Useful MAC Apps and Hardware [Ongoing Updates]

elmer

Mike,

Thank you so much for this video link!
Altough the first part, unsealing the bottom ring, is a little tricky, all the process
is very easy and efficient.
I was just going to buy a new mouse (the fourth one in a few years ), now all I have to do is to clean my mouse stock

Thanks again.

Patrice

Of course, I also thanked Julian on Vimeo.

jeff hammond

(i'm not sure if this has been brought up in this thread yet or not but...)

i'm going on 3 months now using pixelmator..

http://www.pixelmator.com

it's 15 dollars.. seriously, the first application i ever used on a computer for content creation was photoshop.. and i used it for years and years..

and i'm saying, i don't miss a single feature in photoshop by using pixelmator.. (other than me being so used to photoshop's UI)..

it has all the tonal controls i need as well as very similar layers and blending modes.. good sharpening and selection tools etc.. a solid base set of tools that function very well for me..

but the main benefit for me at this point (besides the price point) is that it's a simple drag/drop type of instal (or via app store).. a nice&neat little app.. with photoshop, it installs all sorts of crap all over my computers and things are always launching/popping up (app managers!? or whatever)..

might not be a good 'downgrade' for some people that are photoshop maniacs but for people like me and what i need out of an image editor, it actually feels like an upgrade..

jeff hammond

@unknownuser said:

pixelmator

i spent some more time today familiarizing myself with it and found a couple of really nice features.
here's one

http://www.pixelmator.com/#alignment-guides

i think something like that would be nice to see in sketchup even.. (the relative spacing bit)

Mike Lucey

Just got word that Twilight Render is now available for Mac users

Check it out here, http://twilightrender.com/downloads/upgrade

pbacot

uh, I was just thinking about that again today... People saying "Twilight is great". Well not for me. Now, Maybe... thanks for the note, Mike!

Mike Lucey

I haven't pit something up here for a while.

Yesterday I was cleaning up my BumpTop screen and thought it would be handy for have a floating Trash Bin! I located Bin-it http://peacockmedia.co.uk/bin-it/#download and having taken the two week trial. I like it and probably will buy at $5.

Mike Lucey

How to enable expanded save dialog as default

Most of you probably know all about this already but I thought I should mention it for those that don't.

Apple tend to keep things very simple and the default saving is such a case. This is what the default shows,

How to enable expanded save dialog as default.jpg

To achieve a more indepth setup the following needs to be down.

You will need to use the command line for this, so open up the Terminal and type or copy/paste the following commands.

Enable expanded save dialog
defaults write -g NSNavPanelExpandedStateForSaveMode -bool TRUE

Disable expanded save dialog – revert back to Mac OS X default
defaults write -g NSNavPanelExpandedStateForSaveMode -bool FALSE

How to Enable Expanded Save Dialog as Default in Mac OS X

OS X Daily (osxdaily.com)

wind-borne

@mike lucey said:

How to enable expanded save dialog as default

Most of you probably know all about this already but I thought I should mention it for those that don't.

Apple tend to keep things very simple and the default saving is such a case. This is what the default shows,

[attachment=0:2xaj0b8r]How to enable expanded save dialog as default.jpg[/attachment:2xaj0b8r]

To achieve a more indepth setup the following needs to be down.

You will need to use the command line for this, so open up the Terminal and type or copy/paste the following commands.

Enable expanded save dialog
defaults write -g NSNavPanelExpandedStateForSaveMode -bool TRUE

Disable expanded save dialog – revert back to Mac OS X default
defaults write -g NSNavPanelExpandedStateForSaveMode -bool FALSE

How to Enable Expanded Save Dialog as Default in Mac OS X

How to Enable Expanded Save Dialog as Default in Mac OS X

OS X Daily (osxdaily.com)

for more fluidity, the shortcut ⌘=
does the same in a flash

on the other hand,
DefaultFolderX further expansion of open and save dialogs has been my companion for years

Mike Lucey

SnapHeal free until the 3rd Sept '13

(www.macphun.com)

jeff hammond

@mike lucey said:

How to enable expanded save dialog as default

Most of you probably know all about this already but I thought I should mention it for those that don't.

