My apology for duplicate topic post … this is the correct one.
Preview bug issues were mentioned in another thread related to the app PDF Expert. Link: https://talk.macpowerusers.com/t/pdf-expert-what-happens-if-i-update/29747
A poster in that forum thread expressed interest in Preview app bugs, so this thread was started to avoid hijacking the PDF Expert thread.
Preview is a great app with many improvements in recent years. There are persistent bugs, however, many of them originating with the re-work of PDFKit and Preview in the macOS Sierra era.
Has anyone else encountered these bugs?
Two examples:
- Preview (macOS) cannot annotate and save certain (not all) PDF files over a local network share. Those files can be opened, annotated and saved on the same computer, but not on another Mac across a network share. In the example below, the PDF file was annotated on my 14" M1 Max MacBook Pro running macOS 12.4. When I tried to annotate and save that same file across a local network share from my Mac Studio (also macOS 12.4), an error message appears and the file cannot be saved. See attached file below. Important note: This problem did NOT occur with a third-party app, PDF Expert (developer: Readdle). The same file was annotated and saved locally and across the network share without problems. The same problem occurred with several other PDF files, but not with all PDF files.
Apple support was consulted and elevated to a Senior Apple Support rep (very knowledgeable), who guided me through several troubleshooting steps in many sessions over several weeks. Log files were created from both computers and sent to Apple Engineering, along with video screen casts.
Example file screenshot with error message:
- Preview cannot handle (select, rotate, delete etc.) certain pages in a multiple-page PDF file. The problematic pages are those that are “smaller” that other pages or in landscape orientation when other pages are in portrait orientation. These “smaller” or half-size pages cannot be selected in Preview’s side bar - the selection outline will immediately jump to the page previously selected or to the page above. See screenshot of example:
In the sidebar notice the grey selection outline surrounding page number 9. Page 12 cannot be selected by the usual click-and-release, so it cannot be deleted. A click-and-hold action allows that page to be moved up in the sidebar, but then the lower-most page cannot be selected by click-and-released. Therefore it cannot be deleted or rotated.
Another example: two pages were scanned - a full-sized pharmacy receipt and its accompanying small cash register receipt. The smaller 2nd page cannot be selected in Preview’s side bar.
The Apple Senior Support rep was quite knowledgeable and helpful, but the problems with Preview could not be resolved. The problem is now in the hands of Apple Engineering, so hopefully a fix will be forthcoming in future releases of macOS.