Tricked & befuddled by "Take Photo" option for PDFs in Mac Preview app

March 21, 2025 10:25 AM

While trying to extract two pages from a password-protected PDF on a Mac, using the Preview app, I tried the "Take Photo" option by control-clicking on a thumbnail and following the directions, only to have it insert a goofy and useless photo into the password-protected PDF. How do I rectify this and what purpose does this command serve?

I had this giant password-protected PDF that I only needed two pages from. So I went to the thumbnail of one of the pages I wanted and CTRL-clicked on it. The drop-down window that popped up had an option for "Take Photo" so I clicked on it.

A window appeared on the main pane of the page I desired, saying

Take a photo with “(your iPhone)"
Use your iPhone’s camera to take a photo.

I picked up my iPhone and took a photo of the page I wanted. That photo of the page with the window on top of it, now shows up in my document. I don't want it there. I want to delete that photo, but I can't.

Can anyone help me with this? What is the purpose of that "Take Photo" option on Preview anyway? Thanks!

posted by Roy Batty to Computers & Internet (3 answers total)

The purpose of both of the options that appear there (Take Photo and Scan Documents) is to use your mobile device to insert content into the PDF that you're looking at/editing.

As far as deleting it, does the doc header still say "[x] pages - Edited"? Did you save the file in the meantime? Have you tried Command+Z? Depending on the file and your system configuration, there may be a File > Revert to option that you can use to get back to the original file.
posted by tubedogg at 10:59 AM on March 21 [1 favorite]

If you want to take a screenshot of a particular area in macOS, Command-Shift-4 then select the relevant area of the screen. Your screenshot will be saved to your desktop. You can also add Control (so Command-Control-Shift-4) to copy the screenshot to the clipboard instead.

Depending on the settings, you may be able to print the PDF then save as a PDF in the print dialogue.

Otherwise, FireFox does not respect PDF passwords and will let you print the pages you want.
posted by ssg at 1:14 PM on March 21 [2 favorites]

If you want to export two pages of a large PDF, you can use the print dialog, and print those two pages to PDF. You can also open the thumbnail tray in preview, command-click to select the two pages you are interested in, copy, and then under the file menu, chose new file from clipboard.
posted by rockindata at 7:20 AM on March 22