qlmanage - macOS

Overview

qlmanage is a versatile command-line tool in macOS for managing and manipulating various types of files and data. It’s particularly useful for previewing files, converting formats, and extracting metadata.

Syntax

qlmanage [options] [action] [file path ...]

Actions

convert – Converts the specified file to the specified format.
create – Creates a PDF or PostScript file from the specified file.
metadata – Extracts metadata from the specified file.
preview – Opens a Quick Look preview of the specified file.
thumb – Generates a thumbnail image of the specified file.

Options/Flags

-c / –cache-only – Only use the cached version of the document.
-g / –generate-metadata – Generate metadata if it’s not already present.
-o / –output – Specifies the output file for convert and create.
-p / –preview-file – Specifies the file to preview in preview.
-q / –quiet – Suppresses all output except for errors.
–subtype – Specifies the subtype of the output format in convert.

Examples

Preview a file:

qlmanage -p file.pdf

Convert a file to PDF:

qlmanage -c -o file.pdf file.doc

Extract metadata from a file:

qlmanage -m file.jpg

Common Issues

Missing format: Ensure that the specified output format is supported by qlmanage.
Insufficient permissions: Verify that you have sufficient permissions to read and write to the specified files.
File corruption: If you encounter errors when opening or converting a file, it may be corrupted. Try using a different file or checking the file integrity.

Integration

Automator: Incorporate qlmanage into Automator workflows to automate file conversions, metadata extraction, and previewing.
Scripts: Create scripts that utilize qlmanage for advanced file manipulation tasks, such as batch conversions or automated metadata extraction.

file – Displays file type information.
mdls – Extracts metadata from files.
pdftk – Manipulates PDF documents.
Quick Look – macOS feature that provides quick previews of files.