December 2010
2 posts
3 tags
Software Substitutes pt IV
Apple Macs have come with Quicktime player for a very long time. Quicktime was in fact invented by Apple specifically to make videos easy to play. But nowadays, your Video Cameras, phones, will take videos in a variety of formats. Add to this the huge number of videos you can download and watch on your computer. Can Quicktime handle all these files? Not really.
If you haven’t already done...
Software Substitutes III
Your web browser is like your favorite brand of tea (you can tell I’m an Englishman!) or your favorite brand of anything really. Although you can use a different browser, it tends to leave a bad taste in your mouth!
I’m a Firefox person through and through. But Macs come with Safari, so why not just use Safari as my one and only browser? Well, for me, the choice is one of speed, ease of use,...
November 2010
17 posts
1 tag
Software Substitutes pt II
One of the most widely underused programs ever, in my opinion, would have to be Photoshop. I know people who own this program, but never do more than crop the odd picture and remove red-eye from their photos. In the scheme of things, Photoshop is one of the most advanced, feature rich programs you can buy. So why would you? It’s expensive and big.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m...
2 tags
Software Substitutes pt I
Do you have to buy expensive software to get stuff done on your Mac? Certainly, but before you splash out a few hundred euros / dollars on a program, you might want to ask yourself a couple of questions:
Do you really need the program?
Can something else do the same job?
So for the first Software Substitutes, we’ll take on the might of Microsoft Office. Having just released their new...
4 tags
PDF Magic II
Here’s another incredible time-saver that I discovered by accident. When looking through a PDF file a while back, I was asked to save a single chapter of a handbook which contained 20 or so chapters. I simply opened up the PDF file in Preview, and opened the Sidebar. I went to the first page of this chapter and clicked on this page in the side bar. I scrolled down to the end of the...
3 tags
PDF Magic I
I’ve talked about Preview before, and I’ve made no secret that I think it’s one of the best things that your Mac has in it’s application folder. Here’s a trick that found out today by accident. I was asked to make a document in Word, that needed a few full pages from a PDF document. Just on a whim I tried to pull some pages out of my PDF file into my Word document....
3 tags
iPhoto Videos II
Yesterday, I sat with iPhoto open, and was trying to organise some (by some I mean a few thousand) photos of my beautiful daughter. As my wife and I have been snapping away, we’ve also been shooting videos as we go. I’m thinking of compiling a set of movies out of these videos, but trying to find them in amongst thousands of photos is a nightmare of Spielberg proportions. So what to...
2 tags
iPhoto Videos
One of my biggest complaints about iPhoto ‘08 was to do with videos. Any short video you filmed with your photo camera would be imported into iPhoto, along with all your photos. They were put into events along with the photos, but if you double clicked them to view them, Quicktime would open up and play the video. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing at all, but it did kind of break the...
3 tags
iPhoto '11 Export II
Uploading to Picasa
Getting your photos onto your Picasa account is actually very easy. The first thing to do is install the iPhoto Uploader for Mac. This will streamline getting your pictures onto your Picasa account without having to have Picasa installed on your Mac. Once you have installed the uploader, fire up iPhoto. Now, select the photos you want to upload. Now go to File and choose...
3 tags
iPhoto Export
Sharing your photos
When dealing with iPhoto, I have chosen not to put mine, or my families photos on Facebook. But how then, do you share a set of photos with family and friends if you don’t want to use Facebook. It might shock some of you readers to note that there were and still are websites dedicated to sharing your photos. The advantage of these websites is that you have complete...
3 tags
iPhoto '11
Red eyed monster
That’s right, the attack of the red eyed monster is a plague which affects photos the world over. In my household, a lot of photos are taken of nights out, with lots of smiling faces, and lots of red eyes. For those of you who are interested, red-eye in photos is caused by light from your camera flash hitting the back of the eye of a person, and reflecting back red light...
3 tags
iPhoto '11 Full Screen
Work without Distraction
One of the features that was highlighted about the new iPhoto ‘11 was the new Full Screen feature. Older versions of iPhoto have had a full screen viewer, but iPhoto ‘11 will allow the program to take up the full screen that you have.
This is not new, as you can click on the green button in the top left of the window in most programs to take up the full...
1 tag
iLife '11
A good update?
