Sign a PDF with Preview.app
Mac Tip #537, 16 May 2012

Do you use Apple’s Preview.app and want to add your actual signature to a PDF? Recent versions of Preview let you do that easily. Here’s how.

I wrote this Tip using Version 5.5.2 (719.25) of Preview.app on OS 10.7.4. Earlier versions of Preview may not include this feature.

Quick Start

1. Open the Signatures section of the Preferences for Preview.
2. Scan a small white card signed in black ink with the built-in camera.
3. Save the signature.
4. Use the signature in a document via the Annotations Toolbar.

Want more detail? Read the full Tip below.

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Check the Signatures section of the Preferences

Open the Preferences for Preview and click on the the Signatures section. The Signatures pane opens and displays any signatures that have already been saved.

If no signatures have been saved yet the window displays a button Create Signature…. Press the button to get started.

A new window opens to show some instructions, along with a preview of what the iSight camera sees and a blank area where the recognised signature will appear.

The Signatures section of the Preferences for Preview.

Scan a small white card signed in black ink

Sign a small white card, such as the back of a business card, in black ink. Hold the card a short distance from the Mac’s camera so that the signature rests on the blue line across the Signature Preview area.

Tip: the instructions say to use a small piece of paper. I recommend a card as it’s more rigid and may be easier to hold steady.

Hold the card there for a few moments, as steady as you can. I found my hand shook quite a lot but the Mac was still able to recognise my (dog’s) signature.

In my tests the Mac started by displaying small elements of the signature in the Signature Preview section. After a few moments it gradually built up the entire signature.

I actually made several attempts before the Signature Preview area showed a signature I was satisfied with.

Save the signature

If you want Preview to save this signature for use when you open the app in future check the box beside Save this signature for use after Preview quits.

Wait! Are you sure you want to do that? If someone else accessed your computer could they use your saved signature in a way you wouldn’t be happy with?

Once you are satisfied with the Signature Preview press the Accept button to save the signature.

The signature is saved.

The signature is saved, along with a timestamp and a note of when it was last used.

Add more signatures if you wish

To save additional signatures click the + icon at bottom left of the window to start the process over again.

I experimented with scanning other things too, such as a business card and text at the bottom of our heatpump remote. Results were mixed. Have some fun and try scanning a variety of things. It could be an amusing way to add ‘stamps’ to a PDF document.

Use the signature in a document

I select the Sasha signature to go in my PDF.

Visit Annotate PDFs with Apple’s Preview for written instructions and a video about how to add annotations in general.

1. Open a document into Preview and scroll to the place where you want the signature to appear.
2. If necessary, go to the View menu and choose Show Annotations Toolbar.
3. Click on the Signature tool in Annotations Toolbar. The icon shows a letter S beside a small cross, on a line and with a small downward facing arrow beside it.
4. If you’ve saved more than one signature a list may appear showing all the saved signatures. Select the signature you wish to use. The cursor turns into a cross shape.
5. Click and drag across the page where you want the signature to appear. Drag to the right to make the signature larger and to the left to make it smaller.
6. Save the document if you want to make the added signature permanent.

Sasha has now signed the PDF document.

More than once someone has emailed me a form that I must sign and return. In the past I’ve had to print off the form, sign the printed copy and scan the whole thing just to email it back. This feature in Preview should be able to save a tree or two and a whole lot of time and annoyance. I don’t think my dog Sasha will really be signing any forms though. 😉

Let us know how you get on with it.

A final comment

MacTips supporter Colin Jackson actually sparked me to write this Tip when he asked on Twitter how to add a signature using Preview. He commented:

The technique just worked fairly well for me. I went for the blank piece of paper option, and covered it with so many signatures that it became difficult to select one. I didn’t need to use a card because the software is clever enough to stabilise the image. Doing this again, I’d sign only once or twice with wide spacing between them and select the best.

This will be a timesaver for me. Every month I have to sign papers, especially for tax, and email them back. This will save printing and scanning at probably ten minutes a pop.

