Mac Tips and Tricks

MacTips

2012-01-11T09:08:00.000-08:00

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MacTips!

2011-11-19T08:27:00.000-08:00

Welcome to MacTips
Get the most out of your Mac.

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Mac Tips and Tricks - Desktop App !

2011-11-19T05:35:00.000-08:00

Mac Tips and Tricks OS X Desktop App !

...get more Mac Tips !

2010-10-03T01:52:00.000-07:00

Installation
Learn how to get the most out of Snow Leopard.

Using Finder
The Finder lets you organize, view, and access practically everything on your Mac, including applications, files, folders, discs, SD memory cards,...

Using Preview
Preview is a simple, elegant application for viewing and working with PDF documents.
You can also view and edit images. Crop, rotate, resize, and save images in a range of formats.

Using iLife
Organize photos by Faces and Places. Create photo books. Make a movie. Even learn to play music. All with iLife. All part of every new Mac.

Using iPhoto
Organize your photos. Crop, retouch, and remove red-eye. Then share on the web with MobileMe, Facebook, and Flickr, or make a photo book.

Using iMovie
Make movies on your Mac. Take your time editing or use themes to finish a movie in minutes. Then share on the web with YouTube or MobileMe.

Using GarageBand
With GarageBand on your Mac, you can learn to play guitar and piano, get lessons from famous musicians, and record and mix your own songs.

Using iWeb
Use iWeb to design websites and blogs featuring your photos, movies, and more. iWeb even notifies Facebook when you post something new to your site.

Using iDVD
With iDVD on a Mac, you can create and burn professional-looking DVDs to share your movies and photo slideshows.

Using iChat
If you're looking for a more personal way to stay in touch, iChat enables you to see and hear your friends, family, and coworkers no matter how...

Using iCal
If you need help managing your life and time more wisely, iCal provides all the tools you need to keep track of schedules, appointments,...

Using Mail
Learn what you can do if you are having issues sending Mail messages after updating to Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard.

Using Safari
Experience the web with the fast, easy-to-use web browser. With its simple, elegant interface and support for the latest Internet standards, Safari gets out of your way and lets you enjoy the web.
Safari 4 is a high performance, modern Internet web browser for Mac OS X and Windows. It supports the latest standards in HTML 5 and CSS 3,...

Using Address Book
Whether you've got all your contacts stored neatly in an electronic device or are still hanging on to your tattered address book, personal...

Using Exposé
Expose in Mac OS X lets you instantly view all open windows in stunning style with a single keystroke.

Using the Dock
Learn about The Dock, Dock Exposé, Dock menus, and Stacks in Mac OS X v10.6 and later.

Using Dashboard
Instantly get info with amazing new widgets. Play a game. Read the news. Search the web.

Customizing Your Mac
Every Mac comes standard with assistive technologies that help people with disabilities enjoy the power and simplicity of the Mac.

Keyboard Shortcuts
Tip of the Week. Create Your Own Keyboard Shortcuts. Keyboard shortcuts are such huge timesavers, but sadly, not all Finder commands have them...

Tip of the Day !

Mac A-Z Glossary

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Z

FAQ - Frequently Answered Questions !

2010-10-01T06:32:00.000-07:00

Get expert advice and step-by-step how-to's the latest mac computers and software, iPhones, iPods and iPads.

Some Frequently Answered Questions:

Can a Mac run Windows and Microsoft Office?
Yes. Microsoft Office is available for the Mac, and Word, PowerPoint, and Excel files created on a Mac are fully compatible with Windows. Most other popular applications are available for the Mac, too. But if you need to use a particular Windows-only application, you have a few options: Boot Camp comes with every new Mac, and it lets you run Windows natively — as if your Mac were a PC. If you want to run Mac OS X and Windows side by side, you can purchase Parallels Desktop for Mac or VMware Fusion. Install one of these applications, along with the Windows Installation CDs, and you can run the occasional Windows program right next to your Mac applications, without having to restart.

Is a Mac safe from PC viruses?
Yes. The Mac OS X operating system isn’t susceptible to the thousands of viruses plaguing Windows-based computers. And although no computer connected to the Internet is completely immune to all viruses and spyware, Mac OS X has built-in defenses designed with your safety in mind. The Mac web browser, Safari, alerts you whenever you’re downloading an application — even if it’s disguised as a picture or movie file. And Apple continually makes free security updates available for Mac owners. You can even have them download automatically.

Will my other devices work with a Mac?
A Mac has hundreds of drivers for peripherals preinstalled. Just connect your device and, in most cases, you’re good to go. And a Mac is smart enough to know what to do when you plug in your digital camera: It opens iPhoto and asks if you want to import your recent photos.

Will my keyboard and mouse work with a Mac?
Yes. The Mac is compatible with virtually any keyboard and multibutton mouse, even the ones you use with your PC. Just plug them into the USB ports on your Mac and start working. You can also use the Multi-Touch Magic Mouse or multibutton Apple Mouse, which comes with every iMac and Mac Pro, respectively. And the trackpad on MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air offers “right-click” capability — just press the Control key when you click.

Can I work with my existing documents on a Mac?
Yes. A Mac can open most files from your PC, including Microsoft Office documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), PDFs, MP3s, iTunes songs, WAV files, JPEGs, GIFs, and more.

Can I join Windows networks?
Yes. If you have a network at home or at work, whether wired or wireless, a Mac will fit right in. You can share files with any computer on your network, browse the web, and get your work or home email.

What about Wi-Fi?
All new Mac computers are Wi-Fi capable. Available wireless networks automatically show up. Just select the network you want to join, enter a password if necessary, and you’re connected.

Is a Mac reliable?
When you buy a PC, you’re buying hardware from one company and an operating system and software from other companies. Not so with a Mac. Because Apple builds both the computer and the software that comes with it, they’re literally made for each other. This means that a Mac rarely freezes or crashes. Occasionally an application might quit, but it won’t affect the rest of your system. And Mac OS X resists most viruses, so you can do anything — without worrying about losing everything.

What software is available for the Mac?
Thousands of titles are available for the Mac. You’ll find everything from Microsoft Office and Rosetta Stone to Adobe Photoshop Elements and Adobe Creative Suite. A huge collection of games covering every genre is available for the Mac, including top sellers such as Age of Empires III, The Sims 2, Guitar Hero III, and many more.

How do I move my files to a Mac?
The best way to transfer your photos, music, documents, and other files is to let us do it for you. When you buy a new Mac from an Apple Retail Store or the Apple Online Store, simply add One to One to your purchase. One to One costs just $99, and it includes Personal Setup, a year’s worth of face-to-face training, and exclusive group workshops. It’s all designed to help you get the most out of your Mac.
If you like, you can transfer your files yourself. And it doesn’t require much work.

Here are two ways to do it:

Copy files from your PC to an external hard drive, connect the drive to your Mac, and move the files over.
Use a local network to move files directly from your PC to your Mac. For detailed information on moving your files to a Mac, read Switch 101: Migrate Your Files or Your Windows System.

Will my current email service work on a Mac?
Yes. You can access your current email in two ways:

View web-based email — such as Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, and MobileMe mail — in the Safari web browser.
Use the Mail application in Mac OS X Snow Leopard. Simply enter your email account information and you’re good to go. If you have email messages in Microsoft Outlook on your PC, you can transfer them to your Mac using inexpensive third-party software.
No matter which method you choose, you can continue using your current email address.

Which web browsers will work on a Mac?
Every Mac includes Safari, the fastest web browser in the world. You can also use Mac versions of Firefox, Opera, and others.

Can I instant message on a Mac?
Yes. Every Mac comes with iChat, Apple’s instant messaging application. iChat supports AIM, Google Talk, and MobileMe. In addition to text messaging, iChat allows you to video chat with friends and family around the world.3 Microsoft and Yahoo! offer Mac versions of their instant messaging applications, too.

What kind of support can I expect?
Every Mac comes with service and support that’s consistently voted the best in the business. If you have a problem in the first year of owning your new Mac, you can take it to an Apple Retail Store to get it fixed or figured out. And if you purchase the AppleCare Protection Plan, you extend your service and support to up to three years from the date of your Mac purchase. The Apple Retail Store also offers services like ProCare, which gives you priority support, and One to One, which provides personal training on your Mac. Each service costs $99 a year.

Is it easy to learn how to use a Mac?
Every Mac is created with the guiding principle that computers should be easy to use, so you can spend more time doing what you love and less time figuring out how your computer works. If you’ve never owned a Mac, you may need a little time to get used to it. But within a week or two, chances are you’ll get along like old friends. And because all Mac applications are designed to work in the same, intuitive way, once you learn one application — iTunes, for example — you’ll quickly pick up iPhoto, Mail, or any of the other software that comes with your Mac.

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Easy Mac Tips !

2010-09-28T12:57:00.000-07:00

Cursor Hide & Seek

When renting a movie from iTunes, you can watch the entire movie even if you only have only one minute left on your rental before it expires
You can hide your cursor while browsing in Safari or Firefox simply by pressing the 'esc' key. If you want to get it back ? Wiggle the mouse.

Setech Astronomy
Keep your secrets. Choose 'Secure Empty Trash...' from the Finder menu so that your files will not be able to be restored by recovery tools.

Skip, skip to the end of the line.
Command+Arrows will move you as far as possible in that direction when editing text.
Up: Top of doc. Down: bottom. Left: Start of line. etc.

Make a Business Card iPod Stand
Got an business card ? Need an iPod stand ? Make one with some scissors & folding skills. Use the instructions here http://tinyurl.com/3apsr2.

Might as well jump.
At the bottom of a page in Mobile Safari on your iPhone ? Simply tap the title bar near the clock to quickly scroll up to the top of the page

Stay in place in your space
Use Spaces ? Want to open a new Safari window but stay in the Space you're in ? Just CTRL click the Safari icon in your dock then 'New Window'

Get you PC Game On!
Want to play PC games on your Mac without installing Boot Camp, Windows, Parallels or VMWare ? Try CrossOver Games: http://tinyurl.com/2qbyof

Finder Uninterrupted
When you are absolutely sure, hold down option when selecting restart, shut down, or log out to avoid the "are you sure you want to" message.

Extra Quartz Composer Screen Savers
Nav to /System/Library/Compositions and drag the .qtz files that you can see in Quick Look into the preview of a screen saver in System Pref.

Multiple iTunes Libraries
Holding down the option key while iTunes launches will allow you to choose/create iTunes libraries, good for local vs. external collections.

OS X Defined
Holding Command+Control+D and hovering over any word gives you the dictionary definition. Click 'more' to launch the dictionary application.

Helpful Safari Shortcuts
To get a list of useful Safari shortcuts. Paste this local URL into Safari file:///Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Resources/Shortcuts.html

Leopard Application Menu
Drag the Applications folder to the right side of the Dock. Control+click and choose list. Now you have your very own Apps menu when clicked

Quick Spotlight Search
Spotlight. One of the best features of a Mac and best and easiest way to find files on your Mac. Shortcut "Command+Space Bar" and type away.

Print Screen for Mac
Hold down ctrl + command, shift and 4 or 3 to copy screen print image to clipboard, then it's ready to paste in an email or any document.

Spotlight Adds Up
If you want to do a simple mathematical equation, type it in the spotlight search field. For example if you type 2+2 you get 4 as the result

Where are you going
When browsing in Safari if you want to see where a link is going to take you before you click, Cmd + / opens the status bar for you to check

Windows in Spaces
Using Spaces, click & hold on to a window. Now press control+arrow to go to a different space. The held window will follow to the new space.

Selective Screen Grab
Press the command-shift-4 buttons to take a screen shot of a selected area of the screen, works great if you don't want the whole screen.

Free Office Suite
Want a great free alternative to Microsoft Office for Mac ? Try http://neooffice.org The free office suite OpenOffice has been ported to Mac !

High Contrast Display
Command+Option+Control+8 inverts the screen. Helpful on laptops for better contrast outdoors and also creeping out people that shoulder surf

Fine tune your volume
If you use Option + Shift while pressing on the Mac's volume function keys, your volume adjusts by smaller increments than usually possible.

Shortcuts in Open & Save
Command+Shift+D jumps to the desktop in the open and save dialog box. Use different combos, Command+Shift+H will take you home for instance.

Mac A-Z Glossary

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Z

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Basic Mac OS X Security !

2010-09-28T12:27:00.000-07:00

Tip #1: The Administrator is Not for Daily Use

Contrary to what Apple does with the setup program, the administrator account is not viable for daily use. There are too many things this account can do that you don’t want a script to be able to, such as cleaning out /Applications or various folders within /Library.

Instead:

Go make another account in System Preferences
Make it an administrator
Login with the new account and remove administrator rights from your original account
Log back in with the original account

Now when you’re prompted to enter a password to do something creative, use the admin account name. This has the added benefit that people that walk up to your computer can’t do bad things to the system, either (just your account, so keep reading).

Tip #2: System Preferences is Not for Daily Use

You can do some crazy stuff in System Preferences. Happily, Apple realized this and added some settings to protect the system from random idiots (driver or passengers). You’ll want to use these to lock System Preferences out to roaming users that happen to get a hold of your computer. Open System Preferences and go to the Security pane. Review the following as you make the changes.

Require password to wake this computer from sleep or screen saver: This does exactly what it says. If you put the computer to sleep or have a screen saver setup then you’ll be asked for your user account information to unlock the computer. Use this, especially on portables. Of course, a restart will make this go away, so …
Disable automatic login: This completely disables automatic login. Your system will startup to a login panel with a list of names. This is the most secure option because it doesn’t make the computer usable from a cold boot. If you know the system will log you in as a user with a restart, any security measure meant to prevent someone from having user-level access can be defeated with a reboot. Turn this on to prevent that.
Require password to unlock each secure system preference: Notice how a lot of preferences have that lock at the bottom (like Network, Security, and Accounts)? Turning this on locks all of those by default, requiring an admin password (even for the admin user) to unlock. If you don’t do this, anyone can come right back to this preference pane and turn all of these settings off. Check it.
Log out after __ minutes of inactivity: More annoying than useful to me, but if you tend to walk away from your computer and don’t mind losing your place in your work, turn this on. Locking the screensaver works well for me, instead.
Use secure virtual memory: Turn this on. If this is off, then any time you enter a password it’s possible the system will write that password out in a block of memory it’s dumped to a file in /var/vm and, thus, makes the password recoverable. Using secure VM means those files are encrypted and it’s near-impossible to discover a user’s password from the swap files.

Tip #3: Turn off Services You Do Not Use

Go to System Preferences, then Sharing. Uncheck everything you’re not using, even if you think you will. Turn it on when you need it and turn it off when you’re done.

Tip #4: Outbound Calls Only, Please (Firewall)

Some look at Apple’s firewall as useless because it automatically pinholes running services and doesn’t allow some users in while locking some users or or whatnot. It’s not a commercial-level firewall (GUI) but it does do something very well: it prevents ports opened by rootkits or trojans from being accessible. Turn on the firewall and unauthorized listeners will be blocked.

It also makes our SSH hack above useless by blocking 2200 by default. Click on New and pick Other from the menu and add 2200 as an option and check it and any other services you want to offer.

Tip #5: Freeze the Credit Card (Keychain)

The Keychain is the most dangerous moment of brilliance I’ve ever seen. On one side, it knows your passwords to everything and lets you get away with being human while still being secure. On the other, it lets you get away with being human while being insecure. If you walk away, I can connect to just about any password-protected service you have access to and the computer will fill in the password for me.

Yet, it has controls (again, turned off by default) that let you get around this. In Keychain Access, go to Edit and then to Change Settings for Keychain. You can do two things here: set an idle timeout, or tell it to lock on sleep. I prefer just locking on sleep, myself, because I rather depend on the screensaver to do the idle locking for my systems. Sleep, however, especially for portable users, means that the person waking the computer may or may not be the owner, and that’s prime time to start asking for passwords. Until a password is entered you won’t be on IM, or checking mail, or whatever else. Programs that use passwords will be locked from getting new data.

If your keychain password is different from your account password then you have an even greater level of security as the screensaver password won’t work for the keychain, and vice-versa.

Tip #6: Make a Good Password

The best password I’ve ever seen was someone that memorized a Windows license key and moved the sections around. Almost pure randomness, but ordered enough to remember. There are easier ways, and things you already know. For instance, do you know your car’s license plate? Know the plates of previous cars? Combine them in a memorable fashion, such as breaking them in half and merging two plates together.

Another popular method is to take two longish words and misspell them. That would result in something like “twinkel%unihorn” or “rut]row” or the like. Easy to remember, and hard to guess.

If that’s too simple for you, Keychain Access has a tool that helps make passwords, but since there’s no emotional investment in them they can be hard to remember (though, there is a phonetic method that makes near-English words as passwords). To get there pick New Password Item from the File menu and click on the lock icon (just one way; there are other ways to get to the assistant).

ColorSync Utilities !

2010-09-28T00:00:00.000-07:00

Mac OS X contains a number of useful utilities that can enhance creative workflows. In the root-level folder /Library/Scripts/ColorSync are editable AppleScript utilities that perform various common design tasks.

Say, for example, you have a collection of images in a directory that you would like to prepare for the web by embedding the sRGB color profile. Rather than open the images individually to assign the profile, you could use the "Embed chosen profile" script instead by simply dragging-and-dropping your collection of images on that script's icon in the Colorsync folder. A real time-saver when dealing with hundreds of images. And, because these scripts are editable, you can customize them to be specific to your workflow needs.

Tip of the Day !

The Immaculate Desktop !

2010-09-27T23:57:00.000-07:00

Are you the sort of neat-freak who abhors Desktop clutter? Who keeps all apps and docs in carefully organized folders? Consider diving deeper into onscreen clean by making your mounted drives and discs disappear from the Desktop and accessing them instead via Finder windows.

Here’s how to try it: From the Finder, pull down the Finder menu and select Preferences — or just press Command-comma [⌘ ,] from within the Finder. Click the General tab and uncheck Hard disks; CDs, DVDs, and iPods; and Connected servers.

Next, click the Sidebar tab and check the boxes next to all the items you unchecked under the General tab.

When you want to access a drive, disk, or server, just open a Finder window by pressing Command-n [⌘ n] from within the Finder. And when you close the Finder windows, your desktop will be spotless. (Remember, Command-w [⌘ w] closes a Finder window, and Command-Option-w [⌘ ⌥ w] closes all Finder windows at once.

Tip of the Day !

Create Your Own Icons !

2010-09-27T15:29:00.000-07:00

You don’t have to live with the icons your Mac displays by default. Instead, personalize your folders, files, and drives with custom icons using just about any graphic file you desire, whether it’s a jpeg, gif, png, Photoshop or Illustrator file, or even a PDF.

First, choose an image you want to use and open it in Preview. If the file doesn’t open in Preview by default, select the image in Finder, select Open With from the File menu and then select Preview from the drop-down list.

Once your image has opened in Preview, press Command-C to copy it.

Next, select the file, folder or drive whose icon you want to change, and press Command-I to show its Info window.

Click the file, folder, or drive icon at the top left corner of the Info screen, then press Command-V to replace this icon with your chosen image.

Close the Info window. The new image should appear in place of the old icon on your desktop or Finder window — even in List view.

To make your icons appear larger or smaller, go to the Finder and select View Options from the View menu. Use the slider in the pop-up window to change your icons’ display size on the desktop or in Finder windows.

You can also copy icons from the Info window of one file, folder, or drive to another. Just select the desired icon, copy it, then select the icon you want to replace and paste. Want to revert to the default Mac icon? Select your custom icon in the Info window and press the Delete key.

More Icon Tips: The most successful icons are clear, small images without too much detail, like a close-up photo of a face or a flower. You may want to crop an existing image down to a single detail in an image-editing program to create a better-looking icon — or use one of the thousands of purpose-made icons available in various online collections.

Keep in mind that using a large image as an icon increases the file size of your destination folder or file. For example, using a 3.4 MB photo as an icon for a 36 KB document increases that document’s total file size to 92 KB. Try creating a lower-resolution or smaller version of your image instead.

Tip of the Day !

Mouse-Free Folder Moves !

2010-09-27T15:27:00.000-07:00

Try opening and closing folders with the left and right arrow keys instead of double-clicking.

One of the best tricks for speeding up your computer work is to keep your hands on the keyboard, not the mouse.

It’s not a macho, anti-mouse thing, but a simple matter of efficient motion. Using the mouse or trackpad means moving your hands off the keyboard, locating the cursor, making your move, and then shifting your hands back to the keys. If you can skip these steps, things tend to go faster.

There’s no better example than navigating folders within Finder windows. You can select, open, and browse folders from the keyboard for greater speed and less multi-window clutter.

Test it out yourself: In Finder, open a new window by pressing Command-N. To view the folders in List view, press Command-2. (Command-1 lets you view by Icons, while Command-3 changes the view to Columns.)

In List or Columns view, choose a folder that contains several subfolders, and open it by pressing the right arrow key. You can move up and down between folders or documents by pressing the up and down arrow keys. Close folders (or navigate backwards, if you’re in Columns view) with the left arrow key.

When you’ve located the file you want, speed your work even more by opening it with Command-O instead of double-clicking. In most Mac applications, you can close the file again by typing Command-W.

Once you’re accustomed to navigating through folders and files with key commands, you may be surprised by how fast you can move around, mouse-free, on your Mac.

Tip of the Day !

Saving Documents and Web Pages as PDFs !

2010-09-27T15:25:00.001-07:00

Adobe’s PDF format offers a great way to save and send electronic documents, from formatted business letters to product brochures. PDF documents appear identically on all computers, so you don’t have to worry about things like whether the recipient has access to the same fonts as you or if your company logo and other graphics will display properly.

PDFs are also an excellent way to quickly save “snapshots” of web pages for future reference. Since some web pages change frequently, PDFs are a useful way to capture or archive content that might be hard to find again later.

To save a document or web page as a PDF, open it and press Command-P, just as though you’re going to print the page. But instead of clicking Print or pressing the Return key, click the PDF button in the lower left corner of the Print dialog. Choose Save as PDF at the top of the menu, navigate to the location you’d like to save to, and click Save.

The PDF button also contains other useful options. Mail PDF opens a new message in Apple’s Mail program, with the PDF already attached. Encrypt PDF lets you protect your file with a password. And Compress PDF creates a more compressed version of the file — great for emailing large, multi-page PDFs.

Tip of the Day !

Summarize Your Stories !

2010-09-27T15:24:00.000-07:00

Drag the Summary slider to the left to get a more condensed version of your selected text.

When laying out a long story in a newsletter or magazine, it’s often helpful to summarize a story, or a section of a story in a pull-quote or abstract. But how to find the best quote when you’re on a deadline and need it fast? Fortunately, Mac OS X offers a great tool that almost no one knows about: Summary Service.

To find this utility, select some text in Adobe InDesign or some other program that supports this Mac OS X Service (such as TextEdit) and choose Summarize from Services under the Application menu. You can adjust how long you want your summary (in number of sentences or paragraphs) in the Summary dialog box. Drag the Summary Size slider to the left to get a more focused summary; for a pull-quote a one- or two-sentence summary is best.

