Changes in Gmail

If you access your Gmail via the web and not through Apple Mail, you’ve probably noticed a few changes.

Gmail has introduced a new feature called tabbed inbox that automatically filters your email into several different categories. Most newsletters and mass mailings will now be delivered to your “Promotions” tab instead of your inbox.

To change this:

1. Click on the “Promotions” tab

2. Find any emails that you don’t want to get lost in this pile of promotions and drag it to the “Primary” tab.

3. Be sure to click “Yes” when the alert pops up. Do this for any of the emails you want to see right away.

Or, if you prefer to remove this new Tabs feature:

1. Go to the “Settings” box in the upper right hand corner of your inbox and select “Settings.”

2. Click on “Configure Inbox,” unselect all of the categories except “Primary,” and then save your changes.

Thanks to Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo and Anna Garrett for the heads up on this!

iPad Tip of the Week

The Fastest Way to Open Any App

If you’re like most of my clients, you have quite a few apps on your iPhone and iPad. And to find the ones not readily available on the first page can take some scrolling and searching.

Here’s a shortcut:
Instead of scrolling, swipe in the opposite direction, to the RIGHT to reveal Spotlight, the built-in Search tool.
Type the name of the app you’re looking for and it will appear in a list.

If you don’t see it, you’ll have to adjust your Spotlight settings

Tap Settings
Tap General
About halfway down, tap Spotlight Search
Be sure there is a checkmark next to Applications

You might want to remove the check mark next to items that you don’t want to include in the search. This will also save on battery usage.

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Quick Scrolling in Safari

Instead of using your mouse’s scroll wheel or trackpad 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.

iPad Tip of the Week

Quick Scrolling

When you reach the bottom of an article, or an email or the news feed in FaceBook, instead of scrolling all the way back to the top:

Just double tap in the very top black horizontal menu space where the time and battery are displayed and you’ll zip right up to the top of the screen.

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Setting Margins in Microsoft Word

Many of my clients have been using Microsoft Word for years, yet they admit they don’t know how to properly set margins.

It’s NOT by sliding the triangles on the ruler!

Click here for a free video lesson that will show you how easy it is to properly change your margins.

This tip is just one of the many things you can learn in Mac to School’s Virtual Classroom. To gain access to the entire course and all of the other great video lessons, join the classroom.

iPad Tip of the Week

Emailing Photos

One way to share pictures via email is from the Photos app:

1. Open the Photos app

2. Tap Camera Roll or Photo Library, depending on where the photos are

3. Tap Edit

4. Select the photos you want to email

5. Tap Share

6. Tap Mail

If Mail is not an option, you have too many photos selected. So cancel and unselect several photos then try again.

Another Option is to insert the photos directly from Mail

1. Create a new mail message

2. When you’re ready to insert a photo tap and hold in the message area

3. Choose Insert Photo or Video

4. Choose where the picture is (Camera Roll, Photo Library, an album, etc.)

5. Choose the photo

6. Tap USE

To send several photos at once, either repeat the above steps for each photo or use the first method from Photos.

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Sorting and Searching in Notes

I use the Notes app for all kinds of things: movies people recommend, restaurants I want to try, great ideas that come to me when I am out and about.

By default, the Notes are sorted by the date they are edited, which can mean a bit of searching for the Note I want.

From the View menu, you can change how notes are sorted: by Date Created, Dated Edited, or by Title, so you can choose what works best for you.

Or, use the Search feature to have Notes find it for you.
Just click in the box next to the magnifying glass at the top of the list of Notes and type what you’re looking for.

iPad Tip of the Week

Enjoying Photos

Family gatherings are a great time to share photos. And it’s fun to be able to have your photos displayed in the background.

When your iPad is asleep and locked, you can still view Photos using the Picture Frame mode. It’s different than the Slide Show mode when you are in your Photos.

To set your preferences for Picture Frame:

1. Click Settings

2. Click Picture Frame

3. Choose your Transition

4. Choose how long it shows each photo, whether to Zoom in on faces, and if you want them Shuffled, in a random order

5. Choose which photos and albums to show

6. Sit back and enjoy

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See What Fonts Look Like

You can change the fonts of text in Mail as well as most other Apple programs by highlighting the text and then clicking on the desired font from the Font pulldown menu. But you don’t know what the font will actually look like until you do it.

