Turn Notes Into Stickies

The Notes app in Mountain Lion is a great tool for jotting down thoughts, lists, to-dos. If you want to keep a Note in view on the Desktop, like a Stickie, just double-click the note in the list window. Now you can move it around your Desktop and keep it in view.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Easier Reading with Reader

Have you found an interesting article to read, all of the ads on the screen are distracting?

Safari has a built in READER feature that will open most articles in a new window with just the article. No distractions.

1. Click on a new article. Most newspaper and magazines with substantial text will support this feature.

2. Click on the word READER that appears at the far right side of the page’s address (this may not be available for all articles).

3. The article will open in a new window with just the text.

4. Click READER again to get back to the full page in Safari.

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Saving Photos From Mail

A reader recently sent this question:

“If I get an email with photos attached, there is a drop down menu that invites me to save as or add to iPhoto. The iPhoto option does not work. Of course I can drag and drop or I can save as but I’d like to know why the add to iPhoto option does not work.”

There is a bug in Mountain Lion with Apple’s Mail program so this feature currently doesn’t work. So, until Apple fixes this, the easiest way to save photos you receive in Mail is to drag them, one at a time, onto the iPhoto icon in the Dock.

If you are still using Lion or Snow Leopard, this Save to iPhoto feature does still work.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Deleting Photos

A reader emailed me this question:

“I need to delete pictures from my iPad. I need more space on it for games for my grandson, but when I follow the steps below, my delete button changes to DELETE EVERYWHERE. I don’t want the pictures deleted on the MAC. How to delete from the iPad device only without losing the same picture on the MAC?”

The Delete Everywhere refers to the photos on the iPad only. You may have them in the Camera Roll and in an album. Deleting the photo from the camera roll will also delete it from any albums it is in.

It will NOT be deleted from your Mac. You can test this by deleting a single photo, then checking your Mac.

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The Power of Preview

A reader recently sent this question:

“When I open a PDF in Preview I get a list there of about 10 items (Pics). I didn’t notice these before is there a way to get them off Preview when I open it?”

Apple’s free Preview app is the easiest way to open and read PDF files. You can see the entire document in full screen and you can also see the thumbnails, miniature images in the sidebar for navigating quickly to a particular page.

To show or hide the thumbnails, from the View menu, choose what you want to see: contents only or thumbnails.

You can also make your choices from the Toolbar by clicking on the View icon all the way on the left.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Quick Definitions

If you are reading an article on Safari and need to look up a word, here’s a fast and easy tip:

1. Tap and hold your finger on the word to highlight it

2. A choice will appear

3. Tap Define

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Viewing Full Names of Files

A reader recently sent this question:

“If you put some icons on the desktop, the names on this icons get truncated and its difficult to figure out the name you picked. How would you increase the number of characters you can use in naming a desktop icon where it can be seen?”

First you should remember that, the more files and folders that you have saved onto your Desktop, the slower the Mac will be. While you can adjust the size of the icons and text (In the Finder, under the View menu, choose Show View Options) it won’t change how many letters are revealed.

If you move all of these items into a single folder on the Desktop, then you can play with the different view options of that folder (by icon, list, column, coverflow) and you’ll be able to read full titles.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

A Trick For Rearranging Icons, Creating Folders

There are several ways to move and organize your favorite Apps on your screen.

First, press and hold on one of the icons to get them wiggling.

To move an App, just drag the icon to a new position.

To move an App to a different screen, drag it all the way to the edge of the current screen to advance to the next screen.

This can be frustrating, getting the icon to easily move to the next screen. So here’s a great trick:

1. Press and hold on one of the icons to get them wiggling

2. Drag the App into the Favorites Bar at the bottom (If there is no free space, temporarily move several of your existing favorites onto a screen to create some space in the Bar)

3. Swipe to the screen where you want to put it

4. Then drag the App from the bar up to where you want it

To group similar Apps together, drag one on top of another and a Folder will be created that you can rename.

 

Clear Out Your Inbox, One Email At A Time:

These days we get so many emails that it’s hard, if not impossible to keep up. We tend to leave things in our INBOX for that “someday” when we’ll have time to decide what to do with them.

Sure, there are many you need to keep.

But I’m guessing that there are just as many that you really don’t need. Or at least don’t need to keep in your INBOX.

Here are step by step instructions to SAVE AN EMAIL into your Documents folder, where you can easily find it.

1. Click on the email.

2. From the File menu, choose SAVE AS

3. The box next to SAVE AS is highlighted in blue with the current name of that email. Without clicking type a title that actually means something and identifies what the email is about.

4. Now decide where you want to save it. If you don’t see a lot of choices, click on the triangle next to the title you just typed. It will reveal the Sidebar where you can click on the Documents folder.

5. Consider creating a folder for all of these kinds of emails, liked SAVED JOKES, or NOTES FROM MOM. You can create a folder by clicking New Folder in this window.

6. Click SAVE when you have navigated to the folder where you will later find this saved email.

Now you can delete the email from your Inbox and save or delete another one.

If you have hundreds of emails in your Inbox, try doing just 20 minutes a day. You’ll be surprised how quickly you will get through it all.

Claim More Desk Space — Move Your Dock:

The Dock is that strip on the bottom of your Desktop with all of the icons on it. It’s a handy tool for quickly opening all of your favorite programs.

Most computer screens are wider than they are tall, and the Dock takes up precious screen space. Some people solve this issue by Hiding the Dock.

If you like to see your Dock, but still want more screen space, consider moving it to the side. Under the Apple menu, choose Dock, slide the mouse over and choose Position on Right or Left. It’ll take a day or two to get used to the new location, but I think you’ll really appreciate the full screen space.

FOR MORE GREAT TIPS ABOUT THE DOCK, the Desktop and more efficient ways to use the Finder, check out the video tutorials ALL ABOUT THE FINDER.

Stickies:

A lot of us use Post It! Notes to jot down notes and remind us of things to do.

Did you know the Mac has a free application called STICKIES that does the same thing on your computer’s Desktop?

Stickies lets you create as may notes as you want. You can color-code them, move them to different places on your Desktop, even arrange them by color, date, and content.

To use Stickies, click on the GO menu in the Finder. Choose Applications. Scroll down until you see STICKIES. Open it.

To create a New Note, choose New Note from the File menu. Under the Note menu, you can make the notes transparent so that you can still see what’s behind them. You can change the color of the note with the Color menu.

And to sort them, from the Window menu, choose Arrange.

Play with the different choices and see what works best for you. Or, if it feels to cluttered, just stick to the real Post It Notes.

Working With Many Windows: Exposé

Expose:
Expos√© is one of the coolest tools for people who work with many open windows on their computer. Instead of rearranging windows on your screen, closing files and then re-opening them, Expos√© exposes everything that’s open and then you can quickly click on the window you want to work with.

To set up Exposé:
Under the Apple menu, choose System Preferences
Click on Expose and Spaces
Click on the Expose tab

here you can choose what keystroke will activate Expose.

Next to “All Windows” choose a key (I use Right Option)
While you’re here, do the same for Show Desktop (I use Right Shift)

I don’t bother setting a keystroke for the Applications window since all the programs I use are in the Dock.

Now, try it–
Close the System Preferences and press the key you set for All Windows.

AMAZING!!!

Now you can quickly see everything that’s open. Just click on the window you want to work in.

Press the key you set for Desktop and see what happens. Press it again to return to normal.