Switching between Software titles in OS X

To switch between active software titles hold the cmd key and press the tab key.  This will allow you to select which title you wish to use by releasing the keys once you have selected the programme you wish to use.  If you wish to reverse the selection (this is quite useful when you have several packages open simultaneously) hold the shift key as well as the cmd key and press tab and the selection will run from right to left.

Quick tip:

⌘⇥ (cmd+tab) left to right

⇧⌘⇥ (shift+cmd+tab) right to left

Getting Screenshots in Apple OS X

I was contemplating creating a document that required me to use screenshots as examples.  I found the solution all too easy, and I have now decided to provide everyone with the solution, to help save time.

⌘⇧3 (cmd+shift+3)
Takes a photo of the entire screen, as it looks.  Ideal for full screen demonstrations.  It then saves the file on the desktop as a PNG file.

⌘Ctrl⇧3 (cmd+ctrl+shift+3)
As with the previous example, however this time saving it to the clipboard to be pasted into another program.

⌘⇧4 (cmd+shift+4)
This allows you to select an area.  Once pressed the cursor changes to a crosshair, then drag the crosshair, like drawing a box, and once you have released the mouse button, a new PNG file will appear on the desktop.

⌘⇧4 then space key (cmd+shift+4 then space)
This will allow you to select an available window and then take a snapshot of it.  This is a great tool for taking a screenshot for the purpose of  creating screenshots of a specific program, with nothing else visable.

I am certain there are other ways of creating screenshots, so if you know of any please feel free to add them in your comments.

Where’s the # key on the UK Mac keyboard

One of the first things that flummoxed me when I first started using the Mac what where was the # key.  Suffice to say I have no problem with using it now, but as a newbie it was frustrating, specially as I use Twitter on a regular basis.  Well, here it is:

Press the Alt key on your keyboard, located on the bottom row, either side of the space bar (that’s the long one, if you are not sure) and then press the number 3, voila.

Quick Tip:

Keystroke is: ⎇ 3