Another way to experiment with fonts in email is to choose Show Fonts from the Format menu.

The Fonts window shows a list of grouped fonts (Collections), the family of typefaces, the possible styles of each typeface and a size to choose.

To see what the font actually looks like, you can reveal the Font Preview Pane.

1. Click on the barely noticeable circle that is below the word “Fonts” and above the “T” tool. Your mouse becomes a tool with arrows.

2. Drag the tool down to reveal the Font Preview Pane.

You can make the entire window bigger by dragging on any corner of the window.

iPad Tip of the Week

Creating Groups

Unfortunately, there is no simple way to create Groups in the Contacts app on your iPad or iPhone. But there is a workaround:

Create the Group in the Contacts app on your Mac. Any changes made on the Mac will automatically sync via iCloud to your iPhone and iPad.

 

Organizing Bookmarks

In Safari, Bookmarks are favorite website that you go to often. If a long unrelated list of all of your saved bookmarks is overwhelming you, here are some tips to organize them:

1. From the Bookmarks menu, choose Show All Bookmarks

2. In the left column click on either the Bookmarks Bar or Bookmarks menu, whichever one you want to work with

3. To Add a Folder, click the “+” sign at the bottom of the list of websites

4. Title it

5. Now drag related bookmarks on top of the folder to put it in it

To rename a bookmark, click once on it to select it. Click on the words to turn them the highlighted color Type and press Return when done

To delete a bookmark, click once on the icon of it, press the Delete key

To rearrange the bookmarks, just drag them up or down the list to where you want them

To move a Bookmark from the Bar to the Menu, click on the place where it is and drag it on top of where you want it

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Foldify

FOLDIFY
I usually only promote free apps but this one for iPad looks SO FUN!Draw, create, print and fold amazing 3D figures with Foldify. You don’t need drawing skills – Foldify has tons of free content to create amazing, high quality figures!

Additionally – what if we told you that your fun doesn’t need to be limited just to device? You can print figures from the app, then it’s just as easy as cutting it out and folding. Foldify offers 10 different templates for different types of figures. Even without drawing skills you can still create quality figures with a large selection of ready to use elements.

Foldify allows you:

print your figures directly from the application using AirPrint or send the PDF via email

view real-time 3D figure’s preview – any action you take is previewed in 3D without any delays or extra steps

zoom, rotate and draw on templates

use stamps like eyes, mouths, eyeglasses and many others

upload your creations to Foldify server and browse other users’ figures which you can print and rate

share your figures on Facebook, Twitter and e-mail

Get Foldify from the App Store on your iPad for $1.99 (50% off for a limited time)

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See What Fonts Look Like

You can change the fonts of text in Mail as well as most other Apple programs by highlighting the text and then clicking on the desired font from the Font pulldown menu. But you don’t know what the font will actually look like until you do it.

Another way to experiment with fonts in email is to choose Show Fonts from the Format menu.

The Fonts window shows a list of grouped fonts (Collections), the family of typefaces, the possible styles of each typeface and a size to choose.

To see what the font actually looks like, you can reveal the Font Preview Pane.

1. Click on the barely noticeable circle that is below the word “Fonts” and above the “T” tool. Your mouse becomes a tool with arrows.

2. Drag the tool down to reveal the Font Preview Pane.

You can make the entire window bigger by dragging on any corner of the window.

 

 

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Managing Photos

Thanks to Brian Lawler of the San Luis Obispo Mac Users Group for sharing this tip:

Deleting photos on the iPad and iPhone can be tedious–you have to either delete them all or you have to tap Edit, then tap each photo you want to remove.

Another option is to use your Mac to help speed up the process.

1. Open Preview on your Mac

2. Plug in your iPhone or iPad

3. From the File menu, choose Import from Phone

4. When you see the thumbnails you can select which photos you want to delete from the device

5. To select a series of photos in a row, click on the first one, hold down the Shift key, click on the last one

6. To randomly select photos, click on one, hold down the Command key while clicking on others

7. Then, to delete, click on the little red button in the lower left corner and all of the selected images will be deleted on your device

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A Fast and Fun Way to Email Photos

You probably know how easy it is to email pictures from iPhoto. But with iPhoto ’11 you have a choice about how those photos appear.