You wouldn’t expect a computer to be able to analyze some text and provide a good summary but Summary Service is surprisingly good. Try it!

Tip of the Day !

Set Search Priorities in Spotlight

2010-09-27T15:21:00.000-07:00

With Spotlight, the powerful search function built into Mac OS X Leopard, you can quickly find anything on your computer: files, folders, emails, applications, even calendar events. And to help speed your searches even more, you can specify which types of data Spotlight should list first when you type in a search term. This is useful if you tend to search for certain items, such as documents or Address Book contacts, more frequently than you search for things like applications or system preferences.

To customize the order of your search results in Spotlight, open the System Preferences menu under the Apple icon, then click on Spotlight. A list of search result categories appears. You can rearrange the order in which Spotlight lists these types of data by simply dragging the category names up or down in the list. If you’d prefer Spotlight to ignore any of these categories during searches, just uncheck the box beside that item.

Figure one: The default order of search items in Spotlight.

Figure two: A customized list of search result categories in Spotlight.

Tip of the Day !

Super-Clean Screenshots !

2010-09-27T14:43:00.000-07:00

In Mac OS X Leopard, you can capture an image of your entire screen by typing Command-Shift-3. Typing Command-Shift-4 lets you choose a specific part of your screen to save as a screenshot: Click and hold to place the small cross-hair cursor at one edge of the area you want to capture, then drag horizontally and/or vertically to select. When you release the cursor, the screenshot is saved to your desktop.

But creating screenshots this way often means you need to crop or clean up the edges of the image later. That’s especially true if you’re planning to use it as a graphic element in a document or presentation. Fortunately, Mac OS X Leopard offers a way to save clean screenshots of individual elements on your desktop — such as Finder windows, menus, icons, or the visible portion of an open document — without capturing anything else in the background.

Hold down the Command, Shift, and 4 keys, then press the Spacebar. Instead of a cross-hair cursor, a small camera icon appears. When you move this camera icon over the element you’d like to capture, that element is highlighted. Click your mouse or trackpad, and you’ve captured a screenshot of just that element — no further cleanup required.

Tip of the Day !

Sharing Contacts with vCards !

2010-09-27T14:41:00.000-07:00

Electronic versions of old-fashioned Rolodex cards, vCards provide the fastest way to import contacts into your own Address Book or to share your Address Book contacts with friends, family, or colleagues.

Much like their physical predecessors, vCards contain basic contact information (such as name, address, phone, and email). But you can easily add information to enhance their value, including URLs, photos, or logos. And since the vCard format works cross-platform with many contacts programs, including Microsoft Outlook, you can exchange contacts with people who don’t use Address Book in Mac OS X Leopard.

To export a vCard from Address Book on your Mac, just highlight the contact and drag it to your desktop or directly into an email. (The file icon even looks like a Rolodex card.) To import a vCard into Address Book, drag the card-shaped icon into your open Address Book application or onto the Address Book icon in your Dock or Applications folder. Address Book opens (if not already open) and asks you to verify the import. Click Import to have Mac OS X store the vCard’s contact information in Address Book.

Share contacts by dragging vCards to and from Address Book.

Want to export more than one contact from Address Book? Just Command-click to select multiple contacts, and drag them to the desktop or into an email. This method collects all the highlighted contacts in a single vCard file. (Note that although Address Book allows you to export multiple contacts in a single file, Microsoft Outlook only lets you import a single contact per file.)

When you drag this combined vCard into Address Book, all the contacts are added at once as separate Address Book contacts. So with vCards and Address Book, it’s as easy to share a large group of names as it is to share a single contact.

Tip of the Day !

Lock Your Data with Disk Images !

2010-09-27T14:39:00.000-07:00

Chances are you’ve encountered disk image files (indicated by the extension .dmg) when installing software on your Mac. When you double-click on this type of file, your computer mounts it as though it were a DVD or hard drive. In fact, you can think of mounted disk images as virtual drives.

The Disk Utility program in Mac OS X Leopard allows you to create your own disk images. Used to format, verify, repair, and partition disks and volumes, Disk Utility also lets you make safety copies of important CDs and DVDs, back up your hard drive, or create a virtual copy of a physical CD. (For example, you can make a disk image of the CD that authorizes your favorite computer game, so you don’t have to insert the physical disc each time you play.)

Best of all, you can add password protection to disk images when you create them. Without the correct password it’s nearly impossible to read the contents of an encrypted disk image, so it’s a great way to transfer data securely via email, FTP, flash drive, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM. This format is especially useful if you need to send sensitive information to a colleague, or travel with files you want to keep confidential.

To create a disk image from a folder on your Mac, first open Disk Utility. (You’ll find it in the Utilities folder inside the Applications folder.) In the File menu, select New, then New Disk Image from Folder (or type Command-shift-N). Navigate to the desired folder, then click Image.

A pop-up menu prompts you to choose a name and save location for your disk image. It also includes two pull-down options: Image Format and Encryption. If you’re going to transfer your disk image (for example, as an email attachment), select Compressed under the Image Format pull-down. If you want to add password protection, select 128-bit or 256-bit AES encryption under the Encryption pull-down. (128-bit encryption is extremely secure; it would probably take a password-guessing computer many lifetimes to crack it. The second option is even more secure, but takes longer to create.)

Click Save, and Disk Utility begins to create the new disk image with the name and preferences you’ve specified. If you chose to add encryption, a password pop-up appears. Enter and verify the password of your choice. (As always, the best passwords are at least eight characters long, mix letters and numbers, and avoid dictionary words.) Disk Utility evaluates the password’s strength and gives you the option of remembering the password in your Mac’s keychain.

Now you can transfer the disk image easily and securely via email or other means. The only way to access the data inside the disk image is by entering the correct password.

Disk Utility can make disk images from folders, but not from individual files. If you want to create a disk image for a single file, just create and name a new folder, place your file inside, and make a new disk image from that folder using the steps above.

Please note: Don’t lose that password! If you do, you’ll probably never be able to open your disk image.

Tip of the Day !

Really Empty the Trash !

2010-09-27T14:36:00.000-07:00

It’s simple to delete unwanted files using Mac OS X Leopard: Just drag the files onto the Trash icon in the Dock (or select them and type Command-Delete), then choose Empty Trash in the Finder menu (or type Command-Shift-Delete). Alternately, you can double-click on the Trash icon to open it, then click on the Empty button.

Emptying the Trash in this manner clears room on your Mac for other files. But the data hasn’t actually been removed from your computer — the space occupied by these files is simply available to be overwritten by new information. Until this happens, it may be possible for someone to use data recovery software to restore your “deleted” files. And if this information is sensitive or confidential, it could potentially end up in the wrong hands.

That’s why Mac OS X Leopard provides another option for deleting data: the Secure Empty Trash command. Meant for those occasions when you want to permanently and immediately delete files, Secure Empty Trash overwrites your data with digital gibberish, ensuring that your deleted data is gone for good. It may take a few moments longer, but it’s a good choice for deleting data you’re sure you don’t need — and don’t want anyone else to see.

To delete your Trash securely, go to the Finder menu and select Secure Empty Trash. A pop-up will ask you to confirm that you want to permanently erase the items in the Trash. Click OK, and these files will be gone forever.

Tip of the Day !

Mac essentials !

2010-09-24T17:38:00.000-07:00

New to the Mac ?
Then start with this lesson to learn the basics.

If you're brand new to the world of computers and are just starting to get up and running, relax—using a Mac is simple. This lesson introduces you to the basic principles of interacting with your computer's interface, and teaches you how to do basic tasks on your Mac.

Pointing, clicking, and getting around
If you haven't quite got the hang of getting around the Mac desktop and Finder windows, start here; otherwise feel free to skip ahead to "Setting Up Accounts." Let's talk about the basic principles of using your computer.

When you move your mouse or finger on a trackpad, it controls a pointer (also known as a cursor) that moves across your screen. The pointer allows you to select and interact with the various items on your screen, including selecting files, clicking buttons, dragging sliders, and so on. Sometimes the pointer may look like a hand, a crosshair, an I-beam, or some other icon, depending on what you're doing and the application you're using.

For example, if you're using Safari to view this webpage and move the pointer across it, notice that it turns into an I-beam when you move it over text or a text field. When you see this, you can usually interact with the text or field below it. When you move the pointer over a button or link, the pointer turns into a hand, letting you know that you can click on the item. Sometimes when your Mac is hard at work, your pointer may temporarily turn into a colorful spinning disc, which generally indicates that a task is in progress.

Depending on what you're doing and what application you're using,
your pointer (far left) may take on a new appearance

Clicking your mouse button or trackpad button once allows you to select the item that your pointer is on. In other words, if your pointer is on a file's icon, clicking once will select it. If the pointer is on a button or link, clicking once will activate it. If your pointer is on a text field, clicking once highlights the field and allows you to start typing text in it. If you see a blue button in a dialog, such as in a Print or Save dialog, you can press the Return key to select it instead of using your mouse.

If you want to open a file, folder, or application, click your mouse button twice. This is known as double-clicking. In general, you'll need to double-click items if you want to open them from a Finder window or the desktop. The exception to this is opening stuff from the Dock—just click once on an icon in the Dock to open it.

Move your mouse to move the pointer over a file, folder, or application icon
and click once to select it, or double-click to open it.

Working with applications
You don't have to quit an application before opening a new one. In fact, you can open and use several applications at the same time, depending on how much memory you have installed in your computer. For example, when you open Mail, you can have it run in the background (meaning, it's not the current active application) to check email as you work in, say, iPhoto. And while you're editing your pictures, you might also want to open iTunes to listen to some music.

Most applications share common menu commands and keyboard shortcuts, key combinations (such as Command-C) that are pressed together to perform a certain menu command. For example, in any application's File menu, you'll find commands to Open (Command-O) and Save (Command-S) files. Likewise, you'll find Copy (Command-C), Paste (Command-V), and Undo (Command-Z) commands in the Edit menu in most applications. Whenever you use an application, be sure to scope out its preferences from the application menu, choose Preferences) to set it up to your liking.

When you open an application, closing the window doesn't necessarily quit the application, if you see a blue light below the application icon in the Dock, the application is still running. To quit an application, either choose Quit Application Name from the application menu, or press Command-Q.

About user accounts
When you get a brand new Mac, the first thing you do when you start it up for the first time is create a user account. Maybe you did this on your Mac or someone did the deed for you. Regardless, your Mac currently has a user account set up on it. If your Mac only has one user account, that account is an administrator account.

An administrator account allows you to have access to all areas of the computer, install and update software, create and maintain other user accounts, and more. If a Mac-savvy friend set up your computer, he or she may have created a non-administrative account for you. If you set up your computer, you are the administrator. If you're unsure of what type of account you have, do this:

Open Accounts preferences to determine the types of accounts for each user on your computer.

From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences to open the window.
Click Accounts to display the Accounts preferences.
Your account is listed under the My Account header in the left pane.

Below your account name, if you see the word "Admin," you have an administrator account and all the privileges that go with it. If you see the word "Standard" or "Managed," someone else who either shares or set up your computer has administrative access. You will not be able to install software or create user accounts. If you want this power, you will need to convince the person who has administrator access to your computer, but before you do, you might want to read through all the Mac 101 lessons first.

If you have a "standard" account, you have limitless access to all the applications on your Mac, and can configure them for your user account. If you have a "managed" account, the person who has administrative access has put limitations on what you can and can't access. If this is the case, talk with your administrator to find out the scope of your access.

No matter how many accounts your computer has, each user's files, media libraries, preferences, and other information is kept separate from other users, so you don't have to worry about your housemates ransacking your private files—unless they figure out your password.

Changing account passwords
Speaking of passwords, make sure that you use a good one. Don't choose your name (or someone else's), your birthday, a pet's name, or any other easy-to-guess word. Choose something that uses a combination of letters, numbers, and punctuation characters for better security.

Here's how to change your user account password:

If you need help creating a good password, click the key button to open the
Password Assistant window and let your Mac generate password candidates for you.

From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences.
Click Accounts to display its preferences.
Click the Password tab to display its pane, then click Change Password.
In the resulting dialog, type your current password in the Old Password field.
Type a new, hard-to-guess password in the New Password and Verify fields, then click Change Password.

So what happens when you forget your user account password? You can workaround this issue quite easily. Just insert the Mac OS X Software Install disc that came with your Mac, then restart the computer while holding down the C key to start up from the disc. When the Installer appears, choose Reset Password from the Installer menu, and follow the onscreen instructions to change your password.

For added security, don't have your Mac automatically log you in when you start up your computer; this function is enabled by default. To disable it, click Login Options in Accounts preferences, and deselect the "Automatically log in as..." checkbox. Please note that each time you start up your computer, you'll need to log in with your user account password.

Creating and managing user accounts
If you have administrative access, here's how to create a new user account.

In Accounts preferences, if the lock icon in the bottom-left corner is locked, click it and type your administrator password in the resulting dialog to unlock it.
Click the plus sign (+) button at the bottom to create a new account.
In the resulting dialog, type the person's name in the Name field, type a one-word name in the Short Name field this is the name that gets attached to a user's files—don't use spaces or punctuation marks, and type a password in the Password and Verify fields.
Click Create Account or press Return.
If you want this person to have administrator access (think hard about this), click the Security tab and select the "Allow user to administer this computer" checkbox.

If you don't make this user an administrator, he or she can access all applications on the computer as a Standard account. If you want to enforce stricter access control, select the user account, select the Enable Parental Controls checkbox and then click the Open Parental Controls button. You've now created a Managed account with various options, such as what applications can open, content filters, mail and chat limitations, logs of sites visited or applications opened and even time limits.

If you have administrative access, you can create user accounts to allow friends and family
to use your computer with parental control.

Many kids would sit at the computer for days if you let them. Fortunately, Leopard makes it easier to set the rules. Just enter bedtime and time limits for using the Mac, specifying different times for weekdays and weekends if you wish. Parents happy, kids happy (relatively).

Storing passwords in Keychain
Getting email, visiting certain websites, accessing servers, and opening password-protected files and applications on your Mac require passwords. But you don't have to keep track of every password you have; instead, keep your passwords in Keychain, a utility that lets you create one or more keychains to store your sensitive passwords.

Your Mac starts you out with a single keychain that gets created when you first log in to your user account. By default, it has the same password as your user account, and automatically unlocks whenever you log in to your account.

When you access a site, application, or other item that asks for your password, a dialog may open after you type it, asking if you want to add the password to your keychain. Click Add to add it. The next time you access that item, Keychain fills in the password for you.

You can also add passwords manually:

Open Keychain Access in the Utilities folder inside the Applications folder.
choose New Password Item from the File menu.
enter the information and password for the item.

Keychain Access allows you to see all the password items that are currently stored on the selected keychain.

If you ever forget a password that's stored in Keychain, do this:

Open Keychain Access.
From the list, double-click the item whose password you can't remember.
In the resulting window, click the Attributes tab, then select the "Show password" checkbox.
In the resulting dialog, type your keychain password. If you're using the default keychain, the password is the same as your user account. Click Allow Once to display your password once, or click Always Allow to always display your password in Keychain.

For added protection, you may want to create another "more personal" keychain that doesn't automatically unlock each time you log in to your user account.

To create a keychain:

Open Keychain Access
From the File menu, choose New Keychain.
In the resulting dialog, type a name for your keychain in the Save As field, choose where you want to store it from the Where pop-up menu, and click Create.
In the resulting dialog, type a good password for this keychain in the Password and Verify fields, then click OK. Click the key button if you need help choosing a good password.

Tip: For more information on using Keychain, choose Mac Help from the Help menu and type "keychain" in the Search field.

Working with discs and volumes
Many Apple computers come with an optical drive that allows it to read and play CDs and DVDs. If your Mac has a combo drive, you can burn CDs too. If you have a SuperDrive, you can burn CDs and DVDs. If you have a slot-loading optical drive, just insert a CD or DVD into the slot and your Mac will suck the rest in. If you have a drive that has a door, press the Eject key on your keyboard (the triangle with the line underneath) to open the disc tray, insert your disc, and press the Eject key again to close the tray.

To eject a disc or volume, drag its icon to the Eject icon in the Dock, or click its Eject button in a Finder window.

Your disc will appear on your desktop in icon form. Depending on what type of disc it is (audio CD, picture CD, blank recordable CD, DVD-Video, etc.), your Mac may automatically open an application that can be used with the disc. When you are done with a disc, you can either drag the disc icon to the Trash to eject it or click the Eject icon next to the disc in any Finder window.

These same principles apply to volumes, including external FireWire or USB hard drives, iPods, digital cameras, USB flash drives, and servers on a network. When you connect these types of devices to your Mac or connect to a server from your Mac, an icon for the volume appears on your desktop. When you're done with it, drag the icon to the Trash or eject it in a Finder window.

Update and install software
Your Mac has a built-in feature called Software Update that allows it to automatically check for available updates from Apple daily, weekly, or monthly when your computer is connected to the Internet. It takes into account the software you have installed on your computer, and new updates released by Apple so that it only shows you the relevant updates.

You can also download software from Apple Downloads and install the software yourself. To install software, just double-click the installer file and follow the onscreen instructions. Here's how to have Software Update update software for you.

Software Update can automatically check the Apple website for updates that are relevant to your installed software.

From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences, then click Software Update to display its preferences.
To enable automatic checking, select the "Check for updates" checkbox, then choose Daily, Weekly, or Monthly from the pop-up menu to set the frequency.
To have Software Update automatically download important updates in the background, meaning, it does this while you work on other things on your Mac, select the "Download important updates in the background" checkbox.
Click Check Now to have Software Update check for updates. If it finds any, it'll display the available software in the Software Update window.
To install the software it finds, select only the items you want by selecting the checkboxes, then click Install Items to download and install all selected items.
Next time, Software Update will automatically launch at your set frequency to show you the latest updates.

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...get more basics !

2010-09-20T17:14:00.000-07:00

Installation
Learn how to get the most out of Snow Leopard.

Using Finder
The Finder lets you organize, view, and access practically everything on your Mac, including applications, files, folders, discs, SD memory cards,...

Using Preview
Preview is a simple, elegant application for viewing and working with PDF documents.
You can also view and edit images. Crop, rotate, resize, and save images in a range of formats.

Using iLife
Organize photos by Faces and Places. Create photo books. Make a movie. Even learn to play music. All with iLife. All part of every new Mac.

Using iPhoto
Organize your photos. Crop, retouch, and remove red-eye. Then share on the web with MobileMe, Facebook, and Flickr, or make a photo book.

Using iMovie
Make movies on your Mac. Take your time editing or use themes to finish a movie in minutes. Then share on the web with YouTube or MobileMe.

Using GarageBand
With GarageBand on your Mac, you can learn to play guitar and piano, get lessons from famous musicians, and record and mix your own songs.

Using iWeb
Use iWeb to design websites and blogs featuring your photos, movies, and more. iWeb even notifies Facebook when you post something new to your site.

Using iDVD
With iDVD on a Mac, you can create and burn professional-looking DVDs to share your movies and photo slideshows.

Using iChat
If you're looking for a more personal way to stay in touch, iChat enables you to see and hear your friends, family, and coworkers no matter how...

Using iCal
If you need help managing your life and time more wisely, iCal provides all the tools you need to keep track of schedules, appointments,...

Using Mail
Learn what you can do if you are having issues sending Mail messages after updating to Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard.

Using Safari
Experience the web with the fast, easy-to-use web browser. With its simple, elegant interface and support for the latest Internet standards, Safari gets out of your way and lets you enjoy the web.
Safari 4 is a high performance, modern Internet web browser for Mac OS X and Windows. It supports the latest standards in HTML 5 and CSS 3,...

Using Address Book
Whether you've got all your contacts stored neatly in an electronic device or are still hanging on to your tattered address book, personal...

Using Exposé
Expose in Mac OS X lets you instantly view all open windows in stunning style with a single keystroke.

Using the Dock
Learn about The Dock, Dock Exposé, Dock menus, and Stacks in Mac OS X v10.6 and later.

Using Dashboard
Instantly get info with amazing new widgets. Play a game. Read the news. Search the web.

Customizing Your Mac
Every Mac comes standard with assistive technologies that help people with disabilities enjoy the power and simplicity of the Mac.

Keyboard Shortcuts
Tip of the Week. Create Your Own Keyboard Shortcuts. Keyboard shortcuts are such
huge timesavers, but sadly, not all Finder commands have them. ...

Using iWork

2010-05-30T03:45:00.000-07:00

Display multiple inspector windows at once

Inspector windows are small windows that allow you to change settings for whatever happens to be the currently selected object. They are the ones that have a thinner title bar, they always hover above other windows and they disappear when you change to a different application.

In most applications they contain information and settings about whatever object is selected. As you select different things, the contents of the inspector window will change, so you can always go to the same place to change the properties of that object.

Now you don't want multiple inspectors popping up, containing settings for different objects, because they are designed to keep all the information and properties in one location, so you always know where to find it. However, you might want multiple inspectors that contain different sections of the settings. For example, you might want one inspector for text settings, and one for graphics settings.

Using Pages

2010-05-30T03:39:00.000-07:00

Add content to every page in Pages

Often on Mac forums users ask how to put watermarks in their Pages documents without having to copy and paste them on every page. Doing this for headers and footers doesn't present a problem, as Pages provides you with a neat little box to place content for every page. Here's how to do it for any media, anywhere on the page:

1. Arrange the media you want as a watermark (or text box, shape or image) as you want it on one of the pages. The only limitation to this method is that they cannot be inline objects. To ensure they are floating, select the objects and go to the "Wrap" tab in the inspector and use the radio buttons to correct this setting to "Floating".

2. With the watermark object selected, open the Format menu, go down to Advanced, and select "Move Object to Section Master". This deselects the items and displays them on every page in your document.

You will notice that you now cannot select these objects. If you need to move them around go to the Format menu, then select "Advanced > Make Master Objects Selectable". This lets you treat them as normal objects, though locking them is often useful as it prevents accidental modification.

20 tips for iLife and iWork

2010-05-30T03:30:00.000-07:00

iPhoto

1. Enable scrolling zoom in Places maps
The new Places feature in iPhoto allows you to explore your photos on a map. Photos taken on a GPS enabled camera (i.e. the iPhone) will be automatically geo-tagged, or you can enter the location information manually. Annoyingly, by default the maps don't allow you to zoom using the two-fingered scroll on the trackpad or a scroll wheel on your mouse. To enable this, just open up Terminal (in Applications/Utilities), type the following line and hit enter:

defaults write com.apple.iphoto MapScrollWheel -bool YES

To disable the scrolling zoom again, just repeat the command with NO at the end instead.

2. Include location information in uploaded photos
The default setting is for iPhoto to remove the geo-tagging information from your photos when you upload them to the web, presumably so people don't unwittingly broadcast their location to the world. If you want to keep the location information in uploaded photos, go to the Web section of iPhoto preferences and check the box next to "Include location information for published photos."

