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Tag: Tips & Tricks

Inspect files and folders using HoudahSpot

The HoudahSpot Info pane shows a wealth of information about the currently selected search result. It starts with the basic attributes of the file or folder:

  • name
  • kind
  • total size of files and folders
  • extension
  • creation and modification dates
  • path
  • comments
  • Finder tags

More importantly though, HoudahSpot shows the most relevant properties based on the type of the selected file. E.g. for audio files, the Info pane shows duration and bit rate. Continue reading Inspect files and folders using HoudahSpot

Use existing templates with HoudahSpot 4.0

HoudahSpot 4.0 has been reimagined from the ground up. Every aspect of the application has been reevaluated. The result is a file search tool that is more powerful, streamlined and easier to use. On the downside,  HoudahSpot 4.0 cannot read saved searches created by previous versions of HoudahSpot.

The HoudahSpot Migration Tool can help convert HoudahSpot 3.x saved searches and templates for use with HoudahSpot 4.0. Continue reading Use existing templates with HoudahSpot 4.0

Trip planning with ACTPrinter

Planning a trip can be a lot of work. Anticipation is part of the fun.

During planning we collect a lot of information we want to read beforehand, during the flight or on site:

  • Sights descriptions and historic background
  • Hotel and restaurant reviews
  • Walking tour instructions
  • Trip reports

Continue reading Trip planning with ACTPrinter

Templates for recurring searches

This post refers to HoudahSpot 3. The same general ideas still apply. HoudahSpot 4 does not differentiate “live templates” and “ready templates”. For more info on using templates in HoudahSpot 4 , see “Save Queries for Recurring Searches“.

HoudahSpot searches can be saved as documents. These persist all aspects of your customized search: query, locations, columns, sort order, etc. Continue reading Templates for recurring searches

View your photos in Google Earth

Geocoding photos serves two main purposes:

  • Geotags provide extra information that can be used to catalog and find photos. Years from now, you may not remember when you took the photo you are looking for. But you will remember roughly where you took it
  • Geotags add to the “story” of a photo. With the photo pinned to a map, you can see the exact spot where it was taken. Add a GPS track log to see how you got there

One way to view and show geotagged photos is to create a Google Earth file with both the photos and the GPS track log. Now you have a bird’s eye view of your trip and the spots where you stopped to take photos.

Kenya Safari Continue reading View your photos in Google Earth

Custom keyboard shortcuts on Mac OS X

UPDATE: There finally is a better solution. Introducing CustomShortcuts.

On Mac OS X it is easy to set custom keyboard shortcuts for just about any menu item. Still this great feature is often overlooked.

  • Don’t like one of the default keyboard shortcuts in HoudahSpot?
  • Find yourself using the same HoudahGeo menu item over and over again?
  • Do you want to switch the Mail.app From: account without having to reach for the mouse?

Learn how to set up custom keyboard shortcuts for menu items in any Mac OS X application.

Continue reading Custom keyboard shortcuts on Mac OS X

Copy File Search Results as Tab Delimited Text

This post refers to HoudahSpot 3. The same general ideas apply to HoudahSpot 4.

HoudahSpot makes it easy to create detailed queries to find the exact files you are looking for. You can preview found files, open them, etc. Continue reading Copy File Search Results as Tab Delimited Text

Automatic geocoding: Camera clock setup

Digital cameras record the exact time each photo was taken. HoudahGeo relies on this information to match photos to a GPS tracklog. Unfortunately, most digital cameras fail to specify which time zone the recorded time is expressed in. I.e for a photo taken at noon, HoudahGeo cannot tell if it was noon in Los Angeles, or in Luxembourg, etc.

HoudahGeo thus needs a little help to make sense of the camera timestamps. Getting camera clock setup right is essential for automatic geocoding to work.

Continue reading Automatic geocoding: Camera clock setup

Select several filter values

Tembo helps you sort through search results by providing context-sensitive filters. The drill-down views for different groups show different filters. Most filters provide a list of values found in the current search results. Select a value to see only results matching that value.

E.g. the filter sidebar for the Documents group list file types. The PDF Documents group can be filtered by author. Images can be filtered by resolution and file type. Etc.

Continue reading Select several filter values

Start a Tembo search from LaunchBar

This post applies to Tembo 1.x. Please refer to the newer blog post for the updated URL scheme used by Tembo 2.

Tembo implements a custom URL scheme. This can be used with LaunchBar search templates to quickly start Tembo searches from within LaunchBar.

Tembo search URLs have the following format:

tmbo://search?searchString=Houdah&groupKey=DOCUMENTS&queryFocus=name

Such URLs can be invoked by any application, launcher, script, etc. In this article we will look at setting up a search template in LaunchBar.

Continue reading Start a Tembo search from LaunchBar