Tag Archive | "Files"

How To Extract Images From PDF Files & Save Them For Other Uses [Windows]


extract images from pdfThe Portable Document Format (PDF) is often the preferred medium for exchanging documents across the web. But sometimes, it creates more “problems” than it solves.

For instance, I am a voracious user of Slideshare, and sometimes I like to save a neat illustration or graphic for my personal use. Then there are some professional reports which come packaged as a PDF and you might come across the need to use a graphic from there in a presentation.

We had taken an earlier look at 6 Ways To Convert A PDF To A JPG Image. But over here, I am looking for something specific – extracting images only from PDF files. The solutions offered in the previous article are full-fledged converters. Here, the focus is more pinpointed.

Let’s check out a few ways to extract images from PDF files.

The Manual Way

Extracting images from PDF files is not a problem if you have the commercial Adobe Acrobat. It allows you to extract all the images (in multiple image formats) in a PDF file with a single click. Some free PDF readers like the earlier reviewed Nitro PDF Reader also have this feature. If you have the free Adobe Reader installed, then you have to slog it out by either using the Print Screen button on an individual image or using the Take a snapshot feature from the Edit menu. In both cases, you have to paste the copied image from the clipboard into a graphic editor.

The Photoshop Way

Okay, Adobe Photoshop isn’t a free product, but some of us do have it installed because it is the Big Daddy when it comes to image editors. Photoshop allows you to open a PDF document and start importing the text or the images in it. The Import PDF dialog appears as below:

extract images from pdf

 

You can select the images you want to extract. Click on OK and then save (or edit) the image as you would normally do. CorelDRAW also offers a similar functionality.

The Freeware Way

Well, you don’t need to get thumbprints on the Print Screen button or plonk down serious case on Photoshop if you regularly extract images from PDF files. Let’s bring up Some PDF Image Extract for the job at hand.

The 885 KB free software runs on Windows and is very handy for extracting image files from PDF documents. Plus, it comes with a few bells and whistles that give some control over what you are going to pull out from the PDF file. Installation is a breeze; just be careful to deselect the option which asks you to install the Blekko search engine as an option (i.e. if you want).

The interface of Some PDF Image Extract looks like this and using the image extractor doesn’t need you to consult any help file (though there is one).

extract pdf images

 

Some PDF Image Extract allows you to extract images from PDF files by using any or all of the following features…

1. The free software can batch process PDF files and extract their images in individual folders in one go. If you have more than one PDF file to work on, this is a time saver.

2. Some PDF Image Extract comes with image format options (JPG, BMP, PNG, GIF, TIF, TGA, and PCX). In case of the JPG output option, you can also control the quality of the extracted image.

3. You can choose the page range as well as an individual page if you want to extract only specific images from the file.

extract images from pdf

4. Some PDF Images Extract can work with password protected PDF-files too. The conversion tool has a field where you can key in the password during conversion.

Some PDF Image Extract does its conversion bit quite rapidly and smoothly. It works with Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista, and probably Windows 7 too though I haven’t tested it out on that.

PDF image extraction has quite a few uses. What are yours? How do you extract images from PDF files? Tell us your choice of method.



View full post on MakeUseOf

Posted in Useful APPsComments (0)

Start A “Dead Drop” In Your City & Share Files With People In The Street


class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/intro8.jpg" alt="" />Who’d have thought in 2011 – the year of the fibre optic broadband connection – we’d be cementing class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/portable-software-usb/">USB sticks into the wall to share files? Not me, but that’s exactly what the term “dead drop” entails.

Devised by blogger class="vt-p" href="http://datenform.de/indexeng.html">Aram Bartholl, this offline and class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-tips-prevent-watching-downloading-torrents/">anonymous file sharing method has taken off around the globe and couldn’t be simpler to use. The project’s creator is keen for others to use and install their own dead drops, with more turning up on a daily basis. If you’re sitting there thinking “I have to give this a go!” then read on!

Security & File Sharing

Naturally there are a few concerns regarding security and anonymous USB sticks, so caution is recommended. After all, the idea is to provide an anonymous filesharing platform that anyone can have access to.

Yes, it is possible for someone to copy malicious software onto the drive (along with an autorun file) that may install something you’d rather not have on your PC. I’d recommend you have class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/ten-best-antivirus-programs/">all necessary security software setup or connect with a virtual machine for ultimate piece of mind. Downloading class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/download-50-cool-uses-for-live-cds">a Linux live CD is another sure-fire way of avoiding infection.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/drop_.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="435" />

I’m not saying that every dead drop is littered with trojans and malware – you just can’t trust some people. If you have an old laptop with little of importance on it then use it, otherwise any devices that support the mounting of universal mass storage (UMS) devices should also work too (don’t forget your cables).

Finally when you eventually get to a dead drop you’ll be holding your laptop against a wall, propped up in an odd position which may look… well, strange to passers by. It might be safer to avoid pulling your MacBook Pro out in a dark alley at midnight, let’s put it that way.

The Dead Drop Manifesto

The dead drops movement is a fairly organised one, and it may surprise you to learn that there is class="vt-p" href="http://deaddrops.com/dead-drops/manifesto/">a manifesto to read and a few rules you to follow should you wish to participate. The manifesto states: “anyone can access a Dead Drop and everyone may install a Dead Drop in their neighborhood/city“.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/manc_1.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="386" />

This means that if you want to start your own dead drop, then it must not be in a publicly closed-off space (for example a bar, club or similar). The project’s creator defines city streets as “the only true public space” – so if you want your drop listed on the official website, play by the rules.

There is already a well-written and class="vt-p" href="http://deaddrops.com/dead-drops/participate/">thorough guide about installing a dead drop on the official site, and the steps are fairly easy to follow. You’ll need a spare USB drive (of any size), a copy of the dead drop readme.txt that explains the project’s aims, some plumbers tape and quick drying cement.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/manc_2.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="534" />

If manual work isn’t your strong point, class="vt-p" href="http://www.instructables.com/id/USB-Dead-Drops/">this guide on Instructables might also be of value. Once your drop has been installed you’re urged to make it look neat and attractive before taking three photos – one of the area near your drop, one of the street it can be found on and a close-up shot of the drop itself.

Once you’ve done that you can class="vt-p" href="http://deaddrops.com/db/?page=submit">submit it to Aram and if it adheres to the manifesto it will be included on the official site, for others to discover.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/manc_3.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="386" />

Dead Dropping All Over The World

To help find dead drops in your area, there is class="vt-p" href="http://deaddrops.com/db/?page=map">a map and an class="vt-p" href="http://deaddrops.com/dead-drops/db-map/">extensive database on the homepage. At the time of writing the dead drop count is up to 591, totalling 1,782GB of offline storage.

Lucky class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/android">Android users can download the class="vt-p" href="https://market.android.com/details?id=squirrel.DeaddropDroid">“Deaddropdroid” app from the Android Market which uses your location to determine nearby drops. The app is currently in beta, and an iOS version is apparently on the way soon for iPhone users.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/deadmap.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="404" />

Those using class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/layar-versatile-augmented-reality-android-iphone/">Layar, the augmented reality browser, are also able to class="vt-p" href="http://www.layar.com/layers/deaddrops">add dead drops to their list of available layers – which makes finding drops easier than ever and works on both iOS and Android.

Finally – what will you share? There are no limits to what is shared, though many have found dead drops the perfect platform from which to share their own creations. Are you an artist or photographer? Why not add your portfolio to a dead drop – you never know who might drop by.

Musicians, writers, charities and community workers could all use drops to spread word of their cause. Then again perhaps you just fancy sharing your favourite Thundercats episode?

Conclusion

The thought behind the dead drops project is well-meaning and above all fun. Provided you exercise caution, especially if you’re using a Windows PC, and make sure there’s no gum or other damaging foreign matter in the stick before you’re hooked up then your offline filesharing experience will probably be a pleasant one.

Do you think dead drops are a good idea? Have you shared? Have you established a drop? We’d love to hear your thoughts, so stick them in the comments below this post.

Image credits: class="vt-p" href="http://deaddrops.com/about/deaddrops-2/" rel="nofollow">Intro (Deaddrops by Aram Bartholl), All other images taken from mapped entries on the Dead Drops project @ class="vt-p" href="http://deaddrops.com/" rel="nofollow">deaddrops.com



View full post on MakeUseOf

Posted in Useful APPsComments (2)

Delete Temporary Files Quickly & Discreetly With Browser Cleaner [Windows]


class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/image.png" alt="deleting temporary files"/>Life with multiple href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/browsers/">browsers, numerous applications and a constant use of IM and href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/file-sharing/">file sharing programs leaves our computers cluttered with temporary files, histories etc. Many times these files are unnecessary, and can slow down our computers and take up valuable space. Sometimes we want to delete traces of things we did on a computer, like chat histories and traces left by file sharing programs.

There are many tools out there that solve this problem, the best known among them being (probably) href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/ccleaner-remove-excess-files-ccenhancer/">CCleaner. Browser Cleaner (Windows) is yet another one of these tools.

As the name implies, Browser Cleaner deletes temporary files in your browsers’ cache, cookies, history etc., but it can also do this for many additional applications and other Windows items. All this is packed into a 900K file which you can carry around on a USB stick and use wherever and whenever you need it.

Installation is a breeze: You don’t have to waiver the privilege of having any new toolbars or other unwanted additions, and you can start working almost immediately.

Internet Items

Many of us use multiple browsers. When you clear your browser’s temporary files, you can choose what you want to delete and what you want to keep. But what if you could do this for all your browsers from one single window and in one single click?

The first window you’ll see in Browser Cleaner is the Internet Items tab. Here you can choose which browsers you want the program to clean up for you. You can also choose whether you want it to clean IM programs and file sharing programs.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/2011-08-03-20h47_59.png" alt="deleting temporary files" width="386" height="493" border="0" />

When you click the “options” button next to each of the browsers, you’ll get to choose exactly what you want it to clean for each browser.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/2011-08-03-20h48_23.png" alt="how to delete temporary internet files" width="292" height="335" border="0" />

For the IM and file sharing programs you can choose which programs Browser Cleaner will clean. This is a set list and you can’t add to it if the program you use doesn’t appear in it, and it is missing some names. But it works well for the names that do appear, clearing chat histories etc. with a snap.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/2011-08-03-20h48_43.png" alt="how to delete temporary internet files" width="298" height="355" border="0" />

Windows Items and Applications

Clicking on the Windows Items tab will bring you to a significantly longer list of items such as the clipboard (clear your clipboard tracks), temp folder (clear temporary files), recent folder (clear all the recent open documents and files) and many more.

Choosing to clear all of these can guarantee that at least the average person will not be able to find traces of your activity on that computer. And most of the time, this is more than enough.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/2011-08-03-20h53_57.png" alt="how to delete temporary internet files" width="387" height="377" border="0" />

The Applications tab provides a respectable list of applications and a description of what temporary files Browser Cleaner will clean. Again, this is a set list, but it contains many important applications you may want to clear your traces from.

