-as of [27 OCTOBER 2025]-
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-SELECT [DESTINATION] FOR [macOS SCREENSHOTS]-
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*[OUR CUSTOM SCREENSHOT] FILE PATH* —>
‘/Users/joga/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/-CLIPS-/—ARCHIVES—/-SCREEN CAPTURES-‘
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*OPEN [NOTES APP]* —>
-[ fn ] x [ q ]-
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*GO [FULL SCREEN]* —>
-[CONTROL] + [ = ]-
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*SELECT ALL TEXT* —>
-[COMMAND] + [ a ]-
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*DELETE ALL “SELECTED TEXT”* —>
-[DELETE]-
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-INPUT A FEW LINES OF TEXT* —>
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*SELECT ALL TEXT* —>
-[COMMAND] + [ a ]-
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*INCREASE SIZE OF “SELECTED TEXT”* —>
-[COMMAND] + [ = ]-
(hold down the KS until you achieve your desired size)
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*DECREASE SIZE OF “SELECTED TEXT”* —>
-[COMMAND] + [ – ]-
(hold down the KS until you achieve your desired size)
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-THERE IS NO [KS] TO “DE-SELECT” ALL TEXT-
-JUST CLICK ANY EMPTY PART OF THE SCREEN-
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*TAKE SCREENSHOT OF [CUSTOM PORTION] OF YOUR “CURRENT MACBOOK SCREEN”* —>
-[SHIFT] + [COMMAND] + [ 4 ]-
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*USE THE MARQUEE TO “LASSO” THE TEXT* —>
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-RELEASE THE MOUSE TO TAKE THE SCREENSHOT-
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-A “PREVIEW THUMBNAIL” APPEARS FOR A FEW SECONDS IN [BOTTOM RIGHT CORNER]* —>
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*CLICKING THE “PREVIEW THUMBNAIL” OPENS A “LIVE PREVIEW” OF YOUR SCREENSHOT* —>
(THIS IS NOT PART OP [FINDER])
(AND YOU GET THE SAME RESULT FROM “DOUBLE-CLICKING”)
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-YOU CAN [DRAG/DROP] THE “FLOATING WINDOW” TO ANY [SIZE/POSITION]-
(BUT THE “BULK RESIZE WINDOW” SHORTCUT WILL NOT HAVE ANY EFFECT ON THIS “FLOATING WINDOW”)
-USE THE [TOP BAR] TO DRAG-
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-IT WILL ALWAYS BE “ON TOP” OF YOUR OTHER WINDOWS-
(BUT IT DOESN’T SHOW UP AS A SPECIFIC “APP”)
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*THE FLOATING WINDOW IS “SEMI-TRANSPARENT” SO YOU SEE “BASIC SHADES” OF WHAT IS GOING ON UNDERNEATH* —>
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-AND YOU CAN STILL CLICK INTO THE “CHROME WINDOW” TO INPUT TEXT-
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*THE NAME “SCREENSHOT” IS DISPLAYED IN [TOP LEFT CORNER]* —>
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*THE [TOP RIGHT CORNER] GIVES YOU OPTIONS TO [“MARK UP” / DELETE / SHARE] YOUR SCREENSHOT* —>
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*CLICK THE “MARKUP BUTTON”* —>
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*THIS [TOOLBAR] APPEARS IN [TOP LEFT CORNER] OF SCREEN* —>
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-ALL EDITS ARE “AUTO-SAVED”-
-AFTER MAKING THE CHANGES, CLICK “DONE”-
-THE CHANGES ARE SAVED-
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*TO UNDO LAST EDIT* —>
-[COMMAND] + [ z ]-
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*TO REDO* —>
-[SHIFT] + [COMMAND] + [ z ]-
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*TO UNDO ALL CHANGES, CLICK “REVERT” IN [TOP RIGHT CORNER]* —>
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*IF YOU MAKE ANY CHANGES + THEN CLICK THE [TOP LEFT X BUTTON] TO CLOSE THE “LIVE PREVIEW”, YOU WILL GET THIS PROMPT* —>
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(SAME RULES APPLY IF YOU PRESS [ESCAPE] TO CLOSE “LIVE PREVIEW”)
(SAME RULES APPLY IF YOU PRESS [[COMMAND] + [ w ]} TO CLOSE “LIVE PREVIEW”)
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-IF YOU DON’T SAVE CHANGES, THE “ORIGINAL SCREENSHOT” IS STILL SAVED-
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*TO DELETE THE SCREENSHOT, CLICK THE “TRASH BUTTON” IN [TOP RIGHT CORNER]* —>
