How to select and copy text from Quick Look previews in OS X

You can banish the need to launch large apps each time you want to quickly copy anything within documents on your Mac by using Quick Look, Apple's nimble preview feature. We'll show you how to make this little gem even more useful by adding copy and paste capabilities.

Since it’s introduction in OS X Leopard, Quick Look has been one of our favourite everyday tools. It’s an incredibly useful way to quickly preview documents, music, and photos, without having to load up the application that would normally run them. If you’ve ever wanted to check how an MP3 sounds, but find the frustration boiling when iTunes suddenly launches after you’ve selected the file, or wanted to take a glance at a Pages document without waiting for the iWorks app to load, then Quick Look will be your new best friend. 

Sadly the feature is often overlooked, as many users are simply unaware of its presence, but once you’ve started using Quick Look you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it. As the feature is built into the operating system it’s always available in the Finder. Just select the file you want to examine and then press the space-bar. This will bring up a window that allows you to look at the file.

If you want to increase the view to full screen then you can click on the arrows symbol in the top right hand corner, you can also launch the relevant app or share the file by clicking on the buttons to the left of the arrows.

It’s not just documents and photos that can utilise this tool, MP3 files are also available, with the ability to play the music directly in the window.

One feature that isn’t turned on by default though is the ability to highlight text within the preview so that you can copy and paste it into another document. Thankfully it is quite easy to enable, although it does require a little bit of typing in the Terminal application. Don’t worry, you won’t be there long and we’re here to guide you through the harrowing world of command line programming.

First of all you’ll need to launch the Terminal interface. To do this go to Finder and click on Applications>Utilities>Terminal.

The small window will open up, awaiting your commands. Simply copy the following text (you can cut and paste it to save typing) into the Terminal window, then press return.

defaults write com.apple.finder QLEnableTextSelection -bool TRUE; killall Finder

Finder will refresh and nothing else will seem to have happened. This is fine, just close the Terminal app and use Finder to locate a text based document (Word, PDF, Pages, etc.). Click the file once to select it, then press Space-bar to bring up the Quick Look preview. Now when you highlight a section in the document you will be able to copy the text just like you would if it was running in a word processor.

You might find that you won’t be able to edit all documents. This could be due to protection within some files, but on the whole it’s a great way to speed up your workflow with only a few clicks.

Set up Photo Stream on your Mac, iPad, and iPhone and see your photos on all your Apple devices

Step 1 of 9: Create an iCloud account on your Mac or iOS device

For Photo Stream to work you’ll need to have an active iCloud account.

Usually you’ll create this when setting up a new machine, but if you skipped that part it’s easy and free to open one now on your Mac or iOS device.

On your Mac click on the System Preferences icon in the Dock, then select iCloud and simply enter your Apple ID. You’ll be given a few settings to enable, just make sure that you click on the options button next to Photos and that the My Photo Stream box is ticked.

To create an account on an iOS device go to Settings, iCloud, and enter your Apple ID.

Step 2 of 9: Enable iCloud in iPhoto

Now that your account is created you’ll need to give applications permission to use it before any photos will be able to download.

Again this is very simple. Launch iPhoto on your Mac and look in the left hand column where you’ll find the Library, Recent, and Sharing categories.

Under the latter is iCloud, click on this and then select the Use iCloud option.

Your account is now ready to receive any images you create, so it’s time to enable that feature on your iOS devices.

Step 3 of 9: Enable Photo Stream on your iPhone

As the iPhone is likely to be the device you use most for photography, having a working Photo Stream is very important.

To do so you’ll need to go to Settings, then iCloud and ensure that the My Photo Stream button is enabled.

Depending on which iPhone you have you may also see the Upload Burst Photos option, which will transfer only your favourite photos from Burst mode if you enable it.

This is good as otherwise your photo library would be swamped with duplicates of essentially the same image.

Step 4 of 9: Enable Photostream on your iPad

As the iPad is running the same software as the iPhone the setup is pretty much identical.