3. Set a key photo for someone
Changing a person's key photo is exactly the same as changing the key photo for an event. Just move your mouse from left to right over their photo on the corkboard to cycle through all the photos of that person. When one you like is displayed, just hit the space bar to make that the new key photo. If you can't find the one you want this way, just go into that person's photos, right click on the new key photo and choose "Make Key Photo" from the contextual menu.

4. Enter information about a person
When you hold your mouse over someone in Faces, an small i appears. Clicking on this will allow you to enter a full name and email address for that person. It will also show you the number of photos with that person in, and the range of dates of photos they're in.

5. Batch accept or reject faces
If you look at a person's photos in Faces, there will be a group of unconfirmed faces that iPhoto has identified for you. To confirm a large group of faces at once, just drag across all the photos. To reject a group of photos, hold the Option key while doing this. You can also just Option-click on photos to reject them individually.

6. Corner-achored resize when adding faces
iPhoto's default behaviour when adding a missing face is a centre-anchored resize. To change this to the usual corner-anchored resize, just hold down the option key when dragging over a face.

7. Easily switch between multiple libraries
iPhoto libraries are now double-clickable from the Finder. If you want to open a different library in iPhoto, just open up your Pictures folder and double-click a different library file. iPhoto will then load up with the new library. No need for holding Option on launch anymore.

GarageBand

8. Create iPhone ringtones
To create a free ringtone from any MP3 or AAC file just choose "Example Ringtone" from the iPhone Ringtones section in the New dialog. Delete the example that Apple has provided, then select a song from your iTunes library by clicking on the Media button in the bottom right. Drag your chosen song into your GarageBand project. Move and resize the yellow bar at the top to choose the section of the song you want to loop for your ringtone. Finally, choose "Send to iTunes" from the Share menu.

9. Use Learn to Play on PowerPC or Core Solo Macs
The new Learn to Play lessons in GarageBand require a dual core Intel based Mac to run. If you are running an old PowerPC Mac or Core Solo Mac Mini, you can get around this by going to /Library/Application Support/GarageBand/Learn to Play/Basic Lessons. Once here, double-click on one of the .mwand files to open it in GarageBand. Consider closing all the other applications on your Mac if the lessons run slowly.

iMovie

10. Get movies from other locations
If the videos you want aren't in the Event Library, just right-click below your list of events to import videos from anywhere on your hard drive or from within an older iMovie file.

11. DVD chapters are back
One feature that disappeared for a while was the ability to add DVD chapters in iMovie. For a while you had to do a laborious work around involving GarageBand. Now you can add chapter markers in iMovie, and they'll be carried across when you export to iDVD.

12. Add a location to travel maps
If you want to use a location in the travel maps feature that iMovie doesn't have listed, you can add it to the locations file. Find iMovie in your applications folder, right-click on it and choose "Show Package Contents." In the Resources folder find WorldLocations.txt and open it up in TextEdit. On a new line, enter the place name followed by a tab, then the region followed by a tab, then the country followed by a tab, and finally the latitude and longitude separated by a comma.

For example you could add:

Duxford Cambridge UK 52.093851,0.184870

iWork

13. Get the free trial
As well as the boxed version, Apple offers a free 30 day trial of iWork to download from their web site. One thing to remember though is if you don't intend to upgrade after 30 days, remember to save any new or changed files back in the iWork '08 format just in case they don't work any more once your trial expires. You can do this by choosing iWork '08 from the "Save copy as" menu in the Save As dialog.

14. Enable hidden picture frames
Pages, Keynote and Numbers all have various different styles of picture frame that you can place around any object by choosing it from the stroke menu in the Graphic Inspector. However, it turns out there are loads of frames that are disabled by default. You just need to edit a single file to enable them.

Choose the application where you want to enable the hidden frames (Pages, Keynote or Numbers), right click and choose "Show Package Contents". Look in the Resources folder for one of the three following files:

For Pages, look for SLGraphicInspectorFrames.plist
For Keynote, look for BGGraphicInspectorFrames.plist
For Numbers, look for LSGraphicInspectorFrames.plist

Open it up in TextEdit, and notice how the names of the different picture frames are listed. The new frames available with iWork '09 are Fine_Artist, Jet Set, Moroccan, Nature, Nature2, Typeset, Venetian, Venetian2, and Venetian3. For example just add Fine_Artist to the end of the list. As well as these new frames available in iWork '09, there are many more that also work in iWork '08 listed here.

http://nemws1.googlepages.com/keynoteframepreview

15. Temporarily disable guide lines
When moving objects around, all the iWork applications helpfully give alignment guides that will snap the objects so they are perfectly in line with each other. Sometimes, when you don't want objects aligned or you want to align them in a different way, this can be quite annoying. The way to temporarily disable the guide lines is to hold down the command key while you are dragging the object. Now your shape, image or text box can be freely dragged to whatever position you want.

16. Password protect iWork documents
This is something that has been annoyingly difficult to do on the Mac for a long time. Generally previous solutions involved creating encrypted disk images, however, now all the iWork applications have a "Require password to open" option in the Document section of the Inspector.

17. Export has moved
The export command that used to be in the File menu has now moved to the Share menu. Also, remember that if you want to export to Microsoft Word format, you can now do this directly from the Save As... option.

18. Using the keyboard to create formulas in Numbers
When creating functions and formulas in numbers, you almost always want to refer to another cell or group of cells. In Numbers '08 you had to use the mouse to select these cells, but now you can use the keyboard to select them. Simply hold down the Option key and use the arrow keys to move about. To select a group of cells, hold down Shift as well as Option, and continue using the arrow keys to make the selection. To change the reference from relative to absolute, just hit Command-K to cycle through all the different possibilities.

19. Advanced Gradients
The gradient fill options in iWork '08 were fairly limited. In iWork '09 you can now create linear or circular gradients with as many colours as you like by choosing "Advanced Gradient Fill" from the Fill menu.

20. Applescript in Numbers
One of the great new features of Numbers is Applescript support. Here are a few example scripts to give you an idea of what kind of thing is possible.

Video Tutorials:

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Using iDVD:

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Windows and Panes:

A - DVD menu: This is where you see the DVD menu you are creating as you build it.

Drag movies,pictures, and audio files into this area to create buttons that play your movies and slideshows, or change the look and sound of the background.

B - Drop zone: Some themes include special areas called drop zones where you can place images or a short movie that plays as part of the DVD menu background.

C - Scrubber bar and motion playhead: Drag the playhead along the scrubber bar to move slowly through a motion menu.

For themes with dynamic drop zones (drop zones that move), the playhead lets you stop the motion so you can drag movies or photos into them.

D - Add button: Click to add buttons for content you want to link to from the DVD menu.

You can add a slideshow, movie, or submenu.

E - Motion button: Click to turn the motion and sound on or off while you work.

This makes it easier to work on motion menus.

F - Preview button: Click to preview your DVD.

In preview mode, a DVD player remote control appears on the screen, and you can use it to navigate through the menus and play the slideshows and movies as though you were viewing them on a television.

G - Map button: Click to open the map of your DVD.

The map view helps you edit and navigate more easily through your iDVD project.

H - Volume slider: Move this slider to change the computer volume as you work in iDVD.

This does not change the volume of your finished DVD project.

I - Burn button: Click this button to burn your DVD disc when you are finished creating your iDVD project.

J - Editing panes: Click these buttons to open editing panes for iDVD.

Themes Pane:

You use the Themes pane to select a theme for your project.

When you select a theme from the themes list, it appears in the iDVD window.

To see the Themes pane:

Click the Themes button in the iDVD window.

A - Theme set: Choose a theme family to preview or choose All to view all the themes at once.

B - Themes list: Scroll through the themes that appear in this list to select one for the menu you are creating.

Click the triangle next to a theme family to see all the menus for a theme.

C - Autoplay icon: Themes that play a movie before the menu appears show the autoplay icon in one corner of the thumbnail.

D - Motion icon: Themes with a moving background show the motion icon in one corner of the thumbnail.

Menu Pane:

You use the Menu pane to add content to a menu or drop zones, and edit the look of text on a menu.

To see the Menu pane:

Click the Menu button in the iDVD window.

A - Background well: Drag images or movies into this well to make them appear as the background of your DVD menu.

B - Audio well: Drag sound files here to make them play as the background music for your DVD menu.

Click the speaker icon to turn the sound on or off as you work.

C - Background Movie Start/End controls: Click the triangle to see the Background Movie Start/ End slider when you use custom video as a menu background.

Drag the left half of the slider to set where the video begins, then drag the right half to set where the video ends.

D - Loop Duration slider: Move the Loop Duration slider to set how long the background movie will play before it repeats (or "loops").

E - Menu Volume slider: Drag this slider to set how loud the background audio plays. This control affects the volume of your DVD.

F - Drop zone controls: Drag images or movies to fill the drop zones in the list, or click the Edit Drop Zones button to open the drop zone editor.

Click Autofill to have iDVD automatically fill the drop zones in the menu with images from your project.

G - Title text controls: Use these controls to customize the look of the text in menu titles and text elements.

Click the pop-up menus to change the font, font style, or font size.
Set the alignment of the text on the menu.
Add a shadow to the text, or click the Color box to choose a different text color.

H - Reset Text button: Click to undo all the changes to text and return it to the theme settings.

Buttons Pane:

You use the Buttons pane to change the shape, size, position, and color of buttons on amenu.
To see the Buttons pane, click the Buttons button in the iDVD window.

A - Button list: Select a button shape in this list.

Select the “T” for a text-only button. Different themes provide different button shape options.

B - Size slider: Drag the slider to change the size of selected buttons.

C - Label text controls: Use these controls to customize the look of the text labels for buttons.

Click the pop-up menus to change the font, font style, or font size.
Set the alignment of the text on the button.
Add a shadow to the text, or click the Color box to choose a different text color.

D - Reset Label button: Click to undo all changes to the label text and return it to the theme settings.

E - Transition pop-up menu and direction controls: Choose a transition that moves the viewer between the button and the action that follows it, such as playing a movie.

With some transitions, you can use the arrow buttons to pick a direction for the transition to move.

F - Arrangement buttons: Select an option to make buttons align to an invisible grid, or let you position them anywhere on the menu.

G - Highlight Color well: Click the box to select a highlight color for buttons when they are selected in a menu.

Media Pane:

You use the Media pane for easy access to the movies, images, and music stored on your computer.

The three illustrations that follow show the controls in the three panes of the Media pane.

To see the Media pane, click the Media button in the iDVD window.

The buttons at the top of the Media pane switch between the Audio, Photos, and Movies views.

Audio:

You use the Audio pane to add songs and other recordings to your DVD.

To see the Audio pane, click the Media button in the iDVD window, then click Audio at the top of the Media pane.

A - Audio source list: Select GarageBand, an iTunes playlist, or Library to add your own compositions or songs in your iTunes library.

B - Songs list: Drag a song or playlist from here to an audio well to set the background music for a menu or slideshow.

C - Play button: Click to listen to the selected song.

D - Search field: Type a song name in the search field to locate it.

E - Apply button: Select a song or playlist and then click Apply to make the selection the background music for a menu or slideshow.

Photos:

You use the Photos pane to find all of the photos in your iPhoto library and quickly add complete albums and slideshows to your project.

To see the Photos pane, click the Media button in the iDVD window, then click Photos at the top of the Media pane.

A - iPhoto albums list: Select the iPhoto album or library that contains the photos you want to use.

Drag an entire album to the menu, or scroll through the photos in the selected album shown in the list below.

B - Photos list: Scroll to see thumbnails of all your photos.

Drag a photo or a group of photos to a menu background or to drop zones.

C - Search field: Type a photo name in the search field to locate it.

Movies:

You use the Movies pane to locate the movies that are stored on your computer and add them to your project.

Movies stored in the Movies folder on your hard disk appear automatically, and you can add movies from other folders as well.

To see the Movies pane, click the Media button in the iDVD window, then click Movies at the top of the Media pane.

A - Movie folders list: The Movies folder in your home folder appears in this list, making it easy to locate your movies while you work in iDVD.

You can add any folders where you store movies to this list by making selections in iDVD preferences.

B - Movies list: Drag a movie from this list to a menu to create a movie button, or drag it to a drop zone to play in the menu background.

You can add movies to the list by dragging them from the Finder.

C - Play button: Click to play a movie in the list.

D - Search field: Type a movie name in the search field to locate it.

Project Info Window:

You use the Project Info window to keep an eye on your iDVD project resources and monitor the space available on your hard disk and the disc you’ll burn to.

To see the Project Info window, choose Project > Project Info.

A - Disc Name: Type a name for the disc.

The disc name can be different than the name of your saved project.

B - Video Mode pop-up menu: Choose a format for your project.

NTSC is used in North America, Japan, and some other non-European countries.
PAL is used in most European countries.

C - Aspect Ratio buttons: Choose an aspect ratio for your project.

Standard television screens have an aspect ratio of 4:3
Widescreen televisions have an aspect ratio of 16:9.

D - Encoding buttons: Select the encoding setting for the project.

Best Performance takes less time to burn, while Best Quality takes longer to burn but provides the best quality possible.

E - DVD Type pop-up menu: Choose the type of DVD to use for the project.

F - Project Duration: See the playing time for all the content on the DVD.

G - DVD Capacity: See how much space is left in your iDVD project.

Clicking the text on the right switches between disc space in gigabytes (GB), and time in minutes.
The project’s size is limited by the size of the DVD disc.

H - Status meters: See how much time is available for video and audio in menu backgrounds and buttons; how many tracks (videos and slideshows) you can still add to your DVD; and how many more submenus you can add.

I - Media list: See the media included in your project.

This list also shows the file type and its location.
A checkmark in the Status column indicates the file is available.

J - Asset list: See the names of the movies in your iDVD project.

The Encoding column indicates whether the movie has been encoded.
When you click the Burn button, iDVD will finish encoding the movies before burning the disc.

Drop Zone Editor:

The drop zone editor displays all the drop zones in a menu so you can quickly add images or movies to them.

To see the drop zone editor, double-click a drop zone, or click the Edit Drop Zones button in the Menu pane.

A - Close button: Click to close the drop zone editor.

B - Background well: Drag an image or movie here to change the existing background for this menu.

C - Audio well: Drag an audio file from the Media pane or another location on your computer to add a soundtrack for the menu.

D - Drop zones: Drag images or movies from the Media pane or another location on your computer to add them to the menu background.

Slideshow Editor:

The slideshow editor displays all the photos in the selected slideshow and provides controls for you to set up how the slideshow plays.

To see the slideshow editor, double- click a slideshow button or an image in a drop zone slideshow.

A - Slideshow length: See how long the slideshow will last in minutes and seconds.

B - List or thumbnail view: Click to switch between a list of slides or a thumbnail view.

C - Slideshow photos list: Scroll through the list to see the photos in this slideshow.

Drag the thumbnails to rearrange the order of the photos.

D - Title and Comments: Type a title and your comments about the photo. These appear under the slides in your slideshow.

Only what you type is shown; the placeholder text is not shown.

E - Slide Duration pop-up menu: Choose how long each slide should appear when the slideshow plays.

When you add a soundtrack, this is automatically set to “Fit To Audio” so the slideshow and the soundtrack finish at the same time.

F - Transition pop-up menu and direction controls: Choose a transition that moves from one slide to the next.

With some transitions, you can use the arrow buttons to pick a direction for the transition to move.

G - Audio well: Drag a song or iTunes playlist here to play it in the background while the slideshow plays.

Hold the pointer over the sound file icon in the audio well to see the song’s title and length (or the title of the first song in a playlist).
Move the volume slider left or right to adjust the volume of the audio.

H - Slideshow volume slider: Drag the slider to set the volume for this slideshow.

I - Settings button: Click to show slideshow options.

You can add Back and Forward visual indicators to the slideshow, set the slideshow to repeat (loop), add files to the DVD-ROM contents, and show or hide titles and comments.

J - Return button: Click to exit the slideshow editor.

Map View:

You use map view to get a bird’s-eye view of your DVD project.

Map view provides a visual representation of how all your submenus, slideshows, and movies are linked together.

You can also edit your DVD menus directly in map view, adding or removing elements from your project, and check for errors before you burn a DVD disc.

To see map view, click the Map button at the bottom of the iDVD window.

A - Project icon and autoplay well: The first icon in the map is the project icon.

Drag a movie or slides to the autoplay well to make them play before the main menu appears on the DVD.
Double-click the image in the well to preview the autoplay movie or edit a slideshow.

B - Main menu: This is the menu viewers see first when they watch your DVD.

Double-click this icon to open the main menu.
You can drag movies and slideshows here to add them to the menu.

C - Movie icon: This is a movie with chapter markers that’s available from the main menu.

Double- click here to play the movie.

D - Scene Selection Menu: This is the menu that lists the chapters in the movie with chapter markers.

Double-click here to go to the scene selection menu.

E - Slideshow: This is a slideshow that’s accessible from the main menu.

Double-click here to go to the slideshow editor for that slideshow.

F - Disclosure triangle: Click to hide the parts of the map that are linked to the disclosure triangle.

Click again to reveal the linked items.

G - Horizontal or vertical view: Click to change between a layout showing all the icons and a hierarchical layout with disclosure triangles.

H - Zoom slider: Drag to see more of the project or to see an icon up-close.

I - Return: Click to exit map view.

Starting a Project:

There are other ways to begin a new iDVD project:

Click the iDVD button in iMovie HD to open an iDVD project that contains your movie. Use this method when you want to make a DVD that has links to the movie you have just created on its main menu.
Starting in iMovie HD, use the Magic iMovie feature to automatically transfer autogenerated movies to an iDVD project.
In iPhoto, send slideshows directly to iDVD to create a project with slideshow buttons.

Quickly Creating a DVD:

The choice is yours in iDVD. If you don’t have the time to spend creating a DVD, you can choose one of the quick DVD features built into iDVD.

Use the OneStep DVD method to create a DVD directly from your DV camcorder.
This is useful if you want to transfer your unedited video footage from your camcorder to a disc that plays automatically and doesn’t include menus.

For a quick DVD with a professional menu that includes buttons, take a step up from
OneStep DVD and create a Magic iDVD.

When you open iDVD, just click:

“Create a Magic iDVD.”
Then choose a theme and select the media and music you want in your DVD.

That’s it!

iDVD builds your DVD and burns it to the DVD disc format of your choice.

For more information about OneStep DVD and Magic iDVD, see iDVD Help.

Create a New Project:

With your music, movies, and photos ready for use and in locations where you can easily access them, you’re ready to get started.

To start a new iDVD project:

If iDVD isn’t open, double-click the iDVD application icon in the Dock. If this is the first time iDVD has been opened, click the “Create a New Project” button in the dialog.
If the opening dialog isn’t showing, choose File > New. Select a location where you
want to store your new project, and click Create.

If the iDVD window opens with an animated menu and music, click the Motion button, shown below, to stop the animation and sound.

Note: If you created a Magic iMovie and selected the checkbox to send your movie to iDVD, then you already have an open iDVD project that contains Play Movie and Scene Selection buttons.
Follow the instructions in the next section to choose a theme for your DVD, then read through the information.

Set the Encoding Quality:

iDVD encodes your project’s information before it burns it to a disc.
Encoding takes some time when you burn your DVD, so you may want to consider setting an iDVD preference to let iDVD encode in the background as you work on your movie.

To set the encoding quality:

Choose iDVD > Preferences and click Defaults. Then choose one of the encoder settings.

If you choose Best Performance, you can also select the “Enable background encoding” checkbox.

This lets you work on your project while the files are being encoded in the background.
This makes the most of your computer’s resources, and saves time when you are ready to burn your DVD.
This is useful if you have 60 minutes or less of video, or when you want faster results.

If you want the best quality possible (or have more than 60 minutes of video), choose Best Quality.

When you are ready to burn your project to a disc, iDVD evaluates the amount of video and chooses the best quality setting possible, filling the entire disc, if appropriate.

The DVD will take longer to burn, but will be optimized for quality.
The quality of your DVD ultimately depends on the quality of your source material.

Lower resolution movies, such as QuickTime movies downloaded from the Internet, or VHS video, will not give as good results as video taken with a DV or HDV video camera and edited in video-editing software such as iMovie HD, Final Cut Express, or Final Cut Pro.

Choose a Theme for Your DVD:

A theme is a menu design that defines how your DVD looks to viewers.
The theme is made up of the background image or movie that appears on your DVD menu, along with the button style, fonts, sizes, and locations of titles and button labels.
A theme family is a collection of menu designs that work together, providing a unified appearance to submenus.

You can use one of the themes that come with iDVD, or you can customize and create your own theme. In this tutorial, you will learn how to select an existing iDVD theme and customize it.

Note: Use the theme specified in the tutorial so you can follow along easily.
If you choose another theme, you may not be able to follow the steps in order.
After you finish the tutorial, you can use what you’ve learned to choose a different theme and make other changes before you burn your DVD.

To choose the theme for your DVD menu:

1. Click the Themes button at the bottom of the iDVD window.
The Themes pane opens on the right side of the iDVD window.

2. Move the scroller up and down to see the themes.
Themes that contain animation and music have a motion icon that looks like the Motion button in the bottom-right corner of the theme thumbnail.

3. Click the pop-up menu and choose 4.0 Themes, and then scroll down until you see Fish.

4. Click the triangle next to the theme, then click Fish One to select it for your project.
This theme has a motion background, indicated by the small motion icon in the bottom-right corner. Some themes also contain an autoplay movie, a short movie that plays before the main DVD menu appears.

Themes with an autoplay movie have an autoplay icon in the upper-left corner of the theme thumbnail.

Undoing Changes:

As you’re designing your DVD, you’ll naturally fine-tune and change things many times.

You can undo any unsaved changes by choosing:

Edit > Undo.

You can do this as many times as necessary, stepping back through the edits you’ve made one by one.

You can always delete saved text and other design elements, or revise your project by making other design choices.

Filling Drop Zones Quickly:

Some themes have multiple drop zones and even dynamic drop zones that move in the menu background.

You can quickly and easily fill these drop zones in your project using Autofill or the drop zone editor.

To fill drop zones automatically with your content:

Click the Menu button, then click Autofill.

To open the drop zone editor:

Double-click a drop zone, or click Edit Drop Zones in the Menu pane.

For more information about using the drop zone editor, see iDVD Help.

Change the Look of Buttons:

Button styles are designed to fit the theme.

You can change them to suit your content or your own design vision.

Buttons can be text only, or they can be different shapes that have text, a still image, a slideshow, or video on them.
Buttons with images and video add interest to your DVD. You can even mix button styles on a menu.

For example, notice the buttons in your scene selection menu.

Each button shows the first frame of video in the scene it links to.
When you preview your project, notice that the video actually plays in the button.

In this step, you’ll change the shape of a button and choose an image for each one.

To change button shapes:

1. Double-click the Scene Selection button to open the scene selection menu.

2. Select one of the scene selection buttons on the menu and choose Edit > Select All Buttons.

3. Click Buttons to open the Buttons pane.

4. Click a button shape in the list at the top of the Buttons pane.

Try different button shapes until you find one that looks good on your menu.

