Apple | Mac
I recently had a project that required a LOT of work in Microsoft Word. I don’t use Word often, so I needed a refresher course on keyboard shortcuts to make the job easier.
Apple | Mac
It happens a lot in the design business. You’re taking copy from one document and using it in another. The problem is that when you copy your text and paste it in your new document, the formatting comes with it. All the fonts, all the colors, all the special text treatments. You’re stuck “un-formatting” only to have to reformat it in the new style. Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be this way.
Mac OS X offers a simple way to paste text from any document into another document completely unformatted. Simply copy the original formatted text as you normally would using Command + C. Then, instead of pasting the text normally, paste it using Command + Shift + V.
Apple | Mac
Mac OS X and Apple’s keyboard offer some useful keyboard shortcuts via the use of the F-keys across the top of the keyboard. You can adjust screen brightness, activate Mission Control, control iTunes and volume, and more. The problem is, it’s pretty much all or nothing. You either turn them all on, or turn them all off. The Keyboard Preference panel allows for slight customization, but it’s a real pain to work with.
Enter Palua, from Molowa. Palua allows you to customize WHEN and HOW the F-Keys are used. For instance, you can set Palua to use the standard F-Keys just the way Apple intended when you’re in the Finder, Safari, iTunes and iWork—but automatically switch to standard F-Keys when you’re working in certain apps. And it switches automatically.
For instance, I have Photoshop set up to perform a number of custom actions when F-Keys are pressed, but switch back to the regular controls when I switch back to the Finder or other apps. The beauty of Palua is that the F-Key mode is switched automatically for specific apps you set, or can be manually switched with a keyboard shortcut or clicking the menubar icon.
I’ve been using Palua for quite some time, and it’s one of my favorite utilities. Palua is available in the Mac App Store for 99¢.
Apple | Mac
Being the fan of keyboard shortcuts that I am, I rarely pass-up the opportunity to use them. Here are a few keyboard shortcuts for selecting text in virtually any Mac OS X application that allows text entry.
I knew there were other similar shortcuts, and a quick search brought up this great set of Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts for navigating and selecting text at OSXDaily.
Adobe InDesign
Most designers know that hitting the X key switches between stroke and fill active states, and the / (slash) key fills the currently selected object with the color None in Adobe InDesign. There are a few other color-related shortcuts that, if you burn into your brain, can save you a good bit of time and mousing around on screen.
Apple | Mac
Paul over at OSXDaily has put together a short list of essential iTunes 11 keyboard shortcuts.
Adobe InDesign
I’m a huge fan of keyboard shortcuts, particularly in Adobe apps like Photoshop and InDesign. They not only save time, but they tend to not interrupt your creative ‘flow’ while you’re working once you get used to using them on a regular basis. Here are a few simple ones to work with the Fill & Stroke tools in the Tools panel.
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Apple | Mac
These are just my favorite shortcuts, but you can view a full searching for ‘shortcuts’ under Safari’s Help menu.
Apple | Mac
Knowing and using keyboard shortcuts can save an incredible amount of time over the period of a full work day. Not to mention it doesn’t stop the flow of creativity.Having used the Mac since the mid 80s, and Adobe Creative Suite apps just as long, my brain is trained to use keyboard shortcuts. I can’t remember the last time I moused up to the menubar for something that has a keyboard shortcut available.
Learning keyboard shortcuts can take a long time, but a clever Swedish developer has created CheatSheet for the Mac OS X 10.7 that displays all the available keyboard shortcuts for the app you’re working in with the click of a button.
CheatSheet is a faceless application. There is no interface, no preferences to set. You simply hold the Command key down and a large white overlay appears which displays all the keyboard shortcuts. CheatSheet runs on Lion only, and is free.
Apple | Mac
Apple | Mac
I came across this post at CultofMac that explained how you can set your Mac’s volume to “ultra-quiet” via a combination of lowering the volume all the way, then hitting the mute key on your Mac’s keyboard. This sets the volume to a barely audible level. The problem of course is that it’s barely audible.
Instead, just hold down the Shift + Option keys while using the Volume keys on the keyboard. This will allow you to adjust the volume (up or down) by quarter bars at a time, instead of full bars at a time.