Let us know how this Tip helped you. To leave a comment if you’re reading this by email or RSS feed please visit the Tip at the MacTips website. There should be a link from the title.

How to rename vcs files so iCal can open them
Sunday, 20 May 2012

Have you ever booked an airline ticket and received a .vcs file? Or had friends or colleagues send you .vcs files for appointments? Perhaps you double-clicked those files, only to find iCal opened but wouldn’t actually accept the appointments. With a tiny tweak, iCal can open .vcs files and add appointments to your calendar. Guest author Paul Scotti explains the problem and shows how changing the file extension makes all the difference.

Paul Scotti: I live in Auckland; now retired but worked as a research scientist (microbiologist; virologist) for my career. Got involved with computers as a research tool way back in 1971, writing my own programs in Basic since nothing much was available commercially back in those days. Got my first home computer in 1981 (a staggering 64 kb of memory) which used cassette tapes to load my programs! Switched to Apple at home when I got an iMac in 2001.

Often calendar reminders come as email attachments but created as Windows vcs files. For example flight reminders from Air New Zealand or other airlines, and meetings or event reminders from your friends and colleagues who use PCs.

A vcs file.

If you double-click this vcs file you see a message:

Adding new events. This calendar contains new events. Please select a destination calendar.

Please select a destination calendar.

But when you click OK you see an error message:

iCal can’t read this calendar file. No events have been added to your iCal calendar.

No events have been added to your iCal calendar.

Rather than manually creating a new event in iCal and then typing in the information simply rename the vcs file, changing the extension .vcs to ics. You then see another alert:

Are you sure you want to change the extension from .vcs to .ics?

Are you sure you want to change the extension?

Click Use .ics and the file’s icon changes.

The icon changes.

Double-click on the renamed .ics file. iCal immediately opens. Click the highlighted OK button to successfully add this event to your iCalendar.

That may all be a bit long-winded just to add an appointment to a calendar, but there are ways to make it happen automatically. In a future Tip Paul explains that too. Meanwhile, check out one of my favourite utilities, Hazel: Have an Assistant Empty the Trash. Hazel can easily automatically rename files for you, as well as empty the Trash.

To leave a comment if you’re reading this by email or RSS feed please visit the Tip at the MacTips website. There should be a link from the title.

Dim your iPad for good health
Mac Tip #536, 16 May 2012

A bright screen can dazzle you, disrupt your sleep and drain your iPad’s battery. Here’s how to turn down the brightness on your iPad — for your health and your iPad’s.

Quick Start

1. Go to iPad’s Settings.
2. Tap on Brightness & Wallpaper.
3. Drag the slider to the left to lower the default screen brightness.
4. Call up the Multitasking Bar.
5. Swipe to the left.
6. Drag the slider to the left to reduce the screen brightness.

Want more detail? Read the full Tip below.

Set the default brightness

Check the default iPad brightness. The slider here is about a third of the way along. I actually prefer the screen when the slider’s only about ¹/₁₀ of the way across.

Take a good look at your iPad’s screen. Is it brighter than it actually needs to be? Try turning down the brightness and see how your eyes react. Here’s how:

1. Go to iPad’s Settings.
2. Tap on Brightness & Wallpaper.
3. Drag the slider to the left to lower the default screen brightness.

Lowering the brightness is not only easier on yor eyes but also makes the battery last longer.

Change brightness on the fly

Perhaps you’re reading an ebook and want to tweak the brightness quickly. You can access the brightness slider from the Multitasking Bar too.

See Pinch and swipe for speed on the iPad for several ways to call up the Multitasking Bar.

1. Call up the Multitasking Bar.
2. Swipe to the left.
3. Drag the slider to the left to reduce the screen brightness.

The Multitasking Bar shows the Brightness slider after swiping all the way to the left. [My dogs Sasha and Oshi are keeping an eye on me as my desktop picture.]

