"The document could not be saved" - Preview error

Question

I have the issue on macOS Sierra(10.12.1) and still have it on High Sierra(10.13.3).

I get this error message(not all the time) a lot after editing an image, and trying to save it. I can't quit Preview either, so the only way to close Preview for me when this happens is to force quit Preview.

Clicking on duplicate doesn't work because my edits made to the original document don't carry over and Preview still doesn't quit.

Why don't you press Duplicate when prompted? - Wouldn't that give you the possibility of specifying a new path and name for the file? — jksoegaard, Nov 12 '16 at 23:35
The thing with duplicate, is that it doesn't copy the changes I made. It also doesn't solve the problem of quitting preview. — airsquared, Nov 12 '16 at 23:36
The original document that you edited - where was it stored in the first place? In iCloud Drive or? — jksoegaard, Nov 12 '16 at 23:37
I have seen others comment on similar cases that you could try removing the extended ACLs on the folder. I don't know if you really want to do that on the desktop folder, but it could be worth looking into. — jksoegaard, Nov 12 '16 at 23:41
I had this issue before, and I still have it with Mac OS 10.13.1 — retif, Nov 10 '17 at 08:42

Ayush Shukla · Answer 1 · 2021-01-06T08:08:02.073

28

I was facing the same issue, I finally got the issue resolved by following steps:

Go to File
Click option 'Export as pdf'
Save the file name with pdf extension (like 'file_name.pdf')

This worked for me, so give it a try.

edited Jan 06 '21 at 08:08

answered Jul 09 '20 at 17:12

Ayush Shukla

381

1

this is the solution - worked for me – user71207 Mar 20 '21 at 10:24
wowww this works without any problm, thanks Ayush! – Alfrex92 May 26 '21 at 04:39
1

For my PDF document, the problem is that exporting the document removes the form fields from the document. The content is saved from any form fields that have been filled out, but the form fields themselves are removed so you cannot edit it again. – Tim Dearborn May 27 '21 at 23:52

score 8 · Accepted Answer · edited Sep 14 '18 at 02:01

8

I realised this is a bug in the Mask tool. Remove the mask and the image saves without any problem. Avoid this tool until Apple addresses the issue. Checked on High Sierra 10.13.4.

A solution to this is to take a screenshot of the image preview before saving it(solution from @gpbl).

edited Sep 14 '18 at 02:01

airsquared

5,107

answered Apr 20 '18 at 15:20

oleq

196

1

I usually take the screenshot of preview with Cmd+Shift+4 instead of saving :) – gpbl Aug 28 '18 at 18:52
Still seems be broken as of Catalina. – Triss Healy Jul 21 '21 at 11:22

Iman Mahmoudinasab · Answer 3 · 2021-03-07T16:25:37.673

0

Problem: Another common reason for this issue is the PDF file is password protected.

Solution: You can remove the password (if you are allowed) using a free tool like Smallpdf

edited Mar 07 '21 at 16:25

answered Jul 14 '20 at 16:29

Iman Mahmoudinasab

124
4

2

negative point without explaining why! – Iman Mahmoudinasab Jul 14 '20 at 20:59
Could be semi-automated spam votes which casts a downvote too. – anki Mar 07 '21 at 10:17
1

previous comment from Iman Mahmoudinasab worked for me! removed the password using Smallpdf and now the form works and save normally, thanks for sharing that! I tried to upvote, but wasn't allowed, and can't understand how your answer would be voted -2 at the time of this comment. some people, smh. – applejuice Mar 07 '21 at 03:14
@applejuice could you please try again I edited my answer. this may allow to upvote. – Iman Mahmoudinasab Mar 07 '21 at 16:28
For my PDF document, the problem is that using SmallPDF removes the form fields from the document. The content is saved from any form fields that have been filled out, but the form fields themselves are removed so you cannot edit it again. – Tim Dearborn May 27 '21 at 23:52
This worked for me also so upvoted – Tahir Raza Sep 01 '21 at 11:26

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 07 '23 at 15:44

Still seems to be a problem in Catalina(!). I have a bunch of jpegs I just want to crop. I've just converted them from pdfs to jpegs, so don't want to convert them back again, so the 'export as pdf' comment isn't helpful to me.

The work around I've found is to stay in Finder. Click on the jpeg, press the spacebar to show the file in viewer. Click on the 'pen' icon to show the tools, then on the crop symbol.

The crop corners are white, so can be hard to see, but drag these and press 'Done'. Press the space bar again to close.

"The document could not be saved" - Preview error

4 Answers4