Topic: Cool Mac tricks

[KatyD]

Would any of your brilliant Mac minds be interested in answering a question for me? I'm a Mac newbie and still learning the ropes. I am having a terrible time printing from web pages. Is there a secret? When I do a simple "File" "Print," on many web pages, the printer spits out lots of blank pages or maybe prints a single line on a page. Any ideas? I've tried everything I can think of--it can be infuriating!  :ranting

You can PM me if you want--I don't want to change the thread topic.

Thanks!

Katy

[KatyD]

Whoa, Christine! I'm printing these out. The "Sam" thing is SO cool. I can't wait to tell my son about that!

Katy
 

I had to add some cows, well... 'cause you know! 

[Jaina]

Not sure if this will help, Katy, but can you right-click with your mouse?  I can with mine and if I do it on a webpage (like this one), it gives me a "print page" option.  Maybe that would help you?

I've never had a problem with the File/Print thing spitting out lots of blank pages, though.  You have color and black and white ink in your printer, right?  Then again, I've got a fairly inexpensive HP LaserJet, as well as my color/BW DeskJet, and it prints out a nice B&W version of any page nice and fast.

Sorry I can't be of more help!

[Joni]

Another thing to check, Katy -- depending on your printer driver and browser, look in the Print dialogue box for a check box or something along the lines of "print largest frame," "print all frames," etc. That *could* be part of the problem. If you have those check-boxes, experiment with them on a single web page and see if one option works better than others.

[C.S.]

Katy, there are a couple of things that might help. Go to File > Page Setup and you'll see Orientation. Most web pages are horizontal so choose the middle icon, then click OK. Now select Print from the File Menu (Command P). When the print dialog box appears, click preview instead of print. This allows you to, well, preview the pages before printing. If you have multiple pages, go to the View Menu, select Drawer and you'll see all the pages on the right hand side. If you need hard copies, then select Print at the bottom of the page. If you just want to save a copy on your computer, go to File and select Save As. Type in a name and it will save a PDF file to your hard drive. Harrietthespy recently posted information on how to immediately save a PDF file.

Hope this was helpful.

[KatyD]

Thanks for the quick replies, guys.

Jaina, I don't have a right click on my mouse, but to right click I do the Ctrl-click thing. And the print option comes up. Unfortunately, that didn't solve my problem. And I do have both ink cartridges in.

Joni--I haven't been able to locate the frames thing yet. At first glance, I don't see those options--only a box to check to "Print backgrounds" and "Print headers and footers."

C.S.--I tried your Preview suggestion. On what should have been a four-page print, the printer spit out 7 blank pages then one page with only the left-hand side menu from the web page, and it was printed on the right side of the paper. Argh!

I'm open to any other suggestions. Could it be a printer driver problem?

Katy

[C.S.]

That's odd, Katy. When you Previewed the documents, did you see seven pages? Have you recently updated your system software? What brand of printer are you using? And finally, do you have the latest print drivers?

[Harrietthespy]

KatyD,

Sometimes I wonder if the problem is the html code on a certain page.  Go to "print" and select "pdf" instead.  Save the page as a file, then open it If you see blank pages, then there is a problem.  If you don't, you can print the pdf of the webpage, then delete the file when you are done.

That might be a temporary work-around while you're trying to investigate the problem of printing directly.

Also, did you turn your printer on and off?  Sometimes my laser printer gets confused and prints out blank pages with a few weird codes on it.  So I have to "reboot"...C

[KatyD]

C.S.--Preview only showed the four pages. Whenever updates become available, I keep my computer current. I've had this website/printer issue ever since I got my Mac in September 2007. My printer is an old HP psc 2110--maybe that's the problem--it's old, but it worked fine with the PC I had before. I assume I have the latest driver, it's the one Mac chose for me when I installed it in September.

Christine--The PDF trick you told me about worked fine except it printed the pages in landscape mode. But it's nice to know there is an easy way to print them until I figure out my problem. Thanks! I've been copying and pasting into Word to print and sometimes that doesn't even work. I played around a little with the "Sam" feature you mentioned. So far, I can only get it to work when I use the "Speak" (Escape) key and even then it only recognizes a few commands. I used the Calibrate tool, but for some reason it's not picking up my voice correctly--probably this southern drawl! And I can't get it to work with a name at all yet. But I'll keep playing with it--what a fabulous feature! I'm surprised they don't promote that more!

Thanks again, everyone!