After performing the clean-up on your selected items, you will get on OK result if all went well.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/2011-08-03-23h16_50.png" alt="delete temporary internet files" width="388" height="518" border="0" />

The clean-up speed depends on how much you want to delete. When I chose 3 browsers and several applications, the process was almost immediate. After you go over everything once and select your preferred items, all you have to do next time is run Browser Cleaner and press the big, shiny Clean Now button. This way, you can get rid of all the unwanted files in just a few seconds (or a few minutes if your deleting many many things).

More Options

If you’re really paranoid about those more than your average person computer experts, the Wipe Free Space tab is what you need.

When files are deleted, they are generally just marked as free space to be overwritten at some point in the future when the need arises. If someone really wanted to, he could recover your browsing history files and recent documents and prove that you were actually downloading picture from Facebook when you were supposed to be working. Browser Cleaner can wipe this free space and make the files harder to recover.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/2011-08-03-20h51_36.png" alt="delete temporary internet files" width="387" height="378" border="0" />

Don’t forget to check out the basic-yet-useful settings, where you can arrange for Browser Cleaner to perform its magic every time you exit a browser or shutdown Windows, and also control its notification methods.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/2011-08-03-20h52_00.png" alt="delete temporary internet files" width="371" height="448" border="0" />

When you’re all done, you’ll hear an 80s sort of beep and a balloon will pop up to reassure you that all is well. You can control this, of course, if you don’t want the whole office wondering why your computer is beeping. /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/2011-08-03-21h06_02.png" alt="deleting temporary files" width="329" height="115" border="0" />

 

Bottom Line

Browser Cleaner is a lightweight, portable and easy to use application. If you’re using multiple computers and need some data wiped after each usage, this one is a must-have for you. It’s not big and it’s not fancy, but it works well and does so with finesse.

What do you use to clear your computer and your tracks? Share in the comments!



View full post on MakeUseOf

Posted in Useful APPsComments (0)

DOWNLOAD Lockdown: Secure Your Files With TrueCrypt


class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/lockdown300.png?54167" alt="" />To really keep your data safe, you need to encrypt it. Not sure how to start? You need to read “Lockdown: Secure your Files With TrueCrypt”, by author Lachlan Roy.

Encryption is used all the time, often without you even realising it. Whenever you buy something online and make a transaction, all your details are heavily encrypted until they reach the other end, making sure that no third party could be listening in. If you use instant messaging programs it is possible to create an encryption tunnel to ensure that only you and the person you’re talking to can see the messages.

In this manual we’ll be talking about local file encryption – that is, encrypting files on a hard drive (or encrypting the entire hard drive). The files are safe as long as they are kept in the encrypted area.

style="text-align: center;"> class="vt-p" href="http://manuals.makeuseof.com.s3.amazonaws.com/MakeUseOf.com_-_Lockdown_Encryption_TrueCrypt.pdf">DOWNLOAD Lockdown: Secure Your Files with TrueCrypt /> Having trouble downloading? Right-click the link, then click “Save As…”

style="text-align: center;">or

style="text-align: center;"> class="vt-p" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/57464771">Read now on Scribd

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/lockdown-3page.png?54167" alt="" width="580" height="270" />

In this guide you’ll learn about:

  • Installing and using TrueCrypt.
  • Types of encryption, including virtual encrypted disks and system encryption.
  • Picking a good encryption password.
  • The importance of locking your computer.
style="text-align: center;"> class="vt-p" href="http://manuals.makeuseof.com.s3.amazonaws.com/MakeUseOf.com_-_Lockdown_Encryption_TrueCrypt.pdf">DOWNLOAD Lockdown: Secure Your Files with TrueCrypt /> Having trouble downloading? Right-click the link, then click “Save As…”

style="text-align: center;">or

style="text-align: center;"> class="vt-p" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/57464771">Read now on Scribd

Please take a moment and share this guide with friends on Facebook and Twitter using the social network sharing buttons below.

More articles about: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/ebooks/" title="ebooks" rel="tag">ebooks, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/encryption/" title="encryption" rel="tag">encryption, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/hide/" title="hide" rel="tag">hide, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/privacy/" title="privacy" rel="tag">privacy, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/security/" title="security" rel="tag">security, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/security-tips/" title="security tips" rel="tag">security tips />

Similar articles:

class="st-related-posts">
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/vpn-tunnel-set/" title="What A VPN Tunnel Is & How To Set One Up (March 24, 2011)">What A VPN Tunnel Is & How To Set One Up (3 comments …)
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/encrypt-dropbox-data-encfs-linux/" title="How To Encrypt Your Dropbox Data With ENCFS [Linux] (June 20, 2011)">How To Encrypt Your Dropbox Data With ENCFS [Linux] (10 comments …)
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/do-encryption-decryption-signing-easily-with-seahorse-linux/" title="How To Do Encryption, Decryption & Signing Easily With Seahorse [Linux] (January 9, 2010)">How To Do Encryption, Decryption & Signing Easily With Seahorse [Linux] (4 comments …)
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/create-hidden-partition-truecrypt-7/" title="How To Create A Truly Hidden Partition With TrueCrypt 7 (January 30, 2011)">How To Create A Truly Hidden Partition With TrueCrypt 7 (18 comments …)
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/exchange-secure-encrypted-emails-vaultletsuite/" title="Exchange Secure & Encrypted Emails with VaultletSuite (April 29, 2011)">Exchange Secure & Encrypted Emails with VaultletSuite (5 comments …)


  • View full post on MakeUseOf

    Posted in Useful APPsComments (0)

    Share Files & Folders With Computers & Mobile Devices Using Pogoplug [Windows & Mac]


    class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/pogoplugthumb.jpg?54167" alt="" /> class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-reasons-why-students-should-be-using-dropbox-as-a-study-tool/">Cloud services have become a popular way to share files with others, and they work well in most situations, making it easy to upload photos or documents and then access them on a variety of devices.

    This is not the only way to send files between devices, however. Streaming software such as class="vt-p" href="http://www.pogoplug.com/products-pogoplug-free-software.html">Pogoplug has advantages, such as a lack of storage caps and a simpler user experience, since you don’t have to hassle with local and cloud copies.

    Streaming vs. Cloud: What’s The Difference?

    class="aligncenter" style="border: 1px solid black;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/pogoplug3.jpg?54167" alt="" width="521" height="295" />

    Before I go into detail about Pogoplug, let’s talk about how it’s different from popular and well-established services like class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/dropbox">Dropbox.

    Pogoplug does not offer a cloud. At no point do you upload files to a server so they can be downloaded again later. Instead, you create an account when you install the software and then share folders on your PC. Those folders then can be accessed on other devices and computers, and you can share information on those as well, creating a network of computers that share files across the Internet.

    As there’s no cloud to upload data to, there’s no monthly storage charge once you go over a certain limit. The storage is all on devices you personally own. You also no longer need to worry about the service possibly being hacked or inaccessible.

    Streaming Made Easy

    class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/pogoplug2.jpg?54167" alt="" width="570" height="333" />

    Once installed, the Pogoplug software is easy to use. The included remote access controls are used to determine what is being shared on your computer. On my class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/two-tools-to-monitor-your-macbooks-battery-mac/">MacBook, for example, my Desktop, Documents, Music, Movies, and Pictures folders were selected by default.

    Any folder can be de-selected by removing a check from the appropriate box, and new folders can be added as well. All remote access can be cut off using a big remote access switch on the interface.

    Once shared, the files can be accessed using Pogoplug software on any other computer as long as you log into your account. Remember however, that this software depends on access to the various devices sharing information. Unlike a cloud service, this software won’t let you access data from a shared folder if the computer hosting it is turned off.

    Pogoplug Mobile Access

    One of the greatest advantages of a cloud service is the ability to access information while on the go. Pogoplug replicates this both via a web interface and on your mobile device.

    class="aligncenter" style="border: 1px solid black;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/pogoplug1.jpg?54167" alt="" width="462" height="243" />

    The web interface is impressive, as it provides access to a wide variety of content and is quite snappy. All of your folders that are shared via your Pogoplug software will be accessible, and the class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/dropmocks-create-picture-gallery-instantly/">Gallery tab lets you view photos as a class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-ways-to-create-beautiful-slideshows-of-your-digital-pictures/">slideshow. Those who pay for the class="vt-p" href="http://www.pogoplug.com/products.html">premium account (a $29 one-time fee) will also be able to stream music and video content via this in-browser interface.

    Android and iOS users will have access to the same features via the Pogoplug app available for free on each operating system’s respective marketplace. This app provides mobile access to all of your content with the exception of audio and video, which again is restricted to those who have a premium account.

    Backup and Printing

    Although the ability to stream and share content between devices is the focus of Pogoplug, it does have two other notable features.

    One is Active Copy, a simple but useful backup feature. It effectively links two folders together so that their content mirrors one another, making it easy to keep an up-to-date backup of important information on a multiple computers.

    Another great extra is online printing, which can be used to send documents to a remote printer connected to a computer running Pogoplug. It’s even possible for friends to share a printer with you, which means you can use their printer while logged into your own account. It’s even possible to print from the Android and iPhone apps.

    Conclusion

    Pogoplug isn’t a perfect service, but it has definite advantages compared to cloud services. My situation is a great example. I have multiple computers that I need to keep synced, but Dropbox won’t work (for free) because the amount of data I need to sync is in excess of 10GB.

    With this alternative, I’m not able to sync when one of my PCs is turned off, but that’s a trade-off I’m willing to make in exchange for the ability to freely transfer a very large volume of data. The Active Copy feature is an excellent way to keep my data backed up, as well.

    class="vt-p" href="http://www.pogoplug.com/products-pogoplug-free-software.html">Give it a try and let us know what you think of it in the comments.  Any missing features you would like to see included?

    href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/share-files-folders-computers-mobile-devices-pogoplug-windows-mac/">Share Files & Folders With Computers & Mobile Devices Using Pogoplug [Windows & Mac] is a post from: href="http://www.makeuseof.com">MakeUseOf

    More articles about: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/backup/" title="backup" rel="tag">backup, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/cross-platform/" title="cross platform" rel="tag">cross platform, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/file-sharing/" title="file sharing" rel="tag">file sharing, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/mobile-phones/" title="mobile phones" rel="tag">mobile phones, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/printing/" title="printing" rel="tag">printing, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/streaming/" title="streaming" rel="tag">streaming />

    Similar articles:

    class="st-related-posts">
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/spideroak-online-data-backup-sharing-solution-crossplatform/" title="SpiderOak – An Online Data Backup & Sharing Solution [Cross-Platform] (September 15, 2010)">SpiderOak – An Online Data Backup & Sharing Solution [Cross-Platform] (17 comments …)
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/total-media-domination-your-tv-video-and-audio-on-any-device/" title="Total Media Domination – Your TV, Video and Audio on any Device (March 20, 2008)">Total Media Domination – Your TV, Video and Audio on any Device (13 comments …)
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/simpleshare-crossplatform-easy-sharing-tool-5gb-free/" title="SimpleShare: A Cross-Platform Easy Sharing Tool With 5GB Free (June 22, 2011)">SimpleShare: A Cross-Platform Easy Sharing Tool With 5GB Free (4 comments …)
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/setup-perfect-media-center-plex-mac-windows/" title="Setup A Perfect Media Center With Plex [Mac & Windows] (May 15, 2011)">Setup A Perfect Media Center With Plex [Mac & Windows] (274 comments …)
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/share-and-stream-unlimited-files-from-your-computer-with-orb/" title="Orb – Free File Sharing and Streaming Program for Your PC (October 4, 2009)">Orb – Free File Sharing and Streaming Program for Your PC (10 comments …)


  • View full post on MakeUseOf

    Posted in Useful APPsComments (0)

    Giver – Still The Best Way to Send Files Across A Network [Linux]


    class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/giver_intro.jpg" alt="" />You know that, no matter what operating system you use, sharing files across a class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/network/">network can sometimes be a pain. Sadly, class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/service/linux">Linux isn’t always an exception in this category either, although for basic folder sharing some distributions make it easier. Having to set up a shared folder is even more painful when all you really want to do is send a file to a different computer, without having to use class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/dropbox">Dropbox or another outside service.

    class="vt-p" href="http://code.google.com/p/giver/">Giver, which has already class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-transfer-files-easily-among-linux-machines/">been reviewed back in early 2009, still belongs to the list of top-notch programs. This is even more surprising considering that the last release came out in 2007. Although the program itself hasn’t changed, the distributions themselves have changed dramatically, and yet the program still works.

