UsingMac.com
Mac Tricks and Tips, Wallpapers and Applications for Mac Users
Useful Toolbar, Direct Jump to Terminal
OpenTerminalHere, one of the toolbar script for Mac OS X, is created to help Terminal user to instantly jump to current opened directory in its Terminal. It's a time saver as we don't need to type in many cds to go to our working directory.
This application (AppleScript to be more specific) can be downloaded at OpenTerminalHere AppleScript Projects.
Let's discuss about attaching and removing this Application to and from Finder toolbar.
View Long Filename in a Split Second
It isn't so scary to have many long named files when using Mac, as Mac can recognize those long filenames in a very instant. For this case, there are two ways viewing these names in Mac, one is permanent view whereas the other one is temporary view.
Permanent View
The objective for this ways is to make the filenames located at the right side of its icon with the size being shrinked.
TextEdit Copy the Invisible Style
Another surprising and very special feature inside TextEdit, copying style. It can copy definitely all styles, those styles are :
- Underlines: None, Single, Double, or Color
- Strokes: None, Single, Double or Color
- Text Color
- Font Shadows: Opacity, Shadow Spread, Altitude, Angle
- Font Family
- Font Weight: Regular, Bold, Bold Oblique
- Font Size
Screensaver, More Screensavers, Lots of Screensavers
Feeling bored after finishing heavy workload. Apple kindly provides these cool screensaver to enhance Mac. Let's have a look.
Flurry Screensaver
The simplicity given, the elegance, the amazement shine upon this screensaver cannot be described by human words. This is just simple yet wonderful. And it's build in on Mac.Also, there are other beautiful screensavers presented by Apple to enrich Mac Pyrotheque Screensaver and VisionSynth Screensaver.
Save Time with TextEdit
Besides TextEdit special ability to create an astonishingly quick HTML features, which further information can be read at Creating Web Content with TextEdit, TextEdit also included this surprisingly useful feature Completing Missing Letter.
Check Spelling and Complete Missing Letter with TextEdit
It's such a great advantage TextEdit gives here. TextEdit can help check the spelling that will return red underline for misspelled words, and TextEdit will be happily help correct that word if it is told to do so.
How to make TextEdit correct misspelled or incomplete word?
- Highlight word that is required correction or completion by TextEdit
- After that, press Control while clicking on that highlighted word
- Many TextEdit recommendations will pop up right into sight
- Choose the most favorite (of course, most correct) one
- Let's stick to two examples on widws and macntsh. Resulting these two
- Initially I think widws would be recommended by TextEdit as Windows, err maybe I am too simple-minded..
Creating Web Content with TextEdit
TextEdit must be a well-known Application for all Mac users. Besides its simplicity, it's also been loved because of its effectivity.
One of its useful, hidden, and effective feature is saving in the form of webpage (usually known as HTML format).
What are those features that support building webpage content? Those features are Inserting Link, Building Table, Constructing List, and Customize CSS Style. However, make sure that the file is already saved in with HTML format.
Changing to HTML Format
This is the most important part before going through other tricks; without this part, applying other tricks will end up in vain. Let's see how to do it. Don't worry it's just 3 steps.
- Create New document Command-N and Save the file Command-S
- Go under File Format
- Choose HTML
It's easy, isn't it?
Link Mania
Links is one of the important factors for building web, especially for bloggers. Fortunately, TextEdit provides quick, easy, and only 3-step away to insert link into TextEdit itself.
- Highlight the text you want to be linked to.
- Access to Menu Bar the one with Apple on the leftmost, then go under top down menu Format. Mouse hover the Text and it will show up to the right another menu, look for Link... . It's rather hard to describe with words. However, the fastest way will be exposed at the bottom of this article.
- Enter the destination link. Hit Return. The highlighted text will be underlined and displayed in blue. It just like link (of course).
Link address should be inserted into this
Hide Window, Hide Other Windows, the Real Technique
When touching this word 'Hide', one will think of the F11 key. It's not wrong, but it's not correct. F11 indeed hide all of the applications or files opened at the sight being hidden, but they're not really hidden, they're just being driven away to the side of the desktop, and they will definitely come back to view whenever clicking action performed on one of them.
Therefore, if the desire is to hide those eyes distractions, it's recommended to use real hide instead of that fake one above. There are two ways to hide. As usual, the slow one and the fast one.
The fast way is using keyboard shortcut.
- Command-H will hide the active window
- Command-Option-H will hide all the other windows that is inactive
It's fast, isn't it? However, knowing slow one won't be disadvantageous. Try reading this article Icon - Smart on Dock that tells about some of the tricks that can be done around the Dock, including hiding trick.
Categories:
Tips and Tricks,
Utilities
Tags:
Shortcut
Fun with Font Book
Introduction
Mac can support multi language. This can be seen in its Font Book. Mac provides us many fonts for language other than English, and also adding font can easily be done.
Collecting a mountain of cool font styles will be very easy.
Accessing Font Book Library
- This action can be done in two ways: fast and slow.
- The fast way is using Quicksilver.
- Invoke your Quicksilver using keyboard shortcut Option-Space.
- The targeted Application is Font Book. Therefore, typing font will perfectly do the Quicksilver searching.
- Pressing Return and the Font Book Library will appear.
- The slow way is by tracing pile of folders with mouse.
- The main destination here is located under Application folder. And it's just clicking around and around until reach the Font Book Library. It's easy, but it's bloody slow.
