Tag Archives: MacOSX

fixed : get usable (.tif or .jpg) pictures out of a PowerPoint-presentation

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Question :

My colleague sent me a PowerPoint-presentation with pictures in it that I want to use in my own Keynote-presentation. But, whenever I select a picture in the PowerPoint-presentation and drag-&-drop it onto my Desktop (as I usually do in OSX to get a picture out of a website or alike), I get a file named “Picture Clipping.pictClipping”. When I double-click on that, I get a Finder window with the correct preview and a line of info saying “Clipping contents: TIFF image”. But I can’t import that .pictClipping file into my Keynote-presentation as a picture. Neither can I find any way to get the TIFF-image out of the .pictClipping-file.

What can I do ?

 

Answer :

You’ve stumbled upon a hard-to-tackle problem with PowerPoint-presentations.

The solutions is rather simple, but takes a some effort. You can choose to either export  only one picture, or export all pictures from the PowerPoint-presentation :

If you only need one picture :

1- make sure you have GraphicConverter installed (if you don’t have it, you can download it from the LemkeSoft.de website for FREE and use it in “try it”-mode)

2- open your PowerPoint-presentation and drag&drop the picture you need onto the Desktop ; it will appear as a file named “Picture Clipping.pictClipping”

3- right-click on the “Picture Clipping.pictClipping”-icon and select “Open with…” from the pulldown menu that appears, then select “Other…” and select GraphicConverter 9 from the list that appears

4- GraphicConverter will now display the picture ; select “File” from the top menu bar, and “Save As…” from the pulldown menu that appears

5- in the window that opens, select select the destination folder and at “File Format:” choose JPEG/JFIF, PNG or TIFF and click the “Save”-button

6- then in the Finder, go to the destination folder and drag&drop the picture into your Keynote-presentation

…that’s it 😉

If you need multiple (or even all) pictures  :

1- make sure you have GraphicConverter installed (if you don’t have it, you can download it from the LemkeSoft.de website for FREE and use it in “try it”-mode)

2- right-click on the PowerPoint-presentation’s icon and click on “Duplicate” from the pulldown list that appears ; if your original was named “presentation.ppt” the duplicate will be named “presentation copy.ppt”

3- select the icon of the “presentation copy”-file and change the .ppt or .pptx file extension into .dat (when asked “Are you sure… ?”, click on the “Use .dat”-button)

4- now, right-click on the “presentation copy.dat”-file’s icon and click on “Open With” in the pulldown list that appears, then select “GraphicConverter” and click on it

5- in GraphicConverter, you will now see only the first picture from the PowerPoint-presentation, but in the bottom bar, you will see “Page: 1 of X” (in which X is the total number of pictures), there you can scroll through all pictures ; then, from the “File”-menu, select “Convert & Modify”

6- in the window that opens, you will see 3 columns : in the left column, make sure that “Function: Convert” is selected, and “Destination Format:” is set to JPEG/JFIF, PNG or TIFF

7- in the middle column, you will see the “From:”-button and the file named “presentation copy.dat” (with the first picture as it’s icon) ; in the right column you will see the “To:”-button ; there you should select your desired destination folder

8- then, click on the “Go”-button at the bottom of the left column (and all pictures will be exported the way you have asked)

9- do not forget to drag the “presentation copy.dat”-file to the Trash (and empty the Trash)

10- in the Finder, you can now open the destination folder and drag&drop the picture(s) you need into your Keynote-presentation

…that’s it – enjoy !

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fixed : use unsupported scanner in OSX 10.10 Yosemite

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UPDATE : an updated version of this post can be found here : 

fixed : use unsupported scanner in OSX 10.11 El _Capitan

—————————————————–

Question :

I have a Canon CanoScan LiDE 20 that used to work perfectly in MacOSX 10.6 Snow Leopard. But now I’ve bought a new Mac which runs OSX 10.10 Yosemite, I can’t seem to install it, since Canon doesn’t update the drivers anymore.

What can I do ?

Answer :

In OSX 10.7 Lion, 10.8 Mountain Lion, 10.9 Mavericks and 10.10 Yosemite, any TWAIN-supporting scanner can be used without any additional software.

A list of supported scanners for OSX 10.9 Mavericks can be found here.

