I constantly use the Preview app on my Mac system to fill in forms and other paperwork. Works great. Except when the font is too big, at which point I’m stuck because I can’t figure out how to make the text smaller. Help!
Of all the apps that get zero visibility in the Mac universe, there are few as useful and powerful as “Preview”. It has a lot of capabilities that most people don’t realize because I suspect that just about everyone uses it as a PDF reader and nothing else. But it actually lets you annotate PDFs and fill in PDF-based forms, among other things. You can also consolidate multiple PDFs into one, remove specific pages if you want to tweak things, and much more.
Heck, you can scan and then insert your actual signature, something I’ve been doing for years with great effect.
Frankly, I would be happy if I never had to print out a document so I could fill it out. But that’s another story.
The way that it’s designed to work with text annotation, however, is frustrating because there’s a menu item that’s not the correct choice, even though it absolutely seems like it should be.
Here’s an example. I’m filling out a PDF form and click in the space, then type in my name:
That’s big for the space allocated. Not so good.
I click out of the region, then click on it again to select it, then look on the “Tools” menu:
“Adjust Size…”. That’s it!
But it’s not. That’s why it’s grayed out. Confusing, eh?
Instead, you need to actually bring up the Edit Toolbar by clicking on the tiny toolbox at the top right of the document:
Ahhh… now you see the toolbar and can click on the “A” (font) menu:
That’s it. Just choose a smaller font size and it’ll clean up that doc in no time:
That’s much better. Even more useful, you also just set the new default as Preview remembers the last font size you specified, so next time it’ll be 12pt Helvetica, or whatever you specified.
That’s it. Glad you know about the secret powers of Preview. It’s one of my favorite Mac apps.
THANK YOU for this. Was wondering if there’s also a way to get images copied into a PDF doc using Preview. Because it doesn’t have a menu option of annotating therein an image.
Thank you, this seems almost like what I’m looking for. The font is the right size while I’m clicked in the text box, but once I click somewhere else, it gets big. Changing the font size in the way you describe doesn’t seem to do anything even when I’m in the box. I have Preview 10.0. Thank you for any help!
Thanks so much for reminding me how to do this! Very helpful.
Totally agree. Awesome!
I added text to a preview document and saved it and quit preview. Now I want to edit the text. I can’t seem to select the text at all. Is this a weakness of trying to use Preview instead of an Adobe application?
This was amazing! I even created my signature right on the tool bar by writing it on a white paper, putting it to the camera and boom, signature created and I was able to sign the document. I would not have been able to do this without this article.
Very good article and a great help.
Thank you Dave!
Pete
This should have “… for dummies” in the description, because for me and many others who have commented, it does not help our problem, but just describes how to do something very simple.
I personally am dealing with an accounting sheet, but the figures I need to enter go into 8 digits, and it’s impossible to fit more than 6 into the boxes because of the large font size.
The only solution is to print it out and write the numbers by hand… and now I have to keep warm, so I better start a fire by hitting rocks together.
Some people need the “… for dummies” description. Others figure out that this is indeed for annotations given the description of operations Dave detailed. Those of us not needing “… for dummies” figure out that forms using proprietary additions to PDF that were created by adobe with controls on input values and predetermined font sizes can indeed be filled in with annotations with a little extra work. As detailing how to do so goes beyond the “… for dummies” you need I won’t confuse you by detailing it here other than mentioning rectangles and text regions.
I’m not sure if this makes me a dummy, but I’d be grateful if you’d elaborate.
What are you finding confusing, Jake?
Just the info I needed! Thanks!
Hey Dave,
Happy to see you pop up in search results today. I’m trying to change the size of an entire PDF and change size, as well as change color, is greyed out. Preview for Mac has made it easy to change and optimize the size of a .jpg for web use, but will it not change PDFs?
Thanks!
Hi Paul. The easiest way to change the size of a PDF (I assume you mean file size, not the physical dimensions of the “page” it’s using for layout: that’s a far, far harder problem) is to “Save As…” in Preview and fiddle with the options to try and shrink the resultant file down. There are also third-party apps to reduce PDF size and you can also try “Save as PDF” from the Print dialog window too.
Dave, this doesn’t seem to work in Preview 8. Easy enough to find the toolbar, select the text, change the font size. Nada. Bupkis. Zippo.
Strange. It still works for me in Preview 8.1. Is there something unusual about that particular document, Fitz?
DHC,
So, as a hack-y workaround, print the form to a new PDF (click the PDF button in the lower left of the print dialog) and then annotate the new PDF file! The person receiving the form won’t know the difference.
thank you… I’ve always wondered how to do that
Thank you very much. Useful at all,
Having the same problem. It’s not adjusting the text inside the form box at all. I’m running Yosemite, and this is my first Mac, so I know I’m missing something easy.
Thank you for your help
This doesn’t work for me on Yosemite. It only sets the font for standalone text elements added to the page, but not form fields.
I think form field sizes are set by the person creating the form, Greg.
Thanks for this article. I really appreciate it but it leaves me a little frustrated
It sounds like you’re talking about how to change the size of ANNOTATION text – yes? But I need to change the size of text within a fillable form field.
And I get that form field sizes are set by the person creating the form, but THAT’S what I need to change – I need to change size the size of text specified by the person creating the form.
Am I right that THAT is not possible? Or am I misreading your description?
Thanks!
DHC
I’m so glad I found your website, this is useful and handy information. My problem is that the fonts float above the line provided making it difficult to read in areas where there is text above the fill-in space.
Thank you,
Consuelo RK
I am having the exact same problem. Is there no way to adjust the preset form fields. The presets force the lettering down into the lines and I cannot bring them up. As a result, once the document is printed, you can hardly read some of the input text.
Why does it work on a PC then?
It doesn’t work on a PC. At least not one without software which you have not described.