The “T” creates a text-only button. Once you have a button shape you like, you can change the images on the buttons.

To change the image on a button:

1. Click a button once to see the Movie pane, shown below

2. Move the slider left or right until you see the frame you want to show on the button.
If you don’t want the buttons to show moving video, deselect the checkbox in the corner of the Movie pane.
Then the button will show only the frame you selected.

3. Choose File > Save to save your work.

Creating Custom Themes:

Once you design the background, music, text, and buttons on your menus the way you like, you can save your customized menu as a custom theme.

A custom theme appears in the Themes pane, in the Favorites set of themes.
You can select it to use for future projects, just as you would with any theme.

For more information about customizing themes, see iDVD Help.

...more iDVD Tips ?

Using iWeb:

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Turn on the alignment guides for a picture perfect layout:

In iWeb, center guides are turned on by default and can help you place objects in the center of the page horizontally or vertically.

However, you can also get object edge guides that help you line up or match size of individual objects on the page.

To turn on edge guides, go to the iWeb menu and select Preferences, then check "Show guides at object edges".

Now when you select or move an object, you will see blue guidelines showing the center and edge alignment of the objects your are moving in relation to other objects on the page.

It's a great way to make sure everything on your site lines up just the way you want it.

Post entire photo albums instantly:

When you drop the album onto a page, iWeb will automatically create a new photo page for your album, fill it with the photos from the album you dropped, add the page to your site navigation, and create a link to the new photo page right where you placed it.

By default, the first photo from the album will be used as the image that links to the new page.

If you want to use a different photo as your link image, just drag the desired photo to the placeholder and iWeb will swap it out for you. Done.

It's a super-easy way to create good looking links to all of your photo albums from anywhere on your site.

Let visitors leave comments on your blogs and podcasts:

When you write (or rant) about the issue of the day, your visitors will be able to leave comments, share opinions, and even attach files to add to the conversation.

To turn comments on, visit the "RSS" tab of the inspector and select "Allow comments."
You can also allow visitors to attach files of up to 5 MB by selecting "Allow attachments."
As the site publisher, you can also delete unwanted comments from within iWeb or by visiting your site, clicking on the "lock" icon and signing in with your .Mac/MobileMe account ID.

Masking images to fit your site:

Sometimes an image you want for your website isn't really framed or cropped the way you would like it. iWeb makes it easy to change the framing of your image to show just the part you want.

First drop the image onto your web site.
Make sure the image is selected and click the Mask button on the iWeb toolbar.
A movable, resizable region will appear on your image.
Move or resize it to show just the part of the image you want, and then deselect the image to apply the mask.

Your image is now officially masked. It looks and acts just like any other photo.

However, if you ever want to undo the mask, simply select the image again and click Unmask from the iWeb toolbar.

Share your iTunes playlists:

iWeb enables you to drag iTunes playlists right from the media browser to your web page.

Just click the Media button in iWeb to launch the Media Browser, choose the playlist you want and drag it to your site.

iWeb will format the playlist into a list of links that point right to the iTunes Store.
Your site visitors can now click on the links to check out your selections. Done.

Quickly create links to external sites:

Want to post a list of your favorite links to your website?

You could manually type in the URLs for all your favorite sites, but there's an easier way.
Just visit any web site using Safari and then drag the icon in the Safari address anywhere on your web page to create a clean, text-based link to the site.

Want to apply the link to an image or icon on your page?

Just drag the link to the image and it will automatically be linked. Simple!

Quickly create links to pages in your own site:

You can also quickly and easily create links between pages on your own site.

Just drag the relevant page icon from the site organizer to your page.

If you just drop it on the page, it will create a formatted link to the page.
If you drop it onto an image or icon, the image will be linked to the page.

Using this linking method, it's easy to create a great custom site navigation scheme.
For example, pick a set of images representing the different pages in your site.

Place the images onto your welcome page any way you like and link each to the page it represents by dragging the page icon from the site organizer to the image. Viola!

Your site now has a great-looking custom navigation page.

Suppress iWeb's Standard Navigation:

iWeb automatically creates and maintains the navigation bar for you, but what if you want to exclusively use your own and lead your guests through your site?

You can remove a page from the navigation bar by going to the page inspector and un-checking the "Include page in navigation menu" box.

Uncheck that box for all the pages... and iWeb will completely remove the navigation bar.

Add a search box to your blog:

Make it easy for your visitors to find what they're looking for.
On the Blog & Podcast inspector, select "Display search field" so visitors can search your archives.

Please note that search only works for sites hosted on .Mac/MobileMe.

Getting More Help:

There are several resources you can consult for additional help with iWeb:

Onscreen help: iWeb comes with a built-in help system. When iWeb is open, choose Help > iWeb Help. When the help opens, type a word or phrase in the search field atthe top, or click a topic to get detailed instructions for completing specific tasks.
Video tutorials: These short videos demonstrate how to do common tasks in iWeb. To access them, open iWeb Help, and then click “How-to videos” (available in some languages only).
Help tags: Available for many onscreen items. To see a help tag, let the pointer restover an item for a few seconds.

Publish Your Website on the Internet:

First, make sure you have at least a free trial MobileMe subscription.

You (and others) can access your iWeb website until the trial period expires; as soon as you become a MobileMe member, you can publish your site again.

To get a free or full MobileMe subscription, visit www.me.com.

To publish your website to MobileMe:

Click Publish (or choose File > “Publish to MobileMe”).

When you see the message that your site has been published, you can click Visit Site
Now to go to the site in your web browser. To send an email notifying people about your website, click Announce.

If you purchased your own domain name (for example, www.example.com) from a service provider, you can use that URL for websites you create with iWeb.

To use your own domain name for a site published to MobileMe:

1. Choose File > Set Up Personal Domain.

2. On the MobileMe website, follow the onscreen instructions.

Anyone who has access to the Internet can visit your site.

People who know the URL can go directly to your website, or your website might appear as a search result.

If you don’t want your website to be visible to everyone on the Internet, you can set up your website so that only people who know the user name and password can visit it.

To protect your site with a password:

1. If the Site Inspector isn’t open, click Inspector in the toolbar (or choose View > Show Inspector), and then click the Site Inspector button.

2. Click Password.
3. Select the “Make my published site private” checkbox.

4. Type a user name and password in the fields.
Everyone you want to access your site uses the same user name and password.

Important: Don’t enter your MobileMe user name and password; create a name and password that would be hard to guess.
They don’t have to be real words; you could use a combination of letters and numbers. Passwords are case-sensitive.

5. Publish your website by clicking the Publish button.
When the message appears saying that your site has been published successfully, click Announce.
The email message notifying people about your website will include the user name and password you specified.

Some of the features in iWeb can’t be used with any hosting service other than MobileMe.

If you publish your website to another hosting service, see “Publishing to a server or hosting service other than MobileMe” in iWeb Help.

If You Already Have HomePage Content on Your MobileMe Site:

If you have previously published webpages using HomePage, they are still available at:

http://homepage.mac.com/YourMemberName

Websites you create in iWeb and publish to MobileMe are available at:

http://web.me.com/YourMemberName

Note: You can’t edit HomePage sites in iWeb.

Making Changes to Your Website:

Most websites need to be updated from time to time.
If you have a blog or published podcasts, you will be making frequent changes.
For these changes to be seen on the Internet, you must republish your site to update the webpages.

When you click Publish (for MobileMe websites), all the sites and pages you changed since the last time you published are published again.

In other words, you can’t publish only selected sites or pages; each time you click Publish or choose one of the Publish commands in the File menu, your published sites will match the sites and pages in iWeb.

Organizing Your Website:

iWeb automatically creates a navigation menu—a table of contents that appears on every page of your website. Users click a page title in the navigation menu to go to that page.

When you add a new page to a site, iWeb automatically adds a link for it to the navigation menu.
You determine the order of items in the navigation menu by rearranging pages in the sidebar.

The navigation menu is automatically updated to reflect the new organization.

The first page in the sidebar is the website’s homepage and the first page that visitors see when they visit your website.

To make a different page the homepage, simply drag it to the top of the list, just below the site name.

You can create more than one website in iWeb and they all appear in the sidebar.
The first site in the sidebar is also referred to as the start site.

Note: You can prevent a page from appearing in the navigation menu using the Page Inspector.

For more information, see “Modifying the navigation menu (table of contents)” in iWeb Help.

Deleting Webpages, Blogs and Websites:

You can delete a webpage or website by selecting it in the sidebar and pressing Delete.

The webpage is automatically removed from the navigation menu and the content is permanently deleted unless you immediately choose Edit > Undo Delete.

If you already published a website to MobileMe, deleting the site or one of its pages in iWeb doesn’t immediately delete it from the web.

The site or page is removed from the web the next time you publish using iWeb.

A website must contain at least one page, so if you try to delete the only page in a site, the template chooser appears.

When you delete a published website and don’t republish a site with the same site name, anyone who tries to visit the site by typing in the URL or using a bookmark sees a message that the site couldn’t be found.

For more information, see iWeb Help.

Renaming Your Site, Blog or Page:

When you add a new website or webpage, iWeb gives it a default name.

1. The site name appears in your website’s URL:

http://web.me.com/YourMemberName/SiteName

2. The page name appears at the top of the visitor’s browser window:

You might want to rename your site or any of your pages to reflect their content.

Important: If you publish a site and later rename it, previously created links to your site (such as bookmarks created by your visitors) won’t work. Be sure to notify your visitors if you rename your site, especially your blog or podcast subscribers.

To rename a site or page:

Double-click the name in the sidebar and type the new name.

...more iWeb Tips ?

Using GarageBand:

2009-02-11T19:58:00.003-08:00

Creating a Project:

You start working in GarageBand by creating a new project.

To create a new project:

1. Choose File > New.
2. In the New Project dialog, select the type of project you want to create.
3. In the dialog that appears, browse to the location where you want to store the project, then type a name for the project in the Name field.
4. Set the project’s tempo, key, and time signature as described in the following sections.
5. When you have finished making the project settings, click Create.

Setting the Tempo:

Each project has a speed, or tempo. The tempo defines the rate at which beats, the
basic rhythmic pulse, occur in the project. The tempo is measured in beats per minute,
or bpm. You can set the tempo to any speed between 60 and 240 bpm.
The default tempo is 120 bpm, which is a common tempo used in popular music.

To set the tempo:

In the New Project dialog, drag the Tempo slider left to slow down the tempo, or right
to speed up the tempo.

Note: You can change the tempo later in the time display, located below the timeline,
or in the Track Info pane for the master track.

Setting the Key:

Each project has a key, which defines the central note to which the other notes in the
music relate, and the scale used (either “major” or “minor”).

To set the key:

1. In the New Project dialog, choose a key from the Key pop-up menu.
2. Choose the scale from the Scale pop-up menu to the right of the Key pop-up menu.

Note: You can change the key later in the Track Info pane for the master track.
If you change the key of a project after recording instruments or adding loops, all
Software Instrument recordings and loops are transposed to the new key. Real
Instrument recordings are not transposed.

Setting the Time Signature:

Each project also has a time signature, which controls the relationship between beats
and measures. A project’s time signature consists of two numbers separated by a
forward slash, which look similar to a fraction. The number on the left controls the
number of beats in each measure, and the number on the right controls the beat value
(the length of the note that gets one beat).

You can use any of the following time signatures in a GarageBand project:

2/2, 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 5/4, 7/4, 6/8, 7/8, 9/8, or 12/8.

The default is 4/4, the most commonly used time signature.

To set the time signature:

In the New Project dialog, choose a time signature from the Time pop-up menu.

Note: You can change the time signature later in the Track Info pane for the
master track.

Opening an Existing Project:

You can open an existing project to continue working.

To open an existing project:

Choose File > Open, locate and select the project you want to open, then click OK.

You can also open a recently open project by choosing File > Open Recent and
choosing a project from the submenu.

If you close the currently open project, a dialog appears, asking if you want to create a
new project or open an existing project.

Saving a Project:

As you work, it’s important to save your project often so you don’t lose your changes.

To save a project:

Choose File > Save (or press Command-S).

When you save a project, by default GarageBand creates an iLife preview that is saved
with the project. An iLife preview lets you preview the project in the Media Browser
and in other iLife applications, but can increase the project’s file size. You can select
whether to create an iLife preview for projects in the General pane of GarageBand
Preferences.

You can also save a project as an archive. When you save a project as an archive, all the
audio files, loops, and other media the project uses are saved in the project file. This is
especially useful if you want to copy the project to another computer, or are
duplicating a project with your own Real Instrument recordings.

To save a project as an archive:

1. Choose File > Save as.
2. In the Save As dialog, select the Save As Archive checkbox.

You can also compact projects to make sharing easier.
Compacting a project reduces the file size by compressing audio in the project.
Compacting can result in some loss of audio quality.

To compact a project:

1. Choose File > Save as.
2. In the Save As dialog, select the Compact Project checkbox.
3. Choose the compression settings you want to use from the pop-up menu next to the Compact Project checkbox.

Sending a Project to iTunes:

You can send a project to an iTunes playlist, then play your exported projects in iTunes, download them to an iPod, or burn the playlist to a CD.
Files are exported to iTunes in AIFF format. You can convert the exported file to another format, such as AAC or MP3, from within iTunes.

To send a project to an iTunes playlist:

Choose Share > Send to iTunes.

The entire project, from the beginning (measure 1) to the end of the last region, is exported.

You can set the name of the iTunes playlist to which files will be exported, and also set
the name of the album and composer, in the Export pane of GarageBand Preferences.

You can also export a single track, or a group of tracks, to an iTunes playlist.
To export a single track, solo the track (or mute all other tracks) before exporting.
To export a group of tracks, solo the tracks (or mute all other tracks) before exporting.

What Is Mixing?

When you’ve built the arrangement of your project, the next step is to mix the project.
Mixing is where you step back and listen to the overall sound of the music, and make
changes to tracks and the project to balance the different parts, bring the music into
focus, and give it the right “sound.”

Mixing typically consists of the following steps:

Balancing volume levels
Setting pan positions
Creating dynamic changes with volume and pan curves
Shaping the music with effects

Setting Track Volume Levels:

The instruments and loops you use in your project may have different volume
(loudness) levels. In order to hear all the parts you’ve added, you balance the volume
levels so that no track overwhelms the others, and no track is lost in the mix.

This doesn’t mean that every track should be set to the same volume level. In
commercial mixes, certain tracks (typically the lead vocals, drums, and lead or solo
instruments) are louder, while other tracks (the backing instruments and vocals) are
softer.

To set track volume levels:

For each track, drag the volume slider left to lower the volume level, or drag it right to raise the volume level

Setting Track Pan Position:

Setting different tracks to different positions in the stereo field (panning) helps make it
easier to distinguish each track in the mix, and create a sense of three-dimensional
space to your project.

In commercial music, the most important tracks (typically the lead vocals, drums, and
lead or solo instruments) are panned to the center or close to center, while other tracks
(the backing instruments and vocals) are panned left and right. Panning tracks no
farther than 50 percent left or right creates a natural sense of space, while panning
tracks to the extreme left or right creates a more unusual, artificial sound.

To set track pan positions:

For each track, drag the pan dial left to pan the track farther to the left, or drag it right to pan the track farther to the right. You can also click along the edge of the dial to set it to a specific position.

Using Volume and Pan Curves:

In addition to setting track volume and pan, you can add volume and pan changes
over time using volume curves and pan curves. Making changes over time is called
automation, and GarageBand lets you automate volume and pan changes for each
track.

To turn on a track’s volume or pan curve:

1. Click the triangle to the right of the Solo button in the track’s header.
A blank row for the track’s volume and pan curves appears below the track.
2. From the pop-up menu on the left side of the row, choose Track Volume or Track Pan.

Once you turn on a track’s volume or pan curve, you make changes by adding control
points to the curve, then dragging the control points to change the value for volume or
pan at that point in time.

To add a control point:

Click the line in the editor at the point in time where you want to add a control point.

To adjust a control point, do one of the following:

Drag the control point up or down to a new value.
Drag the control point left or right to move it to a different point in time.

You can use the vertical lines in the row to line control points up with measures and
beats in the timeline.

Setting the Output Volume:

You can set the output volume of a project using the master volume slider, located
below the lower-right corner of the timeline. You should adjust the output volume to a
level high enough to eliminate background noise, but not high enough to cause
clipping.

The master volume slider controls the volume of the project when it is exported. Use
your computer’s volume control to adjust the volume at which you listen to the project
play.

To set the master volume:

Drag the master volume slider left to lower the output volume, or right to raise the output volume. Option-click the slider to return it to a neutral value (0 dB gain).
As the project plays, watch the master level meters located above the master volume slider. Before you export a project, make sure the small red dots to the right of the level meters are not lit. These dots (called clipping indicators) light to show that the volume level of the project at some point is too high, which will cause distortion or “clipping” in the exported project.

Adding Fade Ins and Fade Outs:

A very common mixing technique is to add a fade in at the beginning of a project, and
a fade out at the end of the project. Fade ins make the music seem to “come out of
nowhere,” and fade outs create the feeling that the project continues playing. You can
easily add fade ins and fade outs to your projects, and add other volume changes to
the project over time.

To add a fade in:

1. Choose Track > Show Master Track.
The master track appears at the bottom of the timeline.
2. From the pop-up menu in the master track’s header, choose Master Volume.
The master volume curve appears in the master track.
3. Click the master volume curve at the point you want the fade in to end.
4. Drag the control point at the beginning of the master track down to the volume level
at which you want the fade in to start. To start with complete silence, drag it all the way down.

Now play the project from the beginning. You’ll hear all the tracks in the project fade in gradually to their final volume level.

To add a fade out:

1. Choose Track > Show Master Track.
The master track appears at the bottom of the timeline.
2. From the pop-up menu in the master track’s header, choose Master Volume.
The master volume curve appears in the master track.
3. Click the master volume curve at the point you want the fade out to begin, then click
at the point you want the fade out to end.
4. Drag the second control point down to the volume level at which you want the fade
out to end. To end with complete silence, drag it all the way down.

Now play the project from a point before the fade out begins. You’ll hear all the tracks
in the project fade out gradually to their final volume level.

Transposing Part of a Project to a Different Key:

Many projects move to different keys at some point in the project; they may stay in the
new key, or return to the original key at a later point in time. You can move an entire
project to a new key, called transposing (or modulating), in the project’s master track.

To transpose part of a project to a different key:

1. Choose Track > Show Master Track.
The master track appears at the bottom of the timeline.
2. From the pop-up menu in the master track’s header, choose Master Pitch.
The master pitch curve appears in the master track.
3. Click the box to the left of the words “Master Pitch” to turn on the master pitch curve.
4. Click the master pitch curve at the point you want to change the pitch of the project.
5. Drag the control point up or down to the new key. Unlike with volume and pan curves, the control points on the master pitch curve move in discrete steps of a semitone.

Note: When you transpose a project to a new key, Real and Software Instruments (both
those you’ve recorded and loops) are transposed. Any audio files added from the Finder
are not transposed.

Using Effects:

Effects let you shape and enhance the sound of your music in a variety of ways. Anyone
who’s listened to popular music on the radio, or listened to the soundtrack of a movie,
has heard the different effects used in contemporary music.
GarageBand includes a complete set of studio-quality effects that you can use on individual tracks or the overall project to shape the sound of your music.

GarageBand includes the following types of effects:

Equalization (EQ): EQ is a powerful and versatile effect that lets you change the level
of selected frequencies. You can use EQ to make both subtle and dramatic changes to
your projects. EQ is likely the most commonly used effect in popular music.

Dynamics: Dynamics effects, which include compressors and noise gates, let you
control the volume of your music over time.
Reverb and Echo: Reverb and echo are both time-based effects. Time-based effects
store a copy of the sound and play it back at a later point in time, creating a sense of
space.

Modulation: Modulation effects, which include chorus, flangers, and phasers, build on
the time-based effects by shifting or modulating when the copied signal plays back.
They can also involve detuning the copied signal relative to the original.
Distortion: Distortion effects, which include amp simulation and overdrive (and, of
course, distortion!), change the tone of the original sound to recreate analog or digital
distortion.

Other effects: Other effects included with GarageBand, such as tremolo and Auto
Filter, change the sound in different ways.

Adding Effects:

Each Real and Software Instrument track has a set of effects, which include a
compressor, equalizer (EQ), echo, and reverb. You can adjust a track's effects, and add
up to two additional effects, in the Track Info pane. Real Instrument tracks also include
a noise gate effect.

The master track includes its own effects. You can adjust the master effects and add
one additional effect to the master track in the Track Info pane.

To add an effect:

1. Click the Track Info button (the letter “i”) or choose Track > Show Track Info to show the
Track Info pane.
2. If needed, click the Details triangle to show the Effects section of the window.
3. Choose the effect you want to add from one of the pop-up menus along the left.
Instrument tracks have two effect pop-up menus, and the master track has one.

Adjusting Effects:

Each effect has either a slider that you can use to adjust the amount of the effect, or a
pop-up menu from which you can choose different effect presets.

To adjust a track’s effects:

1. Select the track, then click the Track Info button to open the Track Info pane.
2. Click the Details triangle to reveal the track’s effects settings.
3. Drag the sliders for the Gate, Compressor, Echo, and Reverb effects to adjust the
amount of each effect. Choose a new setting from the Equalizer pop-up menu to adjust
the equalization. If your project is playing, you hear the changes in real time.
4. Choose an effect from one of the effect pop-up menus on the left, then choose an
effect setting for the effect from the preset pop-up menu on the right.

Additional effects you can add include treble reduction, bass reduction, amp
simulation, chorus, flanging, phase shifting, and tremolo.

Turning Effects On and Off:

You can turn individual effects on or off (turning an effect off temporarily is called
bypassing the effect). This has several advantages: It lets you hear how each effect
changes the sound of your music, and lets you see which effects have the greatest
impact on your computer’s performance.

When you turn off an effect, the effect’s current settings are retained, so any
adjustments you have made are not lost.

To turn an effect off:

In the Effects section of the Track Info pane, deselect the checkbox next to the effect. Select the checkbox to turn the effect on again.

Choosing Effect Presets:

Some effects includes several presets, which let you easily adjust the effect’s settings to achieve a particular sound.

To choose an effect preset:

Choose the preset you want from the pop-up menu to the right of the effect.

Editing Effect Presets:

You can adjust effect presets to fine tune the sound of the effect, and save your own
presets to use with other instruments or in another project.

To edit an effect preset:

1. Click the Edit button (with the pencil icon) to the right of the effect’s preset pop-up
menu.

The effect’s Preset window appears. Each preset setting has a slider, button, or other
control, which is labeled to indicate its purpose.

2. Drag the sliders in the Preset window to adjust the settings for the preset.

When you adjust an effect preset, it appears as “Manual” in the pop-up menu, so you
know you’ve changed it from the original preset. You can go back and forth between
your Manual settings and other presets to compare them before saving the new preset.