Here’s a quick step-by-step instruction :

– connect your scanner directly to your Mac using a USB-cable

– open the System Preferences

– then click on “Print & Scan”

– then, just below in the list of printers on the left, click on the “+”-sign

– that will bring up the “Add”-window, which enables you to add a new printer or scanner

– if your scanner is TWAIN-supporting, it will show up there, and you just need to select it and click on the “Add”-button

– then it will be listed in the previous (“Print & Scan”) System Preferences window, and if you select it (and you put a piece of paper or a photo in the scanner), a Scanning Preview window will show up, allowing you to scan your document to file or eMail or something else…

but…

…for some printers, like the Canon CanoScan LiDE 20 and LiDE 30, the TWAIN-drivers are not included in OSX. In that case, you will need to install some generic (FREE) TWAIN-drivers :

– for OSX 10.10 Yosemite, download and install these files (in this same order) and restart you Mac after doing so, then your scanner will also show up in the “Print & Scan” System Preferences :

libusb.pkg.tar.gz

sane-backends.pkg.tar.gz

SANE-Preference-Pane.pkg.tar.gz

TWAIN-SANE-Interface.pkg.tar.gz

– for OSX 10.9 Mavericks, download and install these files (in this same order) and restart your Mac after doing so, then your scanner will also show up in the “Print & Scan” System Preferences :

libusb.pkg.tar.gz

sane-backends.pkg.tar.gz

SANE-Preference-Pane.pkg.tar.gz

TWAIN-SANE-Interface.pkg.tar.gz

– for OSX 10.8 Mountain Lion, download and install these files (in this same order) and restart your Mac after doing so, then your scanner will also show up in the “Print & Scan” System Preferences :

libusb.pkg.tar.gz

sane-backends.pkg.tar.gz

SANE-Preference-Pane.pkg.tar.gz

TWAIN-SANE-Interface.pkg.tar.gz

– for MacOSX 10.7 Lion, download and install these files (in this same order) and restart your Mac after doing so, then your scanner will also show up in the “Print & Scan” System Preferences :

libusb.pkg.tar.gz

sane-backends.pkg.tar.gz

SANE-Preference-Pane.pkg.tar.gz

TWAIN-SANE-Interface.pkg.tar.gz

– if these files do not turn into regular .pkg-files when you click on them, you need unTAR-software like this :

The Unarchiver

– if you get an error-message telling you you can’t install this software (these drivers) since the are not from Apple-appoved developers, you need to :

– open the System Preferences

– then click on “Security & Privacy”

– then make sure the “General”-tab is selected

– click the padlock in the lower left corner and provide an Administrator name & password to unlock the padlock

– then at “Allow applications downloaded from:” select “Anywhere”

– and exit the System Preferences to make this setting stick

Note #1 :

TWAIN-supporting drivers (like SANE and the ones that come with OSX) will enable you to directly scan from within various applications like Photoshop, MS Word, GraphicConverter, OmniPage and OSX’s built-in Image Capture. [ please also read Note #7 and #8 for more tips on this ! ]

Alex Scheider has written a special SANE scanner app for OSX 10.7 and newer, you can download it here. A screenshot can be found here. [haven’t tested it, so feedback on this is welcome]

Note #2 :

when using the SANE drivers, you will probably not be able to use the ‘one click’-buttons that are on the scanner itself…

Note #3 :

if your scanner lets you scan the first time, but after shut-down and restart scanning seems impossible because OSX can’t find the scanner, just plug-out the scanner’s USB-cable and plug it back in and everything should work again…

Note #4 :

if the “Scan”-button remains grayed-out, make sure that you have selected an area to scan… (put differently : if “Selection:” is set to “Off”, you will need to select an area to scan before the “Scan”-button will be ready to use…)

Note #5 :

if you get a distorted scan when scanning in landscape view (or any other rotated view), just scan normally in portrait view and rotate the scanned image afterwards (in Preview app or another image editing program, like Photoshop or Graphic Converter)

Note #6 :

if you are not able to scan as a JPEG (.jpg-flie), just scan as a TIFF (.tif-file) and convert the scanned image afterwards (in Preview app or another image editing program, like Photoshop or Graphic Converter)

Note #7 :

if your scanner doesn’t show up in Image Capture (especially in OSX 10.9 Mavericks), use this workaround :

go to System Prefecences –> Printers & Scanners –> [your scanner] –> Scan –> Open Scanner

Note #8 :

if your scanner doesn’t show up in Photoshop (especially in OSX 10.9 Mavericks), try this workaround :

go to Applications –> Adobe Photoshop CS# –> Adobe Photoshop CS# –> type “CMD” + “i” key-combo (on your keyboard) –> (in the Get Info window) select “Open in 32 bit mode” and exit Get Info

then open Adobe Photoshop (CS#-version) –> File –> Import –> SANE

Note #9 :

another option that might just work to get SANE drivers to connect with ImageCapture and Photoshop (especially if you have an older CANON scanner) is (re)installing the TWAINbrigde.app that Jan Egil has ready for download on his website.

Credits :

Matias Ellert and the Open Source developers of the SANE project

…and a special thanks to Mónica, Jorge Blasio, torrealta, dencho, BobD and Jan Egil for Note #7, #8 and #9 ! [see comments below]

If you encounter any problems with these SANE drivers for OSX, try contacting Mattias Ellert directly as indicated here.