Out of all the iLife software, I would hazard to guess that iPhoto is the most used. I know it is in my house. I managed to get my hands on the the new iLife ‘11 suite, so with child like enthusiasm I installed it and fired up iPhoto.
Facelift
The first thing to see is there has been a major overhaul of the interface. It looks much slicker than previous iPhotos....
1 tag
Mac App Store II
When the Mac App Store is finally released (which should be within a month or so), you’ll be able to browse for software, just like you do on an iPhone and buy with one click. When an update for that app is available, you’ll know about it. You can download that update simply and it will install without you having to do anything.
We’ll have to wait and see if this is going to be...
1 tag
Mac App Store
iPhone comes to the Mac?
A few weeks ago, in Apple’s press event, Steve Jobs mentioned the Mac App Store. This was not a real surprise, seeing as the App Store on the iPhone / iPod Touch and iPad is so hugely successful. But what is an App Store, and what will the Mac App Store look like?
A brief history of Apps
Anyone who’s owned an older mobile phone will remember what apps used to...
4 tags
Windows in a window
In our last article, we talked about installing Boot Camp in order to install Windows. Option number 2 is to install a Virtualisation software. If you remember, this is software that lets you run Windows inside a window on your Mac. There are a few different programs that we can use. Most you have to pay for, such as the excellent Parallels, or VMWare Fusion. But wonderfully, there are options...
3 tags
Boot Camp
Attention!
In our last article, we discussed running Windows on a Mac. The first option we had was to run Boot Camp. This is something that Apple created specifically to run Windows on your Mac. So if you are going down this road here’s what to do:
Navigate yourself to the Applications > Utilities folder and double click on Boot Camp. (Or you could simply Spotlight “Boot...
3 tags
Windows on a Mac
Best of Both Worlds?
I moved to Macs over a decade ago, for many reasons. The biggest reason was with my (then) new Mac, I didn’t have to worry about viruses or other security issues that can plague a Windows user’s computer. But there are times when you need Windows, but don’t have a separate (or don’t want a separate) computer for the job. You have two choices:
You can...
1 tag
Autostart
Start it without clicking
Is there a program you start every time you start your Mac up or login? I can’t have a computer on for more than a few seconds without iTunes being started. There’s a great feature to start programs automatically. Simply go to the dock and find the icon of the program you want to auto start. You can start the program if it’s icon isn’t on the...
October 2010
15 posts
3 tags
iPhone auto-correct
Time to go Mobile
Since starting Macstarter earlier this year, one question I am asked a lot is “When are you going to start iPhone tutorials?”. It’s tempting to assume that all Mac owners actually own an iPhone, but that’s not the reason I shy away from iPhone related articles. It simply is the fact that it’s hard to tutorialise a quarter of a million apps, which...
3 tags
Reply to Mail
Selected Replies
This is a great tip from tuaw.com. I’m a regular Apple Mail user. That is, I use Apple’s built in Mail application at work. In my opinion (which is quite humble I’ll have you know) Apple’s Mail app is one the best applications I use. I love the way it’s easy to read mail, reply to mail and the linked Address Book and iCal just ice my cake! But this...
1 tag
Face to Face
Facetime goes big-time
For those of you lucky enough to have a iPhone 4 (such as my wife who received her’s today), you will notice that it has a new video chat feature called Facetime built into it. Great for keeping in touch with friends and relatives when you’re away. But, one thing that was announced at Apple’s recent press event was that Facetime was also released for the...
1 tag
New Feature on Macstarter
Look to the right
In my day job, I get asked the same question at least a million times (slight exaggeration….) which is “what’s the shortcut for ________” You can insert almost any word in the blank space. On Macstarter, I get asked that a lot as well. Therefore, I’ve decided to make a permanent place for the Keyboard Shortcuts article. You’ll see it on the...
1 tag
Love what you do
Wednesday was the day that Apple announced their new MacBook Air. I was lucky enough to get my hands around one earlier today and if you think it looks good on the web wait until you’re holding it in your hands. It’s very hard to walk out of the store without buying both the 13” and 11” versions.
So back home I happened to see a link on Apple’s home page for Wednesday’s special press event....
1 tag
Christmas wish-list
It’s good to have goals
As I’m on a short holiday at the moment I thought give you all a reminder that Apple held a special press event yesterday to announce a few new products. If you haven’t already done so head over to Apple.com and check out the new MacBook Air(s). If I wasn’t 100% certain that Santa didn’t exist, my Christmas wish list would already be on...