    Giver does file sharing a little differently. Instead of sharing a folder to the network, you can simply choose a file or folder to send to a certain computer. In other words, this is a one-time transaction, like sending an email with an attachment.  That’s all Giver does while barely having any options to configure in order to keep the experience as simple and flawless as possible.

    Installation

    In my own experience all distributions simply name the package “giver”, but if you use a distribution with a small user base, you may want to double check.

    Procedure

    class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/giver_main.jpg" alt="" width="326" height="561" />

    As soon as Giver is installed on the two computers you would like to send files to and from, open up Giver on each computer. It magically detects the instances of Giver running on your own computer and any other computer on the network. From there, you can either left click, choose the option you want, and choose the file/folder to send, or you can drag and drop a file or folder onto a computer in the list to do the same.

    class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/giver_notification.jpg" alt="" width="577" height="54" />

    A notification should then appear on the computer that is receiving the file or folder, where you must click Accept in order to start the process. It should go relatively quickly (it’s using your full class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/lan/">LAN or class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/wifi/">WiFi speed, after all), and it will be stored in whatever folder you have set.

    class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/giver_accept.jpg" alt="" width="574" height="136" />

    Options

    class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/giver_options.jpg" alt="" width="466" height="560" />

    Speaking of options, I’m going to mention them really quick. Like I said, there aren’t very many at all, as you can probably determine from the screenshot. Again, this was meant for easy and flawless operation with no configuration needed out-of-the-box. There are only three possible things you can configure. You can change your name if you would like (which it originally takes from whatever you have set for your system account for “Full Name”), what kind of icon appears whenever people see your computer on their list, and where to save files that were given to you.

    Considerations

    Linux distributions have changed quite a bit, considering the arrival of class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/gnome-3-beta-desktop-linux/">GNOME 3 and the general advancement of software stacks. No worries though, Giver runs perfectly fine alongside newer software stacks, and doesn’t give you any problems. However, it would be helpful to note that Giver directly uses ports. Therefore, if a class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/technology-explained-open-router-ports-their-security-implications">port is not open thanks to your system firewall, nothing will get through, even if your computer appears on the other person’s list.

    Normally, setting a port exception would do the trick (the list even says what port it’s using!), but because Giver randomizes the port each time you start it up, that may not be a viable solution for you. I would think that the developers were fine with it being this way because it is meant to be used over a network anyway, which should be appropriately configured and protected. Therefore, for easy operation you should disable your class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/firewall/">firewall, but to protect yourself, make sure that your network has a firewall itself and that it works well.

    Also, if you’re using this on a mobile computer, I highly recommend that you immediately turn on your firewall again before leaving your protected network. Linux may not be affected by any viruses (at least there’s nothing common out there), but direct attacks from hackers are still a possibility.

    Conclusion

    For networks, Giver is almost a must, especially in larger environments such as workplaces. Despite its age, it is very stable and works as great as it should. Maybe someday a group can come back and enhance Giver even more by adding new features, such as GTK3 support. However, as long as it runs, everything is in order.

    How often do you share files and folders? Do you often find yourself only doing this for some individual files? Would you use Giver, and how would you maybe improve it? Let us know in the comments!

    Image Credit: class="vt-p" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-59721745.html">Shutterstock />
    /> Hey Facebookers, make sure to join href="http://www.facebook.com/makeuseof" target="_blank">MakeUseOf on Facebook and get access to some exclusve stuff. Over 105,000 fans already!

    />

    href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/giver-send-files-network-linux/">Giver – Still The Best Way to Send Files Across A Network [Linux] is a post from: href="http://www.makeuseof.com">MakeUseOf

    More articles about: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/file-sharing/" title="file sharing" rel="tag">file sharing, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/files/" title="files" rel="tag">files, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/network/" title="network" rel="tag">network />

    Similar articles:

    class="st-related-posts">
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-easily-share-files-across-mac-windows-computers/" title="How To Easily Share Files Between Mac & Windows Computers (November 5, 2008)">How To Easily Share Files Between Mac & Windows Computers (38 comments …)
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-free-file-hosts/" title="Top Free File Hosts To Store Your Files Online (June 12, 2008)">Top Free File Hosts To Store Your Files Online (170 comments …)
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/split-and-share-large-files-easily-with-gsplit/" title="Split Big Files into Smaller Ones with GSplit (January 3, 2009)">Split Big Files into Smaller Ones with GSplit (8 comments …)
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/share-monitor-reading-writing-windows-shared-files/" title="Monitor Who is Reading or Writing to Your Windows Shared Files with ShareMonitor (April 6, 2010)">Monitor Who is Reading or Writing to Your Windows Shared Files with ShareMonitor (5 comments …)
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/dead-simple-file-sharing-with-meiga-linux/" title="Meiga – One of The Best Linux File Sharing Programs (June 25, 2009)">Meiga – One of The Best Linux File Sharing Programs (7 comments …)


  • View full post on MakeUseOf

    Posted in Useful APPsComments (0)

    Cloud Save: Save Files Directly To The Cloud [Chrome]


    class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/cloudsave-icon.png" alt="save files to the cloud" />Why download files to your computer, only to upload them somewhere else? Save yourself some unnecessary clicks by “downloading” files directly to the cloud, skipping your hard drive altogether.

    Cloud Save sends would-be downloads directly to web-based services, including Dropbox, Google Docs, Facebook, Flickr, Picasa and more. Simply right-click a file, then decide where you’d like to send your file. It’s a feature so mind-bogglingly useful you’ll wonder why it’s not built into Chrome to begin with, particularly as Google prepares to sell laptops sporting class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/chrome-os/">Chrome OS.

    The extension is the work of class="vt-p" href="https://twitter.com/#!/antimatter15">antimatter15, who is still actively improving it. It’s working wonderfully for me so far.

    Using Cloud Save

    So you stumble upon a file you want to send to a web service. Assuming you’ve already class="vt-p" href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/omiekjeapoonbhiemenfoccbdpeagdah">installed Cloud Share, all you need to do is right-click the link to the file:

    class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/cloudsave-menu.png" alt="save files to the cloud" width="580" height="326" />

    As you can see, you’ll find the “Cloud Save” option in the menu. Pick the service you want to send your file to; this will of course depend on the type of file it is. If this is the first time you’ve used a given service with Cloud Save, you’ll be asked to authorize the app. Authorizing Dropbox looks like this:

    class="aligncenter" style="border: 1px solid black;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/cloudsave-enable.png" alt="cloud file storage" width="580" height="224" />

    Be careful to actually authorize the app: not doing so could cause a service to not work. I had to re-install Cloud Save to get Dropbox working, after accidentally clicking no.

    Once everything is authorized, the transfer will begin. You’ll see a Chrome-style alert with the progress:

    class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/cloudsave-progress.png" alt="cloud file storage" width="566" height="262" />

    How long this will take obviously depends on the size of the file, so be patient.

    You can also use the settings page to upload a file from your computer:

    class="aligncenter" style="border: 1px solid black;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/cloudsave-settings.png" alt="save files to the cloud" width="579" height="194" />

    This isn’t in line with the purpose of the app, but I could see some using it from time to time.

    Supported Services

    There are quite a few services supported by Cloud Save, many of which are MakeUseOf favourites. The current list includes:

    • class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/google-picasa/">Picasa
    • class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/adding-pictures-to-your-twitter-stream-with-twitpic-flickr/">TwitPic
    • class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/flickr/">Flickr
    • class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/fill-the-space-between-your-blogs-with-posterous/">Posterous
    • Twitrpix
    • Twitgoo
    • class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/facebook/">Facebook
    • Imgly
    • class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/upload-files-awesome-boxnet-windows-explorer">Box.net
    • class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/sugarsync/">SugarSync
    • class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/dropbox/">Dropbox
    • class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/google-docs/">Google Docs
    • Min.us
    • class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/share-files-style-cloudapp-mac/">Cloud App
    • class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/put-amazons-cloud-drive-desktop">Amazon Cloud
    • DropIr
    • WebDAV
    • Dropdo

    This is a nice variety of applications. There are the storage apps, such as Dropbox or Sugarsync, and the more socially inclined apps such as Facebook or Flickr. Those looking to send photos elsewhere should be particularly pleased, because there is no shortage of photo-related apps in the above list. Support for more web apps may well be in the future, so stay tuned.

    Having the ability to save files to a particular folder in Dropbox and other services would be nice. I wonder if that’s coming eventually?

    Conclusion

    I like seeing stuff like this, because I like software that simplifies life. By allowing users to send files directly to web apps, instead of requiring them to download and re-upload a file, Cloud Save is certainly a program that can save you some time.

    What do you think? Is Cloud Save a good idea, or do you prefer doing things the old fashioned way? Or do you consider this entire “cloud” thing to be some sort of fad? As always, share your thoughts in the comments below. />
    /> href="http://www.supertintin.com/">SuperTinTin – Skype Video Call Recorder /> Record and save your audio and video conversations on Skype or MSN. Easy to use.

