ScreenCastsOnline is your one stop shop for Mac video tutorials to help you get the most out of your Mac.

With a brand new video tutorial published every week, ScreenCastsOnline covers many aspects of using your Mac with tutorials covering OSX, tutorials for switchers and those new to the Mac, the latest applications, Web 2.0 services and much much more

You can download free versions of the tutorials directly to your Mac or PC via iTunes, simply by clicking the buttons in the side bar or you can just browse the list of available free shows below or via the category list and view them directly in your browser.

Don't forget to check out all the additional benefits of becoming a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member and accessing over 140+ HD tutorials, just by clicking here!
Thanks for visiting ScreenCastsOnline and I hope you enjoy the shows!

Don McAllister

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	If you've come by the site looking for video tutorials on applications featured during the MacHeist promotions, you're in luck! Just click on this link to go to a special "MacHeist" page where you can see the current list of available tutorials, all available for free.
	If you're looking for tutorials on applications featured in the recent MacUpdate Promo bundle, here's a link to a special "MacUpdate" page. Sign to the free feed or become an Extra! member to receive new tutorials as they become available!

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Time for an update on an application I last looked at over 12 months ago. Acknowledged as the premier diagramming, charting and visualisation tool for OSX, OmniGraffle has recently been relaunched with a mojor upgrade - OmniGraffle 5.

Available in both Standard and Pro versions, OmniGraffle is the tool that Mac users rely on to produce diagrams, process charts, UI mock ups and much more. Recognised as a perfect Visio replacement for switchers coming across to the Mac, OmniGraffle is a delight to use (see this recent blog post - "OmniGraffle makes it easy to leave Visio behind") combining simplicity with ease of use to deliver outstanding results.

This weeks show revisits some of the functionality I examined in the last show but focuses more on the new features in OmniGraffle 5 including:

• User Interface Update
• New Toolbar
• Configuring Drawing Tools
• Mini Inspector
• Style Tray
• Tools Basics including:
• New Bezier Line Tool
• Diagram Tool
• New Layout Engine
• New Stencil Palette
• Graffletopia Integration
• New OmniGraffle Pro features including:
• Subgraphs
• Presentation Mode
• Visio Compatability

This weeks free show is sponsored by the Omni Group and they have kindly offered a special discount to ScreenCastsOnline viewers. You can get 10% off any purchase of OmniGraffle 5 (upgrades or new purchases) by using the promo code:

SCO_OG5

when making your purchase.

Discussions: Forum

Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
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Something different this week, not one but three really useful utilities.

What's even better is that they are all free!

JumpCut - A great clipboard buffering application which takes a minimilistic approach to give you access to your recent clipboard entries. Go back in time and select from a list of recent clips from either your menu bar or via a hot key and bezel - Website Link
DejaMenu - Large or multiscreen setup? Fed up of having to travel all the way to the top of the screen to access your applications menu? Or even worse, having to traverse monitors to get access? DejaMenu allows you configure every applications menu to pop up right where your cursor is, saving you effort and time. You can even assign your menus to popup with a click of your mouse! - Website Link
SoundSource - Constantly juggling different audio outputs and inputs on your Mac? SoundSource gives you access to all your audio devices quickly and easily through a single icon in your menu bar as well as a volume control for each device - Website Link

In addition, the members version of this weeks show has a special section just for members which explains the renewal process and what to do to prevent your membership expiring, and what to do if it does!

Discussions: Forum

Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
Click here for more details on becoming a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member

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We revisit one of OSXs most misunderstood features this week and that's the latest version of Automator in Leopard.

Automator is a way of creating special applications or plugins that allow you to "automate" repetitive tasks. Each workflow is built up from a number of predefined actions that are bundled in with most of Apples own applications and an increasing number of third party applications. Initially introduced in Tiger, Automator has received a significant make over in Leopard with the introduction of some brand new features, mainly the ability to record tasks using the new "Watch Me Do" feature along with the introduction of user and system generated variables to use in your workflows.

So if the thought of AppleScript sends shivers down your spine, check out some the new features of Automator.

The show covers:

• Automator Basics
• The revised Interface
• Creating a Sample Workflow to resize images
• Creating a Sample Workflow with Text and Speech
• Saving Workflows as Applications
• Saving Workflows as Plugins
• Creating a Sample Workflow with "Watch Me Do"
• Creating and Scheduling an iCal Plugin

This weeks show also includes an Extra! section only available to ScreenCastsOnline Extra! members:

• Variables in Automator
• Creating a Sample Workflow including Variables

Discussions: Forum

Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
Click here for more details on becoming a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member

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Preview is one of OS X Leopards hidden gems. So much so, that most people are only aware of a fraction of its somewhat surprising range of features and capabilities!

