templates
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Dropbox's Paper documents app now supports custom layouts
Dropbox has been pushing out a bunch of updates to its core products over the last few weeks, and its collaborative document-building service Paper is the latest to get some major tweaks. As of today, Dropbox is adding the ability to build Paper templates and share them with an entire organization, if you're working in a big business setting. Whether you're in a large company or just using Paper solo, templates should make it a lot easier to re-use layouts that you've built.
Worldlabel.com releases free Pages for Mac label templates
As much as we're all trying to reach that elusive "paperless world", reality forces us to use printers more often than we'd really like to. Pages for Mac users can often run into issues when trying to print adhesive labels simply because those handy label templates aren't available for Pages. That's all been resolved today by Worldlabel.com, which has created a complete library of Pages templates for well over a hundred different label types. The templates come in a zipped Pages .template format so that they can be double-clicked and added immediately to the Pages template chooser. You can still use the templates if you use the more ubiquitous Avery labels. Worldlabel has an Avery cross-reference chart on the site; just match the Avery label you're using to the corresponding Worldlabel product, then download the template. In other Pages news, Apple yesterday released updates for the Mac word processing app as well as Numbers and Keynote. Typically, Apple referred to the updates as containing "stability improvements and bug fixes."
Create Evernote 5 template notebooks with AppleScript
Evernote 5 is a wonderful app for gathering information and keeping it organized and synchronized between your devices. In Evernote, you create notebooks and fill them with notes. These notes can be anything - thoughts, web clippings, files, photos, audio, etc. Whenever you need to recall information you've added to Evernote, just type in a few keywords to instantly locate it. This post shows how to use AppleScript to create template notebooks that contain default template notes. You can use these templates for creating new projects, jobs, or anything else you might need. Let's get started. To Configure 1. First, go to the Documents folder in your home directory and create a folder named Evernote Templates. 2. Go into Evernote and begin creating some notes to serve as templates for your notebook. Suppose you're creating a template for a design project. You might create template notes for materials, meeting notes, phone notes, a status report, etc. Go ahead and enter placeholder text and assign default tags for these notes, as well. Creating template notes in Evernote 3. Once you've created your template notes, select them all. You're going to export them so they can be imported later when you want to create a notebook. Selecting your template notes in Evernote 4. Choose File > Export Notes to bring up the export window. When prompted, enter a name for your template notebook, such as Design Project, and save it into the Evernote Templates folder in your Documents folder. Make sure you're saving in Evernote XML Format (.enex), and that you've chosen to Include tags for each note. Exporting your template notes as an Evernote XML file 5. Repeat the process for any other template notebooks you might want. A folder of exported Evernote XML files that serve as templates 6. Launch AppleScript Editor, located in /Applications/Utilities, and create a new document. 7. Enter the following script into the document: (If you have any trouble, you can download the complete script here.) 8. Save the script as an application and drag it to your Dock, so you can quickly trigger it at any time. Saving the AppleScript as an application To Use Launch the AppleScript application you saved (if you prefer to test right from AppleScript Editor instead, click Run in the toolbar). First, the script looks in your Evernote Templates folder and retrieves a list of exported .enex files. It then asks you to choose one. Choosing a notebook template Next, the script asks you to enter a name for the new notebook. Type the desired name, and click OK. Entering a notebook name The script creates a new Evernote notebook named accordingly, and imports the chosen .enex file. The script then searches the opened Evernote window for the newly imported notes. A new notebook created from a template Notes imported into the newly created notebook Congratulations, you've written your very own notebook template utility for Evernote! Now, with only a few clicks, you can quickly create notebooks containing pre-existing default notes.
Google Docs adds 450 fonts and 60 templates, sadly includes Comic Sans
Google Docs has lagged behind offline apps in the number of fonts and pre-made layouts to choose from, but that's just changed with a much larger catalog for both. More than 60 new templates and 450 fonts are now on tap to use in your presentations and reports. This comes on top of a handful of other recent improvements, such as Google Drive support, searching the Life Photo archive and boosts to accessibility and spreadsheet layouts. Apps Script gets both a Google Drive tie-in and new publishing control, too. Be forewarned: Comic Sans is one of the new font options, and it's clearly not an April Fools' gag.
The Secret World designer talks template deck outfits, customization, and more
A few Funcom elves were actually working on The Secret World over Christmas it seems, and designer Martin Bruusgaard has some interesting things to say about that -- as well as a couple of gameplay tidbits -- in a new interview at CryGaia.net. One of the aspects of The Secret World that sets it apart from your typical MMORPG is the huge amount of character customization available through the game's clothing items. Bruusgaard says that some of these items are purchased from in-game vendors, some from the cash shop, and some of them are reward-based. "One thing I'm particularly excited about is the template deck outfits. Template decks are a set of powers that enable the player to fulfill a certain role, and this is comparable to Magic the Gathering starter decks. On completion of any of these templates the player is given an outfit that reflects what that deck is. So for instance if a player completes the ninja deck, he or she is given a ninja costume," Bruusgaard explains. He goes on to talk about cross-faction PvP team-ups (currently slated for post-launch) and The Secret World's sound and music suite. Read all about it at CryGaia.net.