(THE SCREENSHOT IS IMMEDIATELY DELETED WITHOUT ANY FURTHER PROMPTING)
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*CLICK THE “SHARE BUTTON” TO SHARE YOUR SCREENSHOT* —>
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*IF THERE IS ANY [TEXT] IN YOUR SCREENSHOT, THIS BUTTON WILL APPEAR IN [BOTTOM RIGHT CORNER]* —>
(IT MAY TAKE A FEW SECONDS TO LOAD)
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*CLICK THE [BUTTON] TO ENABLE “TEXT EXTRACTION”* —>
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-IF ANY LINX ARE PRESENT IN YOUR “TEXT EXTRACTION”, YOU WILL SEE THEIR “LINK BUTTON” IN [BOTTOM LEFT CORNER]* —>
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(THE LINKS DO NOT HAVE TO BE PART OF THE SELECTION FOR THE “LINK BUTTON” TO SHOW UP)
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*CLICK THE “LINK BUTTON” TO VIEW A “POP-UP” DISPLAYING THE “PAGE” ASSOCIATED WITH THE “LINK”* —>
(THIS IS CALLED “QUICK LOOK”)
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-TO OPEN THE LINK IN “CHROME”, CLICK “OPEN WITH GOOGLE CHROME” IN [TOP RIGHT CORNER]* —>
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*A NEW [CHROME TAB] OPENS TO THE “FAR RIGHT”* —>
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*(CLICK “ADD TO READING LIST” TO ADD THE ‘PAGE” TO YOUR “READING LIST”* —>
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-IT WILL BE ADDED TO YOUR “SAFARI” READING LIST-
(NOT YOUR “CHROME READING LIST”)
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*THE [SAFARI APP] OPENS WITH THE “PAGE” ADDED TO THE “READING LIST” AT THE TOP OF [LEFT COLUMN]* —>
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*TO CLOSE THE “LINK POP-UP”, CLICK BACK INTO THE “LIVE PREVIEW” WINDOW* —>
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*[RIGHT-CLICK] THE “LINK BUTTON”* —>
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-IF YOU SELECT “OPEN LINK”, THE LINK OPENS IN A NEW “CHROME TAB” ON [FAR RIGHT]-
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*SELECT “LOOK UP” TO ACCESS THIS “POP-UP MENU”* —>
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-CLICK THE “LIVE PREVIEW” SCREEN TO CLOSE THE “LOOKUP” POP-UP MENU-
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-“LIVE TEXT” ALSO DETECTS “DATES”-
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-LIKE “DETECTED LINKS”, THESE DATES WILL BE DISPLAYED IN [BOTTOM LEFT CORNER]* —>
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*CLICK THE “DATE BUTTON” TO ACCESS THIS “POP-UP MENU”* —>
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*CLICK “DETAILS” IN [BOTTOM LEFT CORNER] TO CREATE A MORE DESCRIPTIVE “EVENT”* —>
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*TO RETURN TO PREVIOUS SCREEN, CLICK “SUMMARY” IN [BOTTOM LEFT CORNER]* —>
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*[RIGHT-CLICK] THE “DATE BUTTON”* —>
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-“LIVE TEXT” DETECTED A “DATE”-
(AND THEN ASSUMED IT WILL BE “NEXT YEAR”)
“January 24 2026”
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*IT SAW THIS IN [TOP RIGHT CORNER]* —>
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-[DRAG/SELECT] YOUR “TARGET TEXT”–
-YOU CANNOT SELECT INDIVIDUAL LETTERS-
-ONLY “WHOLE WORDS” AS DEFINED BY “SPACES”-
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*DOUBLE-CLICK A WORD TO SELECT IT* —>
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*TRIPLE-CLICK A WORD TO SELECT ITS ENTIRE “LINE”* —>
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*[CLICK/DRAG/RELEASE] TO SELECT WORDS IN “CONTINUOS LINES* —>
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-[COMMAND-CLICKS] + [SHIFT-CLICKS] HAVE NO EFFECT-
-YOUR SELECTION IS LIMITED TO [CONTINUOUS LINES] IN [PARAGRAPHS]-
-YOUR SELECTION IS LIMITED TO [CONTINUOUS WORDS] IN [LINES]-
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*TO SELECT ALL* —>
-[COMMAND] + [ a ]-
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-TO “DE-SELECT ALL”, CLICK ANYWHERE IN THE “CENTER GRAY TEXT BOX”* —>
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*TO “COPY ALL”, CLICK THIS BUTTON IN [BOTTOM LEFT CORNER]* —>
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*THIS IMMEDIATELY EXITS “TEXT EXTRACTION MODE” + AND YOU GO BACK TO THE “LIVE PREVIEW”* —>
