At DEI, we are not only committed to providing superior prepress solutions, and superior customer service, we are also committed to helping you leverage and extend your current skillset. Therefore, we have made a special arrangement with Design Tools Monthly to reprint topical tips and tricks. If you ever have any questions or would like to suggest a tip or trick, please contact us.

Tip 1
Combine Multiple Files into One PDF
In Acrobat, you can combine multiple documents into one PDF, including not just PDF files, but also image files and text files. Just choose File> Create PDF> From Multiple Files… and select the files you want to combine.
 

Tip 2
Hidden Features in InDesign’s Pages Palette
In InDesign’s Pages palette, you can double-click a page icon to display that page. You can also option double-click the icon to fit the page in the current window, or double-click the page number to display the entire spread.



Tip 3
Boot Camp Essentials Macworld compiled a dozen important things to be aware of when using Apple’s free Boot Camp to run Windows on an Intel-based Mac. Some highlights:
• You need a full, retail version of Windows XP Service Pack 2 ($199) — not a copy that was bundled with a PC.
• You’ll need 10GB of hard drive space to install Windows and an application
or two.
• You must install it on your internal startup drive.• If something goes wrong during installation, you may need to reformat the drive, so back up first.
• If you have peripherals that require drivers for Windows XP, you’ll need to download and install them.
• Switch between starting up in Windows and Mac OS X by either holding down the Option key during startup, or by choosing one in the Startup Disk pref pane (Mac) or control panel (Win).
• Get a two-button mouse. Control-clicking in Windows doesn’t work.
• Apple’s laptops have no true Delete key (Windows sees it as a Backspace key),
so you can’t force a restart in Windows by pressing Control-Alt-Delete. In Windows, you can remap another key to act as the Delete key (the Command
key on the right side of the spacebar is a good choice). Just go to Start: Run and enter remapkey to launch the remap utility.
• Buy and install Mediafour’s MacDrive 6 ($50) to let Windows see your Mac’s hard drive partition and avoid difficulties sharing documents.
• Buy and install antivirus software on Windows. Macworld 07/06, pg.78
www.mediafour.com
 


Tip 4
Zip to Send
Sometimes when sending a picture as an email attachment to a Windows user, the picture appears in the body of the text message instead of as an attachment.
To avoid this, try archiving the picture file first by selecting it in the Finder and choosing File> Create Archive. This creates a compressed Zip archive from the picture
that any Windows user can un-Zip. (Mac OS X users can also un-Zip the file by
simply double-clicking it.)



Tip 5
Create Letterhead Templates in MS Word
CreativeTechs have posted a useful tutorial on how to create a relatively attractive
Microsoft Word letterhead template for clients by using the Absolute Position
option to place logos. Read it at www.tinyurl.com/p8yta or www.creativetechs.com/iq/create_ letterhead_templates_in_ ms_word.html.
 


Tip 6
A Winning Solution to Spam
We receive hundreds of unsolicited emails every day with deceptive subject lines
and unwanted content. So many, in fact, that the process of sifting through them for legitimate email was taking hours every week and we were still missing important messages. After reading several reviews comparing different potential solutions, we
tried Michael Tsai’s Spam- Sieve ($25), and are delighted with it. After spending
a few minutes feeding it some of our existing “good” messages and “spam” messages, it has been so accurate that we no longer even look at what’s in the “spam” folder it created — we just delete it. We encourage you to try SpamSieve: it works for 30 days without payment, and supports Apple Mail, press, Eudora, Mailsmith, GyazMail and PowerMail (so that if you switch from one to another, your work training it is not lost). Of course, we would prefer to track down the sender and
hit them with a hammer, but since this is not possible we’re settling for
SpamSieve. www.c-command.com/spamsieve/



Tip 7
Copy or Move PDF Pages
Command-Tab in QuarkXPress When migrating to Mac OS X, QuarkXPress users
are often disappointed by the loss of their familiar Command-Tab and Command-Shift-Tab to switch tools. However, if you add the Option key, the shortcut still works.
Or, if you just want to switch between the Item and Content tools, Shift- F8 will select the Content tool, and then subsequent Shift-F8s will toggle between the Content tool and the Item tool.
 

Tip 8
Jump to Start or End in XPress or InDesign
To go to the beginning of a story in QuarkXPress, make sure you have the Content tool clicked somewhere in the story, then press Command-Optionup arrow. To go to the end, press Command-Optiondown arrow. To select everything between the insertion point and the beginning or end, hold down the Shift key while pressing
these key combinations. In InDesign, press Command-Home to go to the beginning of the story, and Command-End to go to the end. To select everything from the insertion point to the beginning, add the Shift key: Shift- Command-Home. Same
for selecting to the end: Shift-Command-End.



Tip 9
Scan Oversized Documents
If your scanner is too small to scan a large document, you can use Photoshop
CS’s Photomerge to automatically stitch pieces together. Scan pieces of the document, being sure to include plenty of overlapped area in each piece.
then, open all the pieces in Photoshop and choose File> Automate> Photomerge.
Align and adjust as necessary.


Tip 10
Quick Type Color in Photoshop
If you forget to select your desired color before creating type in Photoshop, and
your text shows up in the wrong color, simply pick a new color and press Option-Shift-Delete. The type changes to the new color. This is also a quick way
to re-color existing type.




Tips and Tricks Archive


June 2006

February 2006

January 2006

November 2005

October 2005

August 2005

July 2005