Saving Effect Presets:

You can create your own effect presets and save them to use on another track or in
another project.

To save an effect preset:

1. Adjust the settings for the preset to get the sound that you want.
2. Choose Make Preset from the pop-up menu, then type a name for the preset in the Save dialog.

The Editor:

The editor is like a microscope showing a close-up view of part of a track.
You can edit Real and Software Instrument regions in a variety of ways in the editor.

For Real Instruments:

When you select a Real Instrument track, the editor shows the waveform of the track or selected region.
You can move, crop, join, transpose, and rename regions in the editor.

A - Region Name field: Type a new name for the selected region in the field.

B - Region Pitch slider and field: Drag the slider to transpose the selected Real Instrument region up or down by up to 12 semitones.
You can also type the number of semitones in the field.

C - Zoom slider: Drag to zoom in for a closer view or to zoom out to see more of the track or selected region.
Zooming in the editor is independent of the timeline.

D - Beat ruler: Shows beats and measures for the area visible in the editor.

E - Playhead: Shows the point in the project currently playing.

F - Waveform display: Shows the waveform of the regions in the track.

G - Enhance Tuning slider and checkbox: Drag right to increase the amount of tuning enhancement, or drag left to lower the amount.
The limit to key checkbox limits tuning enhancement to the project’s key.

H - Enhance Timing slider and pop-up menu: Drag right to increase the amount of timing enhancement, or drag left to lower the amount.
Choose the note value to use and the basis for timing enhancement from the pop-up menu.

I - Scroll bar: Drag the scroller to move to a different part of the track.

For Software Instruments—Graphic View:

When you select a Software Instrument track, the editor shows a graphic display of the track or selected region.
You can edit individual notes in Software Instrument regions, fix the timing of notes, and transpose and rename regions.
You can also show and edit controller data for pitch bend, a modulation wheel, or a sustain pedal, recorded when you play your music keyboard.

A - Region Name field: Type a new name for the selected region in the field.

B - Region Pitch slider and field: Drag the slider to transpose the selected Software Instrument region up or down by up to 36 semitones.
You can also type the number of semitones in the field.

C -Velocity slider and field: Drag the slider to change the velocity of selected notes.
You can also type the velocity value in the field. A note’s velocity reflects how hard the key is pressed when you play the note.

D - Zoom slider: Drag to zoom in for a closer view or to zoom out to see more of the track.

E - Graphic/Notation View buttons: Click to change the editor to graphic view or notation view.

F - Display pop-up menu: Choose whether to show notes or controller data in the editor.

G - Fix Timing button: Click to fix the timing of notes in the selected region, or notes selected in the editor, so that notes move to the nearest grid position.

H - Beat ruler: Shows beats and measures for the area visible in the editor.

I - Playhead: Shows the point in the project currently playing.

J - Notes/controller data display: Shows the individual notes of Software Instrument regions in a graphic format.
You can move and resize notes to adjust their pitch, where they start playing, and how long they play.
Shows controller data when chosen in the Display pop-up menu.

K - Scroll bar: Drag the scroller to move to a different part of a track.

For Software Instruments—Notation View:

You can also view Software Instrument tracks and regions in notation view.
In notation view, notes and other musical events are shown in standard music notation.
You can edit notes and edit controller information (including velocity and pedal markings for sustain) in notation view.

A - Region Name field: Type a new name for the selected region in the field.

B - Region Pitch slider and field: Drag the slider to transpose the selected Software Instrument region up or down by up to 36 semitones.
You can also type the number of semitones in the field.

C - Velocity slider and field: Drag the slider to change the velocity of selected notes.
You can also type the velocity value in the field.
A note’s velocity reflects how hard the key is pressed when you play the note.

D - Zoom slider: Drag to zoom in for a closer view or to zoom out to see more of the track.

E - Graphic/Notation View buttons: Click to change the editor to graphic view or notation view.

F - Note Value button: Click to choose the note value for notes you add.

G - Fix Timing button: Click to fix the timing of notes in the selected region, or notes selected in the editor, so that notes move to the nearest grid position.

H - Beat ruler: Shows beats and measures for the area visible in the editor.

I - Playhead: Shows the point in the project currently playing.

J - Notation display: Shows the musical events of Software Instrument regions in standard music notation.
You can move notes to adjust their pitch and where they start playing, and change how long they play.

K - Scroll bar: Drag the scroller to move to a different part of a track.

For Podcasts and Video—Marker View:

When you are working on a podcast episode, you can view and edit markers in the editor.
In the marker list you can edit each marker’s time position, marker region artwork, URL, URL title, and chapter title.
You can also add episode artwork in the editor.

A - Preview: (Appears only when creating a podcast.)

B - Marks a Chapter checkbox: Shows whether the selected marker marks a chapter.

Displays Artwork checkbox: Shows whether the selected marker contains marker region artwork. (Appears only when creating a podcast.)
Displays URL checkbox: Shows whether the selected marker has a URL.

C - Add Marker button: Add a marker at the playhead position.

D - Marker list: Shows each marker’s start time, artwork (for podcasts) or video frame (for videos), chapter title, URL, and URL title.

E - Time column: Shows the start time for each marker.

F - Artwork column: Shows the artwork for each marker region.
Add artwork by dragging image files from the Media Browser. (Appears only when creating a podcast.)

Still Frame column: Shows the video frame at the position of each marker. (Appears only when working with a video.)

G - Chapter Title column: Shows the title of each chapter marker. Click and type a title for a marker.

H - URL Title column: Shows the title of each marker region’s URL. Click and type a title for the URL.

I - URL column: Shows the URL for each marker region. Type a URL (address) for the website for which you want to show a link.

Selecting Regions:

In order to edit a region in the editor, you first select the region in the timeline.

To select a region, do one of the following:

Select a single region by clicking it.
Select multiple regions by Shift-clicking.
Drag from a point before the first region to a point after the last one to select the regions in between.

Editing Real Instrument Regions:

You can edit Real Instrument regions in the editor in several ways.

You can:

Move regions
Crop part of a region
Join regions
Enhance the tuning of single-note (monophonic) regions
Enhance the timing of regions

The editor includes its own grid, which you can set independently of the grid for the timeline, using the Grid button in the upper-right corner of the editor.

Moving Real Instrument Regions:

You can move Real Instrument regions in the editor in order to align them precisely with measures and beats, or with other regions.

To move a Real Instrument region in the editor:

1. Move the pointer over the top part of the region, close to the beat ruler.
The pointer becomes a move pointer (a vertical line with arrows pointing left and right).
2. Drag the region to its new position.

Cropping Part of a Real Instrument Region:

You can easily cut part of a Real Instrument region, whether at the beginning, the end, or in the middle of the region.
This is especially useful if you want to delete, move, or copy an individual note, chord, or phrase in a region.

To crop part of a Real Instrument region:

1. Move the pointer over the place where you want to cut the region (except at the top).
The pointer becomes a crop pointer (a crosshair).
2. Drag to select the part of the region you want to crop.
The selected part of the region appears darker blue.
3. Click the selected part of the region.
4. The selected part is cropped from the rest of the region, and is now a separate region.
You can select it, delete it, move it, or copy it, just as you would any Real Instrument region.

Joining Real Instrument Regions:

You can join Real Instrument regions that are next to each other in the editor.

To join regions:

Select the regions, then choose Edit > Join (or press Command-J).

Enhancing the Tuning of Real Instrument Tracks:

You can enhance the tuning of a Real Instrument track.
This is especially useful when you record Real Instrument regions that have the right “feel” and timing but are not perfectly in tune.

When you use the Enhance Tuning slider, all regions on the selected track (both your own recordings and loops) are enhanced.
Enhance Tuning can only produce accurate results on single-note (monophonic) Real Instrument regions, so be sure the track does not include regions with chords or unpitched sounds.

By default, Enhance Tuning enhances the tuning of notes by moving them to the closest note in the project’s key.

You can limit the enhancement to the notes of the chromatic scale instead by deselecting the “Limit to key” checkbox.

To enhance the tuning of a Real Instrument track:

1. In the timeline, select the Real Instrument track you want to enhance.
2. Drag the Enhance Tuning slider right to increase the amount of tuning enhancement, or drag it left to decrease the amount of enhancement.
3. To limit tuning enhancement to the chromatic scale, deselect the “Limit to key” checkbox below the slider.

You hear the results immediately as the project plays.

Setting the Enhance Tuning slider to higher values can sometimes lead to undesirable results.
Listen carefully to the results of using the slider and set it to the value that sounds best.

Enhancing the Timing of Real Instrument Tracks:

You can enhance the timing of a Real Instrument track.
This is especially useful when you record Real Instrument regions where the notes are the right pitch, but are not perfectly in time with the project.

When you use the Enhance Timing slider, all regions on the selected track (both your own recordings and loops) are enhanced.
You can enhance the timing of single-note, chordal, and percussion (unpitched) Real Instrument regions.
Enhance Timing works better with regions that contain distinct patterns of notes than with pads or ambient sounds.

To enhance the timing of a Real Instrument track:

1. In the timeline, select the Real Instrument region you want to enhance.
2. Drag the Enhance Timing slider to the right to increase the amount of timing enhancement, or drag it left to decrease the amount of enhancement.

If you move the Enhance Timing slider while the project is playing, it may take a moment for it to “catch up” with the music.

The Enhance Timing slider may not work equally well with all musical material, especially when set to higher values.

Listen carefully to the results of using the slider and set it to the value that sounds best.

Editing Software Instrument Regions:

You can edit Software Instrument regions in the editor in several ways.

You can:

Edit individual notes (including the note’s pitch, duration, and timing)
Edit controller information (including velocity, mod wheel, pitch bend, and sustain)

Editing Notes in a Software Instrument Region:

You can edit individual notes of a Software Instrument region.

When you view the region in the editor, individual notes in the region are displayed in a graphic format:

The left edge of the note shows the point in the timeline it starts playing.
The width of the note shows how long it plays.
The vertical position of the note shows its pitch, in relation to the piano keyboard displayed vertically along the left edge of the editor.

You can drag notes to a new starting point, resize notes to shorten or lengthen how long they play, and drag notes up or down to a different pitch.
You can also select multiple notes and edit them at the same time.

Note: To edit notes in the editor, you may need to zoom in so that the notes are large
enough to select and edit.

To edit notes in a Software Instrument region:

Drag the note left or right to a new starting point. You can use the beat ruler in the editor to align the note with a specific beat or measure.
Drag the lower-right corner of the note to resize it.
Drag the note up or down to raise or lower its pitch. Use the piano keyboard along the left edge of the editor to see the pitches.

You can also select multiple notes in the editor, and edit them at the same time.

To select multiple notes:

Shift-click or Command-click the notes you want to select.
Drag from a point before the first note to a point after the last note, enclosing the notes you want to select.

When you edit multiple notes, each note is changed by the same amount.

For example, if you select several notes and drag them to a new starting point, each note is moved by the same number of beats.
If you resize several notes at the same time, each note is shortened or lengthened by the same amount. If you drag several notes up or down to a different pitch, each note is changed by the same number of semitones.

You can also fix the timing of individual notes in the editor.
When you fix the timing of notes in the editor, the selected notes move to the nearest grid position, as set in the timeline grid menu in the upper-right corner of the editor.

To fix the timing of individual notes:

Select the notes you want to fix in the editor, then click the Fix Timing button (with the text “Align to” followed by a note value).

Editing Controller Information in a Software Instrument Region:

Most music keyboards designed to be used with computer music programs include “controllers” for pitch bend and modulation.
These controllers are often circular “wheels” placed at the left end of the keyboard. Some keyboards also include other controllers, such as a sustain pedal, a foot controller, or an expression control.

Moving the pitch bend wheel while you play causes the notes you play to bend up or down in pitch, like a guitar.
Moving the modulation wheel creates changes in the sound of the Software Instrument.
The changes are different for different instruments, but often involve changing the frequency, rate, or intensity of a filter applied to the instrument.

If you move a controller while recording a Software Instrument, the movements are recorded in the Software Instrument region.
You can see the movements you recorded and edit them in the editor.

To display controller information for a Software Instrument region:

1. Double-click the region to open it in the editor.
2. Choose the type of controller information you want to see from the Display pop-up menu.

Controller information is displayed as a line with “dots” at different points in time, similar to the way volume and pan curves are displayed in the timeline.
Each “dot” (called a control point) shows a change in value (in this case the movements of the controller) at that point in time.
You can edit the controller information by adding new control points, and by adjusting control points to change their value or to change where in the timeline they occur.

To add a control point:

Click the line in the editor at the point where you want to add a control point.

To adjust a control point, do one of the following:

Drag the control point up or down to a new value.
Drag the control point left or right to move it to a different point in time.

You can also view and edit Software Instrument regions in notation view in the editor.

...more GarageBand Tips ?

Using iMovie:

2009-02-11T19:58:00.001-08:00

Customizing:

Using analog/FireWire converter devices with iMovie:

You can convert video in 8 mm, Hi8, VHS, or SVHS format to digital video (DV) format, using a special converter box (sometimes referred to as AV adapters), such as the Sony DVMC-DA2 or the Synchrotech Formac Studio.
If you use a converter to import non-DV video, you can't control your camera or deck with iMovie. However, you can manually control the camera to import video clips and use all of iMovie's editing features, then export your video through the converter back to your video recorder or camera.

A converter of this kind will generally have standard S-video and RCA input/output ports for video and audio, and a FireWire or iLink (IEEE 1394) input/output port. Make sure you have the appropriate cables for your configuration.

To ensure compatibility with third-party video devices, check the iLife Camcorder Compatibility page, the Apple Store, and/or vendor websites for compatibility information.

For more information, check the documentation that came with your converter.

Capturing Analog Video From a Converter Box Into iMovie:

Follow these steps to import video from an analog-to-FireWire converter device.
While this specific order may not be necessary with all converters, it will help ensure proper initialization between the hardware and software:

Start up your computer, turn on the converter box, and connect the computer to the converter with a FireWire cable.
Connect the video cable from the video output of the video source (for example, a VCR or video camera) to the analog video input of the converter box. A video camera should be in playback or VTR mode. Connect the audio source, too.
The converter box will typically have a switch or button that tells the device which direction to convert the video, analog to DV or DV to analog. For capturing analog video, you will want to press the button labeled "Analog In" or something similar.
Connect a 4-to-6 pin FireWire cable from the DV out port on the converter box (sometimes labeled FireWire, IEEE 1394, or iLink with Sony devices) to a FireWire port on the computer.
Open the iMovie application program.
Make sure the Mode Switch under the iMovie monitor is set to Camera Mode, as shown here:
Some converter boxes have a green status light, to indicate a good connection. If this light is amber or red at this point, try turning the device off for several seconds and then back on again. You may also try quitting and opening iMovie again.
Press play on the VCR or analog camera. You should see the video signal in the iMovie monitor. If you have speakers or headphones connected to the VCR you can monitor the audio.
Use the controls on the video source to manually cue the video tape to the desired spot, and click Import in iMovie. iMovie will create a new clip for about every nine minutes of video. You can join all the clips later by dragging them into the timeline.

Sending Video From iMovie to the Converter Box:

Follow these steps to export video to an analog-to-FireWire converter box.
While this specific order may not be necessary with all converters, it will help ensure proper initialization between the hardware and software:

Start up your computer, turn on the converter box, and connect the computer to the converter with a FireWire cable.
Connect the video cable from the video output of the source (for example, a VCR or video camera) to the analog video input of the converter box. A video camera should be in playback or VTR mode. Connect the audio source, too.
The converter box will typically have a switch or button which tells the device which direction to convert the video, analog to DV or DV to analog. For exporting analog video, you will want to press the button labeled "Analog In" or something similar.
Connect a 4-to-6 pin FireWire cable from the DV out port on the converter box (sometimes labeled FireWire, IEEE 1394, or iLink with Sony devices) to a FireWire port on the computer.
Open the iMovie application program.
From the iMovie menu, choose Preferences (or File menu in Mac OS 9).
Click the Advanced tab.
Make sure the checkbox for "Video Play Through to Camera" is selected.
Choose Export Movie from the File menu, or press Command-E on the keyboard.
In the Export Movie window, select the pop-up menu for "Export to Camera", even if you're exporting to a VCR through the converter.
Press record on the VCR and click Export in iMovie.
When finished, press the stop button on the VCR and Stop in the iMovie monitor.

Publishing:

Publishing directly to YouTube:

You can publish your iMovie project directly to the YouTube website. YouTube is an independent website that freely hosts videos by its community members. To post to YouTube, you must have a YouTube account.

To publish to YouTube:

Select your project in the Project Library, and then choose Share > YouTube.
Choose your account in the Account pop-up menu.
If you don’t have a YouTube account, click Add to be guided through the account creation process on the YouTube website.
Choose a category from the pop-up menu for the video to be categorized on the YouTube website.
Fill in the following fields:
Title: The name of your movie.
Description: Some information about your movie for viewers to read.
Tags: Keywords that viewers can use to search for and find your movie.
Select the mobile or medium size for your movie.

If the larger sizes are not available, the original project media isn’t large enough to render in that size. The largest media size used in the project determines the final movie sizes you can render.

The dots below each device in the table of sizes indicate which movie sizes are recommended for use with that device. Either size is good for streaming from the YouTube website; the mobile size will be easier to watch for people with slower internet connections.
Hovering the pointer over the “i” next to the movie dimensions displays the following information for the rendered movies:

H.264: The standard video compression that's used in the movie.
fps: The frame rate of the movie in frames per second.
Kbps: The maximum rate at which the movie can be streamed over the Internet in kilobytes per second.
MB: The size of the movie file in megabytes.
You can limit who can view the movie by making selecting “Make this movie private.”
Click Publish. iMovie automatically uploads your movie to the YouTube website.
After the movie has been uploaded to YouTube, the title bar of your project in iMovie displays “Published to YouTube.” It also displays buttons that take you to the movie’s webpage and send notifications to your friends.

To visit your movie’s webpage, click Visit.
To notify your friends of the new movie you’ve published, click “Tell a friend.”

If you make further edits to your project in iMovie after you’ve published it to YouTube, the title bar indicates that your project is out of date and needs to be rendered again. Old versions of the movie are deleted and replaced by new ones when you render it again.

If you want to save the previous version of your movie before you edit it, you can do so by exporting it to the Finder.

Publishing directly to your .Mac Web Gallery:

To share your movies over the Internet, you can publish your iMovie projects directly to your .Mac Web Gallery. After you publish a movie, send its internet address to your friends and family so they can view it.

To publish to your .Mac Web Gallery, you must have an active .Mac account. If you don’t already have a .Mac account, you can sign up for one at the .Mac or MobileMe website.

To publish to your .Mac Web Gallery:

Select your project in the Project Library, and then choose Share > .Mac Web Gallery.

In the “Publish to .Mac” window, fill in the fields:

Title: The title of your movie.
Description: Some information about your movie for viewers to read.
Select one or more movie sizes to publish. The dimensions of the finished movies are shown on the right side of the table.
Mobile size is recommended for most purposes; the larger sizes may be difficult to watch for people who have slow Internet connections.

If the larger sizes are unavailable, the original project media isn’t large enough to render in that size. The largest media size used in the project determines the final movie sizes you can render.

Hovering the pointer over the “i” next to the movie dimensions displays the following information for the rendered movies:

H.264: The standard video compression used in the movie.
fps: The frame rate of the movie in frames per second.
Kbps: The maximum rate at which the movie can be streamed over the Internet in kilobytes per second.
MB: The file size of the movie in megabytes.

Choose an option from the “Viewable by” pop-up menu to set password protection for your movie, depending on whether you want it to be publicly viewable or accessible by only specific people.
Everyone: Makes the movie publicly accessible by any visitor to your .Mac Web Gallery.
Only me: Requires your .Mac user name and password in order for you to see the movie. Sharing your user name and password with others is not recommended.
Edit names and passwords: Allows you to create user names and passwords that you can provide to others whom you want to be able to access the movie. After selecting this option, click the Add (+) button in the bottom-left corner of the window and then type a user name. Press the Tab key, and then type the password you want to associate with the user name. User names and passwords must be between four and twenty characters long and can include only letters (a through z), digits (0 through 9), the underscore (_) or a period (.), but not more than a single period can be used at the end. Any Web Gallery movies available to this user will be listed to the right of the password. Click OK, and then select the user name from the “Viewable by” pop-up menu.
Select “Hide movie on Web Gallery homepage” if you do not want the movie to appear on the homepage of your .Mac Web Gallery.
Select “Allow movie to be downloaded” if you want viewers to be able to download copies of your movie.
Click Publish. iMovie automatically uploads your movie to your .Mac Web Gallery. After the movie has been uploaded to .Mac, the title bar of your project in iMovie displays “Published to .Mac.” It also displays buttons that take you to the movie’s webpage and send notifications to your friends and family.
To visit your movie’s webpage, click Visit.
To notify your friends and family of the new movie you’ve published, click “Tell a friend.”
If you want to remove your movie from .Mac, choose Share > “Remove from .Mac.”

If you make further edits to your project in iMovie after you’ve published it to .Mac, the title bar indicates that your project is out of date and needs to be rendered again. The old version of the movie is deleted and replaced by the new one when you publish it again by choosing Edit > “Republish to .Mac Web Gallery.”

If you want to save the previous version of your movie before you edit it, you can do so by exporting it to a folder in the Finder.

Watching:

Watching your movies on Apple TV:

If you want to view one of your iMovie projects on your Apple TV, you need to send it to iTunes. When you send your project to iTunes, iMovie allows you to create one or more movies of different sizes, depending on the size of the original media that’s in your project. The large size movie is best for viewing on Apple TV.

To send your project to iTunes:

Select it in the Project Library, and then choose Share > “Share Project with iTunes.”
Select one or more sizes of movie to render. If the larger sizes are not available, the original project media isn’t large enough to render in that size. The largest media size used in the project determines the final movie sizes you can render. The dots below each device in the table of sizes indicate which movie sizes are recommended for use with that device. Hovering the pointer over the “i” next to the movie dimensions displays the following information for the rendered movies:
H.264: The standard video compression that's used in the movie.
fps: The frame rate of the movie in frames per second.
Kbps: The maximum rate at which the movie can be streamed over the Internet in kilobytes per second.
MB: The files size of the movie in megabytes.
Click Publish. Rendering can take up to several minutes depending on the size of your movie and if you’re rendering several sizes at once. After the project has finished rendering, iTunes opens automatically.
In iTunes, click Movies to see your movie and broadcast it through Apple TV.

In iMovie, an icon appears next to the project’s name in the Project Library to indicate that the project has been rendered. If you select the project in the Project Library, its title bar indicates that it’s been sent to iTunes.

If you make further edits to your project in iMovie after you’ve sent it to iTunes, the title bar indicates that your project is out of date and needs to be rendered again. Old versions of the movie are deleted and replaced by new ones when you render it again.

If you want to save the previous version of your movie before you edit it, you can do so by exporting it to the Finder.