4 tags
Save as PDF...
Here’s a excerpt from Macsparky.com, a great site. I’ve talked earlier about saving your documents as PDF (rather than printing onto paper), but this tip from MacSparky is about as good as it gets…. enjoy.
Keyboard Shortcut for “Save as PDF…” in OS X
Tuesday, March 18, 2008 at 10:54PM Here is one thing that has been driving me crazy for some time. I ...
2 tags
Troubleshooting Articles
It’s not always plain sailing…
As a hardcore, long time Mac user, you can find me from time to time sitting (or standing) in a room “defending” my choice to use Macs. One of the arguments that you can well use (if you find yourself in a similar position) is that Macs are generally more secure and less troublesome than their counterparts. But that doesn’t mean we should be complacent about using...
2 tags
Installing and Backup articles
You can never be too careful…
I’ve said it before (and no doubt will repeat it many times over), but the most important thing you can do on a computer that you hope you’ll never have to use is backing up your data. Losing data can be one of the most stressful things you can go through in front of a computer. No need to stress though, if you follow the following articles:
...
Efficiency Articles
It’s not what you do, it’s the way that you do it….
Continuing my look back at some of the previous Macstarter articles, I would like to remind you all of one of the central beliefs of this site. Efficiency. Not just doing something, but doing it Mac style!
Sidebar - Keep your folders handy
Quick Look - No need to open a file to look at it!
Springy Folders - move your files...
2 tags
Time to reflect
It’s been a while…..
Although not the oldest site on the web by any means, Macstarter has now amassed well over 100 tips, tricks and tutorials for all you Mac users out there. That’s a lot of information just floating around in this site. So for my next few posts, I’m going to reflect on some of those tutorials and provide you easy links to them. I hope you enjoy...
4 tags
Spaces
It’s good to have your own space
Clutter is something that computers are great at. And the fact that you can have open a browser, iTunes, iPhoto, a few finder windows means that before you know it, your screen can be awash with clutter. The frustration of clicking through windows to find the one that you want to actually get to is both time wasting and inefficient. Is there anything that...
4 tags
Macstarter Project 1 pt II
Viewing and Converting
In part I of this project, we downloaded a YouTube Video, and have it saved ready to watch on our iWhatever device. Before we can convert it, let’s make sure the video is watchable to start with.
You may have noticed that your downloaded file has got a .flv at the end. This means that it is a Flash Video. These are the videos that a lot of websites have, but our hand...
4 tags
Macstarter Project 1 pt I
Making Movies playable
Over the last few days, I’ve been using my iPad a lot for viewing movies. Of course you can buy and rent movies on your iPad, the videos I wanted to watch come from YouTube. Herein lies the problem for me. My iPad is not a 3G model, therefore I can’t access the internet when I’m on the move. So, for my first project, I want to be able to grab videos from...
2 tags
Finder Toolbars
Customising your Finder Windows
This is a quickie, but a real time saver as well. When you open a finder window, you will see a toolbar on the top, with standard buttons. These let you browse your files, change the view for browsing, and so on. But, there is more you can put into this toolbar that can save you lots of time.
What to do:
First, put your mouse anywhere in the toolbar, and right...
September 2010
7 posts
3 tags
Movies on the go
How do I take my movies with me?
This was a question from one of the readers of Macstarter. If you’re one of the millions of people who carry an iPhone, iPod, iPad or any number of devices, you’ll know how wonderful it is to be able to watch movies on the go. Whether in a plane, or a train (or in a doctor’s waiting room!) having a bunch of movies in your pocket is a great way of wasting some...
3 tags
Say it with words...
Adding style to your pages
In your day to day activities, you may have the need to “jazz” up your text, be it a leaflet, a poster, or a book your writing.
Adding a font
One instant (and very easy) way of adding style to your page is to get a new font. By far the easiest way to do this is to visit dafont.com. The site is organised into categories so that you can choose a font that...
4 tags
Take out the Trash...
When Trash does not empty
Apologies for the lack of articles, the day job keeps getting in the way of my real life…..
Here’s a quickie, but a real life saver!
Every so often, you will come across a situation where your Trash won’t empty. You know something’s in there, but when you right click (or click and keep clicked) the trash can to empty it, it doesn’t empty....
