7/8/21
Here are the four techniques that you need to master to use your Mac effectively. You need to learn the ins-and-outs of the Menu Bar, Drag and Drop, the Context Menu, and Copy and Paste. Each one is a basic skill, but also goes deeper. Learn to use these four techniques well and you can do much more with your Mac.
7/7/21
There are many ways to blur the background of a photo. Here are two methods that use the third-party apps Pixelmator Pro and Affinity Photo, and then two methods using built-in Mac apps Preview and Keynote.
7/6/21
Often the solution to a problem in Numbers isn't to use a formula, but to use custom cell formatting. See some practical examples such as adding units, abbreviating large numbers, replacing 0 values with blanks, showing hexadecimal numbers and much more.
7/5/21
Sometimes just having one default app to open a file type isn't enough. With documents like images and text files, you often open files in different apps in different situations. Instead of using the context menu to open the document, you can assign keyboard shortcuts to open the document in a specific app.
7/2/21
Hidden on your Mac is a set of image filters that you can use on your image files. You can access them in an Automator action, which means you can easily build a simple app that will allow you to apply them to an image quickly. Access filters like blur, comic book, pixelate, neon, and so many more. You can even use this to quickly resize images.
7/1/21
Scrolling on a Mac is a basic skill, but works differently than on Windows so it can trip up new users. There are also many shortcuts and settings. Learn some new tricks even if you are an experienced Mac user.
6/30/21
In most apps there is a way to zoom content, making text or images larger. How you do this often varies by app, and some apps don't like you zoom in at all.
6/29/21
While there is no Clock app on a Mac yet, you can use the Calendar to set an alarm for any time on any day. By adding an Automator script, you can have that alarm play a sound at full volume or speak some text.
6/28/21
You can easily add sound effects to your iMovie projects with the built-in effects that come with iMovie. You can also drop in any other sound, including ones you record on your own. By modifying sounds effects with iMovie's tools, you can make generic sound effects work in almost any situation.
6/25/21
When you export photos from the Photos app the date of the file doesn't match the date the photo was taken. This is correct as the file is new and the photo in it does retain the metadata with the original date. But if you want to force the file date to match the photo date, you can do it in the Terminal or with an Automator app.
6/24/21
Your Mac automatically launches apps when you startup and when you log into your user account. Here's where to look to see what your Mac launches automatically. You can add your own items in one of these place, and use all of them to see what things are running in the background.
6/23/21
Safe Mode is a way to reboot your Mac that can help you diagnose problems, and sometimes even fix them without doing anything more. Learn how to boot into Safe Mode and steps you can take to fix your Mac.
6/22/21
You can type special characters on your Mac using one of four different techniques. For accent marks and character variations you can hold down keys on the keyboard or use Option and Shift to access some keys. You can also bring up the Emoji & Symbols chooser for thousands of special characters. Watch for more options and tips.
6/21/21
iMovie 10.2.4 intriduces some new backgrounds that are comprised of two colors and can be customized to use any two colors you like. You can use these as standard backgrounds, but also as overlays mixed with a variety of iMovie tricks to create special effects.
6/18/21
If you are using an older version of macOS and are ready to update to a newer version, the first step is figuring out which versions of macOS your Mac can use. Apple provides compatibility information for each version, and you can find them all at https://macmost.com/j-system as well. If you are looking to downgrade or to upgrade to a version not supported by your Mac, I have some general advice.
6/17/21
The new Shortcuts app coming to macOS Monterey will let you create automations to control your Mac in various ways. It will co-exist with Automator and works in a similar way. Look at some examples of Mac Shortcuts that you'll be able to create.
6/16/21
Instead of sending large email attachments, using iCloud Drive file sharing to share a file with other people so they can receive the file when they are ready. Create a shared folder to make it easy to send files back and forth between people you regularly share files with.
6/15/21
Often you want to display formula results only if the value isn't zero. The best way to do that is with a Custom Format. You can also use functions like IFERROR to display something other than an error message in some situations.
6/14/21
iPadOS 15 will bring many new features to the iPad this fall. You'll be able to add widgets where you like, set Focus modes, access multitasking without gestures, use Quick Notes and much more.
6/11/21
You can put your Mac to sleep many different ways including keyboard shortcuts, special gestures and interactions, an automatic timeout, and even Terminal or Automator scripts.
