The Apple Files

How to display font previews in Pages.app

Anyone used to Microsoft Word is also used to having a preview of the different fonts by simply using the drop down from the formatting toolbar (as shown on the left here). But what about Pages.app?

At first glance, it may seem like this functionality is missing in Pages.app but to get font previews, simply click on the cogwheel (settings) icon in the Fonts window and click on Show Preview. The top of the window then expands to show a preview of the font selected as shown below.

Tip: To bring up the Fonts window press Command + T or click on the Format menu then Fonts and then Show Fonts.

Posted in Apps, Hot Tips, Switching | No Comments »

How to get SMS delivery reports on iPhone

An SMS delivery report is a confirmation that a text message you sent to someone has been delivered (or not, as the case may be) to that person’s phone. Most phones have a setting that allows you to automatically request an SMS delivery report for all text messages sent. The iPhone however has no such option in the settings. But you can still request a delivery report by simply adding a short code at the start of your text message. On O2 in the UK, this short code is *0#.

So, your message would look like this:

*0# I’m on my way, see you in 10 mins.

Don’t worry, the recipient will not see this *0# code at the start of the message as it is automatically deleted by the network before delivery. But as soon as the message is delivered to the recipient you will get a text message back (for free) confirming the delivery status of the SMS.

If you are on a different network, the short code may be different.

I personally only use this short code for mission critical text messages but hopefully the new iPhone 2.0 firmware will bring ‘SMS delivery request’ as a built-in option within the settings.

[Via iPhones Talk]

Posted in Hot Tips, iPhone | 4 Comments »

Slideshow within Finder and Preview.app

One of the main concerns expressed by new Mac OS X users relates to Finder. On the Windows side, users can view thumbnails and slideshows of their images from their Windows Explorer window. On Mac OS X however, many new Mac users do not realise that they can have this very same functionality right from within Finder. 

Granted, Mac OS X also ships with iPhoto which is miles ahead of Finder or Windows Explorer for managing your photos.But nonetheless, sometimes it’s just convenient to be able to view a slideshow or thumbnails right from within Finder.

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Posted in Hot Tips, Mac OS X, Switching | 1 Comment »

Photo Thumbnails in Finder

One of the main concerns expressed by new Mac OS X users relates to Finder. On the Windows side, users can view thumbnails and slideshows of their images from their Windows Explorer window. On Mac OS X however, many new Mac users do not realise that they can have this very same functionality right from within Finder.

Granted, Mac OS X also ships with iPhoto which is miles ahead of Finder or Windows Explorer for managing your photos.But nonetheless, sometimes it’s just convenient to be able to view a slideshow or thumbnails right from within Finder.

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Posted in Hot Tips, Mac OS X, Switching | 1 Comment »

Preview.app: Multiple images in a single window

If you enjoy using tabs in Safari or in Firefox, you will be glad to know that Mac OS X’s Preview.app offers a very similar feature for images. By default, Preview will open a window for each image that you open. However, Preview.app is also able to display multiple images in a single window. You simply need to set this in the Preview.app Preferences.
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Posted in Hot Tips, Mac OS X | No Comments »