Preview received a complete makeover with the release of Leopard, providing you with lots of additional power and flexibility. The great thing is, it's free and it's on all Macs so you never have to falter to make that image correction when your favourite shareware or freeware application isn't installed on someone else's Mac.

In this show, I'll take you through all the basic features of the latest version of Preview including:

• Image Capture
• Viewing Single and Multiple Images with Preview
• Slideshow Views
• Managing Images within Preview
• Color Correction
• Image Annotation
• Image Conversion and Resizing
• Opening and Re-arranging PDFs
• Annotation and Mark Up of PDFs
• Searching
• Bookmarks

See, I told you there was a lot to Preview!

Discussions: Forum

Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
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Simple. Intuitive. Powerful. That's the strap line for this weeks application which is VectorDesigner by TweakerSoft.

Causing quite a buzz earlier this year by winning a "Best of Show" 2008 and also being featured as one of the premium applications in the last MacHeist* promotion, VectorDesigner is a fully featured vector drawing application.

Unlike raster or bitmapped based drawing applications such as PixelMator or Photoshop, VectorDesigner uses vector based graphics allowing you to create drawings that are infinitely scalable without any degradation or loss of quality. VectorDesigner has some pretty amazing features including:

• Fully editable Smart Shapes
• Bezier creation and editing
• Flowing text along a path
• Flowing text inside a shape
• Boolean operators
• Layers
• Image filters powered by Core Image and Quartz Composer
• iSight Integration
• Flickr Integration
• Scanner Integration
• iLife photo browser

In addition, VectorDesigner also allows you to import or scan raster based images and convert them into scalable, editable vector graphics.

This weeks show touches on all these features (OK, except for iSight integration, I don't think you're quite ready for my ugly mug in a screencast yet!) and even takes you through creating a vector image design from scratch.

Of special interest is the Flickr integration that allows you to browse Flickr via a VectorDesigner Flickr browser and search for images and photos based on subject, colour or your own criteria. Once you've found an approriate image, just drag the image directly into your own VectorDesigner document as a new image or to add texture to an existing object.

This week is a free show and is sponsored by TweakerSoft.

To order your copy of VectorDesigner with $10 off the usual price, just visit:

TweakerSoft store.

The offer is available until the 23rd May, 2008.

Discussions: Forum

Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
Click here for more details on becoming a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member

* If you'd like to see more tutorials on applications that have been featured in the Macheist promotions, just click on the MacHeist logo or on the "MacHeist" category in the sidebar. ScreenCastsOnline is not affiliated with MacHeist but offers these tutorials as a service to the Mac community!

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Time Machine must be one of the most useful features of Leopard and should be mandatory for all Macs users. The fact is many people don't backup their critical or precious personal data and leave it until it's too late. Time Machine takes away the pain of undertaking and organising your backups but it does need additional investment in hardware. A simple firewire disk is adequate for most people, but what if you have several Macs? What if you'd like to buy a new disk but you want that wireless router as well?

The answer is to take a look at Time Capsule, the latest backup device from Apple designed specifically for Leopard users and Time Machine. But in fairness, to call it just a backup device does it a disservice. It's a multi-function machine with many roles:

Backup Device - 500GB or 1TB of storage built right in. Enough to service a single mac or multiple macs. Centralise all your Time Machine backups.
Wireless Device - Includes a full blown 802.11n wireless hub allowing you to create a wireless network or join an existing wireless network. You can backup your devices wirelessly and automatically.
GigaBit Network Switch - Includes three wired Gigabit ethernet ports so you can connect wired devices to your network.
Expandable - Add additional USB drives to expand your storage - never run out of space for your backups!
Print Server - Connect a printer and access your printer across the network from both wired and wireless devices.

