I created two sets of of PDF stamps. One set is semi-transparent set of message flags that you can place overtop of text on a PDF to call attention to something – usually an indication that someone needs to sign, intial or witness something. I often place them over a persons name on a PDF form for an account application, with the arrow pointing to the signature box. By saving them in my PDF template they are always in the right place whenever I open a new account for a client.

The second set of flags looks the same, but when you place the flag on the PDF, you are prompted for text that will go into the PDF. Here is a sample of what they look like:

I purposely chose to make the images semi-transparent so that not too much ink or toner is used during printing, and so you can see what is behind the images on the form.

To use the stamps, you need to download to your PDF Stamps Directory. On my Windows 7 device it is “C:\Users\doug\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Acrobat\10.0\Stamps”. Depending on your Operating System, Version of Adobe, and User Name, your Stamps folder may be in a different location. Once you locate your stamps folder,

• Shut down Acrobat
• Download DougsFlags and DynamicFlags to your stamps folder
• Restart Acrobat

The Dynamic stamps were trick to make. Resources I borrowed on heavily to get these stamps working include:

• Try These Dynamic Paid and Received Stamps
• Dynamic Stamp Secrets

Have Fun.

p.s.
If you are building your own stamps that use custom text you can look in the code for the dynamic stamps, and check out the “test” variable which is used to help determine the stamp id required for coding.

Fortunately, there is a free service greyscalepdf.com that is quite useful.

Often what I will do is convert a pdf to greyscale, then use a highlighting tool to highlight a few words, and print in color. That can reduce printing costs when I have a large volume of the same item to do.

Here is the recipe:

1. Follow the install from source instructions on distribute .
2. Create a symlink from /usr/local/bin/easy_install-3.3 to sudo /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.3/bin/easy_install-3.3 easy_install-3.3

sudo ln -s /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.3/bin/easy_install-3.3 easy_install-3.3

Then use easy_install-3.3 to install python packages.

I am sure I am not the only windows user who may wish to select a file in the finder, and copy the full path into the clipoard so they can mail the full file path to their colleagues via instant messaging or email so they can edit or review the file. You would think a right click to copy a file path to the clipboard would be pretty obvious most users would need (at least those with a LAN).

It can be done with the Path Copy Copy add in for Windows. But why isn’t this built into Windows? Here is an image of how to copy a path with PathCopyCopy in Windows Explorer:

In Windows 7 you can copy the path of the parent folder with the mouse by clicking up near the top of the Windows Explorer, but not the path of the file itself.

I reached out to Buzz Bruggeman at Active Words to suggest this is an area of pain in Windows, he showed me (via GoToMeeting) a couple ways to address it. The first is that this feature is available through the abstruse Alt-F p p key sequence in Windows Explorer to select a copy file path menu item – that will at least copy the full path of the file to the clipboard. I confess to rarely using the Alt keys to drive windows menus, I would prefer to hit a simple control-g (I don’t need a bell) or something and copy the filename to the clipboard.

The next thing Buzz showed me was how to script ActiveWords to do the same, and further, how to paste the link into a new email, with a single ActiveWord. So if I simply type ctm while a file is highlighted in Windows Explorer, a new outlook message will spark up with the path of the file I wish to send a link to as the contents of the email.

In the past, ActiveWords lost me at Scripting. I loved ActiveWords for launching programs, opening commonly used files, and some text substitution, but I stopped at scripting.

Path Copy Copy is free. ActiveWords has some options starting at free.

I created applescripts to move messages to these folders. YOu are going to need some applescript skills to make this work on your mac. Here is a sample for the “Move to Kosc.scpt” applescript:

-- move the KOSC folder
tell application "Mail"
	set messagesa to selection
	set theAccount to "GMAIL IMAP"
	set kosc_folder to mailbox "kosc" of account theAccount
	
	
	repeat with each_message in messagesa
		move each_message to kosc_folder
	end repeat
end tell

Once you customize the above script, and put it in your “/Users/yourname/Library/Scripts/Applications” folder, it will appear in the applescripts menu.