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*PASTE TEXT INTO TARGET “WORDPRESS POST”* —>
-[COMMAND\ + [ v ]-
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XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
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*GALLERY VIEW* —>
-[COMMAND] + [ 4 ]-
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-TO SELECT AN IMAGE, CLICK AN [IMAGE FILE] THAT CONTAINS [TEXT]-
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HELLO
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In Preview, you can use Live Text to copy and use the text that appears in a photo.
For example, you can copy the text of a roadside sign and paste it into a text message or email.
You can look up the meaning of words, do a web search, and even translate text into another language.
If a photo shows a phone number, website, or email address, you can use it to make a call, open a website, or address an email.
Photo of a Real Estate For Sale sign showing the agent’s phone number selected as Live Text and a menu presenting options to add the phone number to Contacts, call the number, start a FaceTime call, send a text message, and more.
Open Preview for me
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Go to the Preview app on your Mac.
Open a photo or image that shows text.
Hold the pointer over the text,
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then do one of the following:
Copy text:
Drag to select text,
Control-click your selection, then choose Copy Text.
You can then paste the text into another document or app.
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Note: If you can’t select text, choose Tools > Text Selection to turn on the Text Selection tool
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Look up the meaning of text:
Drag to select text,
Control-click your selection,
then choose Look Up [text].
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Translate text:
Drag to select text,
Control-click your selection,
choose Translate [text],
then choose a language
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Note:
Translation isn’t available in all languages and may not be available in some countries or regions
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Search the web for the text:
Drag to select text,
Control-click your selection,
then choose Search with [web search engine]
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Contact a phone number:
Click the down arrow, then either call the number, add the phone number to Contacts, start a FaceTime video or audio call, or send a message to the number
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Contact an email address:
Click the down arrow,
then either compose an email, add the email address to Contacts, or start a FaceTime video or audio call
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Go to a website:
Click the down arrow, then open the link in your browser or use Quick Look to view the website information.
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Live Text isn’t available in all regions or languages.
See the macOS Feature Availability webpage
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Helpful?
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Please don’t include any personal information in your comment.
Maximum character limit is 250.
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support.apple.com /guide/preview/interact-with-text-in-a-photo-prvw625a5b2c/mac
Interact with text in a photo using Live Text in Preview on Mac
2-2 minutes
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Modifying this control will update this page automatically
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*👨🔬🕵️♀️🙇♀️*SKETCHES*🙇♂️👩🔬🕵️♂️*
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👈👈👈 ☜ *-STANDARD macOS COMMANDS-*
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💕💝💖💓🖤💙🖤💙🖤💙🖤❤️💚💛🧡❣️💞💔💘❣️🧡💛💚❤️🖤💜🖤💙🖤💙🖤💗💖💝💘
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*🌈✨ *TABLE OF CONTENTS* ✨🌷*
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🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥*we won the war* 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