MacMost: Archives

If you use the Find function in the Finder you can perform file searches that are much more complex than using Spotlight. You can add many pieces of criteria to the search other than a single search term. If you know how, you can use logic to combine search criteria and add very specific options. Then you can save your searches so you don't have to recreate them from scratch later.

A new feature in macOS Catalina will be the ability to share entire folders in iCloud Drive with others. Any files you place in the folder will be available to others that you specify, or anyone with a link of you wish. All with access to the folder can modify, add and delete files. This collaborative feature has been a part of other cloud soltuions for a while, so it is nice to finally have it as part of iCloud. You can also do this with iOS 13.

Many Mac users ignore the Go menu in the Finder, but there are some useful shortcuts there. You can access some of the most most used folders on your drive with this menu and see keyboard shortcuts for them. You can also access your Librray folder and Startup Disk through the Go menu if you know how. The Go to Folder function lets you move around by typing, which is preferred by many pro users.

With standard Mac apps like Pages, Numbers and Keynote, you can revert to a previously saved version of the file to retrieve text or items you may have deleted or changed. You can completely revert to the old version, or copy and paste some text from an old version. This also works with TextEdit and some third-party apps.

One of the biggest changes that will come with macOS Catalina is the replacement of the iTunes app. The new Music app will take over management of your existing iTunes music library and it has pretty much all of the functions that iTunes had. Preview what it looks like and see what the Mac Music app can do. Catalina will be released in the fall.

The color adjustment tools in Preview allow you to tint a photo, but without much control. By using this special technique, you can tint your photo any color you wish, and by any amount. You can also do this directly in the Photos app using the markup tools there. This is also a good way to fade a photo or to darken it without losing too much definition.

In addition to being able to capture a still image of your Mac's screen, you can easily record your screen to create a video using built-in functionality. The screen capture tool in macOS Mojave and beyond has a variety of options including being able to select an area of the screen, capture microphone audio, and review and edit the video before saving. You can also capture and send immediately in an email or share other ways.

While most Macs have trackpads, most users never bother to learn how to use some of the gestures available. You can see which ones you have available in System Preferences, along with videos that show you how to perform the gestures. Each has a keyboard shortcut you can use instead if you prefer.

Many of us have hundreds of app on our iPhone and iPad home screens. Keeping them organized can be a chore. But you can use techniques like app folders and searching by keyword to help. It is also a good idea to delete apps you rarely use, knowing you can download them again easily. When organizing apps, you can drag more than one at a time.

If you want to go beyond the title text feature in iMovie, you can create your own styled text in Keynote or any image editing tool and use the resulting image as an overlay. Then you can use picture-in-picture keyframes in iMovie to animate the text popping in from one side or scale as it moves. You can use this technique with any transparent image for a variety of effects.

Apple’s quarterly earnings pleased investors who sent the stock sharply higher in after-hours trading. A revenue mark of $53.8 billion was the best ever for the June quarter. Profits were down because of lower margins, which was expected. Services played a big part in the numbers, offsetting lower iPhone sales which accounted for just less than half of revenue for the first time since 2012.

There are two ways to highlight text in Pages on the Mac. The first has to do with editing and revisions, and is usually used when collaborating on a document with others. But you can also highlight text purely as a style, placing a solid color behind characters. To make things easier, you can create character styles for different text highlight colors and even assign keyboard shortcuts to them.

In addition to using the Emoji Viewer to type special characters, or holding a key to add accents, you can also learn some special keyboard combinations using the Keyboard Viewer. These allow you to type some symbols like degrees, pi, the Apple symbol and accent marks using standard keystrokes with the help of the Option and Shift keys. The Keyboard Viewer allows you to see exactly which key combinations match which characters. This is dependent on the type of keyboard you own.

If you are designing a Numbers spreadsheet to give to users that allows them to enter values then you may want to prevent them from entering values outside of a range. You can use conditional highlighting to change the color or style of a cell if the user enters a bad value. You can use a formula in another cell to indicate a bad value, plus instructions. You can also use sliders, steppers and pop-up menu cell formats to limit values.

Do you use the Shift, Command and Option keys on both sides of your keyboard? If not, you can reassign the ones you don't use to perform a more useful function like triggering Mission Control. You can also set the Caps Lock key to become another modifier key, the Esc key or turn it off completely to prevent accidental use.

The new image fill feature of text in Pages and Keynote allows you to create some beautiful graphics with very little effort. In this tutorial you'll learn how to create a retro-style postcard image using some of your photos. You can apply a single image fill to all of the text or a separate image for each letter. You can post these graphics online or use them in documents or videos.

You can customize your Finder sidebar to include the folders and locations you most often use. You can click on a sidebar item to go to that location, and also drag and drop items into those locations. You can customize the sidebar in Finder, Preferences, and also by dragging and dropping items into and around in the sidebar. Tags and Smart Folders can be used to make the sidebar even more useful.

If you are buying a used Mac there are many things you need to check out before you complete the purchase. You can run hardware diagnostics and check out battery and hard drive health. You should carefully inspect the screen, keyboard and other parts. It is also very important that you check for a firmware password and see if the Mac is connected to iCloud. The best place to buy is from Apple's refurbished store, but you can also find used Macs at some well-known resellers as well as eBay and CraigsList. Be very careful to avoid scams and protect yourself. Once you get your new old Mac, be sure to wipe it and start fresh.

It is fairly easy to compress a single file or multiple files and folders into a ZIP file archive on your Mac. You can also decompress any ZIP file by simply double-clicking it. This is useful for sending files online or to store files you no longer need. The Archive Utility is used invisibly for both commands, but you can run this app by itself and choose from more options when compressing or decompressing ZIP files.

Apple's new lineup of MacBooks simplifies your choices by removing the 12-inch MacBook and older MacBook Pro models. But you still have 8 base models of MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. Which one is the right one for you. But looking closely at the specifications and purchase options, there is really one one MacBook Air model and two 13-inch and two 15-inch models. For most people, it comes down to a low-end but light MacBook Air, a mid-range MacBook Pro 13-inch and a high end MacBook Pro 15-inch. Find out which models you should consider to match how you use your MacBook.