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Tip 1
Re-download Lost Files
Safari keeps track of your most recent 20 downloaded
files in its Downloads window. If you’ve lost or trashed a downloaded file, and want to download it again, you can — as long as it’s still in the list. Just select it, Copy it (Command-C), and Paste it back into the list (Command-V). Safari will download the file again for you.

Tip 2
TextEdit Opens Word Documents
Apple’s TextEdit can open and save files in Microsoft Word format (versions 98 through X). It maintains all text formatting and placed graphics. This is tremendously helpful because most people who don’t have Word only need access to the formatted text in a Word document. Interestingly, TextEdit also opens and saves Nisus Writer Express documents.



Tip 3
AppleCare Checker
You can see if any Macintosh is still covered under Apple’s AppleCare plan by going to www.apple.com/ support and entering the machine’s serial number. You’ll see when it was purchased, whether it’s still covered, and how many days of coverage are still
left. (Bonus Tip: to see your Mac’s serial number, choose Apple> About This Mac and double-click the Version number.)


Tip 4
Use Your Mac as a Hard Drive
Target Disk Mode is a great way to transfer files, or to recover data from another
Mac. Here’s how to use it: While holding down the “T” key, restart the Mac you intend to use as a Target Disk. After you see the FireWire symbol on the display, use a FireWire cable to connect it to another Mac that is already running. Your “Target Disk”
Mac shows up on the other Mac’s desktop a hard drive. Drag files back and forth as you wish.

If you’re running Mac OS X 10.4 or higher on the target disk, you can instead choose Target Disk from its Startup Disk preference pane to restart it in Target Disk mode.



Tip 5
Larger Type in Web Pages
In most Web browsers, you can press Command-+ (plus) to increase the font size on a Web page, or type Command— (minus) to decrease the font size. Repeat as often as necessary.


Tip 6
How to Reduce PDF File Size
Acrobat 6 & 7 offer two ways to make a PDF smaller in file size: The Reduce File Size command under the File menu, and the PDF Optimizer under the Advanced menu. For the most control over exactly what Acrobat does to your file when it reduces file
size, use PDF Optimizer. When you choose Reduce File Size, the only setting you can specify is the level of compatibility (Reader 4, 5, 6 or 7) of the resulting PDF. You have no control over what happens to the fonts, if the images are downsampled or not, and to what degree.

Everything you can do in Reduce File Size, you can also do in PDF Optimizer, but with much greater information and control.

You can start out by seeing exactly what is contributing to the size of the file via the Optimizer’s “Audit Usage” function. For example, sometimes it’s not the images, but the overhead in the file from the originating application (for example, PDFs created by using Photoshop or Illustrator’s “Save As PDF” feature) that is the major contributor to a bloated PDF. Audit Usage will tell you that, and the Clean Up tab in the Optimizer will let you eliminate it.

Like Reduce File Size, the PDF Optimizer lets you specify the level of Reader compatibility for the optimized PDF. But Optimizer also has Distiller-like controls
over image and font compression. You can set exactly what ppi resolution you’d like the images downsampled to (or turn off downsampling altogether), which method it
should use for compressing the images (or turn off compression altogether),
and if it should unembed fonts that are embedded, even allowing you to choose which fonts get the boot.
Anne-Marie Concepcion
www.senecadesign.com/designgeek



Tip 7
Instant Contact Sheets in InDesign
Adobe Bridge, included in Adobe’s Creative Suite 2, has a script that creates a
contact sheet in InDesign. You tell it how many picture frames to place on a
page, then point it at a folder full of graphics — vector or raster. Bridge
then tells InDesign to build a multiple-page document containing the appropriate
number of picture frames, and to import the pictures into the frames. You can limit the file types it uses by clicking the button in the script’s interface labeled Files….

It can create a caption for each picture, displaying its name, size, and modification date. Conveniently, it also applies a paragraph style to the caption text, so that you can easily change the appearance of all the captions at once. It can also generate a PDF at the same time it creates the InDesign document. For complete control over the look of the contact sheet, you can create your own template in InDesign and tell the script to use it instead.