Apple tend to keep things very simple and the default saving is such a case. This is what the default shows,

[attachment=0:y3wt04ez]How to enable expanded save dialog as default.jpg[/attachment:y3wt04ez]

To achieve a more indepth setup the following needs to be down.

You will need to use the command line for this, so open up the Terminal and type or copy/paste the following commands.

Enable expanded save dialog
defaults write -g NSNavPanelExpandedStateForSaveMode -bool TRUE

Disable expanded save dialog – revert back to Mac OS X default
defaults write -g NSNavPanelExpandedStateForSaveMode -bool FALSE

How to Enable Expanded Save Dialog as Default in Mac OS X

How to Enable Expanded Save Dialog as Default in Mac OS X

OS X Daily (osxdaily.com)

there's the expand button next to the 'save as' text field.. that will open the bigger window and it remembers its state.. (the osxdaily article is over 6 years old so a bit outdated )

Mike Lucey

Picturesque is quite a nice application which I use occasionally for photo work. Its is also a past Apple Design Award winner. http://www.acqualia.com/picturesque/

Paddle is making Picturesque available for free today. Pop over and grab it before its too late. The link is here, https://www.paddle.com/freebie/490660/picturesque/

Mike

wind-borne

stumbled across this, free until 11/3

played around with a few images, powerfully simple and swift for minor tweaks...

DxO Perspective

Mike Lucey

wind-borne, Good find and thanks for mentioning. I like apps that do one job well and DoX Perspective is one of those. I think it would be worth the $20 but better again to get it free.

Mike

Edson

speaking of pens, have a look this set of pens. the one that caught my attention is the jot script, as it works with Penultimate/Evernote, two apps I use with my iPad.

Screen Shot 2013-11-08 at 5.38.13 PM.png

mwm5053

I've been using this for awhile and love it. Quit all apps it's made with automator which I would like to learn more about but not very much out there as far as tutorials but thought I would share.
http://osxdaily.com/2013/06/02/quit-all-applications-mac-os-x/

slbaumgartner

Check out Liquid (available in the app store). If you select something and click command+@ it pops up a little dialog that lets you do things such as search the web, send to various destinations, copy in nice ways. For a small price, the full version will also look up the selection in various dictionaries, translate between languages, and convert units. Very slick!

Steve

Mike Lucey

Thanks Steve. Liquid is sitting in my menu bar

Here is a heads up on Paddle's current offer.

Paddle 'The 2014 Mac Pick a Bundle!'

Pick any 10 out for 30 apps for just $39.99

https://www.paddle.com/bundle/the-2014-mac-pick-a-bundle/?utm_source=email%26amp;utm_medium=email%26amp;utm_campaign=email#!

It might be worth the price for just 'Forever Save 2'

Mike

pbacot

Has anyone been using a good "tear-off menu" app / hack in OSX.

I keep going nuts with one app I have that buries sheet index in a pull down menu. C'mon. I have to click between so many sheets constantly! So slow.

Any ideas. Thanks!

Mike Lucey

@pbacot said:

Has anyone been using a good "tear-off menu" app / hack in OSX.

I keep going nuts with one app I have that buries sheet index in a pull down menu. C'mon. I have to click between so many sheets constantly! So slow.

Any ideas. Thanks!

I don't understand what you are looking for. Maybe Afloat? http://afloat.en.softonic.com/mac

Mike Lucey

I have just organised a useful numeric keypad for my MacBook Pro using my iPhone. Anyone using a MacBook will miss the convenient num keys (in block) that is on larger keyboards.

In order to set the system up you will need two apps,

Connector which resides on your Mac, free at http://mediaware.sk/ware/?page_id=913

and

NumPad Remote - Wireless numeric pad from the App Store at a cost of $2.99
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/numpad-remote-wireless-numeric/id481177408?l=sk%26amp;ls=1%26amp;mt=8

In a way I find it better than having a numeric block on the MBP keyboard as I can place the iPhone with MumPad on the upper lefthand side of the keyboard. This works better than having the num block on the righthand side.

Let me know what you think?

Mike

PS: Just noticed that 'Settings' allow,

Special Key as Esc, Back, Dial or Tab
Delimiter can be Numeric, Period or Comma
Keypad layout can be Calculator or Dial Pad (handy for dialing)
Key sounds can be None, Click or Vibrate