Comparing Pictures in iPhoto

You can compare two or more photos in iPhoto by clicking on one, holding down Command and clicking on the anothers.

Click Edit and they will appear side by side so you can decide which one is better.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Taking Pictures is Even easier

If you’ve ever wished your iPhone camera had a physical shutter button, look no further. The phone’s volume up (+) button doubles as a shutter button whenever the Camera app is opened. This hard button feels sturdier all around, plus it makes it a cinch to take self-portraits or to tell strangers how to take a photo of you and your friends.

You can also quickly access the camera even when your phone is locked.
From the locked Home Screen, slide up on the camera icon. It takes the right touch and the right slide, but once you master it, it’s the fast way to access your camera.

You can do this with anyone’s phone, regardless of whether or not you know their password because it only opens the Camera app, locking you out of all other apps-and other photos and videos-on the phone. Just the photos or videos you take at that moment will be visible to you.

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Searching in Mail

If you’re like most of my clients, you have a lot of emails in your Inbox and it can be pretty tedious to scroll up and down, looking for a particular email.

In the top right corner there is a search box. Type in what you are looking for. (If you don’t see it, make your window wider.)

A list of suggestions will appear as you type.

On the left side of the window, just below the icons of the toolbar, you’ll also see that you can limit the search to a specific folder.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Taking a Picture of Your Screen

Sometimes you have something on your screen that you want to share with someone in an email.

Maybe it’s an odd message that appears, or your high score in Words With Friends.

To take a snapshot of your screen:

Press and HOLD the Home button and also press the Sleep/Wake button at the same time.

The screen will flash and you’ll hear a click, indicating that a photo has been taken.

Your screen shots are saved automatically in your Photos gallery where you can view and then email them.

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Using DropBox Like a Backpack

Many of my clients work between several devices, maybe a laptop and an iMac, an iPad, even on their iPhone and they ask me, “What’s the best way to have my documents available to work on, no matter where I am?”

While Apple will suggest you use iCloud, I think it’s much easier to use DropBox. DropBox is also a cloud-based storage space that you can access from any computer and mobile device, and it’s easier to use and access than iCloud.

Storing your working files on a cloud-based system is like carrying them in a backpack so they are wherever you are.

Download the free DropBox app onto your Mac and onto each of the devices you want to share your documents with.

Set up your free account (you get 20GB of storage for free) and sign in with the same account on each of your devices

Drag the files you want to share with yourself into DropBox.

Make sure you have an internet connection when you do this so that the current documents go up to the cloud for universal access.

Note: When you drag the document from your computer to Dropbox, they are now ONLY on DropBox. If you copy them, the version you leave on your computer will NOT be changed when you change the one on DropBox)

Then, open the files directly from your DropBox, make your changes and the changes will appear on all devices.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Faster Charging

Your iPhone and iPad will charge faster if you plug them directly into a wall outlet instead of your computer.

Be sure to drain the battery at least once a month to maximize performance.

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Scroll Bar Secrets

The scroll bar, on the right side of every window, allows you to move up and down the window to see the contents.

In the System Preferences, under General, you can set the Scroll Bar to either jump to the next page or to the spot that’s clicked.

This is handy when you are scanning a document or wanting to quickly navigate through a section of your photos.

If you don’t see your scroll bars all the time, this is where you can also choose to Always show them.

Dragging the scroll bar moves you fast, sometimes too fast. But dragging the scroll button is the quickest way to go all the way to the top or bottom of a window.

Clicking on the up and down arrows at the bottom of the scroll bar will move you a line at a time in that direction. This is great if you are reading a document line by line or looking at individual photos.

BONUS: In Safari, pressing the Space Bar scrolls the window a screen at a time.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Copy and Paste

Yes, of course you can copy and paste text on your iPad and iPhone.

1. Press and hold your finger at the beginning of the text you want to select. A menu appears, and the text is highlighted in light blue and there are blue circles on either end of the selection

2. Drag the blue circles to highlight all of the text you want to work with or choose Select All

3. Choose Copy

4. Press and hold your finger where you want to put the text you copied

5. Choose Paste

Editing Text

Use this same technique of pressing and holding your finger to reposition your cursor to Edit text

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Drafts in Mail with Mountain Lion

Lots of folks are asking where the Drafts Folder went in Mail after they installed Mountain Lion. It used to be that SAVE AS DRAFT was a choice. Now, just close the email you want to save and it will give you the option to Save As Draft.

Once you’ve saved something, the Drafts Folder will appear in the Mailbox list in the left column.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

A Week’s Worth of Weather

The weather widget in the Notification Center doesn’t just show you the weather for today. It can also show you the weather for the next five days.