It still requires some mousing, but I find it an improvement. If you are a Quicksilver fan, you make this much easier still. Make sure the “Run” action is near the top of your Actions in the Quicksilver preferences for Actions, and above any actions starting with “Open” – otherwise you will find yourself opening the applescript editor instead of running it. Assuming your Applescripts end up in your catalog, you will be able to select your applescripts like this:

Finally, you can create a Quicksilver trigger to run the applescript to run the applescript with a single keystroke.
Here is a screenshot of configuring quicksilver trigger to run an applescript for mail.app, bound to command-k.

While you would think an application designer might consider the use case of frequently moving emails to a few common folders, the best Apple has come up with so far is drag and drop, which is slow, error prone, and way to much mousing. With applescript and Quicksilver it can become reasonable, but really how many people have the skills to set up an Applescript and Quicksilver to do this?

• WIth Quicksilver, select the folder and the “Open Directory in Terminal” action
• Enable the Open Terminal Here service item

Also of interest, try “open .” in the terminal window to open the finder in the current directory.

Installing and using Adobe Reader 11 fixes the problem — you have to open the document in reader, not preview.

To use, save the script in your /Users/…/Library/Scripts/Applications/Aperture, use the AppleScript menu to select the script.

Here is a quick screencast showing how to invoke the script:

I wrote this as a complement to the post on Geotagging with Google Earth and Aperture.

Download Geotag With Google Eearth.scptd to /Users/doug/Library/Scripts/Applications/Aperture, replacing “doug” with your username. You will probably have to create the Aperture folder under /Users/…/Library/Scripts/Applications/. Then all you have to do is open Google Earth, navigate to the location of the image you wish to geotag. Then in aperture, select the images you want to geotag, and select the “Geotag With Google Earth” from the Applescript menu.

The version of Google Earth I am using doesn’t have a built in crosshair, so if you haven’t added one already you will need to add one. You can download a crosshair for Google Earth at http://www.sonomawings.com/ge/crosshair.kmz from Sonoma Wings Hangliding Club Google Earth Resource Page.

Here is a quick screencast showing how to use the Geotag With Google Earth applescript:

Updated from an earlier version with KML referencing a JPEG on flickr. Now the KMZ embeds a PNG with a semi-transparent background. It works much better.

.

Add this link to my KML to Google Earth to try it out.

At one point I called their tech support and suffered through their obviously BS advice (uninstall, reboot, reinstall) which didn’t work.

If you experience this, you really have to uninstall Kobo. Their tech support probably can’t help you. It may be an OS X Lion Issue.

Remove the app the usual way (dragging it to the trash). Remove Kobo related plist files in your ~/Library/preferences directory. If this is gobbledygook to you, enlist the help of your friend with a truck to help you move or family member who normally helps you with computer woes.

Next, move, but do not delete, the folder ~/Library/Application Support/Kobo. That is your database of books etc.

Download the latest OS X Desktop installer for Kobo.

That will get you up and running.

The behaviour of Kobo apps (desktop, handheld) when anything goes wrong is so bad users have little chance of fixing many of them, even with Kobo’s tech support. Woe to you if you mis-enter the date on your Kobo device and check a book out of the library. The error message is so bad you would waste a whole pile of time addressing something that is not the issue. And of course you wouldn’t want Kobo desktop to correct the time on the Kobo device when you plug it in.

Even if I follow the Golden rule. Even if I use Dragon’s Note Pad.

I would like to write some longer documents with it. I’m not sure yet that it is possible.

I will say that the overall recognition quality appears to be much better in Dragon Dictate than Dragon naturally speaking.

Except for editing (which is rather important), usability is much better than Dragon Naturally Speaking (which is terrible, and I would like to write a blog post on DNS usability). The command mechanism in Dragon Dictate is great too.