TMO Quick Tip - Quick Look: Web Archives

by , 7:30 AM EDT, May 16th, 2008

Leopard's Quick Look lets you view a long list of file types right out of the box, but there are some glaring omissions. Web Archives, for example, are one of the file formats that Quick Look doesn't recognize by default, but thanks to the efforts of some resourceful developers, FJN Web Archive can pick up the slack.

FJN Web Archive is a Quick Look plug-in that lets you view Web Archive files without first launching your browser. The developers say that it works with Safari-made Web Archives, but I found that it works with any Web Archive that matches Safari's format, which means you can still use pretty much any browser you want.

Save a Web page as a Web Archive...

Once installed in the /Library/QuickLook folder in your Home directory, you can view Web Archive documents by first selecting them and then tapping the Space bar. While Web page text is readable, and most images appear, too, FJN Web Archive doesn't tend to correctly render most site layouts -- a clear drawback if you are hoping for a faithful reproduction of the page.

...and view the contents with Quick Look.

I often create several Web Archive files when I am researching projects, and Quick Look lets me review all of those documents without requiring me to first open them in my Web browser. It's a real time saver for quick referencing, and I can still open the document in my browser if I need to see exactly how the original appeared.

FJN Web Archive is free and available for download at the QLPlugins Web site.

Jeff Gamet is TMO's Morning Editor and Reviews Editor. He lectures, teaches and speaks on Mac OS X and design-related topics, and is the author of The Designer's Guide to Mac OS X from Peachpit Press.

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