In Depth: 40 iLife tips and tricks you may not be aware of: "
The iLife suite has been around for a while now, and iMovie and iPhoto were even available long before all these programs became part of a single retail package. In fact, they've become such a big part of our interaction with Macs that it's hard to imagine using a computer without them.
But the problem with owning a program for such a long while is that you can get stuck using the same functions over and over again.
The iLife suite is designed to make life as easy as possible by apparently limiting the number of options available to you. But just because you're constrained doesn't mean it has to be Apple's way or the iWay.
What many basic and intermediate users don't realise is that all of these programs have a lot of hidden features within them, designed to offer more advanced users some powerful tools and useful shortcuts that they can use to improve their workflow.
It's not a failing on your part that this isn't immediately obvious – most of these tools are undocumented, which means you'll probably happen across them by chance or discover them via an obscure comment in a forum or web page online. So to make your life easier, we've gathered together 40 tips you may not be aware of that can help you find new and efficient ways of using all of these iLife apps.
It could be as simple as using a keyboard shortcut to speed up your workflow in iPhoto, or as complex as writing some code yourself in iWeb. It's like finding 40 new features you weren't aware you even had, which should keep you going for a while – or at least until the next version of iLife.
iPhoto tips
Handy tricks for modifying and storing your pictures
1. Multiple libraries
Digital photography has exploded since the early days of iPhoto and you may find yourself needing bigger and bigger drives to store all your pictures. One of the downsides of iPhoto is that everything is saved in one location, meaning you can't split your photos up onto multiple drives.
But you can actually do one thing to help you organise yourself better, and that is to create multiple iPhoto libraries.
Hold down the Option key when you start up the program and you'll find a new window asking you to choose the library you'd like to load. You can also create a new one from there.
And best of all, these libraries can be stored anywhere, even on external drives. You could have one library for your family shots, one for work and different libraries for any project you need to work on.
2. Adjusting multiple photos
Sometimes you may need to apply identical changes to a great number of photos. If your camera wasn't calibrated properly for instance, or if you didn't change the settings for each environment, every shot you've taken in a day might well need to have the same adjustments applied to them. But manually adjusting each and every one individually would be extremely time consuming – not to mention mind-numbingly tedious.
Thankfully, there's a workaround. You still have to adjust at least one image, but once that's done, just click the Copy button, on the lower right of the Adjust window.
Next, select another photo and then click the Adjust window's Paste button (handily situated right next to Copy), for the changes to be applied instantly – saving you a good deal of time and more importantly a lot loss less headache.
3. Zooming into your work
When it comes to editing your images, you may find that doing precise adjustments is difficult because the interface displays the whole image by default with no obvious means of zooming into it. You could of course go full screen (View > Full Screen), but you still cant focus on a specific area unless you use your keyboard.
Using the keyboard you have two magnification levels: press 1 or 2 to select them. To go back to seeing the whole image, press 0. When magnified, a small floating window appears showing you which part of the photo you're currently seeing. To move to another, click and drag within that navigation window.
4. Before and after
When tweaking a photo to make it look right, you could get carried away and forget what it looked like originally. Sometimes, seeing the initial state of your photo can help you focus on what else needs to be done, or bring you back in line if you've gone too far and made your image look too artificial.
You could click on the Adjust window's Reset button (lower left) and then hit Command+Z to undo that action to switch between the original and current state.
That's all well and good, but there's a much easier way to achieve a similar result. Just hold the Shift key to see what your original photo looked like, then release it to get back to where you are now. That way you've got a quick and easy method to toggle between how your snap looked like when you took it and its latest modified version.
5. Confirm or deny
The Faces feature introduced with iPhoto '08, is a great way of seeing all the photos you took of a particular person, but setting it up can be a little time consuming.
First go to Faces, double-click on a specific person and you'll be presented with a series of photos which iPhoto thinks are a match. You then have to click once to confirm or double-click to inform the program that this selection was a mistake.
If there are a lot of errors, though, doubleclicking them all can be annoying, so try this instead: Option-click to reject the image.
6. Redirect the rejection
But what if you recognise the face that you're about to reject as belonging to someone else?
Instead of hoping to find it again in that person's series of shots you need to approve, there's another way. Ctrl-click on the image and you'll be presented with a contextual menu bearing three commands: Confirm, Reject and Name.
Select the last one and start typing that person's actual name. iPhoto will even link to your Address Book database to help you autocomplete the name, which is fabulously helpful.
7. Pins on the map
Unless you've got one of the latest cameras or you use your iPhone a lot, you may find that the Places section is of little use to you.
But if you like to see at a glance were you took all your photos, you can add that information manually. You can even apply it to multiple photos at once: select all the ones you wish to work on then click on the 'i' button, to the lower right of any of the selected shots.
