
2
answers
1928
views
How to handle new image/video format of iOS on Linux laptop?
I transfered my images from my iPhone to my Linux laptop (`debian 10`) by running the following command: `sudo dmesg|grep SerialNumber:` Then in file browser, I pressed `Ctrl+L` then write: `afc://IPHONE_SRIAL_NUMBER` This gave me access to my iphone and I could copy all the images to my PC. When I...
I transfered my images from my iPhone to my Linux laptop (
debian 10) by running the following command:
sudo dmesg|grep SerialNumber:
Then in file browser, I pressed Ctrl+L then write:
afc://IPHONE_SRIAL_NUMBER
This gave me access to my iphone and I could copy all the images to my PC.
When I checked the transferred files, I didn't actually find files. I found that each image is located in a folder. Folders have different extensions (.HEIC, .JPG, .MOV).
The images in these folders have poor quality and are small-sized. Not what I used to find when exporting my files to PC.
I tried converting the .HEIC folders to .jpg by running this command
for file in *.heic; do heif-convert $file ${file/%.heic/.jpg}; done
but I got the message :
Could not read HEIF file: Invalid input: No 'ftyp' box
How can I handle these folders to get normal images and vidoes out of them? I don't want to loose my images or my images' quality.
Salahuddin
(119 rep)
Jun 13, 2020, 12:34 PM
• Last activity: Jul 14, 2022, 07:00 AM
0
votes
1
answers
130
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Preview increases the size of a tiff file created by epson scanner when manipulating it and saving
I have an Epson scanner and i have scanned a photo to my mac book pro. I am running macOS BigSur 11.6.7. Finder is showing the size of the resulting .tiff file as 6.2mb. I wanted to select a portion of the photo and then create a new .tiff file from the selection. Here is what I did 1. I opened the...
I have an Epson scanner and i have scanned a photo to my mac book pro.
I am running macOS BigSur 11.6.7.
Finder is showing the size of the resulting .tiff file as 6.2mb. I wanted to select a portion of the photo and then create a new .tiff file from the selection.
Here is what I did
1. I opened the scan photo in the preview app.
2. I selected the portion of the image I wanted to create a new file out of.
3. Copy the selected portion.
4. Cmd N, this open a new tab which contains the copied portion of the image.
5. I saved the new file with a different name.
The size of the new file is 30mb.
Now, I was expecting the new file to have a size much smaller than the original.
**What is happening? Why is the new file so big?**
A j
(227 rep)
Jun 21, 2022, 08:42 PM
• Last activity: Jun 22, 2022, 03:35 PM
0
votes
0
answers
155
views
How to convert a multi page pdf with text into a multi-page pdf of images?
I need the PDF to look like it has been downloaded, and scanned back to be sent via email. I therefore need a "vector" pdf with text to be converted to a multipage PDF made up of the same pages but in a raster format such as JPG etc. I tried using ImageMagick but it seems to only be converting the f...
I need the PDF to look like it has been downloaded, and scanned back to be sent via email.
I therefore need a "vector" pdf with text to be converted to a multipage PDF made up of the same pages but in a raster format such as JPG etc.
I tried using ImageMagick but it seems to only be converting the first page and ignoring the rest
Anton Unt
(410 rep)
Jun 8, 2022, 10:10 AM
1
votes
2
answers
2314
views
How do I save a black & white picture to a 1-bit image file?
I need a 1-bit image file to print on a laser engraver. I used to have quite a few graphics applications that could save 1-bit black & white TIFF files. I've owned Macs since 1987. However most of my old apps won't run on current MacOS versions and I just discovered that my current graphics apps (Af...
I need a 1-bit image file to print on a laser engraver.
I used to have quite a few graphics applications that could save 1-bit black & white TIFF files. I've owned Macs since 1987. However most of my old apps won't run on current MacOS versions and I just discovered that my current graphics apps (Affinity Photo, Affinity Designer, Acorn, Pixelmator, Pixelmator Pro) won't save 1-bit files. 8-bit grayscale is as close as they get.
