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How To Capture Screenshots with OS X’s Built-in Grab App

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One of little known utilities in Mac OS X is Grab. This application can do what most of the other “professional” screenshot applications charge for, including selection, window, screen, and timed screenshots. With a few mouse clicks, you will be able to capture and export a screenshot to anywhere on your Mac. The advantage to using Grab over the built-in screen capture shortcuts in OS X is that you won’t clutter up your Desktop with images. Instead, Grab will open up a preview window where you can decide whether or not you want to save the image.

Capturing Screenshots with Grab

To capture a screenshot with Grab, you’ll first need to open up the application (located in /Applications/Utilities). Once you have it opened, you’ll notice the user interface is rather lacking. Most of the work in this application will be done using the menubar menus.

To capture the screen, go to the Capture menu. There are four different screen capture modes:

1. Selection- Lets you select (with your mouse cursor) the section of the screen you wish to capture. This tool also gives you pixel coordinate information for precise on-screen pixel measurements.

2. Window- Window, as the name implies, lets you capture an entire window’s contents.  This is great for showing someone how to do something in an application, without exposing other windows on your computer.

3. Screen-  This capture mode will capture the entire screen of your Mac desktop.

4. Timed- The Timed capture mode will wait 10 seconds before capturing the entire screen of your Mac. This tool is useful when you need to show an action that will happen after you click something.

Saving Screenshots with Grab

After you take a screenshot using any of the above methods, a new window will open containing a preview of your screenshot. To save the screenshot as an image file to your Mac, go to File > Save. The file will then be saved out as a .tiff image to the location you specified.

Image Inspector

When the screenshot preview window is opened, you can go to Edit > Inspector (or press Command + 1) to bring up the “Image Inspector.” This tool lets you see at a glance the width and height of the image and the bit depth.

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Quick Tip: Make iTunes 10 Window Controls Horizontal

iTunes 10 was released yesterday and brought with it a few UI overhauls. The loss of color in the sidebar for one, along with the change of orientation of the window controls at the top of the window. There currently isn’t a way to bring back the colored icons in the sidebar, but there sure is a way to get the window controls back to their former positions.

It’s simple enough, and requires just one line to be entered into Terminal. Quit iTunes, wait for it to close completely, then fire up Terminal, which can be found under Applications → Utilities. Either type or paste the following code into the Terminal window and hit Return:

defaults write com.apple.iTunes full-window -1

Now when you reopen iTunes, the ‘traffic light’ controls should be back along the top of the window, side-by-side. It does a lot for keeping the look of OS X consistent across applications. Of course, perhaps this is Apple’s way of telling us that in the next version of the Mac operating system, all the windows are going to be laid out like this.

Should you ever want to restore iTunes 10′s default setting, and put the controls back down the side, enter this code into Terminal (again with iTunes closed):

defaults write com.apple.iTunes full-window -0

Now we have a fix for the window controls, all we need is a setting to bring back the color in the sidebar. If you know a way, shout out in the comments!

Filed under mac itunes

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15+ Incredibly Useful iPhone Tips and Tricks

The fourth generation iPhone shattered records for opening day sales and continues to sell quite well despite antenna-gate. This means there are bound to be tons of brand new iPhone users out there who are still getting the hang of their new favorite toy.

We decided to give these users a hand by both drudging up some tips and tricks that have been around since the beginning as well as a few new hints that only work with iOS 4. Each tip below features a handy graphic to help you figure out the process.

Keep in mind that many of these will work on all iOS devices so try them out on your iPod Touch and iPad as well!

Quick Period

Obviously, you can access the period key under the punctuation section but it’s a lot faster to just double tap the space bar.

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Quick Period

Hidden Characters

Pressing and holding some of the keys on the keyboard will reveal hidden characters. There are quite a few of these if you know where to look. Here’s a list of all the keys that you can hold and expand:

  • Letters: E, Y, U, I, O, A, S, L, Z, C, N
  • Symbols: Dollar Sign, Dash, Ampersand, Quotes, Period, Question Mark, Exclamation Point, Apostrophe, and Percent
  • Safari “.com” button (brings up .net, .edu and .org)
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Hidden Characters

Caps Lock

After you enable Caps Lock in preferences, double tapping the shift key will cause it to glow blue, indicating that Caps Lock is on.

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Caps Lock

Quick Caps/Symbols

Obviously, you can tap the “.?123″ to access the symbols keyboard and the shift key to quickly capitalize a letter, but did you know that you could speed up the process by holding your finger down on one of these keys and then dragging the the key that you want to type? For instance, to quickly type the number “2″ from the main keyboard, hold the “.?123″ key, slide up to the “2″ and then release. You should be taken right back to the main QWERTY keyboard.

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Quick Caps/Symbols

Restart iPhone

As you know, to turn off your iPhone, simply hold the sleep button until the option pops up. However, if your phone is frozen, you’ll have to restart by holding the home and sleep buttons until it turns off.

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iPhone Restart

Screenshot

This is one we use every day here at AppStorm. To take a screenshot, hold down the home button, then hit the sleep button (you should see a flash). The image will then be saved into your photos and can be imported to your Mac through iPhoto.

