MacMost: Archives

The Lookup function can be useful if you want to automatically populate cells on one table with data from another, based on new data entered. For instance, you can enter products in one column and then have prices fill in automatically by having the Lookup function refer to a list of products and prices in a second table.

Compressor is an app that is usually thought of as an add-on to Final Cut Pro. But it can be purchased by itself in the Mac App Store and used to compress video and burn DVDs. You can take a single video and set some options, such as menu and title screen backgrounds, chapter names and start times and disc name.

Today apple announced several new products, including the iPhone 5 and a new iPod touch and iPod Nano. The new iPhone has a taller screen, new dock connector and a special panoramic photography mode. The new iPod touch meets most of the new iPhone's specifications. A whole new Nano has a larger screen and returns video and photos to iPod functionality. iOS 6 will be released on September 19, with the iPhone 5 following on the 21st. The new iPods will be out in October.

Mountain Lion offers four different ways to send web pages from Safari through Mail. You can send a plain link, as before, or send the page as HTML, a PDF or Reader content only. The trick is knowing where to select which of the four options you want.

In Mountain Lion you can now quickly search for apps by name in LaunchPad. This, in conjunction with the keyboard shortcut for LaunchPad, can make it quick and easy to launch apps. Organizing your apps in LaunchPad is limited, but the search function makes it irrelevant as you no longer have to look for apps by icon.

The best tool for building slideshows may be Keynote. You can easily import photos, arrange them, adjust the images, add shapes and text, and much more. You can combine multiple images on each slide and vary the transitions between them. You can use advanced techniques to make your slideshows unique.

Here are three key techniques that everyone who surfs the web on their Mac should know. But using tabs, browsing history and page search you can move around quickly and find what you want.

Most Mac users use the Dock many times per day. So it would be worth the time to optimize your Dock. Add your most commonly used apps and remove others. Arrange your apps to make them easy to find. Add folders and files to the right side and set them to appear the way you want. Change your Dock settings to get the most from it.

Lion and now Mountain Lion have changed the way commands in the File menu work. While many people are having difficulty adjusting, the new commands actually offer more functionality and make it easier to rename, move and duplicate files while working with the document inside an app.

While iMovie only lets you include one picture-in-picture at a time, you can use Keynote to merge multiple videos. The technique involves putting many videos on one slide, and then exporting the presentation as a new video. You can use this to create a variety of effects.

The new Notes app in Mountain Lion lets you create and view small notes. These are also synced across devices using either iCloud or another cloud-based service that supports notes.