You can choose to have them just be attachments right in the email. Or, try this:

1. In iPhoto, under the iPhoto menu, choose Preferences

2. Click on the General icon

3. Next to “Email Photos Using, choose iPhoto

4. Close Preferences

Next:

1. Choose some pictures you’d like to send (Click one photo, hold down the Command key and select others)

2. Click the right facing Share arrow in the bottom toolbar

3. Choose Email

4. In the right column you now have several themes to choose from

5. Each theme will suggest how many photos work best

6. Add text in the designated spaces7

7. Be sure to check the box next to Attach Photos to Message so that the recipient can download the photos.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Christmas Songs, Music and Carols – with Lyrics

Enjoy 80 of the best Christmas classics, includes YouTube videos and full color music visualizer.

Hanukkah Dreidel
Spin the dreidel, win the pot.Play with friends and family.

Gingerbread House Maker
No fuss, no bake just good old fashioned fun.

Snowman Maker PRO
Build a snowman, dress him up, choose background and share with friends.

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Mac Tip of the Week

Question: Sometimes when I receive an e-mail and open it, I get a box with a blue ? in it. How do I handle this?

If a person has forwarded the message and the settings in their email do not include the graphics in the attachment, then you have no access to them.

If it is an email directly from someone, you can check your own settings. In Mail, under the Mail menu, choose Preferences. Click on the Viewing icon. Be sure there is a check mark next to “Display remote images in HTML messages”

Question: I would like to change the size of the font in my iCloud email. How do I go about doing that?

You can change the font size and the font for your emails in Mail under the Preferences menu. Click on Fonts and Colors. Next to Message font, click on Select, choose your desired font.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Q & A

Question: I would like to change the size of the font in my iCloud email. How do I go about doing that?

While you can’t change the font on your iPhone and iPad, you CAN change the size of the font.

1. Tap Settings
2. Tap General
3. Scroll down and tap Accessibility
4. Tap Large Text
5. Choose a size
6. When done, tap Accessibility in the top left, tap General in the top left, Tap Settings in the top left to return to the main Settings screen

This larger font choice will apply in Mail, Contacts, Calendars, Messages and Notes

 

 

Seeing What Fonts Really Look Like

You can change the fonts of text in Mail as well as most other Apple programs by highlighting the text and then clicking on the Fonts tool.

The Fonts window shows a list of grouped fonts (Collections), the family of typefaces, the possible styles of each typeface and a size to choose.

To see what the font actually looks like, you can reveal the Font Preview Pane.

1. Click on the barely noticeable circle that is below the word “Fonts” and above the “T” tool. Your mouse becomes a tool with arrows.

2. Drag the tool down to reveal the Font Preview Pane.

You can make the entire window bigger by dragging on the the diagonal lines in the bottom right corner of the window.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Don’t Type Periods

Instead of actually typing a period at the end of a sentence, double-tap the space bar and it will put in a period and a space so you can just start typing the next sentence.

If this feature doesn’t work:

1. Tap Settings

2. Tap General

3. Tap Keyboard

4. Turn the “.” Shortcut ON

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Creating Your Own Signature in Email

A signature can automatically appear at the bottom of your email. It can be your name, your contact information, even a favorite quote. You can create several different signatures and choose which one you want for a particular email.

To create a signature:

1. First, create a new email message so you have a place to type

2. Type everything you want to appear, including choosing the font, size, color

3. Highlight it all

4. From the Edit menu, choose Copy

5. Then, under the Mail menu, choose Preferences

6. Click on the Signatures icon

7. Click the “+” sign at the bottom of the middle column to create a new signature

8. Title it in the middle column where it is highlighted in blue

9. In the right column, delete the text that appears there

10. From the Edit menu, choose Paste
Your typed text will appear.

To actually USE the signature, you have to now assign it to an email account.

1. Drag that named signature from the middle column to on top of the email address in the left column that you want to use it with.

2. Click on that email address and, at the bottom, under Choose Signature, decide whether you always want that signature to appear or, if you choose None, then you can select the signature when you want to use it in a particular email.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

 

How To Take A Picture of What’s on the Screen

Sometimes you need to take a snapshot of what’s on your screen. Maybe to report an odd problem. Maybe to brag about a high score on Scrabble.