Watching your movies on your iPod:

If you want to view one of your iMovie projects on your iPod (or download it to you iPhone), you need to send it to iTunes. When you send your project to iTunes, iMovie allows you to create one or more movies of different sizes, depending on the size of the original media that’s in your project. The medium sized movie is best for viewing on your iPod.

To send your project to iTunes:

Select it in the Project Library, and then choose Share > “Share Project with iTunes.”
Select one or more sizes of movie to render.
If the larger sizes are not available, the original project media isn’t large enough to render in that size. The largest media size used in the project determines the final movie sizes you can render.
The dots below each device in the table of sizes indicate which movie sizes are recommended for use with that device. Hovering the pointer over the “i” next to the movie dimensions displays the following information for the rendered movies.
H.264: The standard video compression that's used in the movie.
fps: The frame rate of the movie in frames per second.
Kbps: The maximum rate at which the movie can be streamed over the Internet in kilobytes per second.
MB: The files size of the movie in megabytes.
Click Publish. Rendering can take up to several minutes depending on the size of your movie and if you’re rendering several sizes at once. After the project has finished rendering, iTunes opens automatically.
In iTunes, click Movies to see your movie and download it to your iPod or iPhone.

Send it to iTunes and download it just as you do for an iPod.
Publish it to your .Mac Web Gallery.

To learn how to send a movie to iTunes for downloading to your iPhone, see the instructions for watching your movie on your iPod.

Watching your movies on your iPod:

To publish to .Mac, you must have an active .Mac account. If you don’t already have a .Mac account, you can sign up for one at the .Mac website.

To publish your video to the .Mac Web Gallery and watch it on your iPhone:

Select your project in the Project Library, and then choose Share > .Mac Web Gallery.
In the Publish to .Mac window, fill in the fields: Page Title: The title of your movie. Description: Some information about your movie for viewers to read.
Select the tiny and mobile sizes to publish. Your iPhone uses either of these sizes, depending on how you’re connected.
Select “Allow movies to be downloaded” if you want viewers to be able to download copies of your movie.
You can limit who can view the movie by selecting “Show project on Web Gallery home page.”
Click Publish. iMovie automatically uploads your movie to your .Mac Web Gallery. After the movie has been uploaded to .Mac, the title bar of your project in iMovie displays “Published to .Mac.” It also displays buttons that take you to the movie’s webpage and send notifications to your friends and family.
To find out the URL (web address) for the movies published to your .Mac Web Gallery, click Visit, and then write down the URL.
Using Safari on your iPhone, navigate to the URL for your movies.

In iMovie, an icon appears next to the project’s name in the Project Library to indicate that the project has been rendered. If you select the project in the Project Library, its title bar indicates that it’s been sent to your .Mac Web Gallery.

If you make further edits to your project in iMovie after you’ve published it to .Mac, the title bar indicates that your project is out of date and needs to be rendered again. The old version of the movie is deleted and replaced by new ones when you publish it again by choosing Edit > “Republish to .Mac Web Gallery.”

If you want to save the previous version of your movie before you edit it, you can do so by exporting it to the Finder.

Watching your movies in Front Row:

If you want to view one of your iMovie projects in Front Row, you need to send it to iTunes. When you send your project to iTunes, iMovie allows you to create one or more movies of different sizes, depending on the size of the original media that’s in your project. You’ll be able to play any of these sizes in Front Row.

To send your project to iTunes:

Select it in the Project Library, and then choose Share > iTunes.
Select one or more sizes of movie to render.

If the larger sizes are not available, the original project media isn’t large enough to render in that size. The largest media size used in the project determines the final movie sizes you can render.

The dots below each device in the table of sizes indicate which movie sizes are recommended for use with that device. Hovering the pointer over the “i” next to the movie dimensions displays the following information for the rendered movies:

H.264: The standard video compression that's used in the movie.
fps: The frame rate of the movie in frames per second.
Kbps: The maximum rate at which the movie can be streamed over the Internet in kilobytes per second.
MB: The files size of the movie in megabytes.

Click Publish. Rendering can take up to several minutes depending on the size of your movie and if you’re rendering several sizes at once. After the project has finished rendering, iTunes opens automatically.
In Front Row, select Videos, and then select Movies to find the movies you created in iMovie.

Export Settings:

You can customize the export settings when you export a movie to QuickTime.

To customize these settings:

Choose File > Export.
Choose Expert Settings from the Formats pop-up menu.
Click the Export button.
Choose Movie to QuickTime Movie from the Export pop-up menu.
Click the Options button.
Click the Settings button in the Video panel to see the compression, frames per second (frame rate), and key frame settings.
Click the Size button in the Video panel to customize the frame size.

In general, choose settings that give you the best trade-off between file size and video playback quality. Before you use the Expert Settings option, consider the following:

Codec options:

MPEG-4 is the standard codec (compressor/decompressor) used for Internet movies. To get the MPEG-4 codec option, you must have QuickTime 6 or later.
For movies that will be viewed on earlier computer systems, you may want to use the Motion JPEG codec.
The Sorensen codec is good for viewing movies on later systems. For earlier systems, use Cinepak or Motion JPEG.

Frame size, Keyframes, and Frame rate:

Pick a movie frame size first. Primarily, frame size determines the movie's file size.
Set the number of key frames next. If the number of key frames is high, the movie will play back at higher quality, but the file size will be larger. With lower keyframe numbers, the video quality may be lower, but the file size will be smaller.
Set the frame rate last. You may get choppy video playback if you set the frame rate to less than 12 frames per second. But higher frame rates create larger file sizes.

Exporting a movie from iMovie HD to iPod:

Want to put your own movies on your iPod? You can with iMovie HD and an iPod with video compatibility (currently Fifth Generation iPod). You also need to have QuickTime 7.0.3 or later and iTunes 6 or later installed—they're both free downloads! If you're not sure what iPod model you have, click here.

Find out which version of QuickTime you have here or download the latest version from here.
Find out which version of iTunes you have here or download the latest version from here.
You can also download and install the latest iMovie, QuickTime, and iTunes updates using Software Update.

To export a movie from iMovie HD 6 to your iPod:

In iMovie HD 6, open the movie you want to transfer.
If you only want to transfer a portion of your movie, select the clips you want to transfer in the timeline viewer.
From the Share menu, choose iPod.
Click to select the "Share selected clips only" checkbox if you only want to share clips you selected.
Click Share.
iMovie HD compresses your movie and saves it to your iTunes library. The time it takes to save the movie depends on the movie's length.
Open iTunes 6.0 or later, and then sync with your iPod.
For more information about syncing, see the documentation that came with your video-compatible iPod.

To export a movie from iMovie HD 5 to your iPod:

Open iMovie HD and create a movie, or open an existing movie in the application.
From the File menu, choose Share.
Click the QuickTime tab.
From the Compress movie for pop-up menu, choose Expert Settings.

Click Share.
From the Export pop-up menu in the resulting dialog, choose Movie to iPod (320X240).

Click Save to start the export process. Depending on the length of your movie, this can take a long time. iMovie uses H.264 compression to create the movie file (video iPod format), which will appear on your hard disk in the location you saved it when iMovie is done. Open the new file in QuickTime Player and play it to make sure it looks as you expect.

Open iTunes 6 and drag your new movie file icon to the iTunes library in the Source list. To learn how to browse and view videos in iTunes, click here. Note: iTunes won't let you drag the movie to the Video playlist, but once you drag it to the Library, it will automatically appear in the Video playlist. You can also drag the video file to a playlist you create or directly to the iPod in the Source list.

To copy the movie onto a Fifth Generation iPod, either sync it with your iPod or manually copy it. To learn how to sync video to your iPod click here, check out the iPod tutorial, or check the Features Guide that came with your iPod.

Additional Information:

A note about copyright: This software may be used to reproduce materials. It is licensed to you only for reproduction of non-copyrighted materials, materials in which you own the copyright, or materials you are authorized or legally permitted to reproduce. If you are uncertain about your right to copy any material, you should contact your legal advisor.

Exporting your movie for viewing in PAL or NTSC format:

When you first create a new project in iMovie HD, you can select a video format for the project. The video and images you later add to the iMovie are converted to this format. However, if you need to format your movie to be viewed on a VCR or DVD player that uses another format, you can use the expert export options to convert your movie.

NTSC is a format commonly used in North America and Japan. PAL is a format commonly used by devices in Europe. There are also different versions of these two formats, such as DVCPRO-PAL and DVCPRO50-NTSC, so determine the precise format you need before exporting.

To export a movie in NTSC or PAL format:

Choose Share > QuickTime.
Choose Expert Settings from the "Compress movie for" pop-up menu, and then click Share.
Type a name for your movie and choose where you want to save it.
Choose "Movie to QuickTime Movie" from the Export pop-up menu, and then click Options.
In the Video pane, click Settings to open the Compression Settings dialog.
Choose a format from the pop-up menu (DV-PAL or DVCPRO-PAL for Europe, DV-NTSC or DVCPRO-NTSC for North America and Japan).
Choose a value from the Frames Rate pop-up menu (25 for PAL and 29.97 for NTSC)
Drag the Quality slider to the desired quality. Best is recommended.
Click OK.
Click Size to open the Export Size Settings dialog, and then click "Use custom size."
Type a value in the Width field (720 for both PAL and NTSC) and in the Height field (576 for PAL and 480 for NTSC), and then click OK.
Click Settings in the Sound pane.
Choose Stereo (L R) from the Channels pop-up menu in the Sound Settings dialog.
Choose 48.000 from the kHz pop-up menu (or type it in the Rate field).
Choose 16 from the "Sample size" pop-up menu, and then click OK.
Click OK in the Movie Settings dialog.
Click Save.

Exporting movies with expert settings:

The export options provided in iMovie HD will work in most cases if you plan to use a QuickTime format. If you want to use a different format, such as MPEG-4, and have some experience with custom settings, you can create your own export settings.

For example, if you want to share your movie with someone who uses an older Windows computer, you can export your movie as an image sequence, then choose the JPEG option.

iMovie HD supports exporting in the following file formats:

3G
AVI
BMP
DV Stream
FLC
Hinted Movie
Image Sequence
MPEG-4
Picture
QuickTime Movie
Sound to AIFF
Sound to System 7 Sound
Sound to Wave
Sound to uLaw

iMovie also supports many video, audio, streaming, and compatibility options associated with the compression of these file formats. For example, when saving your movie as a QuickTime movie, you can choose among video compression formats such as Cinepak, DV-PAL, DV/DVCPRO -NTSC, JPEG 2000, MPEG-4 Video, Planar RGB, PNG, Sorenson Video, TGA, and more.

iMovie also supports many sound compression formats, such as 24-bit Integer, 32-bit Integer, 64-bit integer, Alaw 2:1, AMR NarrowBand, IMA 4:1, MACE 3:1, Qualcomm PureVoice, and many more.

So if you're fairly expert at understanding video file formats and compression characteristics, use the expert settings to set up your files the way you want.

To export your movie with expert settings:

Choose File > Export.
Choose Expert Settings from the "Compress movie for" pop-up menu, and then click Share.
Choose the type of export format you want, and then click Options.
Set the compression format (known as a "codec"). Sorenson Video, DV-PAL, and Motion JPEG A are examples of codecs. Depending on the type of export you choose (such as "Sound to AIFF" or "MPEG-4"), you see different codecs and compression options.
Set the frame size. This setting affects the overall file size of your movie. Better quality creates a larger file size.
Set the key frame number. A low number (such as every ten frames) creates a better-quality movie with a larger file size.
Set the frame rate last. You may get choppy-looking video playback if you set the frame rate to less than about 12 frames per second.

Exporting a movie to iDVD:

Once your movie is ready for viewing, iMovie HD can automatically export it to an iDVD project that you can burn on a DVD. You can then view your DVD on a television using a DVD player or on your computer screen using the Apple DVD Player.

Note: Before you export your movie to iDVD, you can add chapter markers to it so that viewers can quickly review different sections of the movie on DVD. If you've added chapter markers, they are exported with your movie, and you can use them to add scene selection menus to your iDVD project.

Not all computers support iDVD. See your computer's manual to find out if your computer does.

To export your movie to iDVD:

Choose Share > iDVD.
Click the "Share selected clips only" checkbox if you only want to share clips you selected.
Click Share.

iDVD opens and your movie appears in a new project in iDVD.

For more information about using iDVD, choose Help > iDVD Help when iDVD is open.

Tip: You can automatically export video to iDVD from your camcorder using the Magic iMovie feature.

Exporting your movie for viewing on Apple TV:

You can watch your movie on Apple TV by exporting it from iMovie HD to your iTunes library, and then using iTunes to stream the movie to Apple TV or sync your Apple TV with your iTunes library.

IMPORTANT: To export a movie for viewing on Apple TV, you must have QuickTime 7.1.5 or later and iTunes 7.1 or later installed on your computer. For the latest versions of these applications, open System Preferences, click Software Update, and then click Check Now.

Before following these instructions, make sure you set up Apple TV for streaming or syncing video. For more information, see the documentation that came with Apple TV.

If you export a movie for viewing on Apple TV, you won't be able to watch it on an iPod. To learn how to transfer your movie to an iPod, see Related Topics below.

To export your movie for viewing on Apple TV:

In iMovie HD, open the movie you want to export.
Choose Share > QuickTime.
Choose Expert Settings from the "Compress movie for" pop-up menu.
Click Share.
In the "Save exported file as" window, choose "Movie to Apple TV" from the Export pop-up menu.
Choose a location for the movie you're exporting from the Where pop-up menu, and then click Save.
Open iTunes.
Drag your exported movie to the iTunes Movies library.
Use Apple TV to view your movie.

For more information, see iTunes Help or the documentation that came with Apple TV.

IMPORTANT: Do not delete the exported file from the location you chose in step 6 unless you have iTunes set up to copy files to the iTunes Music folder when you add them to iTunes. To see if this option is turned on, open iTunes, choose iTunes > Preferences, click Advanced, and then click the General tab. If the "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library" checkbox is selected, you can delete the exported file from the location you chose in step 6.

Customizing your QuickTime export:

If you want to set your own QuickTime settings for your exported iMovie projects, use the QuickTime expert export settings.

To use the expert QuickTime settings:

Select your project in the Project Library and choose Share > Export Using QuickTime.
Type a name for the movie in the Save As field and choose a location to save the file from the Where pop-up menu.
Make your selections for format, compression, and other variables, and then click Save.

Exporting your movies to a Finder folder:

When you share your project with iTunes or the Media Browser, iMovie renders it and makes the rendered versions accessible only through iTunes or the iLife Media Browser.

If you make further edits to your project after you’ve prepared it for sharing or sent it to iTunes, the title bar indicates that your project is out of date and needs to be rendered again. Old versions of the movie in the iTunes or the iLife Media Browser are deleted and replaced by new ones when you render it again.

If you want to save the current version of your movie before you edit it, or if you simply want to create a copy you can access on your desktop or any Finder folder, you need to export it as a movie. Exported movies are identical to the movies that are rendered when you share with iTunes or the Media Browser, but they are accessible through the Finder and can be used by any application that doesn’t have access to movies in iTunes or the Media Browser, such as Mail.

When you export your movie, iMovie gives you four size options:

Tiny: Always 176 by 144 pixels.
Mobile: Always 480 by 272 pixels.
Medium: Varies in size from 640 by 480 pixels (standard aspect ratio) to 640 by 360 pixels (widescreen), depending on the size of the media in your project.
Large: Always 960 by 540 pixels (widescreen). No large size is rendered if your original video isn’t high definition (HD).

If the larger sizes are not available, the original project media isn’t large enough to render in that size. The largest media size used in the project determines the final movie sizes you can render.

The dots below each device in the table of sizes indicate which movie sizes are recommended for use with that device.

Hovering the pointer over the “i” next to the movie dimensions displays the following information for the rendered movies:

H.264: The standard video compression that's used in the movie.
fps: The frame rate of the movie in frames per second.
Kbps: The maximum rate at which the movie can be streamed over the Internet in kilobytes per second.
MB: The size of the movie file in megabytes.

To export your project to the Finder:

Choose Share > “Export Movie.”
Type a name for the movie in the Export As field, and then choose the location where you want to save it in the Where pop-up menu.
Select the size that best matches what you’ll be using the video for.
Click Export.
To find your exported movie, navigate to the folder that you chose in the Where pop-up menu.

Exporting a presentation from Keynote to iMovie:

With Keynote you can export your presentation to a number of file formats.

Follow these steps to create a file that you can use in iMovie:

Open your presentation in Keynote
Choose File > Export.
Select QuickTime as the file format.
Select "Fixed Timing" for playback. Do not select the manual advance option; the resulting file may not import into iMovie.
Select "Full Quality Large" for the format setting.
Click Next.
Name and save your movie.

Follow these steps to import this file into iMovie:

Open iMovie
Choose File > Import Movies.
Locate your movie, saved in step 7 above.
Click Import.

Tip: You can also export your presentation from Keynote to other iLife applications by selecting File > Send To... in Keynote.

...more iMovie Tips ?

Using iPhoto:

2009-02-11T19:57:00.002-08:00

Working with RAW images:

Does iPhoto actually use RAW image data?

All I see are JPEG copies of my RAW images.
That's a great question—yes, it certainly does, and its unique process helps simplify the RAW workflow for people who don't have time to be photo experts. The first time you edit a RAW image in the main iPhoto window, the RAW badge appears at the bottom of the window.
It looks like this:

When the badge appears, iPhoto is using your image's original RAW data to support your edits. After you click Done, your changes are applied to the RAW image data and stored as a JPEG file (the original RAW file remains unchanged). That's how iPhoto simplifies the RAW workflow—it combines RAW editing and JPEG conversion into one step.

If you use an expert program like Adobe Photoshop, you would have to make your RAW adjustments, then run a separate batch process to convert all your images to a working format, such as JPEG or TIFF. iPhoto simplifies all that.

Note: If you edit the photo again, the RAW badge won't appear because the image is now a JPEG file. To re-edit the same image from RAW, select the image and choose Revert to Original from the Photos menu. If you want to keep your first edit, choose Duplicate before reverting.

Why doesn't iPhoto display the RAW badge when I open an original RAW image in a separate Edit window?

It should, but it currently doesn't. This is an issue that we're working to resolve. Until we do, you can avoid confusion by doing all your RAW editing work in the main window.

Why does iPhoto have to convert RAW files to JPEG?

Remember that RAW is a reference or "digital negative" format; not a working format. In other words, you can't print directly from a RAW file, for example. Furthermore, other programs, such as iMovie and System Preferences, do not understand RAW. That's why iPhoto makes a JPEG copy of your RAW image at the time of import.

Can I export a 16-bit image or an XMP file from iPhoto?

At the present time, iPhoto cannot export 16-bit color or XMP (Extensible Metadata Platform) files. If you export an image as a TIFF file, the resulting photo will be an 8-bit TIFF derived from your edited JPEG image. The iPhoto RAW workflow is designed for simplicity—not expert level control. If you export a photo as an original RAW image file (by choosing Original as the image format in the Export Photos dialog), you will get an unmodified RAW file without an XMP sidecar (no metadata will be embedded into the file).

When I export a RAW file from iPhoto, why aren't my changes saved as part of the export?

In the RAW photo ethic, a RAW file is regarded as a "digital negative" and is not to be modified. Changes that you make when editing in RAW mode are always saved to a secondary file. In iPhoto, that secondary file is a JPEG. In Adobe Photoshop, the secondary file is an XMP sidecar file.

What is the advantage of shooting images in RAW format?

Images captured in RAW format allow for greater image quality and editing flexibility when you bring them into an image editor, such as iPhoto. RAW is like having insurance against your shooting mistakes—your camera settings are saved separately from the image data. For a more thorough explanation of RAW images, click iPhoto 5: Using the RAW image format.

iPhoto uses the 16-bit RAW data to facilitate your edits before converting the RAW file to JPEG. This gives you greater editing flexibility since a RAW image's exposure latitude is retained, which is not the case if you simply imported a JPEG file.

Why do RAW images take so much longer to import than JPEGs?

RAW images take longer to import because iPhoto makes a JPEG copy at the time of import. The JPEG conversion allows other parts of Mac OS X, which don't understand the RAW format, to use your images even before you edit them.

My camera isn't on your list for RAW support. Why don't you support it?

Qualifying a camera for RAW compatibility takes a lot of testing, and software must be customized as we add more cameras. Because this is the first iPhoto release to support RAW images, we focused on single-lens reflex (SLR) type cameras and a few others that are most likely to be used by the high-end amateurs and professionals who value the qualities of the RAW format. We expect to add more cameras to the list with future releases of iPhoto.

My blazing fast Mac slows down when I try to browse my RAW photos. What gives?

To maintain a fast browsing speed, iPhoto displays thumbnail images, which are smaller copies of the originals. However, you can easily exceed the thumbnails' maximum set size when you move the iPhoto zoom slider to display bigger thumbnails. When you do this, iPhoto suddenly has to go to the original image file and scale it to fit your screen, in realtime, as you scroll. For example, if all your thumbnails are around 30 KB each and your original images are around 3 MB a piece, you've just increased the size of all images being browsed by 100 times! That's not an easy jump even for a Power Mac G5. This is true regardless of whether the images you're browsing are RAW or JPEG images.

You might be wondering how you can constrain iPhoto to display only the maximum thumbnail size. Lucky for you, it's really easy: When you're browsing your photos, just press the 2 key on your keyboard. This will resize your thumbnails to the maximum size.

Working with slideshows:

I created a slideshow in an album (by clicking the slideshow button), but the next time I tried to view it, all the slideshow changes I made were gone! Where did they go?
iPhoto 5 has two different kinds of slideshows, and you probably confused the old kind with the new one. (Don't worry, a few of us did that too.)
Look at the bottom of your Source list (the column on the left side of the window).
With iPhoto's new "cinematic" slideshow, all slideshows appear as their own entries in the Source list; you'll probably see that you've created more than one copy of your slideshow there. Each copy will still have the changes that you saved in it.
Just pick the one you want to keep, and delete all the extras.

What types of slideshows can I make in iPhoto?

You have two choices. In older versions of iPhoto, you could play an album as a slideshow, and the album could even retain slideshow settings. You can still do that, but you can also create an improved type of slideshow that exists on its own in the Source list. These highly customizable "cinematic" slideshows allow mixed transitions, varied slide durations, and the pan-zoom Ken Burns effect, for example.

When you click the Slideshow button, iPhoto creates one of the new slideshows in the Source List, like "London Slideshow" in this picture.

The old type of slideshow is still there too, but its control has moved. Select a regular album, then click the Play button at the bottom left corner of the iPhoto window. When you click this Play button, you'll get the older, familiar format.

Why does iPhoto display two Play buttons when I'm working on a slideshow?

The round Play button only appears when you're editing a cinematic slideshow, and is used to control its playback. The rectangular Play button is used to play the old-style slideshows that don't appear in the Source list (you can ignore it when editing a cinematic slideshow).