    />

     

    Read comments: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/cloud-save-save-files-cloud-chrome/#disqus_thread">Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here …

     

    href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/cloud-save-save-files-cloud-chrome/"> src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/cloud-save-save-files-cloud-chrome/"> href="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis/login?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/cloud-save-save-files-cloud-chrome/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/diggme.png"> href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/cloud-save-save-files-cloud-chrome/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/fb.jpg"> href="http://www.google.com/reader/link?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/cloud-save-save-files-cloud-chrome/&title=Cloud Save: Save Files Directly To The Cloud [Chrome]&srcTitle=MakeUseOf.com"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/gbuzz-feed.png"> href="http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/cloud-save-save-files-cloud-chrome/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/stumble.png">

     

    More articles about: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/chrome-extensions/" title="chrome extensions" rel="tag">chrome extensions, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/cloud/" title="cloud" rel="tag">cloud, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/cloud-computing/" title="cloud computing" rel="tag">cloud computing, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/google-chrome/" title="Google Chrome" rel="tag">Google Chrome />

    Similar articles:

    class="st-related-posts">
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-ways-blur-line-web-apps-desktop-apps/" title="5 Ways To Blur The Line Between Web Apps & Desktop Apps (June 9, 2011)">5 Ways To Blur The Line Between Web Apps & Desktop Apps (4 comments …)
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/improve-seo-2-simple-google-chrome-extensions/" title="Two Useful Google Chrome Extensions for SEO Guys (April 11, 2010)">Two Useful Google Chrome Extensions for SEO Guys (6 comments …)
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/chrome-extensions-working-multiple-links-tabs/" title="Two Chrome Extensions For Working With Multiple Links & Tabs (June 2, 2011)">Two Chrome Extensions For Working With Multiple Links & Tabs (0 comments …)
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-3-browser-based-ides-code-cloud-2/" title="The Top 3 Browser-Based IDE’s To Code In The Cloud (March 23, 2010)">The Top 3 Browser-Based IDE’s To Code In The Cloud (6 comments …)
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/minimalist-suite-favorite-web-apps-simplified/" title="The Minimalist Suite: Your Favorite Web Apps, Simplified (May 26, 2011)">The Minimalist Suite: Your Favorite Web Apps, Simplified (3 comments …)


  • View full post on MakeUseOf

    Posted in Useful APPsComments (0)

    How To Recover Lost Files In Dropbox


    class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/RestoreDropbox01.png" alt="recover lost files" /> href="http://www.dropbox.com">Dropbox is an online file storing, sync, and backup solution with features that make its competition look pale in comparison. The most ingenious thing about Dropbox is that you don’t have to remember to sync your files or make a backup. As long as you ‘drop’ your files into the Dropbox folder, they are automatically synced and hence backed up to the Dropbox server, provided you have an active Internet connection.

    But what happens if you accidentally delete a file? Will it be gone forever once the changes are synced to Dropbox? Yes, the file will disappear from your Dropbox folder. However, it won’t be entirely gone just yet. So is there a way to recover lost files from Dropbox after it was deleted? This being the super smart Dropbox, there certainly is!

    What Dropbox does behind the scenes is to keep a record of every saved change in your Dropbox folder for 30 days. This means that not only can you restore files that were removed from your Dropbox folder during the past 30 days, you can also go back to previous versions of documents. This recover and restore feature makes Dropbox a life saver and in this article I will show you how to use it.

    Recovering Files Online

    The way it works is straightforward. When you are logged into Dropbox online, you will notice a ‘Show deleted files‘ button in every folder.

    class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/RestoreDropbox02.png" alt="recover lost files" />

    Clicking this button will reveal all files that were deleted during the past 30 days. When you hover over a file with the mouse cursor, you will see a little arrow in the far right. By clicking the arrow of a deleted file, you can choose to undelete, permanently delete, or view previous versions of the file.

    class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/RestoreDropbox03.png" alt="dropbox recover deleted files" />

    When you hover over any other file and click the arrow, you can also access a list of previous versions, through which you can preview and restore any of the backed up versions.

    class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/RestoreDropbox04.png" alt="dropbox recover deleted files" />

    Recovering Files From Dropbox Installation On Windows

    Likewise, you can open the above list of previous file versions via the Dropbox folder on your computer. The respective application is available for Windows, Linux, Mac, and Mobile.

    class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/RestoreDropbox05.png" alt="dropbox recover deleted files" />

    Generally, the restore feature only works if the files you’re working on were uploaded to the Dropbox server. For example if you move a file to your Dropbox folder and work on it while you’re offline, you will neither be able to restore the file if you delete it, nor will you be able to go back to a previous version. The reason is that the original file and/or its intermediate versions were never uploaded to the Dropbox server. Once a file hits the server however, a second copy of this file version will be available for 30 days after the initial file was first changed.

    This said, there is another way to restore files from your computer in case the above method fails. Dropbox also keeps a hidden cache of files in a backup storage within the Dropbox settings. In Windows Vista and Windows 7 open a new Windows Explorer window or folder. Copy and paste the following line to the location bar at the top of the folder and press Enter:

    %HOMEPATH%\Dropbox\.dropbox.cache

    class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/RestoreDropbox06.png" alt="recover lost files" />

    This will open your Dropbox cache within the Application Data folder. To restore a file, drag it out of this cache folder into another folder or onto your desktop.

    If you think 30 days are not enough, you should consider upgrading to Dropbox Pro and get the title="Dropbox Pack-Rat add-on" href="https://www.dropbox.com/help/113">Pack-Rat add-on, which will save a history of your files forever.

    Dropbox is an insanely useful tool just the way it is. But it gets even better when applying some tricks. Did you become interested in learning more about Dropbox? Check out the following MakeUseOf articles:

    • title="How To Easily Synchronize Folders Outside Dropbox Using Symlinks" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/easily-synchronize-folders-dropbox-symlinks/">How To Easily Synchronize Folders Outside Dropbox Using Symlinks
    • title="3 Unique & Creative Uses For Dropbox Accounts" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-unique-creative-dropbox-accounts/">3 Unique & Creative Uses For Dropbox Accounts
    • title="3 Reasons Why Students Should Be Using Dropbox" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-reasons-why-students-should-be-using-dropbox-as-a-study-tool/">3 Reasons Why Students Should Be Using Dropbox
    • title="2 Tools To Make File Sharing on Dropbox Faster and Easier" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/tools-dropbox-users-share-receive-files-faster-easier/">2 Tools To Make File Sharing on Dropbox Faster and Easier
    • title="How To Use Dropbox As Free Unblockable Image Storage For Your Blog" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/dropbox-free-unblockable-image-storage-blog/">How To Use Dropbox As Free Unblockable Image Storage For Your Blog

    The above is only a small selection. title="MakeUseOf Tag: Dropbox" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/dropbox/">Click here to view a chronological list of all our articles on Dropbox.

    How do you make sure you never lose a file? Did you know about the Dropbox restore feature? />
    />Need Assistance? Ask questions to MakeUseOf staff and thousands of other readers on href="http://www.makeuseof.dev/answers/" target="_blank" >MakeUseOf Answers!

    />

     

    Read comments: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/recover-lost-files-dropbox/#disqus_thread">Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here …

     

    href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/recover-lost-files-dropbox/"> src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/recover-lost-files-dropbox/"> href="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis/login?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/recover-lost-files-dropbox/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/diggme.png"> href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/recover-lost-files-dropbox/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/fb.jpg"> href="http://www.google.com/reader/link?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/recover-lost-files-dropbox/&title=How To Recover Lost Files In Dropbox&srcTitle=MakeUseOf.com"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/gbuzz-feed.png"> href="http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/recover-lost-files-dropbox/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/stumble.png">

     

    More articles about: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/dropbox/" title="dropbox" rel="tag">dropbox, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/file-recovery/" title="file recovery" rel="tag">file recovery, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/file-sharing/" title="file sharing" rel="tag">file sharing, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/online-storage/" title="online storage" rel="tag">online storage, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/recover/" title="recover" rel="tag">recover />

    Similar articles:

    class="st-related-posts">
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/earn-extra-space-dropbox-zumodrive-sugarsync/" title="How to Earn Extra Space on Dropbox, ZumoDrive and SugarSync (January 24, 2011)">How to Earn Extra Space on Dropbox, ZumoDrive and SugarSync (38 comments …)
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/frenzy-turns-dropbox-private-social-network-mac/" title="Frenzy Turns Dropbox Into A Private Social Network [Mac] (March 28, 2011)">Frenzy Turns Dropbox Into A Private Social Network [Mac] (3 comments …)
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/file-sharing-fury-battle-of-the-desktop-clients/" title="File-sharing Fury – Battle of the Desktop Clients (August 24, 2008)">File-sharing Fury – Battle of the Desktop Clients (41 comments …)
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-unique-creative-dropbox-accounts/" title="3 Unique & Creative Uses For Dropbox Accounts (April 2, 2011)">3 Unique & Creative Uses For Dropbox Accounts (18 comments …)
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-ways-manage-dropbox-files/" title="3 More Ways To Manage Your Dropbox Files You May Not Know About (May 2, 2011)">3 More Ways To Manage Your Dropbox Files You May Not Know About (6 comments …)


  • View full post on MakeUseOf

    Posted in Useful APPsComments (1)

    Move, Copy, Open, & Remove Files With File Sorter [Mac]


    class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/filesortericon.png" alt="remove mac files"/>

    I’ve written several articles on Mac automation software, including href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/automator/">Automator and Apple‘s href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/download-the-awesome-automation-guide-for-mac-users">smart technology folders and albums. Much of our purpose with computers is to get work done faster and more efficiently. To this end, there are several paid third-party automation apps on the market, including Hazel and QuicKeys 4.0, that require no knowledge or use of automation code, as with AppleScript.

    Well, finally, there’s a free option that might make a useful introduction to bulk file and folder automation; it’s called FileSorter—a free download in the href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/filesorter/id411279149?mt=12">Mac App Store.

    Let me say upfront, FileSorter is not the best app for what it does. It’s not even close. But it’s a useful introduction to folder actions if you’ve never used a similar automator program before. FileSorter requires no knowledge of automation code. It simply sorts files based on rules and actions you assign. It works fairly well, but as a version 1.0.2, it has many limitations I will point out later.

    Setting FileSorter Rules

    After downloading FileSorter, launch it, and in the welcome window click on “Create a new rule.”

    class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/filesorter.png" border="0" alt="remove mac files" width="550" height="392" />

    There are three parts to creating rules and actions for moving, copying, or removing files. Here’s a practical rule you might find useful:

    This FileSorter rule will move PNG files on your desktop to a designated folder. This rule can be used for any type of files that normally gets placed on your desktop, and that’s why you would want to have a quick way to move them. /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/extension.png" border="0" alt="copy mac files" width="580" height="409" /> /> First click on the green + button in the menu bar of FileSorter. Click on the “Filename” and then on the  drop-down button, select “Extension.” Next, click on the second drop-down button and select “is.” In the final text box type “PNG” or any file extension, e.g. doc, pages, JPG, pdf,  that you want to quickly move. Before moving to the next part, assign a name to this action.