The real beauty of Time Capsule is just how easy it is to setup and use and that's where this weeks show comes in. In the show I cover:

• Time Capsule Overview
• Typical Networking Scenario
• Installing & Configuring Time Capsule
• Adding Additional Storage to Time Capsule
• Access Time Capsule with Time Machine

As well as Time Capsule, Apple have also introduced the ability to add additional USB storage devices to existing Airport Extreme devices. It's not as straight forward as Time Capsule but if youe have an existing Airport Extreme, it's an extremely cost effective way of centralising your Time Machine backups. Consequently the show also covers:

• Adding Drives to Airport Extreme
• Configuring AirPort Extreme Disks
• Accessing Airport Extreme Disks via Time Machine.

Discussions: Forum

Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
Click here for more details on becoming a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member

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Finishing off the trio of shows all about iWork '08, this weeks show brings you up to date with the newly revised Pages'08, Apples flexible, yet powerful, word processor and page layout application.

Addressing the major complaints about Pages'06, mainly that it wasn't a "proper" word processor, Apple have completely revised Pages '08 to include a brand new "word processor" mode, in addition to its original page layout mode. To make it even easier to use, Apple have also introduced the context sensitive format bar in line with the other iWork applications to allow for less reliance on the inspector panels and give you control of the common elements right within the application window itself.

Following on from the previous show I did on Pages '06 (nearly two years ago!), this show will bring you up to speed on lots of the new functions and capabilities of this outstanding package!

This weeks show is a free show, but there is an extended show available for ScreenCastsOnline Extra! members with an additional 10 minutes of content and chapter marks. Extra! members will receive the extended show automatically as usual.

The show covers:

• Introduction to Pages '08
• Using the Format Bar
• Paragraph, Character & List Styles
• Page & Section Breaks
• Tracking Changes in Documents

The Extra! members extended show also covers:

• Working with Images in Pages
• Instant Alpha
• Wrapping Text around images
• Masking Images and Picture Frames
• Text Flow in Page Layout Mode
• Exporting

Discussions: Forum

Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
Click here for more details on becoming a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member

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We've all been there - You need to organise a meeting between a group of people and end up with an avalanche of emails from people who can make this day but not that. Or change their availability three times in a week. As for trying to arrange something across time zones with daylight savings time thrown into the mix - absolute nightmare.

Well recently I've been in just that position trying to schedule recording sessions for the Mac Roundtable! 10 very busy podcasters across 4 different time zones all trying to synchronise our activities and come up with a shared free slot to record.

In this age of Web 2.0, I thought there must be a service somewhere that could come to our rescue and sort out this complex organisational task.

So a quick bit of research and I found it! - ScheduleOnce

After using it for a day or so I was so impressed I thought I'd spread the word to help out ScreenCastsOnline viewers who are also tasked with sorting out meeting schedules. So I abandoned my plan for this week and did a show all about ScheduleOnce, especially as its completely free to use.

As a web based service its totally cross platform, you don't need to register and did I mention it's free. You don't even need to know what time zones all the participants are in.

It's simply a matter of setting up a meeting notice (which takes 2 minutes) and emailing a special link to your invited participants. They respond using the link, and the system gives you a view of all the responses and allows you to select the optimum time and email them with the confirmed date and time, all formatted in their local timezone.

This weeks show takes you through setting up a meeting, let's you see what the invitees receive and show you the responses and how you process them!

I hope this makes your life easier as it did mine!
Discussions: Forum

Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
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ScreenSteps is a great application from Blue Mango Learning Systems that makes creating, annotating and publishing instructions or task based documentation a breeze. Now although ScreenCasts are a brilliant way to get across complex information, sometimes there's no substitute for step by step instruction manuals with clear screenshots and good, consise instructions. The problem with creating "printed" documentation is that it can be difficult to assemble and can go out of date very easily requiring Herculean effort to update. And as for trying to keep on top of changes to videos - forget it!

Screensteps is cross platform application for both the Mac and Windows, which allows you to create libraries of "lessons", each lesson being a step by step process covering whatever tasks you want to document. Available in both a free version and a pay for version, the application has comprehensive tools built right in for screen capture and image annotation to easily and quickly build up step based documentation. Once you've created your lessons, ScreenSteps also has some powerful export functions that allow you export your lessons in either customised PDF or HTML format (in the pay for version) or even directly to a hosted ScreenSteps Live web service (included in the free version as well as the paid for version).

As well as exporting individual lessons, ScreenSteps allows you to organise your lessons into topics and sections, allowing you to create individual PDF files or HTML output containing an entire Library of lessons complete with a table of contents and easy navigation. The PDF version collates all your lessons into a multi page PDF whilst the HTML output provides all the code you need to upload to your website for online documentation.