Just swipe left or right for the full forecast.

 

New Gestures in Lion and Mountain Lion

A reader emailed me this question:

My screen jumps to the left and reveals a few apps on a black background ( temp, calculator etc). This always comes as a surprise… I have no idea how it happens but I would love to know. And other times, I see miniatures of what’s open..what’s that?

The Mac lets you use fast hand Gestures to activate different actions and windows. If you aren’t aware of these settings, you don’t realize that your movements are actually giving these commands.

The black background screen is the Dashboard, a collection of web based apps that you can open without first opening Safari and then navigating to the site. Your screen jumps to the Dashboard when you accidentally swipe the mouse or trackpad sideways.

The window with a mini view of all open applications is called Mission Control. With so many windows open, this feature makes it easy to quickly click on the one you want to work with next.

You can turn off these gestures: in System Preferences, under either Mouse or Trackpad, click More Gestures. Roll your cursor over the individual choices to see a short video that demonstrates what each gesture does. To turn off any gesture, just remove the check mark.

BONUS TIP: If you like to access Dashboard and Mission Control, but don’t like doing it with Gestures, you can set a keyboard combination to access them.

In System Preferences, click on Mission Control, choose a keystroke combination for each feature you want to use.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Settings for Visually and Hearing Impaired

Macs have always catered to users with visual and hearing disabilities, so it is no surprise that the iPhone and iPad also have settings to make using these devices easier for folks with limitations.

Tap Settings

Tap General

Tap Accessibility

Here you can turn on VoiceOver, to have the device read to you

You can Zoom text, make text much larger, even change the text to be white text on a black background.

This is also where you can set your device to work with an adaptive accessory if you have difficulty touching the screen.

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Clear Safari’s Cache in Lion and Mountain Lion

Safari’s Cache makes pages that you’ve previously loaded open faster. Often because it’s opening the older version of that page. Sometimes refreshing or reloading a page will bring up the newer version, but sometimes it’s best to Empty the Cache.

In previous versions of Safari, it was easy and clear how to Empty the Cache. The newest versions of Safari have changed where you go to empty out the Cache.

Now, under the Safari menu choose Reset Safari.

Remove the checkmarks next to things you do NOT want to reset.

Click Reset and everything else, including the cache, will be cleared.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Check out these free travel-related apps

Gas Buddy: Find gas stations near you and compare prices.

Hotel Tonight: Get last minute deals on hotels.

KidzOut: Find kid-friendly restaurants, parks and play places, even diaper changing stations.

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New VIP Feature of Mountain Lion

Mountain Lion, Apple’s newest operating system, is packed with new features and capabilities.

One feature in Mail is great for keeping track of emails from your most important people, your VIPs.

You can designate someone as a VIP by clicking the star icon to the left of the person’s name in any incoming or sent message. Every message to or from that person will now displays a star in message lists, making it easier to find those messages.

In addition, when you designate a person as a VIP, a new mailbox in the VIP Mailbox is created so that when you can click on a VIP’s name,you get a list of all messages, across all mailboxes (including Sent and Trash), to or from that person.

To remove the VIP designation, click on an email from that person, then click the arrow on the right side of their name and choose Remove from VIPS.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Undo and Redo

Did you know there is an UNDO and REDO button on the iPad?

If you accidentally delete some text, you can undo your last action in Mail or Notes.

To UNDO, tap to access the number keyboard, then tap the Undo key.

To REDO, tap to access the Symbol keyboard, then tap the Redo key.

As an alternative, you can also shake your device to undo and redo, like this:

After deleting some text, hold your iPad firmly with your both hands and give it a quick shake, and the Undo button slides in for you to undo.

To redo, shake it again.

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Keyboard Shortcuts in Safari

Instead of using your mouse’s scroll wheel or dragging the blue scroll bar, you can move down the page by pressing the Space Bar.

Move up the page by holding down the Shift key and pressing the Space Bar.

To go Back to the previous page, instead of clicking the Back Arrow, press the Delete key.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Copy and Paste

1. Yes, of course you can copy and paste text on your iPad and iPhone.

Press and hold your finger at the beginning of the text you want to select. A menu appears, and the text is highlighted in light blue and there are blue circles on either end of the selection

2. Drag the blue circles to highlight all of the text you want to work with or choose Select All

3. Choose Copy

4. Press and hold your finger where you want to put the text you copied

5. Choose Paste

Edit Text

Use this same technique of pressing and holding your finger to reposition your cursor to Edit text

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