    The rule we’ve set so far means that FileSorter will only act on files ending in the extension you specify. Next, we need to create a folder in the Finder to move selected files to when activated upon by FileSorter. So for example, you might move all the png files to a PNG folder inside the Pictures Folder of your Mac. Since for some files, FileSorter does not allow you to create a new folder inside its application, you need to create one before we add the action in the next step. /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/choose.png" border="0" alt="copy mac files" width="580" height="409" /> /> Next, click on the “Add Action” button, and in the drop-down menu select “Move,” or Copy—whichever you prefer. /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/move.png" border="0" alt="copy mac files" width="272" height="279" /> /> Now, click on the Edit button and select “Choose,” and then select the PNG folder you created for this action. /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/choose1.png" border="0" alt="open mac files" width="580" height="409" /> /> Now, to test it out, simply select PNG files on your desktop or anywhere in the Finder, and drag and drop them on top of the FileSorter icon in your Dock. /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/movetofilesorter.jpg" border="0" alt="open mac files" width="425" height="354" /> /> FileSorter will automatically move your selected files to your designated folder.

    That’s the basic rule and action set up for FileSorter. This works for other type of files. For example, you can set up rules and actions to move items in your Download folder to various different folders in your Finder. This is a great way to sort say all those PDF and JPG files that get saved to your Downloads folder.

    Similar Folder actions can be created using href="../tag/2-useful-tips-for-organizing-electronic-files-mac-only/">Automator as well. But again, since FileSorter is free, and if you have no experience with this type of automation you might want to download it and give it a try.

    Growl Notice

    class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/preferences.png" border="0" alt="open mac files" width="206" height="116" /> /> In FileSorter‘s Preferences, you might to want to click the “Use Growl Notifications” which will inform you that FileSorter has successfully run your rules and actions. See more about href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/notified-growl-mac/">Growl here.

    Other Rules

    Another practical rule may be for quickly moving old files to the trash or an external drive. /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/moveoldfiles.png" border="0" width="452" height="264" /> /> In this example, you might want to move all your Word doc files that were created last year to the trash. /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/movetotrash.png" border="0" width="575" height="305" /> /> When you click on the Edit button, you can select to move the selected files to the Trash or just Delete them all together. /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/200plus.png" border="0" alt="200plus" width="580" height="109" /> /> The similar rule could be used for moving or deleting files in a folder that are over a certain file size.

    Finally, FileSorter allows you to add Automator workflows as an action. This is useful for including complex actions that FileSorter can’t perform by itself. To add Automator actions, select “Open” as an action, click the Edit button and add the Automator application you want to run. /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/automatorworkflow.png" border="0" alt="remove mac files" width="483" height="261" />

    Limitations

    There are some big limitations with FileSorter, especially when compared to a paid app called Hazel, which has been around for quite a while and automates rules and actions without you having to manually select specified files and move them on an icon in the Dock.

    The biggest limitation to FileSorter is that if you include two or more rules that are similar to one another, FileSorter will run them both. So say you make two different rules to act on PNG files. Both of your actions will run whether you want them to or not. Also, another limitation to the program is that Creation and Modification Date rules are limited to specific days. It would be better if it included parameters like, “in the last ___days”, for example.

    But again, if this type of Mac automation is new to you, FileSorter might well be worth downloading and trying out.

    Let us know what you think about FileSorter and other similar Mac automation programs you use. Also, check out my free MUO PDF, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/download-the-awesome-automation-guide-for-mac-users">The Awesome Automation Guide for Mac OS X.

      />
    />Need Assistance? Ask questions to MakeUseOf staff and thousands of other readers on href="http://www.makeuseof.dev/answers/" target="_blank" >MakeUseOf Answers!

    />

     

    Read comments: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/move-copy-open-remove-files-file-sortermac/#disqus_thread">Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here …

     

    href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/move-copy-open-remove-files-file-sortermac/"> src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/move-copy-open-remove-files-file-sortermac/"> href="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis/login?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/move-copy-open-remove-files-file-sortermac/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/diggme.png"> href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/move-copy-open-remove-files-file-sortermac/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/fb.jpg"> href="http://www.google.com/reader/link?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/move-copy-open-remove-files-file-sortermac/&title=Move, Copy, Open, & Remove Files With File Sorter [Mac]&srcTitle=MakeUseOf.com"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/gbuzz-feed.png"> href="http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/move-copy-open-remove-files-file-sortermac/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/stumble.png">

     

    More articles about: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/automate/" title="automate" rel="tag">automate, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/automator/" title="automator" rel="tag">automator, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/growl/" title="Growl" rel="tag">Growl, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/mac-hacks/" title="mac hacks" rel="tag">mac hacks, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/organization/" title="organization" rel="tag">organization, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/organization-tools/" title="organization tools" rel="tag">organization tools, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/productivity/" title="productivity" rel="tag">productivity />

    Similar articles:

    class="st-related-posts">
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/learn-automate-mac-applescript/" title="Automate Your Mac MORE With These 2 Great AppleScripts (October 29, 2010)">Automate Your Mac MORE With These 2 Great AppleScripts (43 comments …)
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-automator-hacks-create-today-mac/" title="10 Automator Hacks You Can Create & Use Today [Mac] (December 1, 2010)">10 Automator Hacks You Can Create & Use Today [Mac] (95 comments …)
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-automator-applications-create-5-minutes-mac/" title="10 Automator Apps You Can Create in Under 5 Minutes [Mac] (March 19, 2010)">10 Automator Apps You Can Create in Under 5 Minutes [Mac] (0 comments …)
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/automator-create-symbolic-links-dropbox-mac/" title="Use Automator To Create Symbolic Links To Dropbox [Mac] (March 28, 2011)">Use Automator To Create Symbolic Links To Dropbox [Mac] (5 comments …)
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/student-dog-organizer-superb-digital-organizer-check-windows/" title="Student DOG Organizer – A Superb Digital Organizer You Should Check Out [Windows] (January 12, 2011)">Student DOG Organizer – A Superb Digital Organizer You Should Check Out [Windows] (29 comments …)


  • View full post on MakeUseOf

    Posted in Useful APPsComments (0)

    Move, Copy, Open, & Remove Files With File Sorter [Mac]


    class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/filesortericon.png" alt="remove mac files"/>

    I’ve written several articles on Mac automation software, including href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/automator/">Automator and Apple‘s href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/download-the-awesome-automation-guide-for-mac-users">smart technology folders and albums. Much of our purpose with computers is to get work done faster and more efficiently. To this end, there are several paid third-party automation apps on the market, including Hazel and QuicKeys 4.0, that require no knowledge or use of automation code, as with AppleScript.

    Well, finally, there’s a free option that might make a useful introduction to bulk file and folder automation; it’s called FileSorter—a free download in the href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/filesorter/id411279149?mt=12">Mac App Store.

    Let me say upfront, FileSorter is not the best app for what it does. It’s not even close. But it’s a useful introduction to folder actions if you’ve never used a similar automator program before. FileSorter requires no knowledge of automation code. It simply sorts files based on rules and actions you assign. It works fairly well, but as a version 1.0.2, it has many limitations I will point out later.

    Setting FileSorter Rules

    After downloading FileSorter, launch it, and in the welcome window click on “Create a new rule.”

    class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/filesorter.png" border="0" alt="remove mac files" width="550" height="392" />

    There are three parts to creating rules and actions for moving, copying, or removing files. Here’s a practical rule you might find useful:

    This FileSorter rule will move PNG files on your desktop to a designated folder. This rule can be used for any type of files that normally gets placed on your desktop, and that’s why you would want to have a quick way to move them. /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/extension.png" border="0" alt="copy mac files" width="580" height="409" /> /> First click on the green + button in the menu bar of FileSorter. Click on the “Filename” and then on the  drop-down button, select “Extension.” Next, click on the second drop-down button and select “is.” In the final text box type “PNG” or any file extension, e.g. doc, pages, JPG, pdf,  that you want to quickly move. Before moving to the next part, assign a name to this action.

    The rule we’ve set so far means that FileSorter will only act on files ending in the extension you specify. Next, we need to create a folder in the Finder to move selected files to when activated upon by FileSorter. So for example, you might move all the png files to a PNG folder inside the Pictures Folder of your Mac. Since for some files, FileSorter does not allow you to create a new folder inside its application, you need to create one before we add the action in the next step. /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/choose.png" border="0" alt="copy mac files" width="580" height="409" /> /> Next, click on the “Add Action” button, and in the drop-down menu select “Move,” or Copy—whichever you prefer. /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/move.png" border="0" alt="copy mac files" width="272" height="279" /> /> Now, click on the Edit button and select “Choose,” and then select the PNG folder you created for this action. /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/choose1.png" border="0" alt="open mac files" width="580" height="409" /> /> Now, to test it out, simply select PNG files on your desktop or anywhere in the Finder, and drag and drop them on top of the FileSorter icon in your Dock. /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/movetofilesorter.jpg" border="0" alt="open mac files" width="425" height="354" /> /> FileSorter will automatically move your selected files to your designated folder.

    That’s the basic rule and action set up for FileSorter. This works for other type of files. For example, you can set up rules and actions to move items in your Download folder to various different folders in your Finder. This is a great way to sort say all those PDF and JPG files that get saved to your Downloads folder.

    Similar Folder actions can be created using href="../tag/2-useful-tips-for-organizing-electronic-files-mac-only/">Automator as well. But again, since FileSorter is free, and if you have no experience with this type of automation you might want to download it and give it a try.

    Growl Notice

    class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/preferences.png" border="0" alt="open mac files" width="206" height="116" /> /> In FileSorter‘s Preferences, you might to want to click the “Use Growl Notifications” which will inform you that FileSorter has successfully run your rules and actions. See more about href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/notified-growl-mac/">Growl here.

    Other Rules

    Another practical rule may be for quickly moving old files to the trash or an external drive. /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/moveoldfiles.png" border="0" width="452" height="264" /> /> In this example, you might want to move all your Word doc files that were created last year to the trash. /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/movetotrash.png" border="0" width="575" height="305" /> /> When you click on the Edit button, you can select to move the selected files to the Trash or just Delete them all together. /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/200plus.png" border="0" alt="200plus" width="580" height="109" /> /> The similar rule could be used for moving or deleting files in a folder that are over a certain file size.

    Finally, FileSorter allows you to add Automator workflows as an action. This is useful for including complex actions that FileSorter can’t perform by itself. To add Automator actions, select “Open” as an action, click the Edit button and add the Automator application you want to run. /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/automatorworkflow.png" border="0" alt="remove mac files" width="483" height="261" />

    Limitations

    There are some big limitations with FileSorter, especially when compared to a paid app called Hazel, which has been around for quite a while and automates rules and actions without you having to manually select specified files and move them on an icon in the Dock.

    The biggest limitation to FileSorter is that if you include two or more rules that are similar to one another, FileSorter will run them both. So say you make two different rules to act on PNG files. Both of your actions will run whether you want them to or not. Also, another limitation to the program is that Creation and Modification Date rules are limited to specific days. It would be better if it included parameters like, “in the last ___days”, for example.

    But again, if this type of Mac automation is new to you, FileSorter might well be worth downloading and trying out.