The one omission is the Upload Burst Photos option is missing from the iPad as the cameras are not quite as powerful as those of its smaller sibling.

So to enable Photo Stream go to Settings, scroll down until you find iCloud, tap on Photos, then ensure that the My Photo Stream button is slid to the right and coloured green.

Step 5 of 9: Take a picture to see how it works

Now that all your devices are in sync its time to see just how easy Photo Stream is to use.

With your iPhone or iPad take a picture of something. It needn’t be high art, just a quick shot to test that everything is working properly.

Once the picture is taken go to the iPhoto library on your Mac, or to the Photos app on your iPad, and (as long as you are connected to WiFi) you should see the photo arrive shortly after you snapped it on your iOS device.

It’s that simple. As you continue to capture moments, the photos will now sync quickly and quietly in the background.

Step 6 of 9: How many pictures can Photo Stream store?

While Photo Stream is very easy to use, understanding how the storage works can be a little more challenging.

Essentially you are entitled to one thousand photos, which is a large amount, and none of these count against your iCloud storage.

One thing to note though is that the photos are only held on the iCloud servers for thirty days. This means that if you buy a new iPhone or iPad and setup Photo Stream, you’ll only see photos from the last four weeks.

Existing devices will hold all one thousand as they’ve already synced them from the servers before they were deleted.

Step 7 of 9: Sharing your Stream - Creating a folder

Along with your own devices, it’s also possible to share your photo streams with friends and family. To do this you’ll need to create a new stream folder.

First off you’ll also need to check that Photo Sharing is enabled by navigating to Settings>iCloud>Photos. Then go to the Photos app on your iOS device and tap the Shared icon at the bottom of the screen.

After the library has updated you’ll see the option Create New Stream. Tap this, name the Stream, and then add the contacts you wish to share your photos with.

Bear in in mind that the recipients will need to have Apple IDs and iCloud accounts to access the Stream.

Now tap Create and your Stream is ready. You can create multiple Streams, and add different photos in each. We’ll do that next.

Step 8 of 9: Sharing your Stream - adding photos

Tap on the Stream name you’ve created and you’ll see the folder is empty. To remedy this tap the plus box in the top left corner then select the photos you wish to share in the Stream.

You can do this individually or tap on the Select option on the right which will highlight all the images in that particular group.

When you’re happy tap Done, add a note if you want to, and the Stream is now accessible to those you invited.

Step 9 of 9: Photo Stream in iOS 8 and Yosemite

With iOS 8 on the Horizon, and new changes set to take place in OS X Yosemite, Apple is set to update these features to even better ones in the near future.

Come the autumn, Apple’s 1000-photo iCloud sync limit will be history, to be replaced by an all-encompassing, some-storage-required iCloud Photo Library.

iOS 8 you’ll have two choices: Keep your photos on the phone locally and use Photo Stream to wirelessly sync them to your other iCloud-enabled devices, as you have in the past; or use Apple’s new iCloud Photo Library.

If you enable the library, and any photo or video you shoot or import will automatically upload to iCloud. That content will be stored at its full resolution and in its original format (e.g. JPG, PNG, Raw.)

All of those images will be viewable on any iOS device or on the web; and from the beginning of 2015, you’ll be able to upload and view photos from your Mac, too.

Unfortunately you will have to start paying for the storage you use, unlike Photo Stream, but it’s going to be cheap. Apple says you will get 5GB for free as part of your iCloud account, and you’ll be able to buy 20GB of storage space for just $1/month—or 200GB for $4/month. We expect that UK pricing will be around 79p - £3.49 a month (in line with prices on the iOS App Store).

Having your library synced and backed up to iCloud should be a great way to keep your pictures backed up and easily accessible. We hope that you will be able to manage your storage space by only downloading the photos that you want, rather than filling up your devices with every image you’ve ever taken, which could eat up a lot of storage on a 16GB iPhone.