1 tag
Features overload
How much is too much?
I was having a conversation with a colleague today, and came across a topic which has been bothering me for a while now.
Over the years we have been programmed to use certain programs. One classic example of this is Microsoft Word. Now as programs go this is the king of Word Processors. It can do anything you need it to do, possibly. But here’s where we should stop for a...
2 tags
Sidebar Preferences
Customising what’s on the sidebar
Here’s a quick answer to a question I was asked - “How do you take all that stuff away on the side of my Finder windows”.
Previously, I talked about how to customise your Finder sidebar (the list of folders and drives that you see on the left hand side of all Finder windows). Apart from dragging things in and out of the side bar,...
2 tags
Ask and ye shall receive
I thought, having been writing Macstarter articles for many months now, it was time to open the floor to all of you. The readers. So the time has come for Questions and Answers. You ask them, and I’ll do my best to answer them. Leave me a comment with the follow button above, or on Facebook (link on the right), or Twitter (again the link is on the right). What are you waiting for???
3 tags
Dashboard
Widgets and things
A few years ago, Apple introduced the Dashboard part of OS X. Although I myself don’t use Dashboard, it’s an amazingly useful tool for people to make use of. Simply click F4 (on new computers) or F12 (on older Macs) and you should see “Widgets” fade onto your screen. The Widgets that come as standard cover many things, such as the Weather, Clocks,...
August 2010
11 posts
4 tags
Menubar
What’s it for?
When moving from a Windows computer to a Mac, the first thing that unsettles an average user is the Menubar. This small bar sits on top of the screen always. It doesn’t exist in Windows, as each program you open has it’s own Menubar. The Mac has always (well for at least 25 years at least) had a Menubar which changes, depending on what program you’ve got...
1 tag
Software you must have pt II
Keep it running
Onyx is one of those programs that just does amazing amounts on your Mac, without costing you a penny. From clicking on Automation and having it take care of all your business, to going through the options one by one for fine tuning, this is a program that must live in your Applications folder. It is just that simple. This is the program you should turn to whenever your...
3 tags
Software you must have pt I
Things you can’t do without
I thought we’d get started with the new site as we mean to go along…. so straight down to business:
Great software arrives with your Mac straight out of the box. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a heap of software out there for us. I’ve mentioned these in the past with the likes of Carbon Copy Cloner and others, but I was thinking...
1 tag
“You learn something every day if you pay attention.”
– Ray LeBlond
2 tags
Multi Tasking - or not...
The Myth is revealed
A few months ago, I wrote a couple of articles about Multi Tasking. It seems that now there is some momentum in the camp called “Single Tasking”. As I mentioned previously, in my day job I see students apparently multi tasking, which basically consists of doing many things seemingly at the same time but mostly badly! So this time I will link an article from the...
3 tags
Picture Perfect VI - Wrap up!
iPhoto is the best? Not really. There’s a number of programs that you could argue are better. But that’s not what this website is about. Every new Mac comes with iPhoto, so it’s part your Mac. You will not find a more convenient and easy to use software though. So as I wrap up this series of iPhoto tutorials, here’s a couple of things to remember: iPhoto will automatically...
3 tags
Picture Perfect V - Slideshows
Showing Off! One of the things I love (as a smarmy Mac owner!) is when friends and relatives come over and see photos on the screen of the Mac I have in the living room. Without a doubt, I will jump into “show off” mode, and just click on the Slideshow button. Immediately the pictures will transform into a wonderful slideshow, with music from my iTunes Library. That’s enough to...
3 tags
Picture Perfect part IV
Quickie Tips If you’ve been following the Picture Perfect tips, you’ll be well on the way to getting your photos looking shiny and lovely. Here’s a couple of quickie tips: Duplicate and then change If you’re going to do something drastic to your photo, like a big crop, or a huge amount of adjustments, it might be an idea to duplicate the photo first, and work on a copy of...
3 tags
Picture Perfect pt III
You don’t need to show it all…. One of my favourite features of iPhoto, which I don’t see people using very often is the crop feature. Cropping means taking away areas you don’t want in a photo. Let’s get right to it: This great shot was taken on a Greek Island. I would love to takeout the person, the sunbeds and the parasols in the bottom of the picture. Time for a...