If you're not sure about uploading HTML files to your website (or if you don't have a website) be sure to check out Part 2 of this ScreenSteps show where I'll be taking a look at ScreenSteps Live, a free service to host your ScreenSteps lessons. ScreenSteps Free and ScreenSteps Live are tightly integrated and it's really easy to export your lessons directly and automatically to ScreenSteps Live from within ScreenSteps.

As well as the free options, there are Standard and Pro versions of ScreenSteps which allow you to export locally to PDF and HTML so once you've tried the package, you can upgrade to get the full features.

Discussions: Forum

Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
Click here for more details on becoming a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member

Part 1 - ScreenSteps Desktop Application


Part 2 - ScreenSteps Live

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One of my favourite devices revisited this week - the Apple TV. Now revitalised with a brand new software update, this is the Apple TV Take 2.

As announced at this years Macworld, Apple have released a brand new software update for the Apple TV that turns it into an amazing entertainment hub for the Living Room. For the first time, the Apple TV no longer needs a Mac or PC and can function as a network connected media center. This weeks full Extra Members show takes you through some of the new features of this ground breaking device including:

• Installing the Apple TV Software Update
• The Revised Interface for Movies, TV Shows and Music
• Podcasts On Demand
• Viewing Photos via .Mac Web Galleries
• Viewing Photos via Flickr
• Adding Flickr Contacts
• iTunes Automatic Sync
• iTunes Custom Sync
• AirTunes in the Apple TV

Discussions: Forum

Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
Click here for more details on becoming a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member

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Not one but two top applications featured in this weeks show! This weeks episode is sponsored by Houdah Software and I cover both HoudahSpot and HoudahGeo.

HoudahSpot is no stranger to regular ScreenCastsOnline viewers as we covered it back in March 2007. Since then, HoudahSpot has been completely re-written to take advantage of some of the new technologies in OS X Leopard. HoudahSpot is really what Spotlight should have been and even with the improvements to Spotlight in Leopard, HoudaSpot enables you to take search on the Mac to the next level. It doesn't replace the underlying Spotlight engine, it justs gives you a much more flexible yet powerful "front end" to your Spotlight data. Add in Templates, the new BlitzSearch Menubar icon, integration with Launchbar and much more, HoudahSpot is a great addition to your Mac.

HoudahGeo is one of those applications you need to see to fully understand its capabilities! That's why we have ScreenCastsOnline! It's an application that allows you to easily "geotag" your photos with location data without needing access to a specialised GPS device or expensive GPS enable camera. HoudaGeo lets you simply add in location data visually using either a simple Map option or using its built in integration with Google Earth. But if you have got a GPS tracker, it can use that as well!

As well as allowing you to "Geotag" your photos, HoudahGeo also allows you to share you photos with its built in uploading integration with Google Earth and Flickr. Once Geotagged, just a click of a button and your photos will be uploaded and placed in the correct position on global maps with Google Earth or Flickr - it's really that easy!

Once you've exported to Google Earth, the show will demonstrate how you can create a virtual slideshow in Google Earth, flying from loction to location and displaying your photos at each location! Not only that, but you can email the slideshow to friends or family and they can watch it in Google Earth on their own computer (without needing a copy of HoudahGeo) - how cool is that!

Discussions: Forum

Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
Click here for more details on becoming a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member

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[Extra Only Show] As promised, this week concludes the two part show all about Bento, the personal database from Filemaker.

As mentioned in the previous show, Bento is a very powerful application that harnesses the power of database creation and sophisticated data manipulation in a very stylish and easy to use package - the epitome of a mac application!

As well as allowing you to create your own databases (or libraries in Bento terminology) from scratch or via imported data, Bento also gives you direct access to your Address book data, along with your iCal tasks and events to design your own forms to view and manipulate your data. Eye candy is plentiful with the use of pre designed themes and the ability to create your own special views of your data via easily customisable forms. Even if you don't feel the need to dabble with a database, Bento allows you to access, view and amend your Address Book and iCal data with a great new interface, straight out of the box.

In this final show I take you through some of the more advanced aspects of using Bento to manage your personal data including:

• iCal Event and Task Integration
• How you might use iCal integration
• Additional Bento Fields
• Printing Tables and Forms
• Creating Mailing Labels
• How to import Data into Bento
• Backing up Your Data

Hopefully parts 1 and 2 of this tutorial will have you well on the way to managing your data more effectively and give you a fresh outlook on address book and iCal.