To take a picture of the screen, hold down the On/Off button at the same time that you press the Home button. You’ll hear a shutter sound.

To find the picture, click on Photos and look in the camera roll. Now you can email the picture or save it for future use.

 

 

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Create a Holiday Playlist in iTunes

For all of you Christmas music lovers, the easiest way to keep that holiday music playing is to create a Playlist.

Instead of manually looking for the songs you want, use the powerful SEARCH tool.

1. In the top right corner, click in the Search box and type Christmas

2. All songs/albums/artists with that word will appear

3. From the File menu choose New Playlist From Selection

4. The new playlist will appear at the bottom of the left column as Untitled Playlist

5. Without clicking anywhere, type a name for this Holiday Playlist

You can add additional songs to this playlist by dragging them from the main music window to on top of the playlist.

Watch the free video that shows you how to do this!

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

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Saving Photos You Receive In An Email

There’s no need to keep an email just so that you have access to the pictures. Instead, save them right in to iPhoto.

Open the email.

In Lion’s Mail, first click Show Details.

Then click and hold down the SAVE button and choose Add to iPhoto.

It will look like nothing has happened but your pictures are now in your iPhoto Library.

Now you can delete the email.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Changing the Font for Notes

While the font Marker Felt might be fun, it may not be your font of choice for your Notes. Now, with iOS 5 you can change the font for your Notes.

1. Click on Settings
2. Scroll pretty far down the list and click on Notes
3. Choose one of the three font’s listed

 

Selecting Items

One of the fastest ways to work more efficiently is to learn how to select more than one item at a time.

For example, instead of selecting and deleting one email at a time, you can select some, or all and then delete them all at the same time.

These steps will work for selecting items on the Desktop, in a folder, as well as in Mail, iPhoto, iTunes.

To Select All:

From the Edit menu, choose Select All, or hold down the Command key and type the letter A for All.

To cherry pick, meaning selecting this one and this one, not this one and this one:

1, Click on the first item

2. Hold down the Command key

3. Click on the next and the next and the next

If you accidentally click on one by accident, keep the Command key down and click on it again and it will un-select it.

To Select a Series, meaning many in a row:

1. Click on the first item in the series

2. Hold down the Shift key

3. Click on the last item in the series and all will be highlighted.

Bonus: You can combine these tricks to select MOST:

Select All or Select a Series Hold down the Command key and click on the items you DON’T want to include.

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Creating Page Breaks in Word Processing Documents

Many of my clients create word processing documents that are longer than one page. They press the Return key to create enough blank lines to have certain text begin on the next page. The only problem with this is that, when you add, delete or change anything, your pages are messed up.

Whether you use Microsoft Word or Pages, there is a simple way to create the desired breaks in your pages.

1. Click your cursor where you want the new page to begin.

2. In Pages, click on the Insert menu and choose Page Break.

In Word, click on the Insert menu, choose Break and slide over to select Page Break.

3. A new page will appear.

To delete the page break, click the cursor beyond the page break and press the Delete key.

Now your pages will always be perfect, no matter how you edit.

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Seeing Fonts in the Font Window

We all know that you can change the fonts of text in Mail as well as most other Apple programs by highlighting the text and then clicking on the Fonts tool.

The Fonts window shows a list of grouped fonts (Collections), the family of typefaces, the possible styles of each typeface and a size to choose.

To see what the font actually looks like, you can reveal the Font Preview Pane. There is a barely noticeable circle below the word “Fonts” and above the “T” tool. If you move your mouse onto this circle, it becomes a tool with arrows.

Drag the tool down to reveal the Font Preview Pane.

You can make the entire window bigger by dragging on the the diagonal lines in the bottom right corner of the window.

Now you can see your font choice and decide if it’s the one you want to use.

Too many steps to read and follow?

The ALL ABOUT MAIL Video Training Series SHOWS you how to work with fonts and so much more. Instead of READING the steps, you can WATCH and PRACTICE on your own. Click here for more info.

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Add Your Signature to Emails

A signature automatically appears at the bottom of your email. It can be your name, your contact information, even a favorite quote. You can create several different signatures and choose which one you want for a particular email.