To use the script, from within Bridge choose Tools> InDesign> Create InDesign Contact Sheet.


Tip 8
Where's My Graphic?
Using the Links palette (Window> Links), you can find the disk location of graphics you’ve placed into InDesign in two ways: double-click the graphic’s
name to see a dialog that displays the file path; or select the image on the page or in the Links palette, then from the Links palette’s side menu choose Reveal in Finder. InDesign then switches to the Finder and highlights the file on disk for you.
David Blatner



Tip 9
Inkjet Print Vector EPSes
Unlike earlier versions, QuarkXPress 6 can print vector EPS files to non- PostScript printers at high resolution. First, make sure that Quark’s free Full
Resolution Preview XTension is installed. Then, Control-click each vector EPS graphic box on your page. From the contextual menu that appears, choose
Full Resolution. That’s it!


Tip 10
Mirror Pictures
There is no tool or command in QuarkXPress to mirror an item, so here’s a trick: First, copy the height of the item from the Measurements palette (just select
the number and press Command-C). Then, be sure that Item> Edit> Shape is unchecked. To flip the object over, Command-drag the object’s top center handle
down over the object and past the bottom. Let go anywhere. Finally, paste the height measurement back into the Measurements palette (just select the width number again and press Command-V).


Tip 11
Easily Fix Straight Quotes
Many times, when updating text in a QuarkXPress document, it’s easiest to copy and paste text from a text file, rather than reimport it using File> Get Text. Unfortunately, that copies ugly straight quotes instead of converting them to curly quotes. Here’s a 15-second way to convert all the straight quotes and postrophes
(") to curly quotes (“) and apostrophes throughout a QuarkXPress document:
choose Edit> Find/Change (or press Command-F). In both the Find and Change fields, type a single quote. QuarkXPress will intelligently convert straight
single quotes and apostrophes to curly single quotes and apostrophes. Then, do
the same thing for doublequotes. Bang. Done.



Tip 12
Illustrator CS Text Updating Tip
Illustrator CS and above has a completely new text engine (the same one that’s
in InDesign CS), so when you open documents created by earlier versions of Illustrator, it asks you if you want to convert your text using the new engine. If
you click Update,much of your text will rewrap, and if you click OK, you won’t be
able to edit your text. Yikes. Here’s a way to control the process: go ahead and click OK. After that, you can convert just one text block at a time by selecting the
block of type (use the direct-select tool), and then choose Type> Legacy Text> Update Selected Legacy Text. Or, you can be even more clever by using the Type tool, clicking on the text, then choosing Copy Text Object from the dialog that appears. This will put an editable copy of the text on top of the original text, which changes to gray. This way you can see how the new text engine has affected your text.


Tip 13
Align to an Object in Illustrator
When you align multiple objects in Illustrator, you can choose one to align the others to. After you’ve selected all the objects you want to align, click one more time on the object you want to align the others to, then apply the alignment from the Align palette. The other objects will align to the one you clicked last.



Tip 14
Select Similar Layers in Photoshop
Photoshop has a not-soobvious feature that lets you select all the layers of a particular kind — vector, type, raster, etc. To find this hidden gem, activate one layer of the kind you want, then choose Select> Similar Layers. It’s also available through the contextual menu: Controlclick or right-click on a layer to access it.
Anne-Marie Concepcion
www.senecadesign.com/designgeek


Tip 15
Use Color to Print B/W Inkjet Photos
When printing a blackand- white photo on your inkjet printer, choose Color instead of Black. This gives smoother gradations and richer tones because the
printer can use four (or six) times as many possible dots. If the resulting print
has an unwanted color tint, you can experiment with the color balance settings in
the Print dialog box. When you find a setting that works, save it as a printer
Preset to easily recall it later. (In the Print dialog, choose Save As… from the
Presets pop-up menu.)


Tips and Tricks Archive

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