Now type in the shooting location and all those photos will automatically get the same info.
8. Take your pick
If you mouse over an Event you're able to scroll through all the photos within it. Hit [space] and the image you're currently viewing becomes the one used to display the Event. You can also perform the same action in Faces, so you're not stuck with the first photo you labelled.
9. Copying location
If you find a photo you wish you'd included in a batch, don't despair – you don't have to type anything.
Just select an image which already contains the location you want and copy it. Next, Ctrl-click on the new photo and select Paste Location from the Contextual menu. Job done.
10. Date and time
What if you hadn't set your camera's time right, or you scanned a few old photos and need them to be placed in the order that you took them?
Well, you can easily alter that information: select a shot and go to Photos > Adjust Date and Time. Be aware though that if you select multiple photos, you wont be changing them all to the same date.
If you add five months to the first one, it'll also add five months to the others, time-shifting them all.
Easier ways to edit, archive and view clips with iMovie
11. Archiving
The days of FireWire camcorders and recording everything to tape are drawing to a close. Now, everything's on flash memory or hard drives built into cameras.
But this begs the question: what to do with all your footage? Importing it into iMovie is an option, but it gets converted to a format that takes up a lot more disc space.
But there is a way to save your media in its original format: connect your camera and go to iMovie's Import window. Bottom left of the interface is an Archive All button. Select it and iMovie will save the entire content of your camera into a special file.
When youre ready to import your clips into an iMovie event in the future, just go to File > Import > Camera Archive and select that file.
12. Copying adjustments
When it comes to making adjustments to your footage, you have some very powerful tools at your disposal. But just like with iPhoto, having to perform the same changes to multiple clips isn't something many people look forward to. Again, Apple's engineers have come to the rescue.
First alter one clip and copy it when youre done. Then select all the clips within the project or event youd like to change, go to Edit > Paste Adjustments and choose the type of adjustment youd like to apply.
Once done, all your selected clips will have been modified. You can also use keyboard shortcuts to make this job even faster.
13. Transferring data
If you've got a lot of footage stored on your Mac, you may get a little wary of adding more – especially if your disc space is running low. Even though the media you already have may be old, you're still reluctant to delete it.
But there is something you can do to free up some space – move any event you have to another hard drive. Don't do this from the Finder otherwise you would break the link between them and your projects.
Instead, connect your external drive and go to iMovie. To the right of the Event Library is a small icon representing a hard drive. Click on it to redistribute your events based on the drives they're stored in.
You can now Command-drag any event you like onto the new drive to move it to its new location, while at the same time preserving its link to any project that uses it.
14. Thumbnail selection
Thankfully, iMovie '09 brought back the idea of Themes, which had mysteriously disappeared from the previous version. They come with unique transitions which often pan over random and not particularly useful static shots from your project.
But did you know that you can actually choose which thumbnail images are displayed? To do this, click on the transition to select it. This reveals numbers along your project. Now drag those numbers to a new location to change the thumbnail to whatever you prefer.
15. Transferring your projects to one place
If you'd like to keep your projects and events together, you can perform the same action with your existing projects. Go to the Project Library. With the Event Library drive icon still selected, you should see your projects organised by drive.
When you move a project, you'll be asked if you'd like to also move the Events associated with them, or simply move the project itself. Now all you have to do is simply select your preferred option and the process will happen immediately.
16. Audio control
It's easy to add music to your film. Just drag it from the Music and Sound Effects section onto your project. But sometimes, that track clashes with your clip's audio, making it hard to hear either of them. When that happens, you can reduce the volume of specific tracks.
Double-click the track you wish to hear and select the Inspector's Audio tab. Tick the Reduce Volume of Other Tracks To box to instantly lower any other audio that also runs over this particular one. You even have a slider to choose how much of a reduction you want to apply – great for fine tuning.
17. Choose a new font
Select a title in your project and you'll see a Show Fonts button, top-left of the main preview section. Click on it and you'll be presented with a very short list of available fonts, along with only nine colours and nine sizes – but you'll be pleased to know that you're not limited by these choices.
Click on that window's System Font Panel button to reveal the regular font window from which you can choose any font, size or colour you'd care to use, adding nicely to the versatility of your finished product.
18. Font control
With the System Font window open you'll find that you have complete control over your title. You can, for instance, use the Kerning values to bring letters together, and not just for your entire title – you can affect only those that you've selected, leaving the others unaltered.
You could do the same with the Baseline controls to raise or lower letters. You could even go as far as choosing a different colour for each letter, or even a different font for each, if you're that way inclined. You're only limited by your own imagination and the boundaries of good taste.
19. Moving Ken Burns
Ken Burns has been part and parcel of iMovie since version 3, and it's been a great tool to bring some motion to still images in your project, but did you know that as of iMovie '09, you can finally apply this effect to video clips as well?