Does the Ken Burns effect soften my photos?

Because Ken Burns images are animated, iPhoto must scale them down to ensure reasonable performance on a range of computers. This will cause some images to look softer than they actually are, though the softening effect may not be noticeable on lower-resolution displays. For example, a landscape-oriented (horizontal) Ken Burns-effected image on an Apple 20-inch Cinema Display (1680 pixels wide) would be downsampled to an animation texture of about 1024 pixels, and then rescaled to fill the screen. This should be more noticeable than if you were viewing the slideshow on a display that was only 1024 pixels wide.

Importing:

Photos can be imported from a digital camera if both your computer and your camera have built-in USB ports and your camera is compatible with iPhoto.
Check your computer's specifications if you are unsure if it has built-in USB ports.
See the iPhoto Device Compatibility page to see if your camera or media reader is compatible with iPhoto.

Importing photos from a compatible digital camera:

Connect the camera to the computer's USB port using a USB cable.
Launch iPhoto from your dock or from the Applications folder. iPhoto may also launch automatically if you set it as the default application to manage pictures.
In the source panel, click on your camera name under Devices.
Click the Import All button to import everything or press command and click on specific pictures you want to import and click Import Selected.

5. iPhoto will ask if you want to keep or delete the originals after the import is finished.

6. After you are finished, click the Eject button next to your camera's name.
Turn off your camera and disconnect it from the computer.

For iPhoto 06 or earlier, you will see the Import pane.
Click the Import button to import all your pictures.
To delete photos from your camera as soon as they are imported, select "Erase contents after transfer" at the bottom right of the Import pane to enable that option.
After you finish importing your photos, drag the camera's icon from the Finder desktop to the Trash if necessary, turn off your camera, then disconnect it from the computer.

Importing photos from a media reader or iPod (with Dock Connector) and the Belkin iPod Media Reader:

Insert the media into the media reader or connect your iPod.
Launch iPhoto from your dock or the Applications folder.
In source panel, click on the camera icon underneath Devices.
Click Import All or pick and choose specific pictures then click Import Selected.
Click the Eject button next to the camera icon or drag and drop the media icon on the desktop into the trash.

For iPhoto 06 or earlier you will see the Import pane.
Click the Import button.
To delete photos from your camera as soon as they are imported, select "Erase contents after transfer" at the bottom right of the Import pane to enable that option.
After you finish importing your photos, eject the media by dragging its icon to the Trash.

Some readers may physically eject the media while others may require that you manually eject the media. If you must manually eject the media, wait until the media icon is gone from the Finder Desktop. For more information about importing photos from an iPod, see "iPod (with Dock Connector): Use Disk Mode to Copy Photos."

Importing photos from other sources:

Choose Import to Library from the File menu.
Select either the individual photos you want to import, or select an entire folder or disk, then click Open. To select multiple photos or folders without selecting all, press and hold the Command key while clicking on photos.

Notes on importing from other sources:

Each imported item, whether a single photo or an entire disk will appear as a separate film roll. Command-clicking on multiple items during an import will result in them all appearing on the same film roll.
If importing files from a local hard drive, see "iPhoto: About Importing Pictures From Hard Disk and Available Space"
Processed photos that are offered for download from an Internet site must first be downloaded to a local drive before they can be imported into iPhoto.
Do not copy or move pictures directly into the iPhoto Library folder as they will not appear as an option in iPhoto when attempting to import.

Exporting:

You can export photos from your photo library or an album so you can send them to others or import them into another application.

To export photos:

Select the photo or photos you want to export.
From the File menu, choose Export.
Click the File Export tab.
If necessary, scale images to a specific size by specifying a maximum width and height.
Click Export.
Choose a location for the photos you are exporting, then click OK.

Cropping:

Cropping photos:
Important: Cropping a photo changes its appearance in the photo library and in every album, slideshow, book, calendar, and card where it appears.

To edit a photo without changing it everywhere it appears, make a duplicate to edit by selecting the photo and choosing Photos > Duplicate.

Here are some tips:

If you’re working in your library or an album, select the photo you want to crop and click the Edit button.
If you’re working in a slideshow, book, calendar, or card, double-click the photo you want to crop in the photo browser. This switches the photo to edit view.
If you want to crop to a specific photo dimension, select the Constrain checkbox and select a dimension from the pop-up menu, such as a square photo or a 4 x 6 postcard.
If you plan to use the photo in a book, choose 4 x 3 (Book).
If you plan to use the photo as your desktop picture, choose Display to fit the photo to your monitor screen.
If you want to do a custom crop, deselect the Constrain checkbox.

Note: If you are cropping the photo solely to print it or order a print, you can do a temporary crop for those purposes in Print view. Select the photo or photos and click the Print button to create a print job, then click Customize.

Drag the selection window to the position you want; drag it larger or smaller to enclose the desired area.

Click the Apply button in the Crop pop-up window.

To save your crop, click the Done button to return to the previous view, click the arrow key to move to the next photo, or select a new photo to edit from the photo browser at the top of the iPhoto window. (If you don’t see a row of photos at the top of the window, choose View > Thumbnails.)

If you don’t like a change you’ve made to a photo, you can undo your most recent change by choosing Edit > Undo.

For photos edited in iPhoto ’08, you can also change the crop at any time without losing your other edits, simply by opening the photo in Edit view and clicking the Crop button.

iPhoto always retains the original photo you imported, so you can change a photo back at any time by choosing Photos > “Revert to Original.”

If you are editing RAW-format photos, choose Photos > Reprocess RAW.

About Cropping:

Cropping allows you to edit a photo by selecting only the portion you like. You can also use cropping to improve a photo's composition. The ratio of width to height in photographic prints is known as the aspect ratio.
The aspect ratio is important to know when cropping because when ordering prints or a book, photos must match the required aspect ratio or they may be cropped.

For 35 mm pictures the aspect ratio is 2:3 which will produce photos of 4 x 6 in. If you intend to use the same photo to get multiple size prints, you may need to duplicate the photo and constrain and crop to the specific size prints being ordered.

Warning: Cropping a photo changes its appearance in the photo library and in every album where it appears. To edit a photo without changing it everywhere it appears, make a duplicate to edit.

Crop a photo:

Select the photo you want to crop.
Click the Edit button.
Position the arrow pointer at one corner of the area you want to select, then drag to enclose the desired area. To constrain your selection to a specific size ratio, choose a ratio from the Constrain pop-up menu before dragging to enclose the desired area. If you're ordering larger prints, choose the appropriate size (5 x 7 or 8 x 10) to constrain the image.
Click the Crop icon in the Edit pane.

If you don't like the changes you've made to a photo, you can revert to its original version by choosing "Revert to Original" from the File menu. You can also undo your most recent change by choosing Undo from the Edit menu.

Deleting:

Deleting a folder, album, book, calendar, card, or slideshow:

There are several ways to delete an Event from your iPhoto library.

To delete an Event:

Select the Event, then do one of the following:

Press Command-Delete.
Drag the Event to iPhoto Trash.
Choose Photos > “Move to Trash.”

Warning: If you delete an Event that includes photos you have used in a slideshow, book, calendar, card, or published album, the photos will be removed from those projects.

You can retrieve your photos from iPhoto Trash until you empty the Trash, which deletes your photos permanently. To empty iPhoto Trash, select it in the Source list, and then choose iPhoto > Empty Trash.

If you delete an Event by mistake, click Edit > “Undo Move to Trash.”

If this option is dimmed, select iPhoto Trash in the Source list, select the photos you want, and drag them to Photos in the Source list.

You can delete a folder, album, book, calendar, card, or slideshow you’ve created without removing its photos from the photo library.

To delete items from the Source list:

Select the folder, album, book, calendar, card, or slideshow.
Press the Delete key.

You can also delete any one of these items by dragging it to the iPhoto Trash.

To delete text:

Select the text and press the Delete key.

If you delete text by mistake, choose Edit > Undo to restore it. (This command restores only the last text you deleted.)

Deleting a photo from the library:

Warning: Deleting a photo from your library also removes it from any album, slideshow, book, calendar, or card in which it appears.

To delete a photo from the library:

Select the photo you want to delete.
Press the Delete key.
Choose iPhoto > Empty Trash.

You can also delete a photo by dragging it to the Trash in the Source list, then choosing iPhoto > Empty Trash.

If you change your mind about deleting a photo before you empty the Trash, select the Trash, select the photo, and then choose Photos > Restore to Photo Library. You can also drag the item out of the Trash before you choose Empty Trash.

Removing photos from an album:

You can remove photos from an album you’ve created without deleting the photos from your photo library.

To remove photos:

Select the album.
Click to select the photos you want to remove.

Do one of the following:

To remove a photo from a regular album, press the Delete key. This removes the photo only from that album, not other albums or your library.
To move a photo from a regular album or Smart Album to the Trash, press Command-Option-Delete. (This also removes the photo from the library and from every album, slideshow, and book where it appears.)

You can also remove a photo from a standard album or a Smart Album by dragging it to the Trash in the Source list.

If you remove a photo from an album by mistake, choose Edit > Undo to restore it.

Removing a page from a book:

To remove a page from a book:

Click the Page View button to display book pages in page view.
Select the page you want to remove.
Press Delete.

You can also choose Edit > Delete Page.

Removing a photo from a calendar:

Here are ways to remove photos from a calendar:

To remove a photo from a calendar page, select the photo and press Delete. The photo remains in the photo browser.
To remove a photo from the photo browser, select the photo in the browser and press Delete.

If you remove a photo from a calendar by mistake, choose Edit > Undo to restore it.

Removing a photo from a greeting card:

Here are ways to remove photos from a card:

To remove a photo from a card, select the photo and press Delete. The photo remains in the photo browser.
To remove a photo from the photo browser, select the photo in the browser and press Delete.

If you remove a photo from a greeting card by mistake, choose Edit > Undo to restore it.

Removing a photo from a book:

Here are ways to remove photos from a book:

To remove a photo from a book page, select the photo and press Delete. The photo remains in the photo browser.
To remove a photo from the photo browser, click the Photo browser button, select the photo, and press Delete.

If you remove a photo from a book by mistake, choose Edit > Undo to restore it.

Creating:

Creating a CD or DVD:

You can use the iPhoto burn feature to archive your photos and albums for viewing in iPhoto only.
If you want to create a disc to be viewed on a Windows computer or by a photo processing company, you must use the Finder.

To create a CD or DVD using the Finder:

In iPhoto, select the album or albums you want to burn to a disc.
Export the album or albums to a folder on your computer.
When the export is finished, quit iPhoto.
Click the Finder icon in the Dock and insert a CD-RW disc or a blank CD-R or DVD-R disc into your drive.
Drag the folder that contains your exported photos onto the disc’s icon.
When the files have finished copying, choose File > Burn Disc, and then click Burn.

Creating a customized Event:

To create an Event:

Select Photos in the Source list.
Select the photos you want in your customized Event. Command-click to select non-adjacent photos.
Choose Events > Create Event.
In the dialog, click Create.

Your selected photos will be removed from their current Events and placed into the new Event.

Note: You can also create an empty Event, and move photos into it later.

To do so:

click Events in the Source list, and then click the New Event button in the toolbar, or choose Events > Create Event.

A placeholder Event thumbnail will appear at the bottom of your Events in the viewing area of iPhoto. Just as with any other Event, you can name the new Event, add photos to it, merge it with another Event, and more.

Creating a Smart Album:

Smart Albums allow you to have albums created automatically from specific photos in your library. You can make a Smart Album that contains only certain types of photos, photos with high ratings, or photos that match other criteria, including EXIF information, such as a specific shutter speed or camera model.

For example, you can create an album that contains only your highest-rated photos taken within the last two months on your digital SLR camera.

To create a Smart Album:

Click the Add (+) button in the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window, then click New Smart Album in the dialog. You can also choose File > New Smart Album.
Type a name for your album in the “Smart Album name” field.
Use the pop-up menus to choose the criteria by which photos will be added to the album. For example, you might want iPhoto to add only photos that contain “Kids” as a keyword, or photos with at least a four-star rating. To add additional matching criteria, click the Add (+) button.
Click OK.

A Smart Album has a gear symbol on its icon in the Source list.
Any photos in your library that match the settings you chose are added to the album.

iPhoto automatically modifies a Smart Album when any photo that matches the album’s settings is added to or removed from your library.
You can search for photos using the criteria, including EXIF information, that you use to organize the albums.

Creating a greeting card:

You can choose from a variety of greeting card sizes and designs to create a card for any occasion.

To create a greeting card:

Select one or more photos that you want to use in your card.
Click the Add (+) button in the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window, then click Card in the dialog.
Type a name for your card.
Choose a card type from the pop-up menu.
Select an occasion (for example, Baby/Kids or Invitation/Thank You) in the list on the left.
Select a design for your card in the themes list on the right. If you want to go to the iPhoto website to see detailed descriptions and pricing, click the Options + Prices button.
Click Choose. iPhoto switches to card view, and your new card appears in the Source list.
Drag a photo from the top of the iPhoto window onto your card page.

Once you create a card, you can add a personal message, change photos, and order card sets to be sent to you.

If you see angle brackets (>>) near the bottom-right corner of the window, some of the tools are hidden.
Click the angle brackets to see them, or drag the resize control in the bottom-right corner of the window to make the window wider.

Creating folders in the Source list:

You can add folders to the iPhoto Source list to better organize your albums. You cannot add individual photos directly to a folder.

To create a folder:

Choose File > New Folder.
Type a name for the folder and press Return.
In the Source list, drag albums, books, calendars, cards, slideshows, or other folders into the folder you just created.

You can also drag your new folder into an existing folder.

Creating a standard photo album:

You can create standard albums to better organize your photo library, group the photos you want to burn to CD or DVD, or choose pictures for a webpage.

To create a standard photo album:

Click the Add (+) button in the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window, then click Album in the dialog. You can also Choose File > New Album.
Type a name for your album and click Create. The album appears in your Source list.
Click Events, then drag entire Events or photos within one or more Events to your new album.

You can also add a photo to an album directly from another album, a CD or DVD, or another location on your hard disk.
When you add a photo to an album from another location on your hard disk, iPhoto automatically imports it into your photo library.

You can also select the photos you want to group first, then create a standard album from them.

To do this:

Command-click to select all the photos you want to include in the album, then choose File > New Album From Selection and name your album.

You can also create an album by dragging a folder of photos from the Finder into an empty part of the iPhoto Source list.
iPhoto creates an album with the folder’s name and imports all photos contained in the folder.

Creating a book:

You can choose from a variety of book sizes and designs to create a book for any occasion.

To create a book:

Select one or more albums, or a group of photos, that you want in your book.
Click the Add (+) button in the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window, then click Book in the dialog.
Type a name for your book.
Choose a hardcover, softcover, or wirebound softcover book size from the Book Type pop-up menu.
Select a design for your book from the scrolling themes list. When you select a book theme, you can see an example of it to the right of the themes list. Some themes offer text; some don’t. If you want to go to the iPhoto website to see detailed book descriptions and pricing, click the Options + Prices button.
Click Choose. iPhoto switches to book view, and your new book appears in the Source list.
Drag photos from the top of the iPhoto window onto your book pages.

If you want iPhoto to automatically design your book by arranging the selected photos on each page, click the Autoflow button.

Once you create a book, you can change the order of pages or photos, add and change the appearance of text, and even customize the design of individual pages.

If you chose a hardcover book and want photos to be printed on only one side of your book pages, click the Settings button in the toolbar and deselect the “Double-sided pages” checkbox.

If you see angle brackets (>>) near the bottom-right corner of the window, some of the tools are hidden.
Click the angle brackets to see them, or drag the resize control in the bottom-right corner of the window to make the window wider.

Creating a calendar:

You can choose from a variety of themes to create a calendar for any occasion.

To create a calendar:

Select one or more albums, or a group of photos, that you want in your calendar.
Click the Add (+) button in the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window, then click Calendar in the dialog.
Type a name for your calendar.
Select a design for your calendar from the scrolling themes list. When you select a theme, you can see an example of it to the right of the themes list. Some themes offer text; some don’t. If you want to go to the iPhoto website to see detailed descriptions and pricing, click the Options + Prices button.
Click Choose.
Choose the month and year you want your calendar to begin with.
Choose the number of months you want your calendar to include (up to 24).
Choose the national holidays you want to appear in your calendar.
Choose one or more iCal calendars that you want to have imported into your iPhoto calendar. (If you don’t use iCal, you won’t see anything in the “Import iCal calendars” field.)
Click OK. iPhoto switches to calendar view, and your new calendar appears in the Source list.
Drag photos from the left of the iPhoto window onto your calendar pages. If you want iPhoto to automatically design your calendar by arranging the selected photos on each page for you, click the Autoflow button.

After you create a calendar, you can add photos, add or change special dates, change the order of pages or photos, and customize the design of individual pages.

If you see angle brackets (>>) near the bottom-right corner of the window, some of the tools are hidden.
Click the angle brackets to see them, or drag the resize control in the bottom-right corner of the window to make the window wider.

Creating a slideshow:

To create a slideshow:

Select an album or group of photos you want in your slideshow.
Click the Add (+) button in the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window, then click Slideshow in the dialog.
Type a name for your slideshow.
If you want, deselect the “Use selected items in new slideshow” checkbox.
Click Create.
Drag photos into the order you want in the photo browser at the top of the iPhoto viewing area.

After you create a slideshow, you can also add photos to it by dragging them directly from an Event, another album, a CD or DVD, or another location on your hard disk.
When you add a photo to a slideshow from another location on your hard disk, iPhoto automatically imports it into your photo library.

You can choose music, specify the display duration for each slide, choose transition effects, display slideshow controls, and set other options. (See Related Topics below.)

You can also view selected photos as a temporary slideshow without creating a slideshow in the Source list.

To do this:

Select a folder, album, or group of photos and click the Play button at the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window.

Creating a new photo library:

You can create multiple photo libraries to organize your photos, albums, slideshows, books, calendars, and cards.

To create a new photo library:

Quit iPhoto.
Rename your current iPhoto Library in the Finder or move it to a new location on your hard disk (see Related Topics below).
Open iPhoto.
Click Create Library in the dialog that appears.
Type a name and choose a location for your new photo library.
Click Save.

Your new, empty photo library appears in the iPhoto Source list.
Any photos you import will be added to this library.
You can switch to another library you’ve created at any time.

Editing:

Editing photos in another application:

You can do many editing tasks in iPhoto, such as rotating and cropping a photo, changing a color photo to black and white, adjusting exposure and contrast, and reducing red-eye.
If you want to make other changes to a photo, you can open it in another image-editing application, such as Adobe Photoshop.

Important: Nondestructive editing does not apply to photos in the iPhoto library that are edited in a separate application.

Set your preferences to open photos in another application when you click the Edit button.
Select the photo and click the Edit button to open it in the application.
Edit the photo. When you’re finished, save the photo using the same name and file format.

The changes you made to the photo will be visible when you return to iPhoto.

Note: When you edit a RAW-format photo, iPhoto creates a copy of the photo in JPEG format. This is the photo that opens in the other application.

To edit the photo in its original RAW format, you must set that preference separately from your edit preference.

To do so, choose:

iPhoto > Preferences and click Advanced.
Select the "Use RAW when using external editor" checkbox.

When you are finished editing, you must save the edited version on your computer and reimport it into iPhoto.

You can change your preferences so your photos open in edit view when you double-click them.

To do so, go to:

iPhoto > Preferences and click General.
Select “Edits photos” from the Double-click options.

Editing billing information:

If you need to make changes to your billing information for your Apple ID, follow these steps:

Verify that your computer is connected to the Internet, then open the application.
Select a photo from your Library by clicking it one time.
Aperture: Choose File > Order Prints - iPhoto: Choose Share > Order Prints.
Click either Account Info or Set Up Account.
Enter your Apple ID and password where prompted and click Sign In. Learn more about Apple ID accounts.
As soon as you sign in, the ordering system will automatically enable 1-Click ordering on your account.
To make changes to your billing information, click "Edit Billing." Enter any desired changes and click "OK" on the bottom right to save your changes.
Click Cancel (your account info will still be saved).

You can also make changes to your account information by visiting Apple's MyInfo page: myinfo.apple.com

Editing text in a book:

Most book themes include pages that contain text you can edit.
If you don’t see any text on a page and you want to add some, you need to choose a new design for your page that includes text.

To edit text:

Click the Page View button to display book pages in the photo browser.
Select the page that contains text you want to edit.
Click the text you want to edit, and then add or edit text.

When you need to edit text, it’s a good idea to zoom in on the text area first.
To do so, drag the size slider.

iPhoto offers an automatic spell checker to help you eliminate spelling errors.
Even better, you can have iPhoto read your text aloud, so you can hear if it stumbles over a typo or some awkward language.

Highlight the text you want to hear, then Control-click it and choose:

Speech > Start Speaking from the shortcut menu.

To turn off the automatic spell checker, choose:

Edit > Spelling.
Click “Check Spelling as You Type” to deselect it.

Editing photos in a separate window:

You can open a photo in a separate window and use the edit toolbar to perform a variety of photo-editing tasks.

Make sure your preferences are set to open a photo in its own edit window when you click the Edit button.

Choosing what happens when you click the Edit button ►
Select the photo and click the Edit button to open it in its own edit window.
Use the editing tools to edit your photo.

You can change your preferences so your photos open in edit view when you double-click them.

To do so, go to:

iPhoto > Preferences and click General.
Select “Edits photos” from the Double-click options.

You can also enlarge the photo in the edit window so it fills your screen by sliding the zoom slider.

Editing/Renaming a folder, album, book, calendar, card, or slideshow:

After you’ve created a folder, album, book, calendar, card, or slideshow, you can change its name.

To rename an item in the Source list:

Double-click the name of the item.
Edit the name or type a new one.

...more iPhoto Tips ?

Using iLife:

2009-02-11T19:57:00.001-08:00

Organize your photos !

Make a great movie in the time you have !

Your Recording Studio !

Design a website to share your photos, movies, and music !

Create your own DVD in less time than it takes to watch one !

To learn more about iLife or to purchase it, visit the iLife website at www.apple.com/ilife.

iLife ’09 System Requirements:

Mac computer with an Intel, PowerPC G5, or PowerPC G4 (867MHz or faster) processor
iMovie requires an Intel-based Mac, Power Mac G5 (dual 2.0GHz or faster), or iMac G5 (1.9GHz or faster).
GarageBand Learn to Play requires an Intel-based Mac with a dual-core processor or better.
512MB of RAM; 1GB recommended. High-definition video requires at least 1GB of RAM.
Approximately 4GB of available disk space
DVD drive required for installation
Mac OS X v10.5.6 or later
QuickTime 7.5.5 or later (included)
AVCHD video requires a Mac with an Intel Core Duo processor or better. Visit iMovie ’09 Camcorder Support for details on digital video device and format support.
24-bit recording in GarageBand requires a Mac OS X-compatible audio interface with support for 24-bit audio. Please consult the owner’s manual or manufacturer directly for audio device specifications and compatibility.
Some features require Internet access and/or MobileMe; additional fees and terms apply. MobileMe is available to persons age 13 and older. Annual subscription fee and Internet access required. Terms of service apply.
iPhoto print products are available in the U.S., Canada, Japan, and select countries in Europe and Asia Pacific.
GarageBand Artist Lessons are sold separately and are available directly through the GarageBand Lesson Store in select countries.
Burning DVDs requires an Apple SuperDrive or compatible third-party DVD burner.
Flickr service is available only in select countries.

iLife Tips and Tricks:

PDF Manuals:

iPhoto:

Getting Started

iMovie:

GarageBand:

iWeb:

Getting Started

iDVD:

Sharing photos from Aperture with iLife:

Aperture 1.5 offers full-size previews of images that can be used with iLife and iWork '06 or later.

