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styles posts

Filed under: Multimedia, Software, Video, Tips and tricks, Odds and ends, Leopard

How to create your own Toast DVD menu style

A while back reader Michael Coyle was nice enough to send us this write-up on how to customize Leopard's Guest account, and just recently he sent along another guide that you might not need right away, but will come in handy when you really need it. He's got an in-depth look at how to create a custom menu style when authoring a DVD in Toast Titanium 8.

As he says, the default styles that come with the application are a little less than formal, so if you want to create a professional menu for the DVD that fits your needs, this will show you how. As far as I can tell, the style is just a Photoshop file with various layers for the DVD to use as a menu (selected, frames for videos and the border around them, and so on); so the trick is finding the right layers to edit and leaving everything else alone (so nothing breaks).

If you've got some DVD authoring in your future, and plan to use Toast to get it all done, there you go.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, Cool tools, Tips and tricks, Odds and ends, Freeware

iPhonesque makes Growl look like the iPhone

Can't say I ever really vibed with any of the default Growl styles (Music Video is cool for showing off your Mac, but a little too distracting for common use), and I've pretty much just stuck with Smoke, because it's simple and cool looking. But iPhonesque is nice enough to make me switch without a thought -- it's a Growl style designed to look like the iPhone's compact little dialogues. In other words, it's flashy enough to look cool, but minimal enough that it doesn't drive you nuts when messages back up in Growl.

Any other Growl styles that you all really like?

[Via DF]

Filed under: OS, Software, Cool tools

Growl 1.1.1 available now

The latest version of Growl, the all-in-one notification app, has been released. 1.1.1 is available for download right now over on the site.

New to this version, you'll find speedier notifications, an improved Music Video style (which was one of the main complaints with the last release), improved iTunes notifications, and a few other bugfixes and improvements. Not a huge release by any means, but considering how much Growl pops up on my screen, even the little stuff matters.

Thanks, Peter!

Filed under: Software, Internet Tools

NetNewsWire style: FeedLight



These NetNewsWire styles just keep getting better, especially since this one is designed for both NetNewsWire and Vienna. Not long ago I found a couple of really slick NNW styles, one of them taking a crack at a Spotlight look + headline wrapping, and now Brent Simmons via the Ranchero blog has highlighted FeedLight, a style based heavily on Mac OS X's Spotlight searchbar. While it bears resemblance to other Tiger styles available (including NNW's own built-in style), I really enjoy FeedLight's approach of displaying all the important data like a properly wrapping headline, feed, date and author in a concise, static top bar that remains in place (only on NNW, not Vienna) even as you scroll through a long article. Of course, the fact that it comes in two sexy gradient-ific versions, one for Aqua and another for Graphite, doesn't hurt either.

All FeedLight styles and versions are available from Alex at BrokenLogic.

Filed under: Widget Watch

Widget Watch: Type Cast font preview and info


This is one of those widgets that makes me wonder why Apple hasn't already made one. Type Cast is pretty simple and straight-forward: it's a font preview widget from Code Line Communications, makers of Art Director's Toolkit (amongst other things). This widget isn't short on capabilities either; you can navigate font families, styles and sizes with merely your keyboard, and you can even be taken directly to the font file in the Finder.

The Type Cast widget is free and available from Code Line Communications here.

Filed under: Multimedia, Software

EazyDraw 2.0 - illustration and drawing for Mac OS X


EazyDraw dubs itself as a "balanced vector drawing application," and from browsing its feature list, that sounds just about right. It looks like it has a nice array of illustration tools and abilities including some CAD-related features like wall and window tools, as well as drawing on a grid. EazyDraw can even import and edit old school files from Claris Draw, Mac Draw II and Mac Draw Pro.

EazyDraw is a Universal Binary, and a demo is available. Licensing the app, however, is a little strange: a full download license can be had for $95 (CD in the mail is $115), but you can also purchase a nine month license for a mere $20. Take that as you will, but if you've been looking for a solid and feature-rich illustration app, EazyDraw probably has you covered.

Tip of the Day

Holding the Command key (aka the Apple key) and pressing Tab will cycle through your open applications. It's easier to Cmd-Tab if you are Copy (Cmd-C) and Pasting (Cmd-V) to and from various applications.


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