Tip 1
Amazing Tips
for Dragging Files
Mac OS X has a
powerful
feature that lets you drag
files from the Finder into
any open document, regardless
of how deeply
hidden that document
window is in your stack of
open windows. For example,
drag an attachment to
an email message, or drag
text and graphics into a
text editor or page layout
application such as Word
or InDesign. (This tip requires
that your application
is able to accept files
dragged from the desktop.)
Here’s what to do:
Start dragging your file in
the Finder.With the mouse
button still held down,
press Command-Tab to
bring up the OS X application
switcher. Hold down
Command and keep pressing
Tab until you highlight
the application of your target
document. Release
Command and Tab, but
keep your mouse button
down and then drop your file into the document
window that appears.
Tip#2: You can even create
a new document to drop
your file into, on the fly. Instead
of the last step above,
once your desired application
icon is highlighted in
the application switcher,
press Command-N to create
a new document in that
application. You can then
drop your file into it. This
is especially handy for
sending email attachments
when you have the attachment,
but not an open
email message window.
Tip #3: In Tiger, an even
easier approach is to start
dragging your file in the
Finder, then press F9 to invoke
Exposé to show all
your open windows at
once. Drag your file over
the target window and either
press F9 again or wait
a moment for the window
to pop to the front.
MacAddict 08/05, pg.18
Tip
2
USB 2: Poor
Choice for Hard Drives
If you
want to add an external
hard drive to your
Mac, consider products
that connect via FireWire
instead of USB or USB 2.
FireWire can maintain fast
data throughput, but USB 2
only occasionally bursts to
high speeds. The end result,
as MacInTouch discovered,
is that USB 2 is
about half as fast as standard
FireWire. USB 2 is fine
for small file transfers, CD
and DVD burners, and for
data backup where time isn’t
critical, but is far too
slow for production work.
www.MacInTouch.com
Tip 3
Free Service for Conference Calls
Conference
calls can be
quite helpful in the life of
a designer, but conference
call services are expensive — unless
you use Free Conference. You set up
conference calls through
their website, which automatically
generates email
invitations that include instructions
for dialing into
your conference call. Aside
from each participant’s
long distance charges, calls
cost nothing for you or the
other participants, and the
sound quality is great.
www.freeconference.com
Tip 4
Hide Edges Really Helps
In Illustrator and
Photoshop,
if you choose View>
Hide Edges (or Command-
H) before applying a filter
to an object or applying a
stroke to text, you can see
the result of your actions
much more clearly.
Tip 5
Rotate or Move Copies in InDesign
In InDesign,
you can create
a copy of an item as
you rotate it by holding
down the Option key
when you press the Enter
key after typing in a value
in the Rotate field of the
Control palette. You can
also create a copy of an
item at a new location by
typing in a new value in
the X or Y field of the
Control palette, then holding
down the Option key
when you press Enter.
InDesign Magazine
Tip 6
Use InDesign’s “No
Language” to Skip Spell Checking
As useful as InDesign’s
spell checker is, there may
be some strings of text that
you don’t want to spellcheck,
such as email addresses
or URLs. Fortunately,
you can automatically
avoid this slowdown by applying
the No Language attribute
from the Character
or Control palette, ideally
by including it in a Character
style sheet that you apply
to the text. InDesign
doesn’t spell-check or hyphenate
text that has No
Language assigned to it.
David Creamer
Layers Sept/Oct 05, pg.93
Tip 7
Snap Guide to Objects in InDesign
Here’s how to snap a guide
to an object or group in
InDesign: select an object
or group, then drag the
guide to the edge of the
object. It will snap to the
object’s nearest resizing
handle.
InDesign CS2 Tips & Tricks,
Peachpit Press
Tip 8
Use InDesign & QuarkXPress
Style Sheets in Word
You can essentially export
style sheets from InDesign
or QuarkXPress for use in
Microsoft Word. Here’s
how: in InDesign, apply
your style sheets to some
text, then export that text
in RTF format. When you
open the RTF document in
Word, the style sheets will
be added to Word’s style
sheets. Delete the text, then
save the file as a template
for your writers. To do the
same in QuarkXPress, export
the text in Microsoft
Word format instead.
Tip 9
A
Safer Folder for Photoshop Plug-ins
Photoshop allows you to select
a second folder for
plug-ins, which means you
can install all your thirdparty
filters and plug-ins
into a folder that isn’t inside
the Photoshop folder.
This allows you to easily
share the plug-ins between
versions of Photoshop, or
between other compatible
applications, and protects
the plug-ins from loss when
reinstalling Photoshop.
Just point Photoshop to
your new plug-ins folder
by choosing Photoshop>
Preferences> Plug-ins &
Scratch Disks.We call our
folder “3rd Party Plug-ins”.
Tip 9
Dust & Scratches
Filter Tip
Photoshop’s Dust &
Scratches filter (Filter>
Dust & Scratches) can be a
tremendous help in repairing
damaged photos.
To get the best results, first
set the Threshold to zero.
Then adjust the Pixel Radius
by increasing the Radius
slider by one pixel at
a time until the specks disappear,
and no further.
You’ll find that some detail
will be lost — that’s OK.
Next, adjust the Threshold
slider until the specks return,
and then back off a
little. You’ll see that some
or all of the detail has returned.
That’s it!
Design Graphics
Tips and Tricks
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