    Let us know what you think about FileSorter and other similar Mac automation programs you use. Also, check out my free MUO PDF, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/download-the-awesome-automation-guide-for-mac-users">The Awesome Automation Guide for Mac OS X.

      />
    />Need Assistance? Ask questions to MakeUseOf staff and thousands of other readers on href="http://www.makeuseof.dev/answers/" target="_blank" >MakeUseOf Answers!

    />

     

    Read comments: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/move-copy-open-remove-files-file-sortermac/#disqus_thread">Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here …

     

    href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/move-copy-open-remove-files-file-sortermac/"> src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/move-copy-open-remove-files-file-sortermac/"> href="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis/login?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/move-copy-open-remove-files-file-sortermac/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/diggme.png"> href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/move-copy-open-remove-files-file-sortermac/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/fb.jpg"> href="http://www.google.com/reader/link?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/move-copy-open-remove-files-file-sortermac/&title=Move, Copy, Open, & Remove Files With File Sorter [Mac]&srcTitle=MakeUseOf.com"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/gbuzz-feed.png"> href="http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/move-copy-open-remove-files-file-sortermac/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/stumble.png">

     

    More articles about: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/automate/" title="automate" rel="tag">automate, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/automator/" title="automator" rel="tag">automator, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/growl/" title="Growl" rel="tag">Growl, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/mac-hacks/" title="mac hacks" rel="tag">mac hacks, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/organization/" title="organization" rel="tag">organization, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/organization-tools/" title="organization tools" rel="tag">organization tools, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/productivity/" title="productivity" rel="tag">productivity />

    Similar articles:

    class="st-related-posts">
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/learn-automate-mac-applescript/" title="Automate Your Mac MORE With These 2 Great AppleScripts (October 29, 2010)">Automate Your Mac MORE With These 2 Great AppleScripts (43 comments …)
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-automator-hacks-create-today-mac/" title="10 Automator Hacks You Can Create & Use Today [Mac] (December 1, 2010)">10 Automator Hacks You Can Create & Use Today [Mac] (95 comments …)
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-automator-applications-create-5-minutes-mac/" title="10 Automator Apps You Can Create in Under 5 Minutes [Mac] (March 19, 2010)">10 Automator Apps You Can Create in Under 5 Minutes [Mac] (0 comments …)
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/automator-create-symbolic-links-dropbox-mac/" title="Use Automator To Create Symbolic Links To Dropbox [Mac] (March 28, 2011)">Use Automator To Create Symbolic Links To Dropbox [Mac] (5 comments …)
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/student-dog-organizer-superb-digital-organizer-check-windows/" title="Student DOG Organizer – A Superb Digital Organizer You Should Check Out [Windows] (January 12, 2011)">Student DOG Organizer – A Superb Digital Organizer You Should Check Out [Windows] (29 comments …)


  • View full post on MakeUseOf

    Posted in Useful APPsComments (0)

    How To Remove Ambient Noise From Your Audio Files Using Audacity


    class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/shutterstock_75960835-300x300.jpg" alt="how to remove background noise from audio" />If you’re a little bit musical or you make your own podcasts, you’ve probably noticed that sometimes your recordings can sound a little annoying due to the background noise captured in the recording process. This white noise is not always easy to remove, but can be minimalised by the use of free tools and a little know-how.

    href="http://audacity.sourceforge.net/">Audacity is a free program available for Mac, Windows and Linux, so most people should be able to download this and use it to clean up their recordings. Today we’ll take you through a few simple steps you can use on all recordings to remove background noise from audio.

    Install Audacity

    When you’ve href="http://audacity.sourceforge.net/">downloaded Audacity, you’ll notice that it’s able to be used to import or record music and vocal tracks and can be used to mix tracks together for other purposes. This makes it very useful to musicians and podcasters alike, whether you are an amateur or a professional. It’s very easy to isolate sections of each individual track and use the editing features to remove the ambient noise in the background.

    Import Or Record Audio

    Either import the audio file you wish to clean up, or use Audacity as the recording tool. In Mac you need to go to Project > Import Audio, whereas in Windows you’d use File > Import > Audio.

    class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Import-audio.png" alt="how to remove background noise from audio" />

    Isolate A Quiet Moment

    After importing, you’ll see the tracks of the audio file as separate lines in Audacity. This shows the waveform of the track. Flat sections are quiet while big vertical lines indicate the noisy sections.

    class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Tracks.png" alt="noise removal help audacity" />

    Zoom in until you can find a moment where there was no deliberate sound in the track (the flattest bit you can find), such as when you paused for a moment. Go to View > Zoom In. Then highlight the flat section by clicking and dragging with your mouse across that part of the track. Audacity suggests this selection href="http://wiki.audacityteam.org/w/index.php?title=Reducing_noise&redirect=no">shouldn’t be longer than a half a second.

    class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Selection-from-track.png" alt="noise removal help audacity" />

    This will isolate a moment where all you recorded was the ambient background noise. By letting Audacity know precisely how much background noise there was, it can calculate how to remove it from the rest of the track.

    Step 1 – Get Noise Profile

    Once you’ve selected the quiet part of the track, go to select Effect > Noise Removal.

    class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Noise-removal.png" alt="noise removal help audacity" />

    This opens up a dialogue to remove the noise. You’re performing Step 1 here, so click on “Get Noise Profile” and the dialogue will disappear. You can do this again at any time and it will overwrite the previous selection. What happens next is a little confusing, as it has already acknowledged your quiet section of your audio track and simply shut the window on you.

    class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/noise-removal-window.png" alt="how to remove background noise from audio" />

    Step 2 – Apply Noise Reduction

    Now Audacity needs to know which parts of the audio track you want to apply the noise reduction to. Most likely, you’ll want to apply the reduction to the whole project, so click CTRL-A or CMD-A to select all. If you want to select just a portion of the track or just one track, place your cursor at the start of your desired selection and go to Edit > Select > Cursor to End. Then, to remove ambient noise from the selection, go to Effect > Noise Removal again.

    We’ve done step 1, so skip to step 2 now. Move the slider to indicate how aggressively you want Audacity to strip the background noise from your track. Many people tend towards the lower end, since stripping out too much sound can make voices sound quite tinny and weird. You can preview the sound or go straight to “Remove Noise“. If you don’t like it later, you can undo it. Make sure you listen to it before you go on to make more changes.

    When you view your tracks, you should be able to see that the peaks are not quite as high, and the flat sections are far flatter now.

    If you’re dealing with a special case, such as removing noise from cassette audio, take a look at the full href="http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Noise_Removal">Audacity wiki page on noise removal. There’s some great tips.

    See also these great articles on href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/audacity/">Audacity:

    • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/record-audio-files-with-audacity/">How to record audio with Audacity.
    • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-audacity-tips-enhance-recorded-interview/">How to enhance your recorded audio with Audacity.
    • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/convert-lps-audio-cassettes-to-mp3-in-5-easy-steps/">How to Convert LPs into MP3s in Three Easy Steps.

    Image Credit: rel="nofollow" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-75960835/stock-photo-digital-illustration-of-car-stereo-in-colour-background.html">ShutterStock />
    /> Need Assistance? Ask questions to MakeUseOf staff and thousands of other readers on href="http://www.makeuseof.dev/answers/" target="_blank" >MakeUseOf Answers!

    />

     

    href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/remove-ambient-noise-audio-files-audacity/"> src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/remove-ambient-noise-audio-files-audacity/"> href="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis/login?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/remove-ambient-noise-audio-files-audacity/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/diggme.png"> href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/remove-ambient-noise-audio-files-audacity/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/fb.jpg"> href="http://www.google.com/reader/link?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/remove-ambient-noise-audio-files-audacity/&title=How To Remove Ambient Noise From Your Audio Files Using Audacity&srcTitle=MakeUseOf.com"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/gbuzz-feed.png"> href="http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/remove-ambient-noise-audio-files-audacity/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/stumble.png">

     

    More articles about: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/audio/" title="audio" rel="tag">audio, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/audio-converter/" title="audio converter" rel="tag">audio converter, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/audio-editors/" title="audio editors" rel="tag">audio editors, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/recording/" title="recording" rel="tag">recording />

    Similar articles:

    class="st-related-posts">
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/convert-lps-audio-cassettes-to-mp3-in-5-easy-steps/" title="How To Convert Audio Cassettes & LPs to MP3 in 5 Easy Steps (April 17, 2009)">How To Convert Audio Cassettes & LPs to MP3 in 5 Easy Steps (18)
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-5-free-linux-music-creation-tools-artist-budget/" title="Top 5 Free Linux Music Creation Tools For The Artist On A Budget (February 24, 2011)">Top 5 Free Linux Music Creation Tools For The Artist On A Budget (1)
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/media-cope-an-all-in-one-media-player-cutter-converter/" title="Media Cope – An All In One Media Player, Cutter & Converter (November 24, 2009)">Media Cope – An All In One Media Player, Cutter & Converter (19)
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-convert-audio-cds-to-audiobooks-in-itunes-mac/" title="How To Convert Audio CD’s To Audiobooks In iTunes [Mac] (December 22, 2009)">How To Convert Audio CD’s To Audiobooks In iTunes [Mac] (3)
  • href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/camstudio-effective-screencasting-tool/" title="A Thorough Look At CamStudio As An Effective Screencasting Tool (February 5, 2010)">A Thorough Look At CamStudio As An Effective Screencasting Tool (14)


  • View full post on MakeUseOf

    Posted in Useful APPsComments (0)

    Save Paper By Formatting & Printing Your Files With Govert’s Imposition Tool [Windows]


    class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/trash.png" alt="print to pdf" />Paper costs money. Save both by printing your PDFs on half-pages. Whether you want a booklet or side-by-side copies, a free tool for Windows not only makes this possible but also simple. Stop messing around with printer settings and get the document exactly how you want it. Many printers allow you to print to PDF as a booklet, or to print side-by-side copies. The interface for doing so however, varies depending on the type of printer you’re using and a number of other factors.

    Whether you routinely print our href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/">free PDF manuals or find yourself with a steady stream of documents you need to print and read, this is a tool you should probably know about.

    Getting Started

    To get started, simply href="http://www.noliturbare.com/pdf-tools/simple-imposition">download Govert’s imposition tool. It comes as a single executable file, but you’ll need to href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?familyid=0856EACB-4362-4B0D-8EDD-AAB15C5E04F5&displaylang=en">download .NET 2.0 to run this program. Once everything’s working, you’ll have a window that looks like this:

    class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/govert-main.png" alt="print to pdf" width="580" height="421" />

    Add a PDF, pick the print mode you want and you’ll quickly make a new PDF file formatting the way you want it.

    What do these different modes mean? Great question. Keep reading to find out, and to see pages from a yet-to-be-released manual.

    Booklet Printing

    Want a booklet you can fold and staple down the middle? This is the mode you’re looking for. Govert’s tool will automatically arrange your document for convenient book making, so try this out if you want something that feels and reads like a book.

    class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/govert-booklet.png" alt="best way to print pdf file" width="529" height="372" />

    You can optionally include folding marks, which makes the process a little bit simpler. There will also be a few blank “pages”, depending on your total number of pages, but this is normal in the world of publishing.

