Quick Tip: Using Quick Look

Quick Look is a feature that was introduced with Mac OSX Leopard that enables files to be previewed without having to launch an application. Quick Look saves you time by allowing you to get a look at many different files without opening lots of applications. You can use Quick Look with items that are in the Trash, this is rather handy as you cannot open files when they are in the Trash.

To launch Quick Look highlight a file (or multiple files) and press the space bar. Press the space bar again or Esc to close Quick Look.

You can flick through multiple page PDFs using the Page up and Page Down keys.

 

 

To zoom in on an image use Option + mouse click, to zoom out use Command + Option + mouse click. When you have zoomed in you can use the mouse to move the image around.

Highlight multiple images and press the space bar to launch Quick Look then press Command + Enter (or click in the icon with a mouse) to view the images in an index sheet.

 

 

Support for additional file formats can be added with Quick Look plugins, some applications (Such as iWork) add their own plugin when they are installed. Digital Arena has included Quick Look plugins for Illustrator, EPS and ZIP files on its Leopard desktops.