Katy

[C.S.]

Katy, here's Hp's website for your printer:

http://h20180.www2.hp.com/apps/Lookup?h_lang=en&h_cc=us&cc=us&h_page=hpcom&lang=en&h_client=S-A-R163-1&h_pagetype=s-002&h_query=HP+psc+2110&submit.x=7&submit.y=7

Select the appropriate printer and operating system, then download the latest software. If your software is already up to date, another thing to try is to turn the printer off, disconnect the USB cable from the computer, and unplug the printer for sixty seconds. Reconnect all plugs and try again.

Hope this helps you out.

[KatyD]

Y'all are all so nice to help me. 

I'll give 'er a try!

Thanks again,

Katy

[ange]

Thanks for these tips, they are fabulous. Now the board has not only helped emotionally but also practically!

[Harrietthespy]

Hey KatyD,

The poltergeist are at work.  I installed a new wireless router so I could encrypt access (I think neighbors were using our wireless).  Everything worked well until I went to print a practice page (CNN).  It printed in HUGE type and multiple pages with a lot of blank space - LOL!  Must have been reading this thread.  But all other documents printed fine and other internet pages.  So try different sites and see what happens.  I'll puzzle my issue out later but so far it's limited to the CNN pages.  Yep - my house is haunted (it really is - someone died here in 1933) and now he's messing with my head AND my printer.

[C.S.]

Here are some links for maintaining Mac OS X.

Mac Tune-up: 34 Software Speedups
http://www.macworld.com/article/49489/2006/02/softwarespeed.html

52 Ways to Speed Up OS X (scroll down the page to find article)
http://www.imafish.co.uk/articles/post/articles/130/52-ways-to-speed-up os-x/

Tuning Mac OS X Performance
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/performance.html

11 Ways to Optimize Your Mac's Performance
http://lowendmac.com/eubanks/07/0312.html

The Top 7 Free Utilities To Maintain A Mac
http://mac360.com/index.php/mac360/comments/the_top_7_free_utilities_to_maintain_a_mac/

Mac OS X: System maintenance
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=607640

Hope these are helpful.

Craig

[Lynda B.]

Whoa. What I don't know is a lot!! Everything I knew about using a computer I taught myself with a need-to-know, hunt and peck method. Needless to say I was a pretty poorly educated user of microsoft pc's. Now that I have a mac... well, I know even less, LOL! Did the rest of you learn through classes? online mac tutorials?in college?? Lead me to the Promised Land oh wise ones!  :fathertime Have pitty on this child who came of age in a time when dot matrix was acceptable formating in research papers!

Lynda

[HaroldU]

Lynda,

What I know about Macs--which isn't a whole lot--I've just picked up as I went along. I also get Macworld magazine.

Don't worry if you aren't up to all these tricks to make your Mac work better. I don't think they will make that much of a difference, particularly if you are using it primarily for word processing, which does not tax the system very heavily....

I've mentally filed many of the good suggestions in this thread under "things to do when I have time." The only essential, in my opinion, is backing up your files regularly.

[sarah_create]

I hate the Word default on my Mac. It comes single spaced in Cambria and adds space after each paragraph.
It is so irritating that I'm experimenting with Scrivener! (awesome program, by the way)

I've tried finding a way to create a new setting--so every new document comes up with the settings I want--you know the standard: Times New Roman 12, double spaced, 1 inch margins.
I've tried the styles in the toolbox--but then it places lines around my pages which is distracting.

I'm sure there is an easy way, but I've looked for one for 3 months now. 

Please message me or post in this thread if you know how to solve this simple problem. I'm sure the answer is staring me in my face.

[Anne Marie]

Have you created a new style under Format?

I'm not sure what you mean about the lines around the pages.

[Jaina]

My default font comes up Times New Roman 12 every time.  I'm not sure what you've tried, but... 

I'd open a new blank document.
Under "Format" at the top, choose "Font"
Choose "Times New Roman" "Regular" and "12"
Click on "Default" at the bottom of that font square thing.
All new documents you open should have Times NR 12 pt. font as the default.

For the margins, choose "Format" and "Document"
Set your margins the way you want them and click "Default"

I'm not sure how to set a default line spacing.  It doesn't seem to give you that option where you change it from single to double (under "Format" and "Paragraph").  I guess I just change it using the toolbar whenever I start writing.

I'm still using Word 2004 for Mac, if that helps.