Look after the iPad battery

You may usually charge up your iPad before the battery is completely drained, and that’s fine. But Lithium-Polymer Batteries, such as the ones in a Mac laptop or an iPad respond well to being run right down from time to time. As Apple say:

For proper reporting of the battery’s state of charge, be sure to go through at least one charge cycle per month (charging the battery to 100% and then completely running it down).

If you’re deliberately trying to run the battery right down try turning the screen brightness up to maximum. You’ll see the iPad lose power very quickly.

Look after your sleep

Research has shown that bright lights at night can disrupt our sleep.

Bright screens are intrusive and can disrupt the quality of sleep, particularly for those who are more prone to insomnia.…

Research shows that circadian rhythm is disrupted by bright light exposure during night time, so any type of bright lights can interfere with your circadian rhythm, said [Dr. Philip Alapat, assistant professor of medicine and medical director of the Baylor Sleep Center].

If you’re reading your iPad just before you go to sleep reduce the negative effects by making sure the brightness of the screen is turned down.

Let us know how this Tip helped you. To leave a comment if you’re reading this by email or RSS feed please visit the Tip at the MacTips website. There should be a link from the title.

Make the most of the Safari web browser on the Mac

a most useful collection of tips

After you do a Google search and get a page of results do you just click on a link, read the page and then wait, wait, wait after clicking the Back button to get back to the results page? I’ve seen many clients do that — until I show them how to open a link into a new Tab.

Open in tabs.

Opening a link into a new Tab or Window is so much quicker, and there are half a dozen ways to do it too. Then when you’ve finished reading just close the extra Tab and you’re back at the search results in an instant.

In fact, I help my clients with all sorts of techniques like that in Safari (and other web browsers) and realised I should compile all these Tips and hints into a book.

Sizzling Safari Tips

So that’s what I’ve done, and I’m thrilled to present you with: Sizzling Safari Tips for Mac Users (US$3.99 Kindle ebook).

The book has 30 Tips, including:

• how to use Safari 5′s Top Sites
• how to customise the Safari Bookmarks Bar
• how to use Tabs
• make it easier to read cluttered web pages
• find text within a web page
• scroll quickly
• stay safe on the web
• save pages to read later
• have your Mac read a page aloud!

For full details see the page Sizzling Safari Tips for Mac Users.

What reviewers say

Early reviewers said:

Overall, it’s a most useful collection of tips. I like the verbal explanation followed by screen shots. (Pat)

A quick way to reach the Address Bar…. –LOVE this! (Anne)

Buy the book here

But I don’t have a Kindle!

You don’t need a Kindle device to read this book — you can read it on your Mac, iPhone or iPad using the free Kindle software — search the App Store for your device for Kindle.

I explain how to get and install the free software in: How to read Kindle books on your Mac, iPad or iPhone.

Because it’s a Kindle book no trees were harmed in its making, and you don’t need to pay extra for shipping or wait around for the book to arrive. Buy it now so you start saving time right away.

And of course you can download a sample for free.

22 Tempting Timesavers for Mac Users

Sizzling Safari Tips for Mac Users follows on from 22 Tempting Timesavers for Mac Users, which has been very popular.

Tell me what you think

I’d love to get your feedback on this book. Please leave a comment below.

Command drag files to move them between drives
Mac Tip #535, 09 May 2012

Sometimes you plug an external drive into your Mac — for example, a USB stick — and want to move files onto it, rather than copying them. The Command (⌘) key works that magic for you. Here’s how.

Quick start

1. Drag a file to another drive to copy it. Or use the Copy and Paste commands from the Edit menu.
2. Hold down the Command (⌘) key while you drag the file to another drive to move the file.

The default is to copy files

On the Mac the default behaviour is to Copy a file to another drive. Suppose you plug in a thumb drive and drag a file across to it. The original file stays where it was and a copy appears on the thumb drive.

Note that as you drag the file to a different drive the icon shows a green + symbol to indicate the file is being copied.

The green + symbol shows the file is being copied not moved.

The same happens if you instead select the original file and choose Copy from the Edit menu then open the thumb drive and choose Paste from the Edit menu.