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Screenshot

Inspect Link

If you see a link in Safari, hold your finger on it to see where it goes. You can also choose to copy it, open it in the current window or open it in a new window.

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Inspect Link

Save Image

Just as in the previous tip, hold your finger on an image to see more options including the ability to download.

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Save Image

Scrolling in a Frame

Have you ever tried to scroll in a window that’s inside another window in mobile Safari? It’s a bit tricky. Use two fingers to get the job done.

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Scrolling in a Frame

Tap Dots for Next Page

If for some crazy reason you loathe the swiping motion necessary to navigate the home screens, you can tap the area at the bottom instead. Tap to the right of center to go right and to the left of center to go left.

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Tap Dots for Next Page

Quickly Select Word or Paragraph

You probably know that to quickly select a word you double tap it, but did you know you can quickly select an entire paragraph with a quadruple tap?

Surely you didn’t know that one did you? Admit it, you’ve never tried quadruple tapping!

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Quickly Select Word or Paragraph

Scroll to Top

Everyone should already know this one but I thought I’d toss it in anyway. In Safari, tap the top bar to quickly scroll to the top of the page. Many applications have also built in this functionality so be sure to try it everywhere.

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Scroll to Top

Zoom In

Starting with the 3GS Apple added in many of the accessibility features that you find in OS X. Of these, the most handy is probably the ability to zoom in. After enabling it in Preferences under the Accessibility menu, double tap with three fingers to activate.

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Zoom In

New iOS 4 Tricks

Even if you stood in line all night for the very first iPhone and have owned every model since, there could be many new features that you don’t know about in the latest operating system. Check out these four things to try.

Spell Check

There is finally a spell check feature! Just tap and hold an underlined word, then tap the “Replace” button to see a spelling suggestion.

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Spell Check

Lock Screen Orientation

The iPhone automatically changes orientation when you rotate it, which can be annoying if that’s not what you want. Double tap the home button and then swipe to access the controls to the left. Here you can control the iPod functionality and/or lock the screen orientation.

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Lock Screen Orientation

Close Background Apps

Now that you can multi-task in iOS 4, it’s easy to leave open tons of applications. Follow the same double tap process as in the tip above but this time tap and hold an application icon and then tap the little minus buttons to close any unwanted applications.

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Close Background Apps

Search the Web and Wikipedia

Apple has improved the global search feature in iOS 4 by adding web and wikipedia search options. These are usually located at the bottom of the list of results.

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Search the Web and Wikipedia

Didn’t Learn Anything? Share Yours!

Whether you’re a new or seasoned iPhone user, we hoped you learned a trick or two. However, inevitably posts like this garner comments from readers who claim to know it all.

Well here’s your chance to shine. Leave a comment below with your own great iPhone tips and tricks to see if you can top our list!

via iphone.appstorm.net

Filed under iphone

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Six Great Tips for Using Spotlight | Mac|Life

Spotlight can do more than just find a file. Use it as an app launcher, phone book, calculator, and more.


Spotlight puts your Mac’s power and flexibility on center stage.

Back when I started working here in 2006, mentioning the word “Spotlight” in our offices would trigger a chorus of scoffs and guffaws. Editors who shall remain nameless complained its constant indexing was slowing down their machines and that the search functions themselves were too sluggish. Well, I’m just a friendly nerd who wanted to fit in, so I jumped on the “Spotlight, Boo!” bandwagon.
 
Since then, I’ve jumped back off, my feet planted firmly in “Hooray for Spotlight!” town. It helped that Apple keeps improving its performance with every iteration of Mac OS X, and it helped even more to discover that finding files is just one of Spotlight’s areas of expertise. Try some of these tricks, and Spotlight will become an essential tool for you too.

Difficulty Level: Easy

What You Need:

>> A Mac running Mac OS 10.4 or later

1. Launch Application

 


I launch Firefox this way so often that it’s the Top Hit as soon as I press the F key.

Keyboard-command junkies don’t need to rely on an app-launching utility like Quicksilver or LaunchBar. Just press Command-Space to call up the Spotlight window and start typing the name of your application. When it appears in the Top Hit spot, press Return to launch it. If you need to navigate to it in the list of results, you can use the arrow keys (hold Command while pressing the arrow keys to jump to another section), and when it’s highlighted, press Return to launch it.

2. Define Words

 


Oh, so that’s what “fire” means.

You’ll notice if you open a Spotlight window (Command-Space) and type “fire” that, besides Firefox, one of the results is a Dictionary.app definition of that word. Selecting it and pressing Return opens its Dictionary entry. This can be a quicker way to look things up than to launch Dictionary from the Applications folder and type in your word. Plus, if you mouse over the definition in Spotlight’s results, a tooltip appears with the full definition for you to read without launching the Dictionary app at all.

3. Find Contacts

 


Why, there I am!

Instead of launching Address Book or Entourage when you need somebody’s phone number or email address, just have Spotlight find the exact contact you’re looking for. Type a name into your Spotlight window (Command-Space) and use the arrow keys to select that person from the Contacts section of the results list. Pressing Return launches your contact application with that person front and center, or you can mouse over the name in the results list for a tooltip displaying their phone numbers.

