Pixlr Settings

Pixlr is a free browser-based image editor, where you upload an image, manipulate it online, and the download the result.  Now Pixlr has three settings (shown above):

Pixlr editor (Advanced) is the most useful tool of the three, allowing you to resize images, combine images, add text, use filters, and many other commands.  The look and feel is very similar to Photoshop, so if you want to get comfortable with using Photoshop, Pixlr is not a bad way to start.  And, unlike Photoshop, it's free! 

Pixlr express (Efficient) presents only a handful of the most useful tools: resizing, text, and basic effects. In my humble opinion, the least useful of the three settings.

Pixlr-o-matic (Playful) is, as the name implies the most fun of the three, allowing you to add many cool and interesting effects, quickly and easily.  Three of them are shown below (the original photo is from 4-H).

iPad Tricks and Tips (part 2)

Five more cool things you can do with you iPad (the first 5 are linked here):

Selectively prevent automatic sync: If you have lots of music in iTunes on your PC, it will overwhelm your iPad memory very quickly.  Hold down Shift-Ctrl (or Command-Option, on a Mac) in iTunes while plugging your iPad in, and iTunes will skip the automatic sync just this once. Alternatively, you can safely interrupt a sync by dragging the unlock slider on your device while the iPad is midsync.

Create custom shortcuts for common phrases: Great for addresses, or commonly used phrases. Make AutoCorrect work for you by teaching iOS to transform shorthand (such as "omw") into common phrases (like "on my way") using iOS 5 shortcuts. Simply navigate to Settings, General, Keyboard, and select Add New Shortcut. Type the phrase you want to shorten in the Phrase field, and then type the shortened version you want to use in the Shortcut field.

Restrict mature content: Go to Settings, General, Restrictions and tap Enable Restrictions to selectively apply controls on your apps, content, Game Center, and more. You can use this setting to limit mature content on your new iPad by disabling explicit-language recognition, blocking podcasts that have the "Explicit" tag, or blocking movies, TV shows, and apps that are rated for mature audiences.

Sync your bookmarks: This is my favorite.  You can use iTunes to sync your iPad's Safari bookmarks with your PC's Web browser. Open the iPad tab in iTunes, click the Info tab, scroll down to the Other heading, check Sync bookmarks with, and choose your preferred browser.

Download the free iPad User's Guide: iPad doesn't come with a printed manual. However, you can download the PDF version of the iPad User's Guide from Apple's Web site, or you can read it in iBooks if you have that installed (iBooks is available as a free download in the App Store).

IPad Tips and Tricks (part 1)

Five cool things you can do with your IPad:

Screenshots: Take a screenshot of whatever is on the screen: Press Home and the sleep/wake button simultaneously. The screenshot will automatically appear in your Camera Roll.

Multitasking: You likely already know that you can press the Home button twice to bring up a list of currently running apps. However, you can also swipe the multitasking bar to the right to quickly access audio/video playback controls, a shortcut to the iTunes app itself, and volume controls.

URLs: You can check a linked word's actual destination URL by touching and holding down on the link.  It's a smart strategy to help you insure the link is legitimate.

Web Shortcuts: Head to the webpage you want to create the shortcut to, tap the “+” sign at the top of the page and select “Add to Home Screen.” This will then create a shortcut icon offering one-click access to your favorite sites.  

Multiple spaces: I don't know if this is useful, but it sure is cool.  The spacebar will create as many spaces as there are fingers on it, so one finger will produce one space, two fingers two spaces and so on.

Five more cool tricks next week!

Fall 2012 Connect Schedule

Happy Fair Season! Below is the schedule for Connect sessions offered by the Tech Unit of CSU Extension. There are two basic threads: on the first Wednesday of every month we'll be exploring Adobe Acrobat and the creation of PDF forms; on the third Wednesday of each month Joanne Littlefield and I will collaborate on a series of sessions about working with graphics, logos and templates.

All sessions will start at 9 a.m. MST, and will last approximately 45 minutes.

• 9/5 – Adobe forms 1: Creating the form
• 9/19 - Brochure templates (w/Joanne Littlefield)
• 10/3 – Adobe forms 2: Distributing the form
• 10/17 - Working with logos (w/Joanne Littlefield)
• 11/7 – Adobe forms 3: Collecting the data
• 11/21 - Newsletter templates (w/Joanne Littlefield)
• 12/5 – PDF security
• 12/19 - Graphics for the web / Pixlr (w/Joanne Littlefield)
• 1/9 – Google docs forms
• 1/16 – Posters (w/Joanne Littlefield)

In addition, the Adobe Acrobat sessions will be offered to our Extension colleagues across the country through eXtension.

Allowing Saved Data on PDF Forms

Anyone who has worked with an on-line PDF form has probably been frustrated by the following words in Adobe Reader: "You cannot save data typed into this form. Please print your completed form."

You can allow end-users to save their data on a form, however, even if they only have access to the free Adobe Reader. All you need to do is enable the Adobe Reader to save the data on your form. After you've completed your form, save it, so you have a copy.

Then, go to the File menu, choose Save As> Reader Extended PDF> Enable Additional Features (see screenshot below).

Now, when the end-user opens up that form, they will get the following message: "You can save data typed into this form."

Editing Transcripts of Your YouTube Video

CSU Accessibility requirements state that any YouTube video you publish on-line have an accurate transcript of what is being said. If you worked with a script, that's fairly easy to do; just upload the script as a transcript (more on this at the end of the post).

If you don't have a script, it's a bit more difficult. But the job is made much easier by YouTube's own automatic transcription. It will contain many errors (some unintentionally humorous), but the bulk of the transcription will be done, and all you need do is edit the errors.

After you upload your video, go to the Toolbox above the video and choose Captions on the dropdown on the right-hand side (see the figure below).

Click anywhere in the box just below Machine Transcriptions (see figure below).

You'll see a copy of YouTube's transcript. Click the Download button at the bottom (see figure below).

You'll download a file called captions.sbv. It can be opened in Windows Notepad or the free text editing software TextEdit (available here). Make your corrections. Use >> to indicate a change in who is speaking; use brackets to indicate other aural events (e.g. - [applause]). Ignore the numbers; they are timecodes that tell Youtube when to show the text.
Last step: upload the new transcript. Go back to that Captions tab, and this time click the Add New Captions or Transcript (see figure at right).
Make sure you have Caption file chosen (see figure below), then upload your edited transcript. Delete the machine transcription and you're good to go.

One final note: if you already have a script, you can skip to the last step.  Save the transcript as a .txt file and upload it as a Transcript file (see figure above).

Importing PowerPoint Into Prezi

Prezi--the excellent non-liner alternative to PowerPoint--has always allowed you to import PowerPoints into your Prezi presentation with the Insert tool, but there is now a dedicated PowerPoint Import tool, making the process that much easier.  At left is a screenshot of the "zebra," Prezi's primary formatting tool.  The new PowerPoint Import tool is highlighted in a blue box (or perhaps purple; I'm color-blind).  At any rate, click it, browse to your PowerPoint, and you've turned your PowerPoint into a Prezi.

Prezi can be found at http://prezi.com/index/.  Most versions are free, and if you apply for an educational license you can get some exciting paid options free as well.


Some excellent tips and tricks for "Prezi-fying" your PowerPoint presention by taking advantage of Prezi's zooming and framing capabilities are below.  I highly recommend you spend 3 minutes watching the video if you are interested in learning more about Prezi.