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I adore Preview for its advanced editing functions! And use it quite often to quickly make simple artworks for my projects without usage of heavy tools like PhotoShop (to scale and merge multiple pictures, add some texts, shapes, etc). Sometimes I need fix an artwork, but by default Preview saves everything to rasterized single-layer formats like PNG, JPEG, and I cannot find any vector/source format to keep separate layers of images, texts, shapes. Is it possible?? I really hope so!

AivanF.
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  • There is no Save As button, only Save and Export As, the last one offers PNG, JPEG, TIFF, HEIC, PDF, OpenEXR options, all of these are raster file formats :( But I'm still on MacOS Big Sur 11, maybe there is a vector option on newer versions of OSX and Preview? As for me, it would be the only reason to update :D – AivanF. May 30 '23 at 07:06
  • Oh. Yes, alright. Sorry. I don't know about this. Maybe a third-party app? – Thinkr May 30 '23 at 07:08
  • @Thinkr Yeah, I can do the same and way much more with other apps like PhotoShop, but it gets loaded for several seconds, spawns 30 processes that consume CPU even after closing the app, meanwhile Preview need less than a sec to open and consumes almost 0 cpu. I mean, my question is not "How to save a vector picture file?" but "How to save a vector picture file with Preview if its hopefully possible?". Or maybe there is a bit more new/advanced version of Preview. Or a feature request to Apple to sign it. Anything on this topic :) – AivanF. May 30 '23 at 07:13
  • When you say "fix an artwork", what sort of vector image do you mean? Preview can save as PDF, of course; but I agree that it's not a vector artwork editor. (Neither is Photoshop, for that matter.) – benwiggy May 30 '23 at 07:27
  • @benwiggy I mean to edit the things I added earlier using Preview – images, texts and shapes. Speaking about PhotoShop, I'd say it's a raster editor in the first place, but it can deal with complicated vector shapes, open Illustrator's files, etc, so as for me it's also a good vector editor. Preview also deals with shapes, so I call it somewhat of vector editor too (: – AivanF. May 30 '23 at 07:40
  • But yes, maybe my terms aren't entirely correctly, and the question should be something like "save as an editable file to deal with previously added shapes" – AivanF. May 30 '23 at 07:44
  • You can always edit your question to make it easier to understand. – nohillside May 30 '23 at 07:59
  • I think the main issue isn't even vector vs raster [which is certainly a part of it] but that it flattens everything to a single layer. There are advantages to this for simple consumer use. People use opaque blocks to hide private data etc… which, if it remained editable or on separate layers, would be trivial to bypass. – Tetsujin May 30 '23 at 08:01
  • @Tetsujin Preview actually shows a warning if you use simple drawing objects to hide text, and recommends to use the redact tools instead. – nohillside May 30 '23 at 08:20
  • @Tetsujin You are right! But it simply could be a separate, layered file format which is not used by default so that ordinary users won't use it living with PNGs and JPEGs only... It's sad there is no such option. – AivanF. May 30 '23 at 08:20
  • @nohillside - ah, yes… maybe in newer versions. I'm still on Mojave as my daily desktop ;)) – Tetsujin May 30 '23 at 08:23
  • It doesn't flatten PDFs themselves, which gave me a workaround… answer added – Tetsujin May 30 '23 at 09:38

3 Answers3

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If you export* as PDF before any editing, then open the PDF version, vectors remain editable & on separate layers.

e.g. screenshot of question [png] saved as PDF first, then text & line added & re-saved…

enter image description here

Still editable…

enter image description here

*Export… then select PDF, rather than use the dedicated 'Export as PDF…' option, which will force it into a full-page rather than leave it at original size.

Tetsujin
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  • I mean, it still doesn't allow to edit texts or shapes you added earlier, isn't it? – AivanF. May 30 '23 at 10:19
  • Sure it does. Did you try it? – Tetsujin May 30 '23 at 10:51
  • Yes, it works. But I think that if you screenshot and then edit (when clicking on the screenshot thumbnail and open Preview), you won't be able to edit it again (what you added at the beginning) from Photos will you? – Thinkr May 30 '23 at 10:59
  • No. As I said right at the top of the answer, you have to save as PDF first. – Tetsujin May 30 '23 at 11:00
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Preview is basically a viewer with some limited drawing capability, it is not an image (or even a vector editor). It doesn't have the ability to save files in a vector format.

If you just want to be able to modify your drawings, stick to PDF as a format. Annotations made with the drawing tools will be stored within the PDF, and can be edited further after reopening the file.

nohillside
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  • Hey, Preview is quite capable of raster and vector editing enough for many tasks! Have you ever used its facilities?.. My friends on Linux and Windows dream to have such a lightweight yet powerful tool – AivanF. May 30 '23 at 07:25
  • @AivanF. This doesn't change the fact that it can't save files in a vector format. https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/95346/vector-software-for-drawing-and-diagramming is a bit dated but lists some options. – nohillside May 30 '23 at 07:47
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    Maybe my terminology wasn't correct, I mean not a truly vector files, just to edit the things that were previously added using Preview (images, texts, shapes). Anyway, seems like it's not possible. Unfortunately. – AivanF. May 30 '23 at 07:49
  • As for saving to PDFs, it's a terrible approach: 1. for PDFs, Preview create standardly sized page so you'll have white borders, and it will rotate the image if it has landscape orientation, 2. Preview doesn't allow to edit PDFs (not to adjust existing shape, not to add new ones), so there is no reason to use do this. – AivanF. May 30 '23 at 08:27
  • @AivanF. The question is about Preview and what options you have there. So don't expect a magic solution, we just can point out what the tool can do. – nohillside May 30 '23 at 08:39
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From your comments, you've clearly established that Preview isn't the correct tool for the job you want.

There are plenty of drawing packages that are reasonably lightweight. There's one called Graphic on the App Store, for example. https://apps.apple.com/app/graphic/id404705039

Inkscape is the standard, open-source, vector drawing package; and it isn't resource-intensive on most Macs.

benwiggy
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  • Well, excepting ability to reopen layers, Preview is the correct tool for me with almost perfect ratio of facilities and lightweightness Ability to save with layers would be a small technical change but huge UX improvement... Apps you mentioned are nice, thanks, but too heavy, and I already have Gimp or Photoshop. – AivanF. May 30 '23 at 09:18
  • @AivanF. Again, GIMP and Photoshop are also the wrong tools. – benwiggy May 30 '23 at 16:57
  • It's ridiculous to name wrong the tools that completely solve my tasks – AivanF. May 31 '23 at 05:21