4. Quick-Launch System Preferences Panes

 


If you can’t remember which System Preferences deal with Bluetooth, Spotlight can.

Sometimes, even when you know what preference you want to change, it’s tricky to recall which System Preferences pane contains it. We used to launch System Preferences and use the search box in the top right, which highlights any panes that contain the word you type in.

Well, Spotlight can do that too. For instance, when we type “Bluetooth” into a Spotlight window (Command-Space), the System Preferences section of the results list contains not only the Bluetooth pane, but also Sharing and Network, two other System Preferences panes that deal with Bluetooth issues. As always, select one and press Return to launch it.

5. Do the Math

 


Figure out how much a $159/night hotel room costs after 17% worth of taxes are applied.

Spotlight can perform calculations for you too, saving you the trouble of launching Calculator. Just call up that trusty Spotlight window (Command-Space) and start typing your equation. Remember that the multiplication symbol is * rather than x.

The result will be displayed right in the Spotlight window, and if you press Return, the Calculator app launches with your result displayed. That can be handy, since once you click elsewhere on your Mac’s screen (say, to type the result into a document), the Spotlight window closes and your equation isn’t visible until you open it again with Command-Space.

6. Find a Folder

 


When we Command-clicked the highlighted result, the Finder window launched.

To find out which folder holds a particular file, search for that file with Spotlight, but don’t just highlight the file in the results list and press Return—that launches the file in question. Instead, hold Command and press Return (or, if you’re a mouse user, hold Command and click), and a Finder window will launch that shows your particular file inside the folder where it resides.

Follow this article’s author, Susie Ochs, on Twitter.


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via maclife.com

Filed under mac tips

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CineXPlayer – Watch your Xvid movies on the iPad

Watching movies on your iPad just got a bit easier on the iPad with CineXPlayer.

CineXPlayer can play your Xvid movies with the .avi extension, no conversion needed. Sweet!

Features:

  • Transfer Xvid movies without converting
  • Full Resume Function
  • Swipe to Delete movie

How to watch Xvid videos on the iPad using CineXPlayer:

Check out CineXPlayer on the iPad for free from iTunes.

—>

Tagged as: utilites

via appsforipad.net

Filed under ipad

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iPhone and iPad Tips of the Week

iPad

This week, we’ll focus on Apple’s iPad, with some helpful tid bits on file syncing, buying a case, turning off the iPad’s annoying keyboard click, and a navigational tip that is useful when browsing mile long pages of information on a single web page.

File Syncing

 

PadSyncWe’re going to start out this tip by making note of the fact that file syncing between the latest iOS devices and iTunes are not exactly the most user friendly. The entire process is manual, which is not entirely on par with Apple’s usually very friendly user interface.

For a real file sync solution, you’ll have to turn to a third-party app called PadSync by Ecamm. It costs $10 and does what Apple’s file syncing should have been doing in the first place. It provides pure and simple file syncing with version control.

 


The Only Case You’ll Ever Need

 

Apple iPad CaseApple’s iPad case is wonderful. Sure, it’s $39, and that may seem a bit steep for a case, but its durable, sturdy sides can be folded in such naturally useful positions. You can also tilt the iPad to make it easier to view on a horizontal surface and type using the virtual keyboard in landscape mode. Additionally, you can prop it up vertically when you use your iPad with an external keyboard. The matte finish on the case also makes it easier to keep your grip on the iOS device.

Let us know what kind of case you use for your own iPad in the comments below!

Ridding of that Awful “Clicking Sound”

Are you driving your significant other nuts over that annoying clicking sound that your iPad keyboard makes? Fortunately, there’s an easy way to turn it off. Launch the Settings app, tap General, Sounds, and then tap the Keyboard Clicks switch to turn it off. Now, everyone will be able to rest easy and, more importantly, get some sleep.

Silence iPad keyboard click

 

Reach New Heights in Page Scrolling

 

If you are using an iPad (or any other iOS device for that matter) and you are viewing a page of information that is rather lengthy, you can quickly return back to the top of the page by tapping the title bar. This beats “flicking” the screen over and over to get to the very top of the page. Don’t wear those fingers out if you don’t have to. You’ll need them to play Tap Tap Revenge.

Tap the title bar to scroll rapidly to the top of a page.

Notes

Drag and drop attachments in Gmail to save them to your desktop

Posted by Adam de Boor, Software Engineer

Dragging and dropping files is an easy way to save time in Gmail. We’ve previously blogged about dragging files to upload as attachments and dragging images into new messages. Now, if you’re using Google Chrome, you can also drag attachments out of messages you receive to save them to your computer.

Let’s say you have an email open containing an attachment. Hover your mouse over the attachment’s “Download” link or its file icon and a tooltip appears that says: “Click to view OR drag to your desktop to save.”


Simply click and hold, then drag your cursor to anywhere in your file system that you want to save the file. Release the mouse button, and voilà! Your attachment is saved (for large files, you may see a progress dialog).

via feedproxy.google.com

Filed under google web