    2-Up Printing

    Want two “pages” per page, but aren’t very keen about the folded booklet? 2-up printing will put two consecutive pages on each sheet of paper, making for easy reading without a lot of extra work.

    class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/govert-2up.png" alt="best way to print pdf file" width="530" height="374" />

    Optional lines can seperate the two pages printed on a single sheet, which isn’t necessary but sometimes nice.

    Duplicate, Side By Side

    Want two copies of your document? This is the tool you need. Every sheet will have two versions of the same page.  Perfect if you are printing out leaflets and flyers.

    class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/govert-duplicate.png" alt="best way to print pdf file" width="530" height="373" />

    Cut every sheet down the middle and you’ve got two half-page documents. You can optionally have a cutmark on the top page, which is great if you’re going to use a paper-cutter to slice through an entire document.

    2 by 2 1/2 Inches

    This is like the duplicate setting, but you only get one copy. Basically: if you cut the sheets in half down the middle you have two stacks. The left side of the page is the first half of the document; the right, the second.

    class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/2x1.5.jpg" alt="print to pdf" width="531" height="242" />

    Great if you want the document to be a stack of half-page sheets.

    Conclusion

    I like this tool quite a bit; thanks go to href="http://www.freewaregenius.com/2011/04/19/gimposition-print-your-pdf-documents-or-ebooks-2-pages-per-sheet-of-paper-or-in-booklet-or-book-format-etc/">Freeware Genius for pointing it out.

    Soon after becoming the eBook editor I was surprised to learn that many of our readers print our guides. I’m not sure why this surprised me; perhaps it’s because I rarely read anything on paper anymore and print documents even less often. While I do understand the appeal of printing such manuals, using full pages to do so is pretty wasteful. Tools like this make printing our manuals less wasteful, so I recommend all of our readers do so.

    Prefer reading PDFs on your e-reader? So do I, but the formatting can be problematic. If this is familar to you, you’ll find href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/pdf-files-ereaderfriendly-briss/">Briss makes PDF files e-reader friendly. Even if you don’t use e-readers, combining Briss with Govert’s tool could have some awesome results. If you try this, share your thoughts in the comments below.

    Do you have any other PDF printing tips or tools you use to print to PDF? Share them below, along with your questions about Govert’s imposition tool. />
    />Need Assistance? Ask questions to MakeUseOf staff and thousands of other readers on href="http://www.makeuseof.dev/answers/" target="_blank" >MakeUseOf Answers!

    />

     

    href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/save-paper-formatting-printing-files-goverts-imposition-tool-windows/"> src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/save-paper-formatting-printing-files-goverts-imposition-tool-windows/"> href="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis/login?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/save-paper-formatting-printing-files-goverts-imposition-tool-windows/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/diggme.png"> href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/save-paper-formatting-printing-files-goverts-imposition-tool-windows/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/fb.jpg"> href="http://www.google.com/reader/link?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/save-paper-formatting-printing-files-goverts-imposition-tool-windows/&title=Save Paper By Formatting & Printing Your Files With Govert’s Imposition Tool [Windows]&srcTitle=MakeUseOf.com"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/gbuzz-feed.png"> href="http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/save-paper-formatting-printing-files-goverts-imposition-tool-windows/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/stumble.png">

     

    More articles about: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/pdf/" title="pdf" rel="tag">pdf, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/pdf-editors/" title="pdf editors" rel="tag">pdf editors, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/printables/" title="printables" rel="tag">printables, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/printing/" title="printing" rel="tag">printing />



    View full post on MakeUseOf

    Posted in Useful APPsComments (0)

    3 New & Superb Ways To Share Files Online


    class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/intro10.jpg" alt="storage share files"/>With the advent of HTML5, which enables websites to do href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/15-sites-amazing-html5/">amazing things, the realm of href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/file-sharing/">file-sharing sites has definitely grown with newer options that make the whole experience a lot more seamless. You can drag and drop onto websites, in interesting ways you couldn’t (or could with limited results) with the web apps you may be used to, like the defunct href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/file-sharing-round-up-the-only-tools-you-need/">Drop.io or Mediafire. It may be easier to use desktop programs, like href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/combine-dropbox-calibre-universal-access-ebooks/">Dropbox (which you now use to sync folders href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/easily-synchronize-folders-dropbox-symlinks/">outside the main one), but it never hurts to explore other alternatives that offer similar features.

    We’ll take a look at some of the newer web-based storage and file-sharing sites that despite their simple looks, offer convenient drag-and-drop, as well as, shortened URLs and statistics (something that most desktop programs don’t provide yet).

    href="http://letscrate.com/">Crate

    style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/22.png" alt="storage share files" width="580" height="434" />

    With Crate, you get a beautiful and ad-free site where you can upload files of up to 50 MB by drag and dropping them onto the website and copy the shortened link to share with whomever. You can have up to 6 different crates or workspaces for a total of 200MB of storage space, which you can track if you sign up for a free account. Once signed in, you can see the number of views and downloads for your files. Though you can share an entire crate, you can’t download it since you still have to click on each file to download it. You will also need a compatible browser to get the most of out Crate, as you can’t drag and drop files in IE9. style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/3.5.jpg" alt="store and share files" width="564" height="624" />

    href="http://ge.tt/">Ge.tt

    style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/42.png" alt="store and share files" width="579" height="365" />

    Here is another simple, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/gett-file-sharing-real-time/">real-time sharing website, which has a focus on letting you share your files quick and move on. With Ge.tt, you can select files  or can drag and drop them onto the site (if you have a supported browser), and then share the shortened URL like the other apps in this list, but a cool feature is that you don’t have to wait for your file to finish uploading before users download them. style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/51.png" width="579" height="235" />

    You also don’t need an account to start uploading files, but acquiring a free account enables your files to live longer than 30 days, plus you get live statistics. You can also add or remove files,  but any files that stay inactive in your account for more than 3 months will get removed. Like Crate, Ge.tt doesn’t allow the download of an entire share, so if you have multiple files to share, other users will have to click on each file to download them all.

    href="http://min.us/">Min.us

    style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/5.5.png" alt="storage share files" width="517" height="820" />

    Min.us started as a super-easy way to share good-looking image galleries, but nowadays, the storage service has expanded and thus, it now accepts other types of files, such as documents, and videos. You can drag and drop or select your files. Then, you can instantly view your file, add or remove files, as well as download the entire share, which will be in the form of a zip file. You can use the service without signing up, but with an account, you’ll have a a profile at http://min.us/u/YOURusername like href="http://min.us/u/john">this one, where you can publish files and galleries.

    Be sure to explore href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/share-pictures-easy-draganddrop-functionality/">Steve’s article as he reviewed Min.us in more detail, back when the service was mostly for displaying great image galleries.

    Behind minimalistic looks, these 3 sites offer plenty of features and could be great alternatives to Drop.io. I say, using any of these sites is as easy as using Dropbox’s Public folder, but let’s hear from you. What do you use to share your files instantly?

    Image credit: rel="nofollow" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-48358270/stock-photo-file-sharing.html">Shutterstock />
    /> Hey Facebookers, make sure to join href="http://www.facebook.com/makeuseof" target="_blank">MakeUseOf on Facebook and get access to some exclusve stuff. Over 70,000 fans already!

    />

     

    href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-superb-ways-share-files-online/"> src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-superb-ways-share-files-online/"> href="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis/login?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-superb-ways-share-files-online/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/diggme.png"> href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-superb-ways-share-files-online/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/fb.jpg"> href="http://www.google.com/reader/link?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-superb-ways-share-files-online/&title=3 New & Superb Ways To Share Files Online&srcTitle=MakeUseOf.com"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/gbuzz-feed.png"> href="http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-superb-ways-share-files-online/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/stumble.png">

     

    More articles about: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/better-alternatives/" title="better alternatives" rel="tag">better alternatives, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/cloud/" title="cloud" rel="tag">cloud, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/document-sharing/" title="document sharing" rel="tag">document sharing, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/file-sharing/" title="file sharing" rel="tag">file sharing />



    View full post on MakeUseOf

    Posted in Useful APPsComments (4)

    3 New & Superb Ways To Share Files Online


    class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/intro10.jpg" alt="storage share files"/>With the advent of HTML5, which enables websites to do href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/15-sites-amazing-html5/">amazing things, the realm of href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/file-sharing/">file-sharing sites has definitely grown with newer options that make the whole experience a lot more seamless. You can drag and drop onto websites, in interesting ways you couldn’t (or could with limited results) with the web apps you may be used to, like the defunct href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/file-sharing-round-up-the-only-tools-you-need/">Drop.io or Mediafire. It may be easier to use desktop programs, like href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/combine-dropbox-calibre-universal-access-ebooks/">Dropbox (which you now use to sync folders href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/easily-synchronize-folders-dropbox-symlinks/">outside the main one), but it never hurts to explore other alternatives that offer similar features.

    We’ll take a look at some of the newer web-based storage and file-sharing sites that despite their simple looks, offer convenient drag-and-drop, as well as, shortened URLs and statistics (something that most desktop programs don’t provide yet).

    href="http://letscrate.com/">Crate

    style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/22.png" alt="storage share files" width="580" height="434" />

    With Crate, you get a beautiful and ad-free site where you can upload files of up to 50 MB by drag and dropping them onto the website and copy the shortened link to share with whomever. You can have up to 6 different crates or workspaces for a total of 200MB of storage space, which you can track if you sign up for a free account. Once signed in, you can see the number of views and downloads for your files. Though you can share an entire crate, you can’t download it since you still have to click on each file to download it. You will also need a compatible browser to get the most of out Crate, as you can’t drag and drop files in IE9. style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/3.5.jpg" alt="store and share files" width="564" height="624" />

    href="http://ge.tt/">Ge.tt

    style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/42.png" alt="store and share files" width="579" height="365" />

    Here is another simple, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/gett-file-sharing-real-time/">real-time sharing website, which has a focus on letting you share your files quick and move on. With Ge.tt, you can select files  or can drag and drop them onto the site (if you have a supported browser), and then share the shortened URL like the other apps in this list, but a cool feature is that you don’t have to wait for your file to finish uploading before users download them. style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/51.png" width="579" height="235" />

    You also don’t need an account to start uploading files, but acquiring a free account enables your files to live longer than 30 days, plus you get live statistics. You can also add or remove files,  but any files that stay inactive in your account for more than 3 months will get removed. Like Crate, Ge.tt doesn’t allow the download of an entire share, so if you have multiple files to share, other users will have to click on each file to download them all.

    href="http://min.us/">Min.us

    style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/5.5.png" alt="storage share files" width="517" height="820" />

    Min.us started as a super-easy way to share good-looking image galleries, but nowadays, the storage service has expanded and thus, it now accepts other types of files, such as documents, and videos. You can drag and drop or select your files. Then, you can instantly view your file, add or remove files, as well as download the entire share, which will be in the form of a zip file. You can use the service without signing up, but with an account, you’ll have a a profile at http://min.us/u/YOURusername like href="http://min.us/u/john">this one, where you can publish files and galleries.

