Your Everyday Mac – PDF tips, PDFLab

This is a new “feature” of SomeMacBlog known for the moment at least as “Your Everyday Mac”. The attempt will be to post one tip per day more or less that focuses on a useful tip, feature, software, hardware or some hack that makes the digital portion of our day much better.

I will kick this off with a neat little package called PDFLab which does the trick of taking several single page pdf’s and creating one pdf with many pages. You can insert blank pages and do other manipulations that will simplify the process of working with PDF documents. PDFLab is free although donations are accepted. Requirements: MacOS X 10.3.9 or higher and Java 1.4.2

If you find these tips rewarding or have found something useful please take a moment to add a comment and let us know.

Adobe CS3 – drumroll please….

In case you’ve been under a rock or some other hidden place Adobe has rolled out the most ambitious product suite of any company in recent memory. I will sum it up with this one word review; Wow! The breadth of the CS3 suite is quite extensive. I won’t try to cover what is better covered by simply watching the webcast here. The integration of products across multiple platforms truly shows the commitment and savvy of the Adobe team. If you work with digital media you owe yourself a tour of the latest suite from Adobe.

Apple Retail Store Location ~ Regional News

[Update !!] Since this post has been so popular with those looking for Apple Store news I am including two places you can find most anything you wish to know about Apple retail. The ifoapplestore site has a vast inventory of info on Apple Stores including past, present and futures events.

Apple Store coming to Tulsa Oklahoma. Officially unconfirmed but it’s hard to argue with the photographs. The store is 45′ wide and could take on the version 2.0 store design that recently appeared at the Domain store in Austin Texas. Hiring is taking place according to Apple’s website. The store could open as early as June but a July date is not out of the question. Since this photo was taken the construction barricade has been painted the traditional black according to The Unofficial Apple Weblog.

Revised Barricade to reflect Apple’s Corp standard.

Mac Tips Software and Productivity

Check out this Mac Jump List of Mac Software and productivity tools: Things MacOS X

Last updated in Jan. 07, has some links for older systems as well as the Tiger era applications. Tip about tips; remember to think about your own work flow, it’s easy to fill up your hard disk with the most fantastic cutting edge whiz bang stuff that you never actually use. If you need it though by all means go for it and pay for those things you will actually use.

Mac Tips and The Mac Tipping Point

No Mac user is an island and by the same token none of us knows it all. Therefore, we turn to shows like the ilifezone blog and podcast where some experienced Mac aficionados weigh in on all things Mac and especially the Apple iLife apps. Subscribe on iTunes and check out the tip monster shows.

Zoom In On Your Mac Screen

To enlarge anything on your Mac Screen just hit control and use the scroll wheel on your mouse and it will zoom in and out. With the later edition laptops you can hit control and use two fingers to zoom in. When Leopard aka Mac OS 10.5 arrives the resolution will be device independent meaning that as you zoom in you won’t get the jaggies. Possible uses: video or still images; reading small print etc.

Working with Images

If you work with Images on your Mac this is one of handiest little gems I’ve found, QuickImageCM. Known as a contextual menu plugin. Download here. Works best with a two button mouse but you can control click if you only have one button.