That can be handy if you want the file in both places, but if you no longer need the original you then have to go back to select it and Trash it.

Command drag to move files

If you no longer need to keep the file in its original location hold down the Command (⌘) key while you drag the file to the thumb drive. The file will move to its new location instead.

Lack of the green + symbol shows the file is being moved not copied.

Not just thumb drives

This works the same for USB sticks and external hard drives too.

So next time you intend to move a file to a new drive hold down the Command (⌘) key while you drag it.

Let us know how this Tip helped you. To leave a comment if you’re reading this by email or RSS feed please visit the Tip at the MacTips website. There should be a link from the title.

Flick files to a nearby Mac with AirDrop
Mac Tip #534, 02 May 2012

We’re a 2 Mac household, both using OS 10.7, Lion. Sometimes I want to share files with my partner, such as photos, movies, spreadsheets or other documents. Lion’s AirDrop makes this an easy drag and drop, as you’ll see in this Tip.

Thank you to the 33 amazing people who between them donated $1435 during April to help pay the costs for MacTips for 2012. That’s a big burden lifted off me, and allows me to focus on writing Tips instead of worrying about bills for the site.

Quick Start

1. Open AirDrop on both Macs.
2. Drop one or more files onto the icon for a recipient and click Send.
3. As a recipient Save the file.

Want more detail? Read the full Tip below.

What you need to use AirDrop

To use AirDrop you need 2 or more Macs both using OS 10.7 Lion.

Make sure Wi-Fi is on.

The Macs must be less than around 9 metres apart and must have Wi-Fi turned on, although they don’t need to be connected to a Wi-Fi network.

You also, of course, need one or more files you want to share with another person. I suggest you open a Finder window that contains the files, ready to send them to the recipient. Also open a second Finder window ready to show AirDrop.

Start up AirDrop

Start up AirDrop on both Macs:

1. Switch to the Finder.
2. Choose AirDrop from the Go menu Command (⌘) Shift (⇧) R. Or click the AirDrop item in the Sidebar of a Finder window. The AirDrop window opens and your Mac starts searching for other nearby Macs with AirDrop enabled.

When AirDrop finds other Macs with AirDrop enabled it displays their icons in the AirDrop window in the Finder.

Drop a file on an icon in AirDrop.

Send files via AirDrop

To send a file to someone who appears in the AirDrop window just drag one or more files on top of their icon. An alert appears, asking Do you want to send “[filename]” to “[computer name]“?

Do you want to send the file to this person?

Click the Send button to confirm your choice or Cancel if you’ve changed your mind.

The recipient must now accept the file.

Accept or decline an AirDrop file. In this screenshot the same file was being sent back to me.

Accept an AirDrop file

On the recipient’s Mac an alert appears naming the file and offering 3 choices:

• Save and Open
• Decline
• Save

If the recipient declines your file an alert advises you.

To accept the file click either Save and Open or Save. The file is saved in the Downloads folder.

If you chose Save and Open the file will open with the default application for that type of file.

Keep in mind someone may send you a file you’re unable to open if you don’t have appropriate software.

Close AirDrop

Once you’re finished with sharing files just close the AirDrop window.

Easy and quick

This is an extremely easy way to send files from one Mac to another, and is especially useful because it doesn’t require cables or an Internet connection. It does need both Macs to have already started up AirDrop though.

I’ve often visited clients and needed to exchange files with them. In the past we’ve had to find cables, mess around with settings, use thumb drives or even DVDs, or send files via the Internet.

Is it safe?

AirDrop’s so easy to use that Apple don’t say much about it, but they do say:

Once accepted, the fully encrypted file transfers directly to that person’s Downloads folder.

That suggests that a third party who manages to intercept the file en route will not be able to access its contents. This could be relevant in a cafe or at a conference, for example.

Let us know how this Tip helped you. To leave a comment if you’re reading this by email or RSS feed please visit the Tip at the MacTips website. There should be a link from the title.