A Glance of Font Book Library
Change Active Window in an Instant
Increasing productivity is a must for most of Mac users. In most of the case, using mouse is compulsory to be avoided for doing a pile of tasks. That's why, full participation of keyboard needed for each of the case encountered.
Some of those useful keyboard shortcuts provided by Mac are Command-Tab and Command-[~]. It's worth spending time mastering these two shortcuts.
Usually Command-Tab is used to change from one to other applications while Command-[~] is set to change from one pane to other pane of one application. Certainly, these two will be the best match ever built.
The cursor not only can move right but also, of course, can move to the left side. Command-Shift-Tab will perfectly perform this action.
Categories:
Tips and Tricks,
Utilities
Tags:
Shortcut
Quick and Easy Photoshop Shortcuts on Mac
It's very lucky for me to discover shortcuts for photoshop CS3 and CS2 presented by Trevor Morris.
It's really amazing, great, and wonderful. However, we have to set them (can see how Jennifer make it..) and the most difficult part is we have to memorize them all. It's like my dull memory being insulted every time I tried to memorize and accidentally forgot them all in an instant.
But hey, why don't we set our shortcut to be windows way? We just need to quickly access to the menu bar and pull down all the menu inside, sounds nice.. Let's give it a try!
First of all, we need a very powerful keyboard shortcut to access directly to the menu bar. And for the sake of our comfort, I prefer to change it (and also recommend you) Command-[?].
Now we can easily reach our menu bar just like those windows fellows' *ALT+F*. The difference is, the pop down menu won't reveal itself unless it's told to do so.
Thing is getting more and more interesting now. After make sure that your Apple is highlighted, you can jump from one menu to another menu by typing a little portion of menu tab you want to go.
Changing Shortcuts for Accessing Menu Bar
- Invoke your QuickSilver Option-Space
- Type in keymouse to enter Keyboard & Mouse Preference Pane.
- Go under Keyboard Shortcut tab
- The one highlighted in image below is what you should press (or maybe change) in order to access to menu bar
Show off - Option Trick
After some time I getting in trouble with doing same (minimizing or closing panes) patterns over and over. I try to discover new thing and I can relax now. Why? Now, we can close all opened windows in one applications in just one click while we are holding Option key.
And they will sit tamely in the Dock, just like this..
Display - Get Rid of the Problems
Good display is everything and good settings make it perfect. Even though you can "Wow!"-ing all the way and show-off to your friends, you have to realize that there are many side effects cause by many wrong settings cause by you.
Here I give example of three common and deadly problem that you may encounter (yes, it can kill your productivity)
The Display is Moving!
Everything in this world is moving, including your display. Whenever you move your mouse to the left, your display will move to the right and the other way around. This sounds funny but the effect is disastrous, your display being messed up and your productivity being reduced.
TinkerTool - Dock Modifier
Again, Dock enriched with more powerful utility, TinkerTool.
What TinkerTool provides for Dock?
Icon's Transparency
TinkerTool provides your Dock ability to make transparent icons for hidden applications. I've discussed about this transparent icons before. If you want to refer back, you can use this link : Dock, Transparent Hidden Apps
Finder Window - Search for Directory
If you want to instantly jump to desired folder while you've already known the exact url, you can do like this :
- Open your Finder Window (of course you have to)
- Press down Command-Shift-G and you will see url bar appear before your eyes.
- Then type in your destination folder. Let's say you want to go to your Applications folder. Type in /Applications and hit Return will bring you there.
- There is also a auto-complete feature. When you want to go to Applications folder, you don't need to type in all, just type /App and hit down Tab, it will appear as /Applications/
- Note that ~/ is the same as your Home directory and pressing Escape will close the url bar.
Categories:
Utilities,
Walkthroughs
Tags:
Interface
Dock - Genie Effect
I think you already know about Genie Effect of the Dock in your Mac.
If you want your Genie to act slower, animate longer, and you can enjoy more the effect, you can do these
- Activate your Dock Genie Effect
Dock - Magnification and Position
There is times when your mouse will do something great for you. This is one of that rare times. Your mouse can control your Dock easily.
- Click and Hold on the grid border of your dock
- Move your mouse up will increase your dock size. Move your mouse down will decrease your dock size
- Still holding your dock grid border, and pressing Option will do similar to number 2, except the increasing and decreasing ratio is fixed.
- Release your Option key and replace with holding Shift key and move your mouse to left-most, bottom or right-most of your screen will change the position of your dock
- Those actions come in handy, right?
Categories:
Tips and Tricks,
Utilities
Tags:
Dock
Mouse - Scrolling Page
Using mouse scroll can help you easily scroll down or scroll up a page, I think you know it already.
However, do you know that when you hold Shift when scrolling your mouse will perform different task? It will perform scroll left or scroll right a page.
Now you realize that your mouse is a little bit useful, don't you?
Categories:
Productivity,
Tips and Tricks,
Utilities
Tags:
Mouse
Automator - Preview Hidden Ability
Let me introduce you to this new feature of Mac, Automator. Automator will do repetitive tasks for you. However, here I will show you how Automator will work in sync with preview.
Let’s say you’ve this photo of fish..
Setting Up Date and Time
To set up your date and time, first you have to go to System Preference and under System grouping, look for Date & Time. You also can use your QuickSilver for quicker access by using keyword dtimepref.
Mouse can do for your this favor too, you can take your mouse to click on Date & Time icon.
Now you've already been inside Date & Time Preference Pane.