It's a great way to add some motion to a static shot if you'd come to the conclusion that panning across it or zooming in would make it more interesting.
20. Copying titles
Once you've created a unique-looking title with the two tips above, you might be frustrated to realise that you can't Copy the text layer – even when it's selected, that option is greyed out in the Menu Bar.
But don't despair, you won't have to re-create your title for every instance you'll be using it.
All you have to do is hold down the Option key as you drag your text layer to duplicate it. You can then move your copy to another part of your film, alter the text and you're done.
Making your tunes sound just like the real thing with GarageBand
21. Add MIDI files
There are hundreds of resources online where you can download free MIDI files to help with your music creation in GarageBand. These files include all the instrument information and notes for any particular song that you might need to recreate in your own style.
If you download a MIDI track from the internet and drag it onto an empty GarageBand project it will load all of the notes and instruments for that song for you to use as the basis of a new track, or even to use in creating your own remixes of an existing song.
You're also free to change any of the loaded instruments as you wish to suit your preferred style or genre, should you want to turn any of Radiohead or Vera Lynn's greatest works into happy hardcore or brass band remakes.
Of course, for some MIDI files, copyright may apply, so check your rights before downloading the files and also when publishing your project.
22. Record An iChat podcast
If you want to record an iChat conversation as part of an interview or for a podcast, you can do so in GarageBand version 5 and above.
Start by inviting friends to an audio or video chat via iChat (first letting them know you'll be recording). Now launch GarageBand and click Record. A message will appear asking if you wish to record the session. Click Yes and GarageBand will make a track for each person in your chat or conference.
If you're using a video chat, you can choose to show the Podcast Window from the Track menu where a snapshot of each participant will be shown each time they speak.
23. Play your keyboard
If you're lucky enough to own a USB keyboard then you won't have problems playing notes into GarageBand. If you don't, you have another option beyond simply clicking in the Piano Roll with your mouse.
Press Shift+Command+K to bring up GarageBand's Software Keyboard which enables you to use your Mac's keyboard as an input device. The keys are lettered so you know where to press, and there are also Velocity, Octave, Pitch Bend and Modulation controls available.
When using the software keyboard you'll need to manually click the Record button as the R key will be assigned to a note.
24. Shift octaves
If you want to adjust the pitch of an entire MIDI track you can do so in a few clicks.
Start by double-clicking your MIDI track on the GarageBand timeline to show the Piano Roll, which includes all of your MIDI notes. Click within the Piano Roll and press Command+A to select your notes.
All of your notes will now be highlighted green, denoting that they're selected. Click and drag the first of your notes up or down to adjust their pitch. An octave change will be 12 notes up or down from your original note.
25. Note expression
Notes in songs are rarely played in the same way twice unless it's part of some highly programmed dance music. If you're applying your own MIDI notes to your project you'll run this robotic-sounding risk, so make sure you make the most of the Expression feature in the Piano Roll.
Select Expression from the Piano Roll's drop-down menu, which can be accessed by double-clicking on any MIDI track. With Expression selected, hold the Command key and click on the Piano Roll to add points to determine how the expression of a note changes over time. This is especially handy for creating swelling notes for organs and string instruments.
26. Realism and swing
As with Expression, real live drummers aren't metronomic and often slip a little out of time. If you listen to a track that has perfect percussion it sounds a little too rigid.
If this is the case with your MIDI drum part, try picking a preset from the Enhance Timing drop-down menu in the Piano Roll. From here you can set a level of Swing that pushes some of your notes a little out of time for a more realistic effect.
You're also able use the Enhance Timing slider to fine-tune the rest of your settings.
27. Automation
To automate changes to an instrument as your song plays, click the downward pointing arrow next to the Lock button on any of your tracks to show the Automation section. Now select Track Volume and Pan and add other effects you wish to automate.
When selected, you can apply your automation by clicking on the timeline to add control points, which you can drag up or down to create changes over a period of time. This is especially useful for fading tracks in and out using the Track Volume automation.
28. Export song as sheet music
So you've created your first GarageBand song and you want to share it with others. Of course, you can email it around as an MP3 or upload it to the web, but what about your friends who can actually read music?
There is another way to share your project from GarageBand as long as it's made up of MIDI tracks. Start by opening the project you want to share and select the instrument you want to create sheet music for.
From the File menu, select Print, and that's it! If you want to save the sheet music as a PDF, simply choose the PDF option from the Print menu.
29. Count in and metronome
If you're having trouble playing along to your track and recording it, give yourself some warning of the start with a count in.
Head to the Control menu and select Count In. Now, every time you click record, there'll be four metronome clicks to prepare you before recording starts.