Recover lost data in Lion
Mac Tip #533, 25 April 2012

The other day I accidentally deleted a line from a spreadsheet, but didn’t realise until the Undo command was no use. Luckily, since I’m using Lion, all I had to do was call up the automatically saved older versions of the file, then copy and paste the line I needed. Here’s how you can do that too, when you need it.

I prefer writing Tips to fundraising, so please donate if you can. We need just $260 more to cover this year. In April each year (and only April) I raise funds to help MacTips cover its costs for the whole year. I owe a huge thank you to the 26 special people who’ve already helped so much! If 26 more would donate $10 each in the next 5 days we’d meet our goal. Will you donate?

Quick Start

1. Choose Revert Document… from the File menu.
2. Choose Browse All Versions….
3. Select a previous version by clicking in the timeline.
4. Copy data from the old document then paste the data in your current document.

Want more detail? Read the full Tip below.

Please subscribe to the MacTips channel. Or just visit this video on YouTube, leave comments and rate it, as that helps spread the word about MacTips.

Lion and versions

Lion (OS 10.7) introduced a new feature to the Mac Operating System: versions. If you use software that supports it, the Mac quietly saves versions of the documents you’re working on without you having to do a thing.

Then, if you need to, you can quickly and easily check older versions of your document, perhaps retrieving lost information.

This is different from Time Machine and other backups because it’s more integrated and the older versions are available from within the document itself.

Not all software gives you access to these versions, so first you need to know how to tell whether you can access versions or not.

Does my app have Versions?

One app I use a lot is Numbers ’09 for creating and editing spreadsheets. Numbers.app does have versions, as do various other apps.

Save a Version in the File menu in Numbers ’09.

The easiest way to tell if the app you’re using has versions is to visit the File menu and look for the item Save a Version with the keyboard shortcut Command (⌘) S.

That command allows you to deliberately save a version, but if you don’t use it then the document saves versions automatically at regular intervals.

This app does not have the Versions command in the File menu.

If your app instead assigns Command (⌘) S to Save a document, then it’s not using versions.

Look for an arrow in the document’s Toolbar Title area

In an app that does save versions look at the top of a document window — at the top of the Toolbar, if there is one. Beside the name of the document you may see the word Edited or the word Locked.

Beside that word is an invisible small arrow. Move your mouse over the word Edited or Locked and the arrow becomes visible. Click the arrow to reveal a menu.

Browse All Versions….

My screenshot shows that I’ve clicked on the previously invisible arrow to reveal a menu of actions, including Browse All Versions….

Browse All Versions

I have one particular spreadsheet I’ve edited almost every day since 01 January 2012. Thanks to Versions, I can go back to any day since then and call up the document as it was on that day. Unfortunately the data is confidential, so I can’t use it as an example in this Tip.

For this Tip I’ll use a document I created a couple of months ago and edit around once per month.

Let’s say I accidentally deleted the contents of some cells and didn’t notice until it was too late to Undo. This can easily happen when you’re distracted, or a cat walks on the keyboard, or you brush the trackpad the wrong way. If this kind of thing happens to you:

1. • Click the arrow beside the document’s name in the document’s Toolbar, as shown in the screenshot above. A menu appears. OR
   • Choose Revert Document… from the File menu. A Sheet appears, with the words Do you want to revert the document "[name]" to a previous state? You can revert it to the state it was in when you last saved it, or browse older versions. Recent changes will be saved in your version history..
2. Choose Browse All Versions…. The screen background picture changes. Your document shrinks on screen and moves to left of centre. A stack of previous versions is displayed beside it on the right-hand side of the screen. A timeline with grey bars appears beside the right edge of the screen.

The Timeline of Versions for this document. I’m hovering over one date. When I click on the date that Version will be visible on screen alongside the current version.

View an older Version

The Browse All Versions… command puts your current version of the document on the left of the screen, with all previous saved versions in a stack beside it. There are controls below the documents. The next screenshots show the whole screen (cropped to remove parts that don’t show anything helpful), then the left and right sides (overlapping) individually so you can see more detail.

Current and older Versions side by side with controls below.

