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.

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.

Watch and learn how to use your Mac for some easy and fun holidays projects!

Just click on a red link and sit back and learn….you can pause the video at any time to practice.

How to Print Mailing Labels from Apple’s Address Book

Design Your Own Holiday Cards with iPhoto

How to Video Chat using iChat

For more great video lessons, click here

Click here to get the free Mac Tip of the Week in your Inbox every Tuesday.

SAFARI: CUSTOMIZING THE TOOLBAR

Safari’s Toolbar contains the minimal tools needed to surf the internet.

To add, rearrange and remove icons from Safari’s Toolbar:
1. In Safari under the View menu choose Customize Toolbar.
2. Drag any desired icons from the window onto the Toolbar.
3. You can also rearrange the icons in the Toolbar and remove the ones that you don’t use by dragging them off the Toolbar while you have the Customize Toolbar window open.

Some Tools I like to add:
Smaller/Bigger Big A, Little A because some pages are too small to read and so, adding this tools lets me make content bigger as needed.

I also like to have a button to quickly get me back to my Home Page.

MAIL: CHANGING THE BACKGROUND COLOR OF THE PAGE

Yes, you can change the background color of your emails. With your cursor in the message area, click the Fonts button in the Toolbar. The fourth icon from the left that looks like a dog-eared page, is the tool for the Document Color. Click it and then choose a new color.

To change the way you view your color choices, click on the different icons in the Color window. I prefer the crayon box, the tool at the far right.

iPHONE RECEPTION ISSUES

Cell phones send and receive signals from cell towers. As you drive around town, the signal connects to various towers, handshaking from one to the other. If you drive through an area without a tower (along the 51 through the Phoenix Mountain Preserve, for example) your phone loses connection from the system, if only for a brief minute, and even when it reconnects to the next tower, the signal may not be a 100% handshake. You may notice more dropped calls or voicemails that show up on your phone hours after the call.

To resolve this issue, AT&T recommends turning off/on your iPhone after you drive through an area with no towers, and also turning your phone off and on at least every two weeks to re-establish full handshaking. Some people get into the habit of turning their phone off every day to ensure the best reception.

To turn your iPhone off, push and hold the sleep button on the top of the phone until you see a screen with the option “slide to power off.” If you continue to have problems with delayed voicemails and dropped calls, contact AT&T.

Sign up to receive free weekly tips in your Inbox by clicking here

EMAIL ATTACHMENTS

CLEARING CACHES

Your Mac stores references to all the sites you’ve visited on the Internet so that pages load faster when you revisit those sites. The Mac also stores all kinds of other files on the computer. To help maintain an efficient system, it’s a good idea to empty the caches (pronounced cashes.)

To clear the Cache in Safari:

In Safari under the Safari menu, choose Empty Cache

To clear the Cache in Firefox:

In Firefox under the Firefox menu, choose Preferences

Click on the Advanced Tab

Click on Network

Click to Clear Now

To clear out all of the cached System files:

If a message appears about a file being in use, press Continue until all but those files have been deleted.

ADJUSTING THE BRIGHTNESS OF YOUR SCREEN

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ADDING FREQUENTLY USED ITEMS TO THE SIDEBAR

THE EASIEST WAY TO RENAME SOMETHING

RECENT ITEMS

To quickly return to something you’ve recently used:

1. Click on the Apple menu
2. Choose Recent Items
3. Follow the menu to reveal the list
4. Click on the item you want to open

COMPARING PHOTOS IN iPHOTO

Often you will have two similar pictures and it’s hard to decide which one is better. Instead of looking at one, then the other, you can compare them, side by side.

1. Click on the first photo

2. Hold down the Command key and click on the other photo

3. Click the Edit button in the bottom toolbar

4. They will open in the Edit mode, side by side

5. Now you can choose which one to keep or use in your project

Slow iPhone 3G

If you have a 3G or 3GS phone and you are experiencing a major slowing down since you upgraded to the new iOS4, try this:

Turn Off Spotlight:

1. In Settings, click General
2. Click Home Button
3. Remove the check Marks next to everything

You should notice a major improvement in the speed of things now.

Sign up to receive free weekly tips in your Inbox by clicking here

ZOOMING YOUR SCREEN

Do you ever want to quickly enlarge your screen so you can see something bigger?

1. Under the Apple menu, choose System Preferences

2. Click on the Mouse icon

3. Click to put a check mark next to Screen Zoom.

4. Click the Options for more choices.

5. It is set to use the Control key but you can choose a different key if you prefer.

6. You can also change how the screen moves when you zoom. Play with the different choices to see which works best for you.

7. Click Done

Now, anytime you hold down Control key and scroll with the mouse button, you’ll be ZOOMING! Try it.

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.

HIDING PICTURES IN iPHOTO

If you have your Desktop Screen Saver set to use all the pictures in iPhoto, you may have certain pictures that you don’t want to include. Instead of creating a separate album specifically for the Screen Saver, you can hide selected photos.

In iPhoto, click on any picture you want to hide from view.

From the Photos menu, choose Hide Photo. An X will appear in the top right corner, indicating it is marked as Hidden.