Make sure you have iLife and iWork:

iPhoto
iMovie HD
iDVD
iWeb
GarageBand
Keynote
Pages
iTunes

To update from previous versions of the iLife and iWork applications, from the Apple menu, choose > Software Update.

You will also need to update to Aperture 1.5. If you have a previous version of Aperture installed, Software Update can also be used to update to version 1.5.

How to access images from Aperture in iLife and iWork ?

To browse Aperture images in iLife and iWork, you must first enable sharing in Aperture.
Details can be found on pages 161-162 of the Aperture User Manual.

To view the shared images in iLife or iWork:

Select the Media pane in one of the iLife/iWork applications.
Click the disclosure triangle next to the Aperture icon in the browser window.
Click the disclosure triangle next to Aperture Library to access images in Aperture's built-in Smart Albums or Smart Albums you have created at the Library level. To access images from specific projects, click the project's disclosure triangle. Click on the icon for individual albums or Smart albums within projects.

Handling of Stacked Images:

When you browse Aperture images in the iLife/iWork Media pane, you may notice that there seem to be fewer images than expected available there.
This is because only the pick or album pick image from each stack in Aperture is shared with iLife and iWork.

When you browse images from an Aperture project or built-in Smart album, the pick image from each stack will be available.

When you browse images from an Aperture album, then the album pick will be available.
If there is no album pick specified, then the pick image will be used when browsing albums. Smart albums you create offer the option Ignore stack groupings.

If this option is selected, then all images that meet the criteria for the Smart album will be available in the Media pane, regardless of stack pick status.

If you find that you need access to more than one image from a stack in an iLife or iWork application, then drag the non-pick image from the stack in Aperture, or access it from a self-created Smart album.

Note that it may take some time before changes made to stacks in Aperture will be reflected in the Media pane.

Labeling of Aperture images in the iLife/iWork Media pane:

If the Caption field for an image in Aperture is filled in, then this is what the iLife/iWork Media pane will display.
If the Caption field is empty, then the Version Name field will be used as the image label in the Media pane.

Sharing Aperture Images with iTunes/iPod:

Syncing Aperture images to an iPod is very much like syncing iPhoto images.

Connect the iPod to the computer
When iTunes 8 or later opens, choose the iPod icon in the Source list.
Click the Photos tab in the Viewer.
Choose Aperture from the Sync Photos from pop-up menu, and make sure the associated checkbox is selected.
Select either the All Photos and albums or Selected albums radio button.
If you opt for Selected albums, click the checkboxes for the albums you wish to sync with the iPod. Note that only albums (including Smart albums) are available, projects are not. Stacked images are handled in the same way as with the Media pane in the other applications.

Desktop Picture and Screen Saver:

Images from Aperture may also be used as the Desktop picture, or Screen Saver.

In both cases, the Aperture library is available in Source list.

Choose the album or project you wish to use.

Sort order of Aperture images with the iLife Media Browser:

Here are some tips about how images will be sorted when you use Aperture 1.5.4 or later with the iLife Media Browser.

In most cases, the iLife Media Browser will display Aperture images in alpha-numeric order by version name.

Numerals will precede letters, and numeric sort is always by the first digit.

For example, the following four image names will be sorted in this order:

11-Image
2-Image
A-Image
B-Image

If you need multi-digit numerical sorting, use leading zeros for the names that use fewer digits.

Doing this with the list above results in the list being sorted in this order:

02-Image
11-Image
A-Image
B-Image

If you use a custom sort order for images within an Aperture project, then the iLife Media Browser will reflect the custom sort order.

Making presentations with Keynote:

Keynote lets you create stunning, interactive slideshows quickly and easily using professionally designed themes, cinematic transitions, and animated text.
With its interactive and timing features, you can build storyboards, self-running presentations, portfolios, and more.
Keynote's built-in iLife media browser gives you instant access to your iLife creations so it's simple to add your own photos, movies, and songs to your presentations.

You can also import data and media from other applications.

If your computer has an Apple Remote, you can use it to control your Keynote presentations from a distance.

Keynote is part of the iWork set of productivity applications.

To learn more about Keynote or to purchase iWork, see the Keynote website at www.apple.com/iwork/keynote.

Resources for educators:

Apple has a rich history of supporting students, schools, and universities.
From Apple products and solutions specifically designed for education to technical resources for integrating Mac OS X into the educational environment, Apple offers products and services to help students learn and explore their creativity, and tools to help teachers and administrators provide the best possible learning environment for their students.

Some of the products and resources Apple provides are:

iLife, the suite of creativity applications that includes iPhoto, iMovie, iTunes, iDVD, and GarageBand
PowerSchool, a web-based student information system from Apple that simplifies data-driven decision making by providing real-time information to all stakeholders over the Internet
IT resources such as Apple Xsan and Information Lifecycle Management

For more information about Apple education resources, visit the Apple Education website at www.apple.com/education/.

Where are my applications?
Mac OS X includes many applications to help you get started quickly and easily using your Mac.
You'll find many frequently used applications in the Dock, and you can add applications to the Dock whenever you want.

You can also open your most recently used applications and documents by choosing the Recent Items command in the Apple menu.

Use the iLife suite of integrated applications to make music, produce movies, create digital photo slideshows, burn DVDs, and more.

The suite includes GarageBand, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, and iTunes.

For more information, visit the iLife website. Open the iLife website

Don't rename or move iLife applications:

If you have iLife installed on your computer, do not rename or move any of its applications from the default Applications folder.

This includes iDVD, iMovie, iPhoto, iTunes, and GarageBand.

If you've renamed an iLife application or moved one, you may get one or more of the following alerts:

You get the following alert when you try to use iMovie's "Share with iDVD" feature or click the Create iDVD Project button:

For the best results, don't change the name of the individual iLife applications in the Finder.
Also, leave the iLife applications in the Applications folder of the startup disk (don't move them outside of this folder or into a subfolder).

Moving or renaming the iLife applications can also cause issues when updating or upgrading to newer versions of the iLife applications.

Installation:

2008-12-16T18:41:00.000-08:00

Mac OS X 10.4, 10.5 installation options:

When you're ready to install Mac OS X 10.4, 10.5 or later, you may notice that you have several installation options available to you while started from the Install disc. If you prefer not to custom install, simply install the software using the default installation.

If you'd like to see your choices, click the Options button that appears when choosing an installation destination. A dialog sheet appears and presents you with several installation choices, listed below. Here's what each type of installation provides.

Upgrade to Mac OS X, Install Mac OS X:

The Installer will present one of the above choices to you, depending on which volume you've selected for installation. If a previous version of Mac OS X is on the selected volume, "Upgrade to Mac OS X" appears (unless the installed version can't be upgraded, as described in this article). If no version of Mac OS X is installed on the volume, "Install Mac OS X" appears.

About Upgrade to Mac OS X:

Upgrading to Mac OS X takes a little longer than installing it on a volume without Mac OS X, but it is the least intrusive way to install--most of your existing settings and applications are left untouched during an upgrade. In other words, you won't have to configure a lot of settings afterwards.

If you're having issues with your currently-installed version of Mac OS X, upgrading may not resolve those issues. Instead, you might benefit more from doing an Archive and Install installation (see "Archive and Install," below).

If you're reinstalling Mac OS X 10.4 or 10.5 on a volume that already contains the same version, you will see Upgrade to Mac OS X as the first choice.

About Install Mac OS X:

Install Mac OS X appears when the installer finds a destination that does not already have Mac OS X installed (or it appears that way). If parts of Mac OS X are missing, this option may appear instead of Upgrade to Mac OS X.
If the selected volume can't be upgraded or software can't be installed on it as is, this choice will be dimmed (unavailable). For example, you can't choose to upgrade or install Mac OS X 10.4 client on a Mac OS X Server 10.3 volume.

Note: If you've updated Mac OS X 10.4 or 10.5 to a later version than what is on your Install disc, you can't use this option, but you can use others described below.

Archive and Install:

Select this option if you want to install a "fresh" system on your computer. This type of installation moves existing System files to a folder named Previous System, then installs a new copy of Mac OS X. You cannot start up your computer using the Previous System folder.

Archive and Install installations require the largest amount of available disk space because you need to have room to preserve your existing System and the new one you are installing. This is a good choice if you've already backed up your important files and are trying to resolve an existing issue. Mac OS X-installed applications, such as Address Book and Safari, are archived, and new versions are installed in the Applications folder. For a list of which files are archived, see this article.

Some applications, plug-ins, and other software may have to be reinstalled after an “Archive and Install.” Fonts that were installed in the Fonts folder in the top-level Library folder can be installed in your new system by copying them from the Previous System folder.

About "Preserve Users and Network Settings":

You'll probably want to select the "Preserve Users and Network Settings" checkbox to import your existing accounts' Home folders, and network settings into the new system. Home folders include things such as:

Files on your desktop and in the Documents folder

Your personalized preference settings

Address Book contacts and databases

Favorite locations and Web browser bookmarks

iTunes songs and iPhoto pictures

Your network settings and locations

"Preserve Users and Network Settings" also copies the existing Shared folder in the Users folder to your new system.

Third-party software:

Important: Usually it's best to reinstall third-party software after an Archive and Install installation to ensure they work correctly. The "Preserve Users and Network Settings" option leaves non-Apple-installed (third-party) items intact, though they may be moved, depending on their location.

After installation:

You might wonder "What do I do with the Previous System folder?" It may contain items that you need. To determine this, once you've finished configuring, installing, and updating your applications, you can compare the Previous System to the new System. If there are things in the Previous System folder that aren't in the new System folder, copy them over or reinstall. If you're not sure what some items are (and don't seem to need them), leave them in the Previous System folder. Once you're comfortable that you've got everything you need out of it, you can delete the Previous System folder (or leave it around if you have enough free disk space).

You can’t start up your computer using the Previous System folder, but settings, preference files, fonts, plug-ins, and other items remain available in case you need to access them (which you probably won't, if you use "Preserve Users and Network Settings").

Erase and Install:

This option completely erases the destination volume, then installs a new copy of Mac OS X. You should always back up important files on the target volume before using this type of installation.

This is the fastest way to install Mac OS X, but it may take some time to set up your computer after installation. You will have to configure all of your computer settings, install your third-party and iLife applications, and restore your personal files from the backup you made.

Why use this option?

If you've already backed up your computer, this might be a good choice if you are trying to resolve an existing issue and an Archive and Install installation didn't help.
This option takes up the least amount of space when the installation is completed.
This is a good option if you no longer need the information on the computer, and you have another computer that you would like to easily transfer stuff from ("migrate").
Volume format choices
Once you've selected this option, you can choose from two types of volume formats:

Mac OS Extended (Journaled)—This is the default option and should be used unless you have a specific reason not to.

UNIX File System—Only choose this option if you specifically need it.
Does an Erase and Install change partition configurations?
No, it uses the current settings. It also doesn't configure advanced RAID settings or perform a secure erase. If you want to do any of these things, use Disk Utility before installing; you can access Disk Utility while started from the Install disc.

Troubleshooting Mac OS X installation from CD or DVD:

For a successful upgrade or installation of Mac OS X, the installer will need to complete all of the following steps:

Start up from the Install or Restore disc (all Mac OS X versions)
Computer check (Mac OS X 10.4 or later)
Source disc check (checks your installation DVD or CD, Mac OS X 10.4 or later)
Destination (hard drive) check (checks the installation volume, Mac OS X 10.4 or later)
Install Mac OS X (all Mac OS X versions)

If you have issues with the above steps, or have any of the following questions, use the troubleshooting tips in this document.

Unable to start up from the installation disc?
Cannot complete computer check?
Cannot complete source disc check (checking your installation DVD or CD)?
Unable complete destination (hard drive) check (checking Installation Volume)?
Install starts but does not complete (an alert message appears)?
Issues after the installation finished?
Is it OK for reinstallation to be slower?

Starting up from the disc:

Usually, you can start from the disc by putting it in your computer, restarting, and holding the C key. Or, put it in the computer and click the Install or Restore icon you see in the disc's main window (after which the computer will start from the disc without you needing to hold C.)

Mac OS X 10.4 tip: If your computer ejects the Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger Install DVD, your Mac probably doesn't have an Apple internal DVD drive or Apple SuperDrive, in which case you'll need Mac OS X 10.4 Install CDs. (If it does have an Apple DVD-ROM drive yet still ejects the disc, see this document.) If you need Mac OS X 10.4 Install CDs, check out the Mac OS X Upgrade website.

Troubleshooting tip: If the computer doesn't start from the disc—you never see the option to choose a language, for example—then see this document for troubleshooting tips.

Computer check:

The Mac OS X Installer makes sure your computer can use the version of Mac OS X you're trying to install.

Troubleshooting tip: If you see a message that you cannot install Mac OS X on this computer, even though it should work with Mac OS X, you may need to install a firmware update. Restart your computer from the hard drive and install the latest firmware available for your computer.

Source disc check:

During this helpful step, Installer takes a few moments to check the source disc itself before starting the installation process. If you see a message about a "failed checksum," then there may be an issue with your optical disc or optical drive (see the tips below).

Note: During this step, you may see a "Skip" button in the Installer window. If you haven't used your Install disc before (or recently), you should not skip this step.

Troubleshooting tips:

1. Is that disc clean? Make sure the disc is clean and without significant smudges or deep scratches. If your disc is unusable, call AppleCare support for assistance.

2. Is this this original optical drive? If you have issues, make sure you're using the original Apple optical drive that was included with your computer (CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, CD-RW, Combo drive or Super Drive). This is only a concern in three scenarios: if you have replaced your original Apple drive with a non-Apple drive, if you have added a non-Apple drive to the second bay of a Power Mac G4 model with two drive bays, or if you are attempting to install from an external drive.

3. Will the disc's data copy to hard disk? If your computer will start up from any existing version of Mac OS, try copying the contents of the installation disc to your hard disk (if you have enough space). The ability to copy (but not install) the data is a simple test of the disc and of the hardware. If you encounter repeated errors, the hard disk or the disc may be unusable.

4. Can you isolate the issue to a single computer? If you have access to a computer with a spare hard disk or partition that can be erased, then you may test the installation disc on it to verify that the disc is good. After the test is complete, the test disk or partition should be erased if you are only licensed to install the software on one computer.

Destination disk check:

Before the actual installation begins, the installer checks the selected volume to ensure the integrity of the disk. If the disk check finds issues that it cannot repair, the installation will not start.

You must resolve such hard disk issues before you can install. If you have a third-party disk utility that's compatible with your version of Mac OS X, you can try that. If no utility can correct the issue, you must back up your important files, then perform an erase install.

Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger tip: See Only use Mac OS X 10.4-compatible disk utilities with Mac OS X 10.4 volumes.

Tip: You can also contact an Authorized Apple Service Provider (AASP) for assistance.

Installation starts but does not complete?

f you intentionally skipped the "Checking your installation DVD or CD" (Source disc check mentioned above) step at the beginning of the installation, you should allow the check to complete to make sure the installation media is OK.

If you see a message such as one of these, use the tips below:

"There were problems installing the software"

"There were errors during the installation...Please try again."

"Because of a problem, installing Mac OS X could not be completed."

"Installer could not validate contents of the [PackageName] package" (where '[PackageName]' is the name of one of the packages on the installation disc).

Tip: RAM issues may cause an installation issue such as this. Try removing any third-party RAM that's been installed. Remember to make sure you have at least 128 MB (Mac OS X 10.3 or earlier), 256 MB (Mac OS X 10.4), or 512 MB (Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard or later) of memory installed.

You can also retry the installation on the same computer, or try a different compatible computer (as a test) to determine whether the issue is isolated to the Mac OS X disc or to the computer itself.

Did the installation finish?

If the installation of Mac OS X finishes and the computer restarts, it is highly unlikely that anything is wrong with your disc or that Mac OS X was "installed incorrectly." If you have issues that aren't related to installation, this document can help.

It's OK if reinstallation is slower:

Installing Mac OS X on a disk that already has Mac OS X is slower than installing on a disk that has no Mac OS X installed. That's OK because of the file comparison that happens during a reinstall takes a little time. See the note on "downgrade" installations here.

Additional Information:

Mac OS X: Troubleshooting installation and software updates

Using Dashboard:

2008-12-13T14:50:00.000-08:00

Change the Dashboard shelf's background image:

When you press the '+' symbol in the bottom left corner while Dashboard is active,
the Dashboard shelf slides up into view containing all your widgets.

The background image used for the shelf can be found here:

...System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/Resources/perf.png

You can replace this image with any PNG image you like and it'll be tiled,
or you can use a single, full width image.

The shelf is 118 pixels high and as wide as your monitor (1024 pixels in my case),
so you can use those dimensions to construct your own shelf background.

The bottom area (where the widget names appear) will need to be lighter in color for best results, as the text is both light and shadowed.

The height of the text area is 14 pixels.

Note also that you do not need to make your PNG file the full width of your monitor -- the image will repeat horizontally if it's not full-width.

You can use a tiny 2KB PNG to create the above full shelf background.

Speed up Dashboard by clearing out its cache:

Over the course of the past few months, Dashboard had become painfully slow for me, sometimes taking 10 to 20 seconds to load. I took a look at:

~/Library/Caches/ DashboardClient

...and found that the Dashboard cache was 20MB. This seemed excessive,

so I took a gamble and deleted all the files in the DashboardClient folder.

Dashboard now loads almost instantaneously for me.

Quickly free memory used by Dashboard widgets:

If you only use Dashboard on rare occasions, and don't want all those widgets to stay running forever, try the following AppleScript:

tell application "Dock"

quit

launch

end tell

This will relaunch the Dock and, since all the Dashboard widgets are subprocesses of the dock, they will be closed. Widgets will stay closed until Dashboard is invoked again.

This is a handy way to quickly free up the RAM used by open Dashboard widgets.

Run it, and the RAM is released.

Press F12 again after that, and you'll see that your open Widgets are all still open.

Widget Limbo !

When you have dragged a widget out of the Dashboard layer you can make it go into Widget Limbo like this: press and hold the mouse button over the widget; do not move the mouse.

Press F12. Release the mouse button.

The widget will now belong outside (beneath) Dashboard,

but only be visible (in a darkened state) when Dashboard is active.

So it's not possible to close it nor move it. (You can hold the Option key to close a widget).

Draging a widget out of the Dashboard shelf:

1 - Start by pressing F12 or whatever your definded key is.
2 - Click one a widget icon in the Dashboard's shelf, holding the mouse button down on the widget.
3 - Press F12 again. Release the widget.

That's it. To move a widget back into the Dashboard layer, click and hold the mouse on the one you want to get rid of, press F12, and release the mouse button.

Run a widget without installing it:

Normally when you download a widget and double-click it, you are presented with a dialog to install the widget.
You can either cancel, and exit the installer, or click install, and the widget is moved to you widgets folder (Library/widgets).

However, in some situations you don't want to move the widget.
For instance if you are trying out a widget and don't know if you want to keep it, or you are developing a widget and are just testing it out.

To stop the widget being installed:

Hold down Command and Option while double-clicking it.

Instead of an install button, you are presented with Run, which, funnily enough, allows you to run the widget without installing it.
Clicking this opens the widget up in dashboard, but it isn't moved to the widgets folder, instead running it from wherever you downloaded it to.

As a result the widget won't be in your dashboard bar, so it is a nifty trick if you want to save scrolling through loads of widgets (especially if you are a dashboard addict, like TheDashboard).
This also means that once you have closed the widget, its gone for good, and you can't open it up from within the dashboard.
Of course its still sitting in your downloads folder, so a quick Command-Option-Double-Click will have it open and running again.

Resize Web Clip Widgets:

If you use Safari’s new Web Clip feature to make a Dashboard widget out of a small Web item, you may be dismayed to find that Safari enforces a minimum size of about 128 by 128 pixels; you can’t make the Web Clip selection smaller than that.

The solution is simple if not obvious:

After creating the widget, click on the i on the widget’s face and then click on Edit.

You’ll be able to resize and reframe the widget as you wish.

Launch Dashboard with the Mouse:

If you have a multibutton mouse and want to avoid using the keyboard just to invoke Dashboard, assign a mouse button to it instead. Let’s say you have an Apple Mighty Mouse.

Go to the Key-board & Mouse preference pane and click on the Mouse tab.

Then choose Dashboard from the pop-up menu corresponding to one of the buttons.
If you use a third-party mouse with its own software, follow the manufacturer’s instructions for configuring its extra buttons.

Show Widgets on the Desktop:

If you want to have a widget available from the desktop, not just Dashboard, turn on Dashboard’s developer mode.

In Terminal, enter:

defaults write com.apple.dashboard devmode YES

press return and type:

killall Dock

That done, press F12 to fire up Dashboard.
Click on any widget and begin dragging it.
Without releasing the mouse button, press F12 again.

The widget should move out of the Dashboard layer and onto the desktop, floating above all other windows

Disable Dashboard:

If you’d like to disable Dashboard, for either RAM usage or other reasons, here’s how to do it.
It requires a trip to the Terminal, in Applications > Utilities, but it’s not too hard to do.

Open Terminal, and then type this command, followed by the Return key:

defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean YES

This tells the system that you no longer wish to have Dashboard available.
However, the Dashboard task is actually “owned” by the Dock, so to make your changes take effect, you need to restart the Dock.
The easiest way to do that is to type this command into the Terminal (and press Return when done):

killall Dock

After the Dock restarts, hit F12 and you’ll see…nothing at all.
If you run Activity Monitor, you also won’t find any Dashboard widgets in the list of tasks, even if you had several open when you ran the above command.

Dashboard has been eliminated from your system, and won’t return until you tell it to do so.

You can do just that by opening Terminal again, and typing this command:

defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean NO

Once again, you’ll have to use this command:

killall Dock

...to make the changes take effect.
Once you do, though, you’ll find that Dashboard is back as usual—and any widgets you had opened on the Dashboard will still be open.

Dasbhoard Keyboard Shortcuts:

Here are some useful keyboard shortcuts to remember:

Command-R – Refresh Widget
Command-= – Show/Hide Widget Tray
Command ←/→ – Scroll Widget Tray Left/Right

Hold option and hover over a widget to dispaly it’s close [X] button.

Must press control to get contextual menu, mouse right-clicking does not work.