    Be sure to explore href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/share-pictures-easy-draganddrop-functionality/">Steve’s article as he reviewed Min.us in more detail, back when the service was mostly for displaying great image galleries.

    Behind minimalistic looks, these 3 sites offer plenty of features and could be great alternatives to Drop.io. I say, using any of these sites is as easy as using Dropbox’s Public folder, but let’s hear from you. What do you use to share your files instantly?

    Image credit: rel="nofollow" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-48358270/stock-photo-file-sharing.html">Shutterstock />
    /> Hey Facebookers, make sure to join href="http://www.facebook.com/makeuseof" target="_blank">MakeUseOf on Facebook and get access to some exclusve stuff. Over 70,000 fans already!

    />

     

    href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-superb-ways-share-files-online/"> src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-superb-ways-share-files-online/"> href="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis/login?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-superb-ways-share-files-online/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/diggme.png"> href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-superb-ways-share-files-online/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/fb.jpg"> href="http://www.google.com/reader/link?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-superb-ways-share-files-online/&title=3 New & Superb Ways To Share Files Online&srcTitle=MakeUseOf.com"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/gbuzz-feed.png"> href="http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-superb-ways-share-files-online/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/stumble.png">

     

    More articles about: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/better-alternatives/" title="better alternatives" rel="tag">better alternatives, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/cloud/" title="cloud" rel="tag">cloud, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/document-sharing/" title="document sharing" rel="tag">document sharing, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/file-sharing/" title="file sharing" rel="tag">file sharing />



    View full post on MakeUseOf

    Posted in Useful APPsComments (0)

    Make Your PDF Files More eReader-Friendly With Briss


    pdf reader friendlyCrop margins out of PDFs to them reader friendly for your Kindle, Kobo or other e-reader device. Briss is a cross-platform program that makes a format, designed with printing in mind, work a little better on e-ink devices.

    The PDF is a fantastic document format, looking the same across all platforms and including all fonts and images necessary to print a given file. It was never designed to be read on devices however, particularly the smaller screens offered by modern e-ink devices. This is where Briss comes in.


    Briss won’t make your PDF flow like an epub or native Kindle file, but it will cut the excess margins that make full pages of documents too big to read on small screens. By presenting you with all overlapping pages and allowing you to select what to crop, Briss gives you control over the cropping process.

    This free program uses Java to run, meaning it works on Linux, Mac and Windows alike (although I had some troubles on a PPC Mac).

    Using The Program

    Fire up Briss and you’ll see a mostly empty window. Before the fun begins you’ll have to open a PDF, using the “File” menu.

    Do that and you’ll be asked if you want to exclude any pages from your cropping:

    pdf reader friendly

    I recommend excluding the cover, as it looks best complete. You can exclude other pages, however. It’s up to you.

    Once you’re past this phase you’ll be presented with all the pages in your document, overlapping each other:

    pdf for reader

    This is useful, as you can quickly tell where the text is on most of your pages. Take a look and decide what you want to keep of the given pages. Once you’re ready you can select your text, creating blue boxes. You can opt to include everything or to leave some excess imagery behind. Selecting your text looks like this:

    pdf for reader

    As you can see, I’ve opted to remove some of the graphics around the margins, but for the most part I’ve kept everything in place. I’ve also decided to remove the header and the footer, as they make the page much taller than is necessary.

    Again, how you crop a book is up to you; your mileage may vary. Be sure to click the “Preview” button to see what the cropped file will look like!

    Results

    Done? Save the file and send it to your e-book reader, using Calibre if you’re not sure how to get PDFs onto your device. You’ll find the created file is much easier to read than before:

    pdf reader friendly

    Enjoy reading your edited PDF on your e-reader!

    Download Briss

    Ready to dowload Briss? Head over to the Briss project page on SourceForge to download the latest version. The program comes as a ZIP file. Windows users can use the .EXE file enclosed, while Mac and Linux users should execute the .JAR file.

    Convert To Epub?

    Of course, reading PDFs on an e-ink reader isn’t ideal. Even with cropping, battery life is an issue and it’s not easy to increase the font. PDFs are made to print, not be read on devices designed to reflow text. You could try using epub2go for converting PDFs to epub files, but the results are inconsistent at best. Until there’s a simple, consistent way to get PDFs to reflow, Briss can make reading PDFs on e-readers less painful.

    Have any other tips for us? Share them in the comments below.

    The screenshots here, in case you are wondering, come from an upcoming MakeUseOf PDF manual that’s been requested multiple times. Look for it later this month!


    Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Includes cool extras.


     

     



    View full post on MakeUseOf

    Posted in Useful APPsComments (0)

    2 Ways To Annotate Your PDF Files Online


    class="align-left" style="border: 0px none;margin-left:20px;margin-top:5px;float:right;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/intro.png" alt="annotate pdf" width="250" height="250" />If you use Ubuntu, you may have faced the frustration of trying to find a native way to annotate your PDF files, like say, any of the  href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/">MakeUseOf PDF manuals you know you can download for free. Unless you run some Windows program via Wine, wait for Evince’s annotation features, or learn to use the incredibly user-unfriendly href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfedit/">PDFEdit, you’re pretty much out of luck. That’s when you can be thankful that there are developers focused on making web-based PDF tools.

    There are plenty of PDF tools, many that are href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-websites-to-view-your-pdfs-online/">document-viewing sites, such as href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/embed-pdf-document-website/">Scribd, Issuu, DocStoc, etc. that beautifully display PDF files neatly on your browser, but not many of these let you do much other than admire the document.

    id="more-66752"> /> Few web-based PDF tools actually offer annotation features, like the ones you can find in href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/foxit-reader-a-great-alternative-pdf-reader-for-linux/">Foxit (whose Linux version doesn’t actually have annotation tools) or href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/pdfxchange-viewer-give-free-pdf-reader/">PDF-XChange, my favorite reader with customizable keyboard shortcuts. Perhaps, you occasionally use PDF files or maybe have a PDF reader without many or any annotating features, such as the href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/a-quadruple-of-light-alternatives-to-adobe-reader/">lightweight href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/portable-software-usb/">SumatraPDF or href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-free-linuxfriendly-office-suites-job/">Evince in Ubuntu.

    Whatever reason you have for needing a quick way to annotate PDF files, check out the following web-based PDF tools.

    href="http://www.pdfescape.com">PDFEscape – Great For Advanced Annotating & Light Page Manipulation

    href="http://www.pdfescape.com">PDFEscape has been href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/pdfescape/">featured on our site as a great PDF editor and form filler with the basic features that most users welcome. You don’t need an account to edit a PDF and can load PDFs from your computer or from an URL. The number of PDF-annotation tools is pretty impressive as you can whiteout (hide parts of your PDF file), and insert links, insert arrows, images, sticky notes, checkmarks and even form fields of several types (text, checkbox, listbox, etc).

    style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/4.png" alt="annotate pdf" width="505" height="577" />

    That’s not where the features end though. PDFEscape helps you delete, rotate and move pages in your PDF file, which even in desktop PDF readers, you usually can find limited support for.

    style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/5.png" alt="how to annotate pdf" width="502" height="576" />

    You can also encrypt the document with a password, as well as edit the details of the PDF file, such as title, author, etc. You can even save your progress as you’re editing while you’re trying the features out (you don’t have to be logged in), unless you navigate elsewhere and lose your session. PDFEscape saves the annotation to the PDF file, as opposed to Okular, which is a nice PDF reader, but doesn’t save annotations on top of the PDF file, which makes annotations inaccessible in other viewers.

    style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/6.jpg" alt="how to annotate pdf" width="580" height="456" />

    href="http://crocodoc.com/">Crocodoc – Great For Collaborative Annotation

    href="http://crocodoc.com/">Crocodoc is a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/crocodoc-mark-up-document/">polished viewer and href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/crocodoc-modify-pdf-files-online/">annotator for PDF, MS Word, MS Powerpoint, PNG, and JPG files. You might be reminded of Aviary’s Falcon tool, which lets you annotate images (great for anyone that wants to annotate a screenshot), and web-based PDF and document viewers, like href="http://viewer.zoho.com">Zoho’s excellent Viewer, and the href="http://docs.google.com/viewer">Google Docs viewer, but Crocodoc also accepts other file types and has a few other features up its sleeves. Crocodoc also uses HTML5 and CSS3 instead of Flash to display documents with minimal loss of quality when compared to the original files. You don’t even need to create an account as you can upload a file right away when you land on the website. You get a simple viewer with zooming, text (which you can use to fill out forms), drawing, highlighting and commenting tools after your file gets converted.

    style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/1.png" alt="how to annotate pdf" width="580" height="464" />

    What makes it stand out from the other PDF annotators in this list is that it allows you to share your marked-up PDF file with a shortened link, and even with embed codes! Once you share it, you can choose to let your viewers add comments to your document. The other unique feature is that you can collaborate with others so you can all view and annotate the file together, even if you’re in remote locations. You can then see all of the changes made to the document in a sidebar. href="http://crocodoc.com/">Crocodoc allows you to download the original file as well as the annotated version, which you can view in Sumatra, Evince or your favorite PDF reader, with annotations and all.

    style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/2.png" width="576" height="361" />

    style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/3.png" alt="annotate pdf" width="580" height="439" />

    Honorable mentions would go to href="https://docq.com/landing/pdfvue">PDFVue, (which href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/use-pdfvue-to-fill-out-edit-pdf-files-for-free-online/">has many of the same features that PDFEscape offers in slick interface, but brands marked up PDF files with a DocQ watermark) and href="http://www.fillanypdf.com/">FillAnyPDF (which is a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/fillanypdf-free-pdf-fill-in/">beautiful form filler and PDF annotator, but in my tests, it didn’t seem to save the annotations to the PDF file so they weren’t visible when used with a desktop viewer).

    What free software or web-based tool do you use to annotate PDF files? Share your wisdom in the comments!

    Image Credit: rel="nofollow" href="http://findicons.com/icon/254881/pdf?id=254881">Alessandro Rei />
    /> Got Questions? Ask Them Now FREE on href="http://www.makeuseof.com/answers/">MakeUseOf Answers!

    />

     

    href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/2-ways-annotate-pdf-files-online/"> src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/2-ways-annotate-pdf-files-online/"> href="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis/login?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/2-ways-annotate-pdf-files-online/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/diggme.png"> href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/2-ways-annotate-pdf-files-online/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/fb.jpg"> href="http://www.google.com/reader/link?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/2-ways-annotate-pdf-files-online/&title=2 Ways To Annotate Your PDF Files Online&srcTitle=MakeUseOf.com"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/gbuzz-feed.png"> href="http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/2-ways-annotate-pdf-files-online/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/stumble.png">

     



    View full post on MakeUseOf.com

    Posted in Useful APPsComments (0)

    Blogroll