I have no problem editing an image so that it only contains black or white pixels. Pixelmator Pro's **Format: Effects: Halftone: Dot Screen** or **Line Screen** effects are great for what I want. It's the underlying file format that I'm having problems getting to with modern software.
I have a workaround. I can save an 8-bit TIFF to a USB thumb drive and open it in Microsoft Paint on the Windows PC attached to the laser cutter and save it as a 1-bit BMP or TIFF file for the laser cutter's software. However the grey haired Mac nerd in me is offended that Windows still has a feature that seems to have vanished from current Mac systems.
Does anyone have suggestions for an app to convert grayscale images to 1-bit TIFF files?
adamek
(217 rep)
Jan 1, 2022, 11:54 AM
• Last activity: Jan 1, 2022, 12:58 PM
2
votes
3
answers
574
views
How come Automator can't find images on sites like this:?
[I want all of these brains in a folder][1] because I'd like to see them in a 3d stack. I've been following steps outlined as the top answer of this thread: https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/121649/how-to-download-a-webpages-all-images-at-once?newreg=ca08ffba925d4554a19e9332111d6bc5 [1]: htt...
I want all of these brains in a folder because I'd like to see them in a 3d stack.
I've been following steps outlined as the top answer of this thread:
https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/121649/how-to-download-a-webpages-all-images-at-once?newreg=ca08ffba925d4554a19e9332111d6bc5
And indeed this simple three step action works as it should for most other sites I've tried it on.
So what's going on here? I assume it has something to do with the fact that they're thumbnails contained in some sort of mysterious grid. (I am a novice if my terminology hadn't tipped you off already).
I'd be fine downloading the thumbnails. I'd actually prefer small images as I intend to stack these all into a 3d volume. My computer would not appreciate the full size versions in this application.
Any workarounds, clues, hints are greatly appreciated. Maybe a good fundamental thing to learn would be what the "impervious mystery image grid" is really called.
Nicholas Thomas-Low
(21 rep)
Jul 10, 2021, 02:58 PM
• Last activity: Jan 1, 2022, 08:00 AM
43
votes
4
answers
43979
views
Where is the convert command in macOS?
I need to convert a **PNG** file to an **EPS** file. Various sources on the Web refer to the `convert` command on macOS, but that program does not appear to exist on macOS High Sierra. How do I get it?
I need to convert a **PNG** file to an **EPS** file. Various sources on the Web refer to the
convert command on macOS, but that program does not appear to exist on macOS High Sierra.
How do I get it?
WestCoastProjects
(6555 rep)
Sep 5, 2018, 04:57 AM
• Last activity: Oct 7, 2021, 10:12 AM
1
votes
1
answers
126
views
In Preview, what properties are the top three level sliders?
What am I actually adjusting when I move around these three sliders in the "Adjust Color" setting? [![enter image description here][1]][1] [1]: https://i.sstatic.net/RQ4yb.png
What am I actually adjusting when I move around these three sliders in the "Adjust Color" setting?
libby
(151 rep)
May 29, 2021, 07:35 PM
• Last activity: May 29, 2021, 07:44 PM
1
votes
1
answers
864
views
Sips: resize image's smallest side, not largest side
The command `sips -z 2000 image.jpg` will resize the biggest side of an image to 2000 if it is greater than 2000, while preserving the original aspect ratio. Is there a similar command that will resize the smallest side of an image to 2000 if it is greater than 2000, while preserving the original as...
The command
sips -z 2000 image.jpg will resize the biggest side of an image to 2000 if it is greater than 2000, while preserving the original aspect ratio.
Is there a similar command that will resize the smallest side of an image to 2000 if it is greater than 2000, while preserving the original aspect ratio?
The rationale behind this request is that if I try to downsize the greatest side of an image to 2000, it will greatly affect the resolution of panoramas and other long/wide images.
Oion Akif
(9414 rep)
Dec 24, 2020, 09:32 PM
• Last activity: Dec 25, 2020, 07:30 AM
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