If you want to un-install the TWAIN SANE drivers, either use an un-installer application like AppCleaner or follow the instructions for manual un-install as outlined in Mattias Ellert’s FAQ (last question & answer).

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fixed : shared disks not visible in Finder

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Question :

When I’m at home, I usually am able to see my Time Capsule in the paragraph named “Shared” in the shortlist on the left side of each Finder window.

But today, I don’t even see the “Shared” paragraph… How can I connect to my Time Capsule to view the files I’ve stored on it ?

Answer :

There can be several causes for your problem, but these two are the most common :

#1. you have accidentally switched off viewing of shared volumes in the Finder preferences

to correct this :

– click on the Finder icon in the Dock (the half-blue-half-grey square-face icon)

– then, in the top menu bar, go to Finder –> Preferences

– in the window that opens, click on the “Sidebar” tab

– then, in the “Show these items in the sidebar:” list, make sure there’s a checkmark in front of “Connected servers” (in the “Shared” paragraph)

– then close the Finder Preferences and you’re done ; enjoy !

#2. OSX has automatically logged on to a different WiFi-network than your primary WiFi-network (getting logged on to your Guest-network can cause this problem for instance…)

to correct this :

– click on the AirPort/WiFi-icon in the top menu bar (the ‘piece of pie’-icon)

– in the list of available WiFi-networks that appears, click “Turn Wi-Fi off”

– then click on the AirPort/WiFi-icon in the top menu bar again, click “Turn Wi-Fi on”, wait for the available WiFi-networks to appear in the list, then select your primary WiFi-network to connect to

– this should resolve your problem, but to make sure your Mac won’t auto-connect to the wrong WiFi-network again, do this also :

– go to the Apple-icon (top-left in the top menu bar) –> System Preferences –> Network

– in the window that opens, select “Wi-Fi” in the shortlist on the left

– then click the “Advanced”-button

– in the window that opens, select the “Wi-Fi”-tab and scroll down though the list of “Preferred Networks:” until you come to the name of your Guest-network (or other WiFi-network you unwillingly connected to)

– then click on the ‘Minus-sign”-button to delete your Guest-network (or alike) from the list of preferred networks, then click the ‘OK’-button to save and exit

…that’s it !

enjoy 😉

Note : if situation #1. occurs, your Time Machine backup would still be operating, but if situation #2. is the case, Time Machine won’t be able to see your Time Capsule either, even if you have internet access…

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fixed : This file sever will not allow any additional users to log on

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Question :

I got this error “This file server will not allow any additional users to log on, please try again later” when I tried to access files that were on my network, but not on my Mac itself.

How can I fix this ?

Answer :

You can get this error when trying to connect to either another Mac or a Time Capsule in your network. The solution depends on the type of ‘server’ you are trying to connect to.

-A-

On a Mac running a normal (non-server) version of MacOSX, only 10 clients can be connected at the same time. If you get this error, despite the fact that you have less than 10 clients connected, try this :

– on the Mac you want to connect to, open the Terminal.app and type this command :

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.AppleFileServer idleDisconnectOnOff -bool YES

– then press RETURN and you will be asked for your password

– type your password, press RETURN, quit the Terminal.app and you’re done (please note that the cursor will not move while typing your password in Terminal.app)

– whenever you want to undo (or reverse) this action, follow the same routine, but use this command :

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.AppleFileServer idleDisconnectOnOff -bool NO

-B-

If you get this error message when connecting to a Mac and you need to have more than 10 clients connected, try this :

– upgrade the version of MacOSX you’re running (on the Mac you want to connect to) to the server-version of MacOSX, as OSX Server can handle an unlimited number of clients ; you can get the latest version of OSX Server in the Mac App Store

-C-

If you are trying to connect to a Time Capsule and you get this error message, the problem is something completely different. The Time Capsule can handle up to 50 clients at the same time, so chances of running into that limit in a regular household are low. But, the average internet provider has a limit of only 10 concurrent internet connections on it’s modem at the same time, so if you get this error when trying to connect to a Time Capsule, the 10 internet connections limit will probably be the cause. So try this :

– startup the AirPort Utility on your Mac

– click on the Time Capsule icon so the ‘info balloon’-window will open

– click on the “Edit”-button

– in the window that opens, click the “Network”-tab/button

– at “Router Mode:” select “DCHP and NAT”, so not “Off (Bridge Mode)”

– then click on the “Network Options…”-button

– in the window that opens, at “IPv4 DHCP Range:” select a range of IP-addresses that is different from your internet modem’s IP-range. So, if your internet modem’s IP-range is 192.168.1.xxx select an IP-range like “192.168.2.2 to 200” and click the “Save”-button

– in the next window, click the “Update”-button

– then, back in the ‘info balloon’-window of your Time Capsule, at “status” you will get “Double NAT” with an error mark (yellow dot) next to it… so, click on the “Double NAT”-text and in the pulldown-menu that opens, select “Ignore”

…that’s it !