You can also turn on the metronome to help you keep time when recording without a drum track to follow. The metronome can also be turned on from the Control menu and plays every time you click the record button.
30. Multi-take recording
If you want to perfect a recording from a MIDI or real instrument you can set GarageBand to record multiple takes and then choose the best one.
Turn on the Cycle Region feature, the button to the right of the Play button on the Transport bar, and you will notice a yellow bar appear above the GarageBand timeline. Drag this bar over the area of your track you wish to record onto and click record.
You can now record your part as many times as you wish and then select your best take from the recordings. You can select takes by clicking on the number that appears at the top left of your recording on the instrument's track.
Make your website look better than ever with iWeb
31. Copying logos
Adding a logo to your pages is a great way to perpetuate your branding across your site, but have you noticed that many websites use their logo to link back to their home page? You can do this yourself very easily.
Click on your logo to select it then go to the Inspector's Link tab (second from the right), tick the Enable as Hyperlink box, choose One of My Pages from the Link To menu and select First from the Page menu.
If you did this for the first page, you can then copy and paste your logo onto every other page and its position and the link will be preserved.
32. Adding to the footer
By default, every web page you create with iWeb has a footer – a place at the bottom of your page that contains any information you'd like. No matter how much data you add in the main body, the footer will always remain at the foot of the page.
But moving an existing text box, photo or other object from the main body to the footer appears to be impossible. No matter how much you drag, this action merely extends the main body's size rather than adding it to the footer.
To move your selection into the footer area, you have to Command-drag rather than simply drag.
33. Removing the footer
But you may have no need for the footer at all and would quite possibly like to remove the Made on a Mac logo as well.
You can select it and delete it manually, or go to Insert > Button > Made on a Mac instead, but this still leaves you with an empty footer that you could do without. To remove this section from your page, go to the Inspector and select its Page tab (first on the left).
Select the Layout section and type 0 in the Footer Height field.
34. Resizing your page
You can use the Inspector tab to alter the dimensions of your page, especially its width, since most modern computers can cope with a width much greater than 700 pixels. You could also resize it to make your site more compatible with the iPhone if you so wished.
There's one problem with all this though – it only affects the page that you're currently working on. If you want to change the dimensions for your whole site, it's best to do this at the very start and duplicate the existing setting by Ctrl-clicking on it and choosing Duplicate, rather than creating a whole new page every time. This way you don't have to type in all your custom dimensions again.
35. Vertical navigation
If you're going to customise your page, why not change the most obvious part: the navigation menu?
If you click on it to select it, you'll find two resize handles – one to the left, the other on the right. Drag either towards the other to alter its dimension. As you do, the menus will start to appear one below the other. You can then move the whole thing to the left or right of your page.
As the navigation menu resides in the header section of your page, making it vertical will result in a much bigger header. You can drag items to it from the main body to fill it up using the same method described for the footer section.
36. Clickable numbers
Speaking of iPhones, wouldn't it be great if you could tap on your phone number when viewing your page on your mobile device so you could quickly dial it? This involves the use of an HTML Snippet (found in the Widget section of iWeb).
To drag one to your page, access the Snippet window, and then type in the line of code:
Once you've entered that, click Apply, and your number will be instantly tappable.
37. Customise snippets
When adding text to a Snippet, the style never seems to match the rest of the site. But have no fear, you can change it by adding the following code to it:
You can of course change the font name, size and colour to any style or colour that you want to match your own preferred style.
The colour codes can be found in OS X's Colour Palette window in the Web Safe Colours section.
38. Static backgrounds
By default, if you add a background image to your site, it'll scroll down as you scroll down the text.
To keep the image static, do the following: go to the Page Inspector and add your image to the Browser Background section.
Next, save your site to a folder on your Mac. Open up the file using TextEdit as described in Step 40. Use the Find command to locate 'repeat scroll'. Change it to 'repeat fixed' and save the file. Your background will now remain static.
39. External navigation links
The navigation menu only links to pages within your own site. There's no obvious way to link to an external page – but you can manufacture one.
Create a new blank page and give it a relevant name. Next, remove all content from it and drag an HTML Snippet onto it and type in this code:
The page will appear in your navigation menu since it exists in your site, but as soon as you click on it, that code will handily reroute your command to the external web page URL you typed in.
40. Working on the code
If you've got any coding experience, you may wish to get your hands on the HTML code to tweak a few things here and there. You actually don't need a fancy program to do this, as TextEdit will do fine. But if you use it to open an HTML page, TextEdit will translate and display the content as if it were a web browser, which is not what you want.
Instead, open TextEdit and go to File > Open. Select a file you wish to view from there, but before you do anything else, make sure the Ignore Rich Text Commands box is ticked. Now open it and youll see the proper code.
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