Show Information in Finder List View
Mac Tip #339, 21 May 2008
List View
My screenshot shows a Finder window containing various folders, with one folder’s contents also listed. I chose to view these as a list. To view a list go to the View menu in Finder and choose ‘as List’ or press Command 2. If you display the Toolbar on Finder windows, you can of course switch views with the Views buttons.
I have my Listed files sorted by Name in alphabetical order. To reverse the order I could click on the column header — in this case Name. Sort any column by clicking on its header. Click again to reverse the order.
The name column is always displayed, and always on the left, but drag any other column by its header to move it to a new position. In my second screenshot I’ve changed the order of the columns around and sorted by Date Modified, with the newest items at the top.
To display more columns and more information go the Finder’s View menu: Show View Options (Command J). It offers several options that are different from those for Icon View. My third screenshot shows a Finder window with all options turned on and the View Options window obscuring some of the information.
In my screenshot you can see that I chose for this folder window to always open in List view, with small icons, and 10 point text — that was really only so I could fit everything into the screenshot.
I set all columns to display. Note, for example, that the VersionTracker Downloads folder was created on 3 November 2006, but modified ‘today’, when I saved new files inside it.
The size of all items (in Megabytes) is displayed, and for software a Version number is available. Where I’ve labelled an item the colour is displayed as a background behind the row of information, but also the name of the label is displayed.
While I don’t bother changing the label names, some people use them for words like ‘important’, ‘urgent’, ‘backups’ and so on. One of the most ancient MacTips (Change the label name, Mac Tip #12/18-July-2001) explained briefly how to do this for Mac OS 9. The movie it refers to no longer exists though, and the instructions are a little different from Mac OS X. I’ll write up new instructions in a future Tip.
Relative dates uses words like ‘today’ and ‘yesterday’ until files are a bit older. This makes it easy to spot recently changed or downloaded files in a list.
Note the handy information in the Comments column for images I’ve created myself: Mac OS X creates an HTML tag that authors can just drop into any web page.
For those who don’t like clutter, my final screenshot shows a Finder window with all columns turned off, large icons and large text. Really, you can customise that Finder window to be just how you like it.
But wait, there’s more… Yet to come: Column View and Cover Flow.
Update: I’ve been experimenting with making a movie and would love to get your feedback.
View the List View Tips movie (13 Mb, .mov file). Note: give it time to load — it will play eventually.
Note: this is an experimental movie, made with a demo version of ScreenFlow, so it has the words ScreenFlow Demo emblazoned across it. If you all respond well to this concept I’ll pay up for the software and be able to remove that banner. Please leave helpful comments below.
Alternatively, download the List View Tips Movie (zipped, 10.6 Mb). After it’s downloaded to your machine, double click it to expand the zipped file and then double click the movie to play it.
Popularity: 26% [?]
Enlarge Finder Icons
Mac Tip #338, 14 May 2008
Mac OS X Leopard gives us all kinds of options for viewing Finder windows. The next few Tips will help you make the most of any Finder window.
Icon View
My screenshot shows a Finder window containing 9 images — screenshots of how my wireless connection is set up. I chose to view these files as icons. To view icons go to the View menu in Finder and choose as Icons or press Command 1.
I like my files tidy, and arranged in alphabetical order, so I also went to the Finder’s View menu and chose Clean Up and Arrange By > Name (Command Control 1).
I could instead choose to arrange by Date Modified, Date Created, Size, Kind or Label, each with its own key combination.
Of special interest is the bottom item in the Finder’s View menu: Show View Options (Command J). Choose that item and a world of options opens up to you.
In my screenshot you can see that I chose for this folder window to always open in icon view, with icons 48 pixels by 48, and stacked close together on a grid.
I set the text size to be fairly large (16 points), and to appear to the right of the icon, instead of below it.
I opted to show item info, so the size of my images (in pixels) is displayed, as is a preview of each screenshot.
In the View Options window the Arrange by Name button puts file 02 below file 01 (ie it sorts down then across), where in my first screenshot you can see that the View By Name menu item put file 02 to the right of file 01 (ie it sorts across then down). You can also sort by other criteria.
Finally, I set a non-white background color for the window, but I could also have selected an image.
If you like to view some or all of your Finder windows by icon, then explore the View Options window.
If you prefer to view Finder windows as a list or some other way, then watch out for future Tips.
Popularity: 25% [?]
Open Files with — you choose
Mac Tip #334, 16 April 2008
Sometimes I want to open .html files with my text software so I can edit them. Other times I want to open them into a web browser so I can view them.
Or it may be that I want to choose either Keynote or Powerpoint to open a .ppt file. Or perhaps Pages or MS Word to open a .doc file, Preview or Adobe Reader for a PDF — the list of combinations of file types and software can be very long.
It’s quite common really to want to choose, moment by moment, which application you’ll use to open a particular file.
Of course you can set certain file types to always open with a particular application. I explained how in I’ll open that, Mac Tip #179/19-Jan-2005.
But if you want to override that choice and choose a different application to open a file, then you need a different approach. Here are some possibilities:
- Drag the file onto the icon of the application you want to use — in the Finder or in the Dock.
- Open the application, choose Open from the File menu, then select the file to open.
- In the Finder, Right Click or Control Click on the file and choose Open With from the contextual menu that appears. A sub-menu displays some possible applications that may open the file, or choose Other… to bring up a dialog box where you can select an application.
My screenshot shows half a dozen possibilities for opening a photo in jpg format.
Popularity: 29% [?]