Discussions: Forum

Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
Click here for more details on becoming a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member

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Busy, busy week! Apple finally released Leopard 10.5.2 and in a flash, put right a lot of the issues and complaints people were having with the User Interface. So this week I take a look at some of the changes in the new update and the best way to install it.

Also, I've been holding off doing a show on Spaces, the virtual desktop management system in Leopard, as I must admit, I did find it a little buggy! Hopefully 10.5.2 has fixed that so the second part of the show is all about Spaces. In this section I cover:

• Spaces Concepts
• Setting Up Spaces
• Moving Between Spaces
• Visualising Spaces

This weeks show is the first that contains an Extra! section just for ScreenCastsOnline Extra! members. In this additional section I cover:

• Moving Apps & Objects Between Spaces
• Organising Spaces by Task

Some major changes to the show format this week in that I've introduced a brand new theme and and transition clips. The new theme was commissioned from Geoff Smith, podcast theme maker extraordinaire! To celebrate, I spent some time putting together a new opening sequence, a new chapter marker and a new ending. All in motion graphics. I hope you like them!

Discussions: Forum

Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
Click here for more details on becoming a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member

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By popular demand, this weeks show is all about Bento by FileMaker. Bento is a very flexible and elegant database package that many people consider to be the application that was missing from iWork.

It's a very powerful application that harnesses the power of database creation and sophisticated data manipulation in a very stylish and easy to use package - the epitome of a mac application!

As well as allowing you to create your own databases (or libraries in Bento terminology) from scratch or via imported data, Bento also gives you direct access to your Address book data, along with your iCal tasks and events to design your own forms to view and manipulate your data. Eye candy is plentiful with the use of pre designed themes and the ability to create your own special views of your data via easily customisable forms.

This weeks show takes you through the basics of Bento and even if you've no database experience, should give you enough information to start creating your own databases with ease. The show is an Extra members show and covers:

• Introduction to Bento
• The Bento Interface
• Core Concepts - Libraries and Collections
• Address Book Integration
• Records & Table View
• Form Views
• Creating a Library
• Adding Fields
• Form Customisation
• Themes
• Advanced Find
• Smart Collections

More than enough to get you started! This is the first of a two part show on Bento and we'll look at some of the more advanced features in part two.

Discussions: Forum

Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
Click here for more details on becoming a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member

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It's been a while since I first found PDFPen, a great utility for editing PDFs. With the introduction of Version 3, however, the application now has some amazing features allowing you to edit the embedded images and text in the PDF itself!

Add in the ability to create and insert text, images, signatures and scribbles into a PDF and even create your own libraries of often used material, no longer do you have to spend hundreds of dollars on Adobe Acrobat!

This show is sponsored by Smile On My Mac, the publishers of PDFPen and covers:

• Introduction to PDFPen
• Manipulating PDF pages
• Working with Text
• Editing original PDF text
• Working with Columns
• Copying Text
• Searching for Text, Notes and Comments
• Working with Images
• Editing original PDF images
• Adding your own Images
• Filling in PDF Forms
• Adding Your Signature
• Making Transparent Images
• Applescript Support

On top of all that, this weeks show also contains a special ScreenCastsOnline discount code to save 20% off the usual price of PDFPen - The code is SCOPDFPEN - This code has been extended to 5th March 2008

Discussions: Forum

Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
The free show (or trailer) is at a much lower resolution.
Click here for more details on becoming a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member

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Thought I'd break myself back in gently by putting together Part 2 of the mini series - Setting up your Mac.

In this weeks show, I make a couple of slight alterations from Part 1 as suggested by pman and wastern, then it's straight into a section on configuring your new shiny aluminium keyboard to get the most out of it.

Then onto a list of some of the top freeware and donationware applications to install on your brand new Mac (or existing Mac if needs be!)

A few suggestions on commercial software I can't live without, topped off with an announcement on the new ScreenCastsOnline 2007 DVD now available (members only - sorry!).

Finished off with news of a groovy prize draw for all those people who buy a DVD before the end of February.

You know what, I didn't break myself in gently at all!

Some links for products mentioned in the show:

iStat Menus - Website
VLC - Website
Adium - Website
Onyx - Website
AppTrap - Website
AppZapper - Website
Hazel - Website - ScreenCastsOnline Episode
1Password (Affiliate Link - 17% Off!!) - Website - ScreenCastsOnli