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10 ways to get the most out of Quick Look

by Dave Caolo Jan 5th 2008 at 3:00PM

When Steve first demonstrated Quick Look, I though it looked gimmicky. Interesting, for sure, but nothing I'd use regularly. Much like Star Wars Episode I: Fun when viewed for the first time, but I'll never watch it again.

Three months later, Quick Look is my favorite feature of Leopard. It's convenient, useful and very fast. With a tap of the space bar, I can identify files in the Finder without having to open a separate application.

Of course, it goes beyond that. With a little effort (and in some cases, plug-ins), you can get even more out of Quick Look. Here's how.
  1. Identify files on remote machines. I've been using Remote Desktop at my day job for a couple of years now. With a few clicks, I can observe or control a remote Mac. Leopard brings this convenience to home users with Screen Sharing. It's useful, but files appear quite tiny when viewed on this screen-within-a-screen (and titles even smaller). Fortunately, Quick Look makes things much more legible.
  2. Preview the contents of Zip files (plug-in required). BetterZip and the Zip Quick Look Plug-in both let you view the contents of a zipped file with Quick Look. In fact, Zip Quick Look's display is dependent on a HTML file which you may alter to your liking. Here's how to install Quick Look plug-ins.
  3. Preview the contents of a folder (plug-in required). Much like BetterZip and Zip Quick Look, the Folder List plug-in lets you preview the contents of a folder. You can also customize its HTML-powered display and show or hide hidden files or time stamps.
  4. Examine snippets of code with syntax highlighting intact. Here's another tip that requires a plug-in. Qlcolorcode lets you preview your code with all the helpful highlighting you expect.
  5. Examine files in the trash. Until Leopard, the Finder's trash would keep its contents to itself. Anything you wanted to examine had to be moved back to the desktop. Fortunately, Quick Look lets you preview trashed items. Now you know precisely which item to yank out of there.
  6. Prep your iWork documents for use with Quick Look. When you create a document with Numbers, Pages or Keynote, you can ensure that its preview will display the proper formatting by selecting the Include Preview in Document check box whey you save (or turn this feature on by default in the general preference pane).
  7. Enhance TextMate. TextMate is the editor that geeks everywhere love (including the geeks at TUAW). Ciarán Walsh has written two Quick Look plug-ins for TextMate that let you preview items in a project or render Quick Look previews (for certain file types) using the TextMate syntax highlighter, respectively.
  8. Preview fonts. Open a Finder window, select Cover Flow view and navigate to the font you're interested in. Click the space bar and presto! Instant preview.
  9. Quick Look and Cover Flow. I love the combination of Cover Flow and Quick Look. Open a bulging folder in the Finder and select Cover Flow view. Tap the space bar to preview the 1st file and then use the arrow keys to move the next one and so on. You'll stay in Quick Look mode! Very cool.
  10. Send images to iPhoto. When viewing an image with Quick Look - either from the Finder or attached to a Mail message - you'll see a tiny iPhoto icon at the bottom of the window. Click it to send that image to iPhoto.
I hope you found these tips useful. And I still dislike Episode I.

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When Steve first demonstrated Quick Look, I though it looked gimmicky. Interesting, for sure, but nothing I'd use regularly. Much like Star...
 

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Otavio

And the best tip for Quick Look:

1) Select some pictures.
2) Alt key + Click on QuickLook icon

Tadaaaaaa = Slideshow!

January 06 2008 at 10:26 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
darren

@ bob ... its shame option-spacebar does not do the same thing (cmd-opt-y is a bit tricky and not as intuitive)

@ edmund ... not just graphic converter .. images imported form my canon ixus also get crappy thumbnails ... you tip works but its a shame we need it.

January 06 2008 at 7:22 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Edmund

One very important tip is missing. Some (older) files have an ugly low-res preview that was generated as its icon. E.g. all images edited with GraphicConverter. To get rid of this icon preview, open the file's info window in the Finder, select the icon, and press the backward delete key on the keyboard.

January 06 2008 at 4:41 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
3 replies to Edmund's comment
bug

Am I crazy or was there a way to use quicklook from the spotlight menu demonstrated in the Leopard betas? It seems like such a natural combination, but hitting space or command Y doesn't work for me.

January 06 2008 at 2:44 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
TCW

I love Quick Look, too, but I think it had something to do with killing off the way audio files were previewed in Finder. =( Before I could select a track (or open with cmd+I), push play on the preview pane and scrub (?) through the song to a point I wanted to hear. Now I can only do this if I use Quick Look, meh...

January 05 2008 at 11:21 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Charlie

#9 works in icon, list (as mentioned by simon, above), or column view, too.

In column or list, you can use left and right to go into folders and back out. In icon view use Cmd-down to go into folders and Cmd-up or escape to go to the parent folder.

January 05 2008 at 11:11 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
krye

Dislike Star Wars? Be mindful of your thoughts Dave, they betray you!

January 05 2008 at 9:59 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Matt

11. Command - Option- Y: Immediate fullscreen view.

January 05 2008 at 5:09 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
bob

hold down alt key then click the quicklook icon in finder for instant full screen quicklook !!!

January 05 2008 at 4:18 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
David

I have to agree. QuickLook is absolutely my favorite new feature in Leopard. I came in expecting Back to My Mac to be my favorite, but due to all the problems Apple's been having with it, QuickLook snuck in and stole all the glory. I love it!

January 05 2008 at 3:57 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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