One very frustrating feature of OS X is that saving an image in Photoshop will cause the “open with” action to use Photoshop. In other words, you can double-click an image to open it in Preview, but if it’s been edited in Photoshop, it instead opens in Photoshop. This is really irritating since 90% of the time you want to just view an image which takes 0.2 seconds in Preview and about ten years in Photoshop (minor exaggeration).
Frankly, whoever thought that the same action (open) on the same type of file (e.g., JPEG) should be inconsistent needs to re-evaluate his/her ability to apply logic to a given situation.
The solution seems to be to find a file that is opening in Photoshop and should be opening in Preview, and then open its “Get Info” dialog (right-click, Get Info or command+I). The fourth section down is “Open with” (you may have to click it to expand that section). Change the dropdown to Preview and then click the “Change All” button. That should fix the problem….
…for that file type. Yes, you seriously have to do this for each file type (JPEG, PNG, GIF, etc.). So, after you perform this same sequence of steps several times, you’ll eventually be able to have consistent, expected behavior. That is, until you use someone else’s computer.
If anyone knows of an easier way to fix this problem, please let me know. Otherwise, feel free to use the comments for general grumbling about the issue.
I appreciate your article, but I actually want it to go the other way. When I open and image I need to edit it, and I need to know how to make all the images I double click on open in Photoshop, NOT preview. Any tips? Possibly doing this same drill but in reverse?
You should be able to follow the steps in the third paragraph but finish with selecting Photoshop rather than Preview. Apologies for not seeing your question sooner!