Current document. Note the value for March 2011 is missing.

Older Versions of this document. Note the March 2011 value is no longer missing.

Copy and Paste individual items of information

Select a previous version by clicking in the timeline. That date’s version is displayed on the right. Below it a small box displays the date and time that version was saved.

Copy data from the old document then click on your current document and paste the data. When you’ve finished, click the Done button. The stack of older versions disappears and your current document takes up its usual space on screen.

There are plenty of other things you can do with Versions, but I’ll leave them for later Tips.

Also see these older MacTips about Lion, Numbers or Versions

Lions don’t save — or do they?

OS X Lion has done away with saving — more or less. After saving a document the first time you don’t need to save again. Or that’s the theory, anyway, because not all apps offer this new feature.

How to make a simple year planner in Numbers.app

It’s easy to make yourself a year planner using Numbers.app, an inexpensive spreadsheet application from Apple.

How to fill a series of dates in Numbers.app

Numbers.app doesn’t easily reveal how to fill a series of separated dates, eg dates a week apart, but it’s simple once you know the trick.

Let us know how this Tip helped you. To leave a comment if you’re reading this by email or RSS feed please visit the Tip at the MacTips website. There should be a link from the title.

Quickly rename batches of files with ease
Mac Tip #532, 18 April 2012

Sometimes I need to rename bulk lots of files, especially if they’re to be uploaded to the web. For such tasks I always turn to my favourite app A Better Finder Rename (US$19.95, free trial available). It’s paid for itself many times over with its simplicity and power. Here’s how to start using the app.

For one month only I raise funds to help MacTips cover its costs for the year. I owe a huge thank you to the 23 people who’ve already helped so much! So far we’ve raised 50% of what we need for 2012. I prefer writing Tips to fundraising, so please donate if you can.

Quick Start

1. Drag files to the A Better Finder Rename window.
2. Choose the Actions to perform.
3. Choose the portions of the filename to work on.
4. Make the actions Active.
5. Perform the renames.

Want more detail? Read the full Tip below.

Add files to the A Better Finder Rename window

First download and install A Better Finder Rename. It should put itself into the Applications folder on your Mac.

Then double click the app to start it up. A window appears that lets you control which files to rename and how to rename them.

Open a Finder window that shows the files you wish to rename. Then drag the files on to the right-hand side of the A Better Finder Rename window.

Drag files on to the right-hand side of the A Better Finder Rename window.

The files are displayed in the window in 2 columns. The left column displays the current name of the file. The right-hand column previews what the name will be after you’ve applied one or more changes.

In my screenshot I’ve added a bunch of images with wildly differing file names:

• 2011-10-13.jpeg
• any Old     File  .jpeg
• Aunt Jess (01).jpg
• cute-kitty.jpg
• demo.jpg
• DSC 11247.jpg
• holiday_snaps_December_2011.jpg
• ipad-movie-rental-01.jpg
• MyFile.jpg

As you can see, some have several spaces, some have upper case letters, others have numbers, dashes, underscores and even brackets. Also, some use the file extension jpeg while others use jpg.

I could fairly easily create a sequence of actions to make all the filenames conform to a standard, removing and replacing unwanted characters such as brackets or spaces.

Make a single change

A Better Finder Rename is enormously powerful. It lets you build up sequences of changes and even store them as presets. This Tip aims to introduce the app though, not to explain everything it can do. We’ll start with a single change.

As a demonstration we’ll start by making all file names lower case only.

On the left side of the A Better Finder Rename window you can choose actions.

A drawer appears to the extreme left, allowing you to select which actions to apply, and allowing you to build a sequence of steps.

Make lower case

First select Conversions from the Category drop-down menu. The Action drop-down menu displays relevant actions.

Next select Convert to lowercase from the Actions drop-down menu.

Now look at the Change section below the drop-down menus. You can selectively make just part of the entire filename lowercase, or apply the change to the entire filename.

Choose the action, how to apply it and make it active.

