Hidden OS X Gems

What?

A handpicking of 4 "hidden" OS X gems from OakInnovations' list of 10

1. Easily compare versions of a file, and cherry pick among the differences: FileMerge
   
   
2. Summarize any text: Summarize
   
   
3. Save snippets of text and images by dragging them from your web browser to the Desktop: Drag n Drop Save
   
   
4. Have folders update their content automatically based on simple rules: Smart Folders

How?

1. FileMerge - Type in FileMerge in Searchlight, or use the Finder menu Finder > FileMerge > Compare Files
   
   
2. Summarize - Select text, go to the application menu (e.g. Safari) > Services > Summarice
   
   
3. Drag n Drop Save - Just mark the text or picture you want to save, and drag it to the Desktop. (Only works in Carbon applications - yet another reason to switch to WebKit)
   
   
4. Smart Folders - In Finder, File > New Smart Folder (or just hist cmd + opt + N). A smart folder can be really simple and powerful, or complex and very powerful.
   
   (On my Desktop I have a smart folder Recent Ruby with rules Modified within last 1 day, and name ends in rb. This gives me a quick overview over all the files in all my current Ruby projects that I've worked on today.)
   

Mac OS X : Save PDF's of Any Document with a Click

What?

Save a PDF of any document or picture to pre-determined folders with a quick cmd+p and click (without navigating the directory structure)

How?

1. Go to /Library (Open Finder, hit Cmd+Shift+G, type /Library, hit Enter)
2. Find or create a folder named PDF Services
3. Open a new Finder window, and create the Folders you want to save PDF's to (hit Cmd+N, and hit Cmd+Shift+N to create each Folder)
   
4. Create an alias for each Folder (Select all folders, hit Cmd+L)
5. Drag all aliases to the /Library/PDF Services folder in the first window
   

Done. You will now have the selected folders appear in the save menu.

Extra Hint

You can alias other things than Folders. If you often read and highlight created PDF's in, say, Acrobat Reader, then try to alias the Acrobat Reader application and put it in /Library/PDF Services as well.

Thank you

Macworld for the great article, with this and other tips.