Enjoy !

😉

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fixed : run DOS commands on your Mac

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Question :

I need to run a firmware update for a hard drive, but there’s no firmware update available for MacOSX, there’s only a firmware .exe-program for MS DOS.

How can I run that on my Mac, since I don’t have a Windows-PC available ?

 

Answer :

MacOSX isn’t able to run DOS commands in the MacOSX Terminal.app…

and running FreeDOS from a USB-stick isn’t an option on your Mac, since your Mac can’t boot from non-EFI volumes…

but there’s a very simple option to run DOS commands in OSX :

– download & install Boxer by drag&dropping the app into your Applications folder

– run the Boxer.app and you will get 3 options, one being “Open a DOS prompt”, that’s the one your looking for

– click on it, and you will have your DOS-prompt

– and just as you can in OSX Terminal.app, you can drag&drop .exe-files (and other files) into the prompt, and the correct path to the file will be automatically inserted into the prompt

– there’s just one small drawback : the Mac’s keyboard layout is not supported… so even though the letters will be what you see on your keyboard, most other characters will not… to get a – [minus], you should type / [slash], and to get ” [brace], you should type @ [at] on your Mac keyboard… (you can figure out the other ones yourself by just trying)

That’s it !

Enjoy !

😉

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tip : get the latest versions of Word, PowerPoint and Excel for FREE, legally

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If you are looking for a FREE (and legal) version of the latest version of MS Office, you just might be in luck :

Microsoft is offering the newest version of MS Office for FREE to students and staff of schools and universities that have licensed MS Office.

This program has run in the US since 2013 under the moniker “Student Advantage”, and is now available in the Netherlands also.

What you get is a FREE one year license to Microsoft’s online cloud service “Office 365”, in the “Pro Plus”-version, including FREE downloads of the latest versions of Office to be installed on maximum 5 Macs or PCs and on maximum 5 Android or iOS devices (like iPhones and iPads).

These latest versions are Office 2011 for Mac and Office 2013 for Windows, both including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, OneNote, Skype and OneDrive (Microsoft’s cloud-drive formerly known as SkyDrive).

In the Netherlands, these FREE versions are available for two specific groups :

1- (parents of) students of the primary schools [“basisschoolleerlingen” in Dutch] https://www.surfspot.nl/officeleerling

2- students of (some) higher education [“Hogescholen en Universiteiten” in Dutch] https://www.surfspot.nl/officestudent

The procedure to get this (nearly) FREE software, is quite complex, but it’s well worth the hassle :

– first you need an account at Surfspot.nl (the website for educational discounts)

– then, you need to ‘buy’ the FREE version of Office 365 Pro Plus

– with that, you’ll get a voucher (which might take several days due to popular demand)

– using that voucher, you can activate Office 365 at Microsoft, and you will get FREE download-links to the latest versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, OneNote, Skype, OneDrive, etc.

–  those apps you can install on maximum 5 Macs or PCs and 5 iOS or Android devices

 

…as mentioned : it’s a hassle, but it’s well worth it !

Enjoy !

😉

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fixed : can’t remove floating promo-video from sight on Amazon

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Question :

Every time I am browsing Amazon, whenever I look at a product page that has a product’s promo-video on it, the video will open automatically in a separate ‘floating’ window and start playing. However, there’s no button to close the window, and even though I am able to drag the video window, I can’t move it outside of the visible part of my browser (Safari). As a consequence, I’m not able to have a useful look at the product page, as the video-window is blocking off a huge part of the screen…

This is getting extremely irritating. What can I do ?

 

Answer :

This is a problem that occurs when using Safari with the AlterVideo plugin enabled when visiting video-featuring pages on the Amazon website, but it might also occur in other cases with different browsers, different video-plugins and different websites.

The way to fix this is rather simple :

– in Safari, click on “Safari” in the top menu bar

– in the drop down-menu that opens, click on “Preferences…”

– in the Preferences window that opens, click on the ‘blue puzzle piece’ tab entitled “Extensions”

– there, click on “AlterVideo” in the list on the left

– then, make sure there is NO check-mark in front of both “AutoPlay (Only for First Video on Page)” and the “Aggressive Detection (You may see a ‘floating’ video player)”

– after that, just close the Preferences-window by clicking on the red bullet top left

…now, try visiting Amazon again and everything should work properly

That’s it !

enjoy !

😉

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