File names, extensions and separators

An entire filename such as cute-kitty.jpg has 3 parts:

1. extension: the part (usually 3 characters) after the dot. In my example the extension is jpg.
2. separator: usually a dot.
3. filename: the part before the dot. In my example the filename is cute-kitty.

As you can see, sometimes filename refers to the entire filename with separator and extension, but sometimes it refers to only part of it.

When you choose renaming actions it’s useful to be able to choose exactly how much of a filename to change.

In my example, I want to rename the whole thing. As it happens, none of the extensions have any uppercase characters, but they easily could have.

With more complex actions it may be useful to be able to exclude the extension.

Make an Action active

Even though you’ve selected the option to make the filename lowercase no changes would be made because we haven’t indicated that we want this change to be active.

This often trips me up: I’ve created the step, I can see it, but it isn’t applied because I forget to make it active.

To make a step active select the checkbox in the drawer at the left side of the window. Once you make a step active the preview list shows how the filenames will be changed when you perform the renames.

See a preview of which names will change and how they will change.

Notice in my screenshot that several filenames are dimmed and will not be changed when I Perform the Renames. Those file names will not be changed by the lowercase action because they are numbers and dashes or already lowercase. My action will change the names of 5 out of 9 files.

Perform the Renames

If the preview satisfies you that nothing you didn’t expect will happen then you can go ahead and actually Perform the Renames.

Confirm that the app should rename this or all files.

Click the Perform Renames button at the bottom of the window. An alert appears. Note that you can turn off the alert in the Preferences.

To go ahead and rename the files click either the Rename or Rename All button. The files are renamed and a Confirmation message appears.

Be careful: after renaming files there’s no quick and easy way to undo the renaming unless you saved a list of filenames first.

Use multiple steps

For the list of files I provided above I would actually want to make all these changes:

• change all multiple spaces into a single space
• replace all spaces with a dash (-)
• remove any brackets
• make everything lower case
• change jpeg to jpg
• change underscores (_) to dashes (-)

Things like that can be important for people who work with images on web pages.

One of the strengths of A Better Finder Rename is that it’s easy to set up a sequence of actions and to preview how things will turn out before going ahead.

As I’m sure you can see, the sequence of changes could be quite important. If I replaced spaces with dashes before reducing multiple spaces to a single space I’d end up with names full of dashes for some files.

Then I’d have to add a step to reduce multiple dashes to a single dash.

Doing a single rename, as I showed in this Tip is the simplest possible way of using the app, but it gives you a bit of an intro. I’ve been using A Better Finder Rename for years now. I don’t need it very often, but when I do need it I find it invaluable. I’ve used it to change filenames on hundreds of files at once.

I guess an indication of how important changing file names is to me is that I’ve now explained several different ways of going about it:

Other ways to rename files on a Mac

1. How to rename files by adding them to a folder
2. Rename a file
3. Rename batches of files
4. Use Get Info to rename a file
5. Automate It

Of all the methods though, if I have more than 2 or 3 files to rename I always turn to A Better Finder Rename.

Let us know how this Tip helped you. To leave a comment if you’re reading this by email or RSS feed please visit the Tip at the MacTips website. There should be a link from the title.

Organize System Preferences in Lion
Mac Tip #531, 11 April 2012

System Preferences is home to all kinds of very helpful settings, but Lion brings a couple of new features to the app. You can hide Prefs you never use, call up an easy-to-use list of all prefs or display them alphabetically. Here’s how.

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Quick start

1. Click and hold on the Show All button in the Toolbar to call up a list of all Prefs.
2. Choose Customize… from that list to select which items to show or hide.
3. Select Organize Alphabetically or Organize by Categories from the View menu.

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System Preferences shows built-in and third party settings

When you get a brand new Mac and open System Preferences you see around 30 items that relate to settings for the machine and the software Apple supplied with it.

System Preferences in Lion. The bottom row shows items that belong to apps and hardware I’ve added.

To call up System Preferences look under the Apple menu.

Sometimes you may also add software or hardware to your Mac that puts its settings in System Preferences too.

