Smart iPhoto exports
Do you apply a third - company program to produce your Web - ground sliding board shows or to export batches of images for presentations ? Here ’s a slight trick that can make it less tedious to export a large and varied selection of images from Apple ’s iPhoto 6 ( part ofiLife ’ 06 , $ 79 ) . Instead of hunting and clicking , practice smart albums and keywords to automatically gather your images .
bug out by creating a novel keyword . Go to iPhoto : Preferences and clack on Keywords . In the windowpane that seem , snap on the plus sign ( + ) . A unexampled schoolbook airfield will appear . typewrite whatever unexampled keyword you like —
Next , create a new chic album ( File : New Smart Album ) . Name the new album whatever you like ; I called mine _ To Export ( the underline character [ _ ] force this smart album to show up above any others I have ) . In the condition section of the dialogue box , add only one : Keyword Is ToExport ( see top screenshot ) . Now you could gather photos from all different parts of your library by set apart the ToExport keyword to each one . All of the photo will appear in the _ To Export voguish record album .
The one glitch in this plan is that assigning keywords is a pain . You do it by dragging simulacrum to the Keywords field in the low left-hand niche of the iPhoto window . ( If you do n’t see this list , just flick on the small cardinal icon at the bottom of the window . ) That ’s where Ken Ferry’sKeyword Assistant , a free hack - in for iPhoto , comes into play . ( A rendering that in full stand iPhoto 6 should be out by the time you record this . ) you may designate a keyword simply by typing its first few letters into Keyword Assistant ’s floating windowpane — a huge time - rescuer .
Text-dragging tricks
You might be aware that in OS X you’re able to drag out and drop bit of text — say , from your vitamin E - mail app to a intelligence processing papers . But did you be intimate that if you ’re running OS X 10.4 , you may drag text onto Dock icons — with interesting issue ?
For example , if the text snippet you drag is a URL ( in other Holy Scripture , it starts with
DictionaryTiger ’s Dictionary displays the definition for the dropped Christian Bible . If you drop a set phrase , you ’ll get a definition for the first word in the idiomatic expression .
MailApple ’s e - mail program open a new substance with the drop textual matter as the body .
SafariApple ’s vane browser app runs a Google hunting on the dropped textbook . allot , this is n’t terribly utile if you may already control - press words or phrase in the germ program and choose Google Search from the contextual fare . But if the text amount from an practical app that does n’t suffer that characteristic — say , Microsoft Word or Excel — it ’s a ready to hand crosscut .
SkypeThe Internet phone ( VoIP ) programSkypedials the dropped phone number or the bit associate with the dropped byname .
StickiesA raw Stickies note spread with the text as the contents .
Tex - Edit PlusTrans - Tex Software ’s scriptable text edition editor program , Tex - Edit Plus($15 ) , places hale school text in the upmost windowpane where your cursor is . If no windows are open , it open up a newfangled windowpane and places the textual matter in it .
TextEditOS X ’s textbook editor open a new text file contain the drop text .
To get wind more , understand a longer versionof this baksheesh .
Make Tiger’s Dictionary roar
Tiger ’s Dictionary goes the superfluous mile to help you find just the right discussion . choose a Logos and press control - ascendance - calciferol in many OSXapplications , and you could instantly see the watchword ’s definition . you may even keep on to admit down Command - ascendency , move your computer mouse around , and get the definitions of other words as you roam over them . This works in most of Apple ’s app , include Safari , Mail , and TextEdit , and many third - political party apps . Try it in your software of choice .
Of of course , it ’s not perfect . Holding down the Command and controller keys simultaneously is n’t easy . Also , this keyboard shortcut is quite close to Mail ’s broadcast Message cutoff ( Command - shift - D ) . If your finger slips as you ’re find the right word for a private rant , you ’ve suddenly pull a calling - ending move !
Thankfully , you could transfer the keyboard crosscut . start the Keyboard & Mouse preference pane and select the Keyboard Shortcuts chit . Scroll down the list until you get to the Dictionary incision . You ’ll see the reckon Up In Dictionary entrance in the Description pillar , with the shortcut next to it . Double - clink on the cutoff to make the text field editable . Now you ’re ready to allot a new cutoff .
Do n’t cull just any sure-enough cardinal jazz group . Instead , find fault an unused function key — F7 or F13 , for example . Press the mathematical function headstone you wish to use , and you should see it listed in the Shortcut pillar ( see middle screenshot ) . The well matter about using a social occasion key is that you ’ll no longer have to keep pressing the Command - dominance - D combo for on - the - fly definitions — a quick tap grow the pop - up dictionary on or off .
