About QuickLook

Apple description:

Using Quick Look in Leopard, you can view the contents of a file without even opening it. Flip through multipage documents. Watch full-screen video. See entire Keynote presentations. With a single click.

QuickLook Functions

• View Trash – As you can’t open files out of the Trash in Mac OS X, QuickLook is a nice helper in that area. You cant open the files inside trash, but you can preview them in QuickLook
• Zoom Function – Quick Looks comes with a nice zoom function. To use it open a file in QuickLook.
  • ALT + mouse-click = zoom in
  • ALT + SHIFT + mouse click = zoom out
  • ALT + mouse wheel = zoom in & out
• Slideshow – You can use the context menu to open a selection of images as slideshow in QuickLook. Just select some files -> press right mouse button to get the context menu and then press ALT. The entry QuickLook X items should change to “Slideshow X Items”
• Index-Function – If you select several files and open QuickLook you can change to the Index-View by pressing the Index-Icon in QuickLook. This should display all files at once in one QuickLook Window
• Navigation – If you select several files at once and open QuickLook you can navigate through those files using the left & right arrow key
• Finder Integration -You can add a QuickLook Button to your Finder. Just open Finder, select View, select Customize Toolbar and drag the QuickLook Button to the desired position.

QuickLook Shortcuts

• Space = open selected file in quicklook ( CMD + Y works too)
• CMD+ALT+Y = open selected file in Fullscreen
• APPLE + O = open file out of quick look

QuickLook Plugins

There are a lots of great plugins for Quick Look available. The following points show where you might find new plugins and describes how to install them.

QuickLook Plugin Sources

• http://www.qlplugins.com/
• http://www.quicklookplugins.com/
• http://www.apfelquak.de/2007/11/26/sammelsurium-quicklook-plugins/
• http://www.mac-devedge.de/Software/Quick-Look-Plugins/index.php

How to install QuickLook Plugins

Basicly we have 2 options where to install the Plugins

• ~/Library/QuickLook
• /Library/QuickLook

If you want the plugin only for your current user choose the first option and just copy / move the   .qlgenerator file to the QuickLook Folder of your Users Library Folder.

If you want the plugin for all users you have to copy the .qlgenerator file to the Mac-wide Library Folder.

If there is no Folder QuickLook in the choosen Library folder, you have to create it yourself. That should work without issues.

Links:

• Dateien aus QuickLook à¶ffnen (internal & german)
• MacOSX Hints – Zoom
• Apple.com – QuickLook

Tags: image, plugins, qlgenerator, quick look, quicklook, viewer