For example, instead of using a mouse with my MacBook Pro I use the built-in trackpad, but also a Wacom Intuos 4 graphics tablet. The settings for the tablet are accessible via System Preferences.

Display items by category or alphabetically

In my screenshot the items are arranged by category:

• Personal
• Hardware
• Internet & Wireless
• System
• Other

Within each group they’re arranged somewhat randomly, though loosely alphabetical.

If you prefer, you can arrange them strictly alphabetically:

1. Go to the View menu.
2. Select Organize Alphabetically. The categories disappear and all items are arranged in alphabetical order across the rows.

All items are arranged in alphabetical order across the rows.

Display a list of all items

To show all items (in alphabetical order):

1. Click and hold on the Show All button in the Toolbar. After a moment a drop-down menu appears, showing all items in System Preferences.
2. Select any item from the list to show its settings window.

Show All System Preferences and Customize the display.

Customize System Preferences in Lion

There may be some Preferences you just don’t want to see. For example, I never use MobileMe, so if you compare your System Preferences window with the one in my screenshots you should notice that item isn’t displayed in the 3rd row on mine, but it probably is on yours.

This may also be useful of you’re setting up a Mac for someone else and prefer to hide items you’d prefer them not to use.

1. Click and hold on the Show All button in the Toolbar. After a moment a drop-down menu appears, showing all items in System Preferences.
2. Select Customize… — the last item in the list. A checkbox is displayed beside each item.
3. Check the box for items you do want to be displayed and uncheck it for items you wish to hide.
4. Click the Done button in the Toolbar when you’re finished. Items whose checkbox was unselected are hidden from view.

Customize the view by hiding and showing items.

Keep in mind that all you’re doing is choosing whether or not a Preference Pane is displayed in the window. This simply hides it from view; it doesn’t in any way prevent anyone from actually using the features the settings apply to. For that you need the Users & Groups System Preference.

Let us know how this Tip helped you. To leave a comment if you’re reading this by email or RSS feed please visit the Tip at the MacTips website. There should be a link from the title.

Pinch and swipe for speed on the iPad
Mac Tip #530, 04 April 2012

Old habits die hard, so maybe like me you keep pressing the Home button on your iPad to reach the Home screen and switch apps. Try the 5-fingered pinch and the 4-fingered swipes instead, like this.

Not working? If you have iOS 5 check Settings > General > Multitasking Gestures and make sure it’s turned On.

Multitasking Gestures.

Pinch to go Home

1. Open an app — any app will do.
2. Spread out the 4 fingers and thumb on one hand and lightly touch the screen.
3. Now pinch all the fingers together to a point, as though you were picking up a piece of silk. The app shrinks down to nothing and instead you see the Home screen.

Show the Multitasking Bar with an up swipe

So now you’ve visited the Home screen and want to quickly go back the app you were just using, or to another one you used recently, or perhaps to the controls at the extreme left end of the Multitasking Bar. Here’s a quick swipe to do that, whether you’re in an app or viewing the Home screen.

1. Touch the tips of at least 4 fingers on the screen. This could actually be fingers from both hands. In my experiments it worked with 4, 5 and 6 fingers.
2. Swipe upwards. The Multitasking Bar appears at the bottom of the screen.
3. Tap an icon on the Multitasking Bar to open that app.
4. Or swipe downwards with 4 fingers to hide the Multitasking Bar again.

Change apps with a side swipe

If all you want to do is to go between recently used apps skip showing the Multitasking Bar. Swipe sideways with multiple fingers instead.

1. Open an app and then open one or more other apps. Have one app open on screen before you swipe.
2. Touch the tips of at least 4 fingers on the screen. This could actually be fingers from both hands. In my experiments it worked with up to 8 fingers.
3. Swipe to left or right. One of the open apps will slide in. Swipe again to bring in another open app.

Note: I tried the gestures on my iPhone, but they don’t work there.

Let us know how you get on with these gestures. To leave a comment if you’re reading this by email or RSS feed please visit the Tip at the MacTips website. There should be a link from the title.