Users of portable Macs may have to use the fn key in combination with the function Key . By default , portable Macs are set to use the affair Francis Scott Key to control hardware features , such as volume . If you ’d rather use those keys for software feature , such as this crosscut , chitchat the Keyboard tab of the Keyboard & Mouse preference pane and select Use The F1 - F12 Keys To Control Software Features .
Unzoom Spotlighted PDFs
look for a specific phrase in a PDF document ? When you research for a Book in Spotlight and then open a PDF that it finds , glare highlights the matching terms . This create it much easy to find what you were wait for . ( Note that you ’ll see the highlight only if your exact idiom exists in the body of the document , or if you searched for just one word . )
But here ’s the plaguy part . Preview zooms in to show your highlighted terminal figure — and zooms in to a ridiculously high storey . Sure , you could see the equate hunting price very well , but you ca n’t see a whole great deal else ( see bottom screenshot ) . Thankfully , some enterprising person detect the secret to toning this down . All you need to do is alter the line , in Preview ’s preference ( .plist ) file cabinet , that control the soar level ; this line is
First , make indisputable that Preview is n’t running ; the changes wo n’t stick if it is . Next , go to the /Applications / utility folder and launch Terminal . Type the following codification ( well yet , copy and paste it from here ):
Make certain there ’s a space between
Easily open URL lists in Safari
If you ’re like me , friends and coworkers occasionally send you e - mail message that contain lists of URLs — for instance :
Hey , Rob : check up on out these interesting Mac - link up website :
If you ’re lucky , all of the URLs show up as clickable link , meaning that you may open each one with a simple click in your eastward - mail program . But even that can be a bit of a pain sensation , count on how you ’ve fructify up your web browser to open new link . If you ’re not lucky , the list appear as a simple block of textual matter . Never fear : if you use Safari as your Web browser app , there ’s an leisurely way to open these uniform resource locator — as long as they appear in evident text and are split by line of reasoning break , and as long as each part with
Start by select and copying all of the text in the tocopherol - postal service substance — you do n’t take to isolate the URLs . Once you have the text in the Clipboard , comply these steps to spread out all the URL at once :
1 . Switch to Safari and select the Bookmarks button ( it expect like an capable book ) in the toolbar .
2 . select the positive sign ( + ) at the bottom of the windowpane to add a new bookmarks folder .
3 . select the Bookmark column ( to the right of the Collections column ) to activate it ; then urge Command - V to paste the Clipboard ’s contents . This is where the magic happen . Safari is smart enough to strip out all the non - URL text edition , leaving you with a circle of brand - new bookmarker head to the pasted URLs .
4 . Back in the Collections column , control - select the new created brochure and choose Open In Tabs from the protrude - up menu . Presto ! All the pasted URL are now capable , each in its own yellow journalism .
Use Automator to open folders in Terminal
If you work with Terminal ( /Applications / Utilities ) , you probably find yourself switching back and forth between it and the Finder a great deal . For instance , what if you want to do some Terminal work in the folder you ’re appear at in the Finder ? You could switch to Terminal , character
Enter OS X 10.4 and Automator . Using a very simple Automator work flow , you could create a Finder stopple - in ( contextual menu item ) that lets you control - tick on an object in the Finder and sail to it in Terminal . If you take a file cabinet , the plug - in will spread the pamphlet that incorporate it ; if you choose a folder , the spark plug - in will open up the brochure itself . Since it ’s a contextual computer menu , it expect much less black eye movement .
Open Automator and press the Finder entry in the Library pillar . Drag Get select Finder Items from the Action column into the blank work area to its rightfulness . Next , press the Automator entry in the Library column , and then drag the Run AppleScript entry from the Action column into the work area — drop it below the legal action you ’ve already move there .
OK , now for the actual AppleScript code that does the work . Thankfully , MacOSXHints.com lector Greg Spence has make a script for us . typewrite this computer code into the script sphere of the Run AppleScript action you just order in the work expanse . Replace all the existing text ( you could copy and pastethis code ):
Now choose File : Save As Plug - in from Automator ’s bill of fare . In the Save Plug - in As box , give your new workflow a meaningful name , such as Open In Terminal . verify the Plug - in For pop - up menu sound out Finder , and then press Save . Switch to the Finder , select any particular , and control condition - cluck on your natural selection . pick out Automator : open up In Terminal ( or whatever you appoint your action ) , and you should see a new Terminal windowpane open . Then the
