Add application aliases to your Finder windows.
Create Letterhead Templates in MS Word.
You’ve designed a new logo, identity, and business papers for a good client. It looks great. They are happy. Then a simple request derails everything:
“Can I get a copy of my new letterhead to use in Microsoft Word?”
That seemingly innocent question has driven more than one designer to distraction. While this week’s creative tip won’t win people over to designing in Microsoft Word full-time, we can help make this client request a little easier to accomplish.
View Website Structure as a Graphic.
My Mac Memory Book.
Here is another tiny booklet in our collection of Mac-focused PocketMod guides. This one is loosely based on a form Apple provides on their Mac 101 website.
One of the big problems we at Creativetechs run into while supporting creative pros is helping our clients keep track of all those crucial details: Passwords, network settings, mail server addresses, email addresses, hardware specifications, serial numbers, etc. Thus we give you the Mac Memory Book:
My Mac Memory Book! (PocketMod Edition)
This topic is less exciting than our first guide, My Mac Won’t Start — and a scrap of folded paper does not replace the need for good organization. But if you’ll fill this guide out for each computer in your office, and keep it handy, this information will come in useful time and time again.
Mac OS X Shortcuts! A Tiny Guide.
My Mac Won’t Start! A Tiny Guide.
Few situations are more frustrating than struggling with a computer that won’t start. Especially with client deadlines looming. That’s the idea behind this tiny troubleshooting guide:
My Mac Won’t Start! (PocketMod Edition)
Print out this guide, fold it together, and keep it handy. Designed with the clever PocketMod template (read Discover PocketMod. The low-tech PDA.), you can tape this tiny booklet to the side of your Mac in case you ever need it. It lists several of the most common fixes for a Mac that will not start up properly.
Discover PocketMod. The low-tech PDA.
The PocketMod website lets you create tiny 8-page booklets that fold together from a single letter size sheet of paper. You can print one on your laser printer, fold it together, and carry it around, well, in your pocket.
The hardest part is deciphering the cryptic folding instructions.
FreeHand to Illustrator Migration Guide.
Adobe has produced a 44-page PDF that explains how to convert your FreeHand documents over to Illustrator CS2. It discusses what changes to expect in your document after the conversion, and what’s different about the Illustrator interface.
Freehand to Illustrator Migration Guide
As long-time Freehand users ourselves, we recommend downloading and browsing through this guide. It is fairly well written, and contains many useful tips.
Convert Printed Documents to PDF w/ ScanSnap.
Fujitsu’s ScanSnap ($420) is a remarkable device that’s unbelievably productive and compact — about the size of a small fax machine. Its purpose is to convert printed documents into searchable electronic files, and it does that very quickly.
ScanSnap has two scanning heads which lets it scan both sides of a double-sided document at once. Just drop any combination of sizes of documents into its 50-sheet feeder, from receipts and business cards to billing statements and magazine pages, and the ScanSnap will convert them into any of several foramats: searchable PDF files, Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint documents, or photo scans at up to 600 dpi. The speed is roughly 18 double-sided sheets per minute.
