Automator, Part 1

Automator is an innovative personal automation assistant that makes it easy to
automate repetitive tasks and is already on your laptop! Learn how to use this time-saving application to quickly and easily rename files.

automator1.pdf

Command-Tab

This keyboard command allows you to quickly access your open applications and documents. Simply click and hold the APPLE key, then click the TAB key to scroll through the window that appears. When you find the application you’d like to open, let go of the TAB and APPLE keys. Have fun using this new command!

PC Delete key on a Mac!

PC users frequently lament that Macs don’t have an equivalent to the PC delete key. The Mac delete key is actually the PC backspace key. There actually is a delete key on Macs: Fn-Delete. Try it out!

Reply or Forward to Part of an Email!

This is a great tip to reply or forward to only a fraction of an email! In the Entourage application, highlight some text from the email you received. Then when you press reply or forward, only this portion will be in the new message. Cool!

Dragging and Copying Files

By default, when you drag a file, it simply moves it. However, there are times where you’d like to drag it in the same way but copy it instead.  Try this: hold down OPTION KEY when dragging the files and the little green + icon will appear confirming that you are copying it.  Cool!

Forcing An Application to Open a File

Use this tip when a file opens in the wrong application. For example, if I want a jpg file to open in Adobe Photoshop Elements instead of Preview.

Click on the file, hold, and drag the file to the icon in the dock that corresponds with the application you’d like to use to open the file.

With that said, here would be a solution to my example above:  instead of double-clicking my jpg file and it opening in Preview, I should click on the file and drag it to Adobe Photoshop Elements so I can manipulate the file.

Where did I save this?

If you’ve ever saved something in multiple locations and have difficulty recalling where you’ve saved it later, you’ll probably appreciate this tip. To determine where a file is saved when the file is opened, simply push the APPLE key and click on the name of the file name at the top of the file window. name_screen3.jpg

A menu will appear that will give you “cookies” to show you where the file is saved.drop_down_screen.jpg

Super Zoom!

Need to show your students a tiny QuickTime video from a website? Or do you need to show students elements of a document? Try using your ZOOM tool on your Mac.

First, enable the zoom mode by pressing the APPLE + OPTION + 8 keys OR to SYSTEM PREFERENCES in the Apple Menu > UNIVERSAL ACCESS. Then turn the zoom on.

Next, press APPLE, OPTION, and +(Plus) to turn the zoom on, and APPLE, OPTION, and -(Minus) to turn the zoom off.