To create a signature:

1. First, create a new email message so you have a place to type
2. Type everything you want to appear, including choosing the font, size, color
3. Highlight it all
4. From the Edit menu, choose Copy
5. Then, under the Mail menu, choose Preferences
6. Click on the Signatures icon
7. Click the “+” sign at the bottom of the middle column to create a new signature
8. Title it in the middle column where it is highlighted in blue
9. In the right column, delete the text that appears there
10. From the Edit menu, choose Paste

Your typed text will appear.

To actually USE the signature, you have to now assign it to an email account.

1. Drag that named signature from the middle column to on top of the email address in the left column that you want to use it with.

2. Click on that email address and, at the bottom, under Choose Signature, decide whether you always want that signature to appear or, if you choose None, then you can select the signature when you want to use it in a particular email.

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Open at Login

If you turn on your computer and always open the same programs when you start, consider having the Mac open them for you.

In the Dock, click and hold down on the icon of the program, click and hold on Options and choose Open at Login.

If you have programs that mysteriously open when you turn on the computer, you probably have accidentally chosen this option.

To turn it off, click and hold on the icon in the Dock click on Options and reselect Open at Login to remove the checkmark.

 

Quick Look

How much time do you waste opening up a document just to see if it’s the one you’re looking for?

Here’s a fast and easy trick:

1. Instead of double-clicking to open the document, click once on it to select it.
2. Press the space bar.
3. A window will appear, showing you a QUICK LOOK at the contents of the document.
4. Press the space bar again to close it.

This works with jpgs, too. If you need to scroll through a list of photos to find the one you’re looking for:

1. Click on the first photo.
2. Press the space bar to see what it is.
3. Press the DOWN arrow on the keyboard to move to the next one.
4. Continue pressing the DOWN arrow to see all the photos.
5. Press the space bar when you’re done.

Saving These Tips (Or any email that contains formatting)

Many of my clients ask me how they can save these tips for future reference. So today, I’m sharing not one but TWO ways to do it.

The easiest way to save any email is:

1. Select the email
2. From the File menu, choose Save As
3. Title it with a name that describes what it is so you can find it later
4. Navigate to the folder in your Documents folder where you want to keep it

(maybe you have already created a folder for Mac to School Tips. If not, in the bottom left of this window, click on New Folder and create one)

5. Click Save.

The only problem with this method is that it converts the email to Plain Text, which means all of the letters and words are there, but you lose all of the formatting: the bold, the pretty boxes, the easy-to-read appearance.

To save an email with all of its formatting, save it as a PDF.

Here’s how:

1. Select the email
2. From the File menu, Choose Print
3. Do not click the Print button. Instead, in the bottom left of the window, click PDF
4. Choose SAVE AS PDF
5. Title it with a name that describes what it is so you can find it later
6. Navigate to the folder in your Documents folder where you want to keep it
7. Click Save.

Now, when you open the saved tip, it will look exactly like it did when you received it in your email.

Seeing More Printing Options

Sometimes you don’t even know you’re missing choices until you see them.

Today’s tip addresses a question many of my clients ask me: Where are all of my printing options?

If you don’t see choices for printing, like how many copies and which pages to print, just click the triangle next to the name of your printer to reveal all of your options

Change What You Look At Everyday:

The beginning of the year is a great time to look at things with a fresh perspective.

In my creativity classes I encourage my students to change their visual environments becausewhen you see different things, you begin to see things differently.

Today’s tip offers ways to do this with your computer.

– Try typing in a new font
– Move your Dock to the left or right side of the screen
– Rearrange the things you look at on and around your working space
– Change your profile picture on Facebook
– Rearrange the icons on your Dock
– Change your desktop picture

Click here to watch a free video on how to change your desktop picture

Click here to watch a free video on how to change your Dock

Backing Up:

If something happens to your computer (loss, theft, crash, dead hard drive), you could lose everything on it: your addresses, your documents, your photos—EVERYTHING.

So why not be safe instead of sorry and start backing up your computer regularly.

I believe there are three levels of backing up, depending on what kind of user you are.

Click here to download my free HOW AND WHY TO BACK UP instruction sheet to determine which user you are and how to start backing up all of your important information.

The downloaded document “backingup.pdf” will open automatically in Preview. To save it, click on the File menu, chose Save As, and navigate to the folder you’d like to save it into.