HOME
TOPICS
ABOUT ME
MAIL

 
Cmd-Shift-drag an item to create an alias (shortcut) when you let go of the mouse button.
  technofile
Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

T h e   R o a d   L e s s   T r a v e l e d
Tricks and tips for Mac OS X, Part 1


Feb. 5, 2003


By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2003, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2003, The Post-Standard

   I've shared my tips and tricks for Windows PCs for years. This week I'm adding tips and tricks for modern Macs, too. This is the first batch, with more to come. (They're all for OS X Macs, not for Macs running the old operating system.)
   Forget cut and paste. Just drag. If you want to save something you're reading, select the part you want to save, drag it out onto your desktop and let go. Gather these clippings into a folder every week or so to keep them neat. To read a saved clipping, just double click on it. (Warning: Some programs, such as Apple's new Safari browser, don't do this properly. Try clicking and holding a while before dragging with such recalcitrant applications.)
   Pop goes the shutdown menu. Press Ctrl-Eject to see a menu of shutdown choices. (The Eject key is at the far right on modern Macs. And, yes, it opens and shuts the CD or DVD drawer when you don't hold down Ctrl.)
   Hold it, pardner. Click any Dock icon and hold the button to see a popup menu.
   So long for now. While you're doing the previous tip, press Option to see a "Force Quit" menu choice. This is handy for programs that are acting up. You can press Option before clicking and holding or after you've started the click-and-hold maneuver.
   At your command. The Command key (the one with the Apple logo on most keyboards) can be a big time-saver. My favorite uses: Cmd-Q to quit the foreground program, Cmd-W to close the foreground window, and the four cut-and-paste cousins, Cmd-A to select all, Cmd-C to copy, Cmd-X to cut and Cmd-V to paste. Ah, shucks, one more: Cmd-Shift-drag an item to create an alias (shortcut) when you let go of the mouse button.
   Control freak. Hold down Ctrl and click to get a context menu (a menu that shows additional options, usually). If you have a two-button mouse, Ctrl-Click is the same as a right click.
   Instant menu. Drag any folder containing files or folders to the right side of the Dock (beyond the little vertical divider) and drop it there. You'll get an alias that turns into a popup menu any time you click and hold.
   Make yourself a PDF. Adobe's PDF documents are wonderful ways to save entire Web sites and complicated documents. Make them by choosing "Print" from the File menu, then clicking the PDF option in the print dialog. Keep them in their own folder, too. Make a folder just for PDFs named, naturally, "PDFs," and put that folder the Documents folder. (Versions of OS X prior to "Jaguar" have the PDF option hidden until you do a print preview.)
   Image magician. Need to convert a lot of images from one format, such as JPEG, to another format in a hurry? You have all the tools you need. Open iPhoto, create a new folder (by clicking the plus sign at the lower left and typing a name), then open the empty folder. Drag your images into it. Select them all (Cmd-A will do it) and click the Share icon, then the Export icon. Choose the image format and the destination folder and click OK. (Remember: Never do any photo editing on JPEGs. Save them as TIFFs or PNGs first.) Bonus tip: Those photos remain in iPhoto even if you delete them from the folder you created. You have to select and delete them from the iPhoto Library instead.
   Attach me. Drop any file (but not a folder) on the Mail icon in the Dock to create a letter with the file already attached, ready for you to address and send. This works for Entourage, the Microsoft OfficeX mail program, as well as for Apple's Mail software.