If you don’t want to see Hidden photos in iPhoto, under the View Menu, re-select Hidden Photos to remove the check mark.

The picture is still in your Library, you just can’t see it.

To Unhide it, first, from the View menu, choose to show Hidden Pictures

Then select the photo that has the X on it and choose Unhide from the Photos menu

For more great iPhoto tips, check out the new video training series, Maximize Your Mac.

An Ingenious Solution for People With Two Homes, Two Computers

Many of my clients maintain two homes and want full computer access wherever they go. Some have a laptop, others have two iMacs. Often, keeping things current between their computers becomes a hassle.

A laptops is a viable solution if you don’t mind carrying it and you don’t need a big screen. Two iMacs gives you big screens but you have to copy your files, sync your information and update both computers as new software becomes available.

A third option is to buy one Mac Mini and then just purchase a monitor, keyboard and mouse for each location. (You can even use your current keyboard and mouse with the Mini.) The Mac-Mini is a complete computer, with a DVD drive, 5 USB ports and 2GB or 4GB of RAM and your choice of Hard Drive sizes.

The Mini is just 6.5 x 6.5 x 2 inches and weighs less than 3 pounds, making it really easy to carry back and forth. You just unplug it from one monitor and keyboard, travel, then plug it in to your other monitor when you arrive. Read all the tech specifications here.

It’s a great solution that will eliminate a lot of hassle and extra work so that you can just arrive and start Mac-ing!

If you’d like help transferring your current computer stuff to this new and easy solution, call or email me today!

Favorite iPhone App of the Month: Solitaire

Admit it–you like to play Solitaire. It relaxes you, clears your mind and it’s fun. So why not play on your iPhone? There are a lot of Solitaire games available in the App store. My favorite is Sol Free Solitaire, with 6 free versions of the game including 2 versions of Klondike and Baker’s Game.

Instead of dragging cards, just tap once on the card you want to move, then tap where you want to move it.

How to Set Up a Free iChat Account

iChat is Apple’s FREE video chatting software. You can use it to talk and video chat with anyone who has a Mac. (Use Skype to talk with PC users.) All you have to do is create a free identity and you’re ready to go!

When you open iChat for the first time it will ask you to put in your account name. If you have a MobileMe account, click on the word AIM and change it to “MobileMe” then type in your information, along with your password and click Done.

If you don’t have a MobileMe account, click on the word AIM and change it to “mac.com” and then click Get an iChat Identity.

Fill in all of the boxes, accept the agreement, click Done and you’re set up to iChat.

Now you just need to add the Identities of the people you want to chat with.

If you’d like to try it out, Add me to your Buddy List by clicking the PLUS sign at the bottom of the Buddy List window. My iChat identity is moc.camnull@loohcsotcam

The next time you see me online, click on my name and we can chat!

Getting the Most Life Out of Your Batteries

Adding Signatures to Email

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:
First, create a new email message so you have a place to type
Type everything you want to appear, including choosing the font, size, color
Highlight it all
From the Edit menu, choose Copy

Then, under the Mail menu, choose Preferences
Click on the Signatures icon
Click the “+” sign at the bottom of the middle column to create a new signature
Title it
In the right column, click the cursor, then, 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.
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
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

Spring Cleaning in Your Inbox
So many of us receive all kinds of emails from companies, newsletters from organizations, shopping specials from our favorite stores. They can quickly clutter our Inboxes and, often, we don’t even read them.
Instead of just deleting them, take a moment to UNSUBSCRIBE. At the bottom of every business email you will find a link to change your settings, or Unsubscribe. Click the link, change your preferences and soon, your Inbox will be less cluttered with junk.

Fun with Facebook
Facebook is a free online service that allows you to find old friends, share your photos, connect with people with common interests. Facebook allows you to post public comments on your Wall and your friends then see your comments and can comment back. You can even send private notes to your Friends.

Facebook is a great way to share good news, favorite websites and stay in touch with people.

The key to using to Facebook is taking the time to set your Privacy Preferences so that the whole world doesn’t have access to your comments and posts.

To set your Privacy Preferences, log in to your Facebook account

Click on Account in the top right corner and choose Privacy Settings

Click on each of the sections and choose WHO can see your information. I recommend only Friends, not even Friends of Friends.

Also, it is recommended to limit the amount of personal information you share. To change your information, first click on Profile in the top right corner. Then, in the left column under your picture, click Edit Profile.

If you want to include your birthday, it’s best to not include the year. You can make this choice from the pull down menu below where you enter your birthday.

You may choose to include your high school if you want to be found by former classmates.

Be sure to Save Your Changes when you’re done.

FAVORITE iPHONE APP OF THE MONTH:

LOSE IT!: If you looking for a way to keep track of what you eat, Lose It! is a great, free app that tracks your meals, your exercise, your weight goals. You enter your foods and the serving size and LOSE IT! keeps a log of the calories consumed. You also enter your exercise and it calculates the calories burned. You can track nutritional values as well. Then, with a click of a button you can see where you are in your daily food and exercise budget.

And the data automatically uploads to the free LOSE IT! website so you can print spreadsheets of your weekly progress.