[sarah_create]

Thank you Anne Marie and Jaina.
 
This is a new computer, bought in 2008--I have the 2008 Word for Mac.

Have you created a new style under Format?

The new style creates a small block of double hashed lines on the pages, which expands when I type. I created a style with all my preferences, but the moving block of lines around what I type distracts me! I suspect there is a way to get rid of it, but I've not found the secret.

Click on "Default" at the bottom of that font square thing.

This worked. THANKS!! Thanks! Thanks!
I will now have happy documents.

I'm not sure how to set a default line spacing.  It doesn't seem to give you that option where you change it from single to double (under "Format" and "Paragraph"). 

I can't find a way to change it either. Hm. I can change it with each document. No problem.

Thanks again. I'm still figuring out all the ins and outs on my mac. I love my mac, but it takes time to learn the new system. This thread is wonderful
I'm playing with Scrivener--which is only available for the mac. It seems to work great for writing larger works--like novels. It exports easily to word or rich text format, etc.
I'll let you know what I think after I've spent some time with it. Several students at Vermont use it and after my residency--where I can see why and how they use it--I'll be able to decide if I want to use it all the time.

[Jill C.]

CS, Harriet and all you wonderful Mac experts, please tell me which mac laptopyou would buy. I am a writer, not an illustrator. Also, would you buy it at a mac store, online or I understand i can buy mac at Fry's and other retailers now. Thanks so much.

[Sarah Miller]

I'm using a garden-variety MacBook with a 120GB hard drive. I store a lot of photos on mine (probably 10,000 or more), just about every document since my sophomore year of high school, and my iPod sucks up roughly 16GB. Even so, I'm using just over half my capacity.

I shop at the Apple store, mostly because I like going in there -- it's like Disneyland for computers. 

[Jill C.]

do you find the screen big enough? i would love a 17" but it is way too many $$$

[sbk(linda)]

Honestly, I was really concerned with screen size when I got my Macbook. DH surprised me and told me he'd ordered one for me online (he's lucky enough to get developer discounts) and took me to a store to show me one. I almost cried when I saw how small the screen was.

But as soon as I started using it, I barely noticed. It's everything I need. I love love love my Macbook.

[Verla Kay]

I have a Macbook, too, and I also love it.  It's the perfect size to take to schools with my Power Point programs on it for each grade level and length of presentations, too.  It's awesome.  It also runs in both OSX and Windows, so I can use windows programs on it, as well as my Mac stuff.  It's definitely the best of both worlds.

[Gina Black]

I buy online where I can get free shipping and pay no sales tax. I have a 13" screen and it's perfectly fine. I had one of the older iBooks with a 12" screen and it was sweet, like a puffed up iPod. When you're writing you don't need a big screen and smaller is easier to cart around.

Theresa

[Sarah Miller]

Yep, the screen's fine for me, too. Granted, screen size doesn't mean much to me....

[C.S.]

Hi Jill — I leaned forward when working on a 13" screen, and that exacerbated a neck injury. Due to a various problems with a first generation 15" Mac Book Pro, Apple replaced it with a 17". The larger screen is nice, but it's a harder to lug around. I prefer the 15" screen.

Here's a web-site that lists the best prices for Apple Computers:

http://www.macprices.net/

I would only buy from Amazon, Apple, Best Buy, Newegg, MacMall, or MacConnection.

Apple Care is a good idea but don't buy it from Apple. I saved over a hundred dollars by buying it here:

http://www.lacomputercompany.com/cgi-bin/rpcart/featured.cgi?group=appcare

If this is your first notebook computer, read this information on battery maintenance to extend its life:

http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86284

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=50666

After calibrating your battery, here's a link for a great application that will track your batteries health:

http://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery/index.html

Best of luck

[Gina Black]

Here's a web-site that lists the best prices for Apple Computers:
etc.

C.S.,

Thanks for all the great links. I'm a longtime apple owner and I didn't know several of them. The application that tracks battery health is JUST what I've been looking for since my battery has been getting wimpy lately.

Theresa

[Gretchen]

We are a two Mac family.  My husband has a 17 inch Macbook Pro.  He edits and produces video and uses Final Cut so the 17 inch is better for his work.  However, he is envious of my 15 inch G4 Powerbook.  Mine is much lighter and easier for on-the-go.  I've always thought the 12 inch would be nice to have, but I enjoy the fact that my 15 inch has an illuminated keyboard.