How to Insert Image into PDF in Preview on Mac

When it comes to viewing PDF documents on Mac, the Preview app on Mac will come up to your mind. But when we talk about editing PDFs, the Preview app falls on the lower side of the competition. Though you can add text to PDFs using the Preview app, inserting images into PDFs on Mac with Preview isn't easy at all.

In this article, we'll look forward to how to add images into PDF with the Preview app. We'll also discuss the limitations of using the Preview app. However, there is no direct image inserting option in Preview. That's why we'll introduce the best alternative to the Preview app - UPDF - in the first part. Read on to find more.

What is the Best Alternative to Preview?

Preview app on Mac is never an option when it comes to advanced features and time optimization. It only suits the smaller tasks. Moreover, another PDF editor may fulfill all requirements regarding the insertion of images or objects. It is very easy to use.

UPDF is a unique and delightful PDF editor that has the functionality of editing, viewing, converting, and OCR PDF documents. The list of features is not stopping here. There are many other advanced features that UPDF offers to its users. The fantastic thing about UPDF is that it's available on macOS, iOS, and Windows.

insert image into pdf preview alternative updf

Here are some advanced features of UPDF:

Edit PDFs: Edit your existing PDFs like a pro. It gives you the environment like you are using MS Word.
Annotate PDFs: You can add text boxes, sticky notes, highlights, stickers, stamps, shapes, etc.
Page Management: You can also insert pages to PDF in a few clicks with the help of a page management tool. You can also do other things like scaling, annotating, adding, deleting, etc.
OCR PDFs: The OCR feature can help you to scan the PDF easily to the editable PDF.
Convert PDFs: UPDF can convert PDF to Word, Excel, PPT, CSV, HTML, image, RTF, Text, XML, and PDF/A format fast and accurately.

How to Insert Picture into PDF on Mac with Preview Alternative?

If you want to add the image to a PDF, UPDF is the best choice. We've decided to write this section to show you how easy it is to use.

Step 1: Open a File on Mac

Open UPDF on your Mac device and click on the "Open File" button. After clicking the button, you'll ask to choose and open the PDF file from your device.

Step 2: Enter the Editing Mode

Now click on the "Edit PDF" button at the left side of the main menu. By clicking this button, you will enter editing mode, which allows you to add and edit the text, images, and links.

Step 3: Insert Image into PDF on Mac with Preview Alternative

Now it's time to add an image by clicking on the "Image" icon as shown in the image.

After clicking the "Image" icon, you need to click your mouse anywhere you want to place the image.

insert picture into pdf mac preview alternative

After choosing the position, a pop-up will ask you to choose an image from your device. Select the image that you want to insert into your PDF and click "Open". The image will be added to your PDF document immediately.

insert image into pdf mac preview alternative

Then you can adjust the image easily. This tool allows you to resize, reposition, crop, rotate, extract, or replace the image as per your requirement.

Another Way to Insert the Image to PDF on Mac with Preview Alternative(Dragging and Dropping)

This best Preview alternative also allows you to add an image by simply dragging the image to the PDF document directly. This is way better and easier than Preview or any other program on Mac. It saves your time a lot.

mac preview insert image into pdf by drag and drop

Below is the video tutorial on adding images to PDF on Mac, and you can watch it if you are interested.

How to Insert Image into PDF with Preview Mac?

Can I Insert an Image into a PDF with Preview?

First of all, there is no option in Preview to let you insert an image into a PDF. Preview is just a simple PDF reader on Mac, it only allows you to perform some simple annotation functions like highlighting, underlining, etc. You can add images as PDF pages to PDF. Below are the steps to do this:

Step 1: Open the PDF file in Preview.
Step 2: Click the "Edit" icon in the upper left corner. Select "Insert" and then tap "Page from File..." to insert the image as a PDF page.

Limitations of the Using Preview to Insert Images into PDF

Somehow, we can't insert images into PDF with Preview, but we can insert images as PDF pages with the Preview app. There is another best alternative available which we discuss above in the article. The Preview app on Mac has many limitations that need to be addressed.

The following limitations are using Preview on Mac:

The Preview app on Mac has no advanced features at all, even though it doesn't have any editing option for inserting any objects.
The Preview app can be complicated for those unfamiliar with the Mac keyboard shortcut keys.
It'll take centuries for you to complete your task.
The worst part of the Preview app is that it automatically saves your files without you knowing.

	UPDF	Preview
Add Text to PDF
Add Image to PDF
Add Link to PDF
Annotate PDF	Highlight Strikethrough Underline Squiggly Sticky Note Shapes Signatures Pencil Stamps Text Comment Text Box Text Callout Stickers Signature	Highlight Note Shapes Signatures Pencil
Convert PDF	To 14 Formats	Only to images
Advanced Features: OCR
Using	Easy	Complex
Security	Safety	Unsafe

Conclusion

Finally saying, the Preview app on Mac is never the best option for you to insert images on Mac. If you want to insert the picture into the PDF with Preview, you can only insert the image as a PDF page. This is actually quite inconvenient and does not allow editing of images. That's why our recommendation is UPDF. It's a great tool and has all the professional capabilities an editor requires. You can not only add images to your PDF documents, you can also resize, crop, replace, extract, or remove the images easily as per your requirements.