Apple iAds Producer helps you produce iAds for iOS devices
We know how it is, you want to be a hotshot developer, but all that coding sounds like daunting work. Never mind, Apple's got your back with its new iAds producer, which automates all the HTML5 and CSS3 stuff into the background and leaves you to focus on the crucial task of picking out templates and components for your perfect iAd. To be fair to this new dev tool, it does more than merely dumb down the design process. It also includes "sophisticated" JavaScript editing and debugging, a built-in simulator for testing your creation, and a project validator that checks your code for common errors. Hit the source link to give it a try.
iPhone Screentaker updated with iPad templates
Fabian Kreiser has recently updated his screen capturing app for Mac OS X to include support iPad screen captures. Like previous iterations of the app, version 1.2 of iPhone Screentaker allows you to add certain design elements to your iPad screenshots. These include encasing them an iPad and setting the orientation background color. Images can then be saved as either JPG or PNG, with the option to scale to fit iTunes. One little quirk about the app is the "Capture Screenshot" button. While its existence would seemingly indicate an associated action, in my experience clicking on it didn't do anything. I wasn't able to find anything documenting its function, either. While you can certainly accomplish a similar end with an image editor, such as Adobe Photoshop or Pixelmator, that may prove too time consuming or difficult for some. Screen capturing has been a feature on the iPhone since iPhone OS 2.0, and taking a screen capture is as simple as pressing down the sleep and home button at the same time. The feature serves a myriad of purposes, from facilitating the marketing of an app and documentation workflow for developers, and for allowing reviewers, like us here at TUAW, to highlight certain features of an app. iPhone Screentaker is available as a free download at Fabian Kreiser's site.
Free iPhone Keynote and PowerPoint templates help get you from thought to finish
Mockapp.com has created both Keynote and PowerPoint templates of iPhone UI elements, and has made them available as free downloads. Say you had a dream in the middle of the night about the most awesome iPhone app that, to your surprise, no one has thought of yet. Instead of waking up in a deep sweat and scribbling said ideas on paper, you could dream them up on Keynote. After mapping out your concept on Keynote, you could then pitch it to others in a Keynote presentation. The Keynote and PowerPoint templates include alerts, the iPhone keyboard, arrow icons, buttons, as well as a host of other UI elements.
motionVFX: 40% off for TUAW readers
Since we last wrote about them, motionVFX has expanded their selection of high def templates for Apple's Motion significantly. The website is just as easy to navigate as it was before, but there's a lot more content fit for professional video work or great starting points for custom titles, intros and menus. As a special Holiday treat, motionVFX is offering a coupon code to TUAW readers, good for a 40% discount on all of their Motion templates. : Enter coupon code X9HQVV at checkout to receive your Holiday savings. A big thanks to motionVFX for the generous gift!
Premade beta toons available again -- for real
After the false alarm a few days ago, premade characters are available for copy to the US Wrath beta PvP realm Murmur. (Apparently, the realm was called "Murmer" up until a few hours ago. I guess Blizzard decided on a last minute spell check.) I have firsthand knowledge that the character copy now works because I copied three toons this morning and less than two hours later they are now playable. If you have a beta key and you want to play on the PvP server, keep in mind a few things: You can only choose all Horde or all Alliance toons because it's a PvP server. You can copy up to three level 80 characters, stacked with top-notch PvP gear. This server is designed to test Wintergrasp. Other PvE areas like Azeroth and Outland may not be available for play on this server. If you like Night Elves, you're stuck playing a Druid. Dwarves, on the other hand, get a choice of three classes (Hunter, Priest, or Warrior). Every other race gets two classes each. Right now the wait time is only a couple of hours. It will get longer as more people copy toons. So go over there ASAP. Commenters have (sad to say, rightly) accused me of a US bias in my posts so I did some extra research on the this topic for our EU readers. The EU servers do not have premade templates available because -- at the moment, at least -- there is no Murmur-equivalent beta realm available to them. Sorry, folks. We'll keep you posted if that changes.
New iWeb themes from Jumsoft
iWeb 2 (the iLife '08 version, that is) comes with an assortment of 26 different themes, but if you're tired of trying to mod the Comic Book theme for your new blog, you may want to look at ten new iWeb themes from Jumsoft.There's a good assortment of styles in the Jumsoft collection. I personally find the Teddy theme to be a bit twee and Flowered World is too feminine for my taste, but YMMV. My personal faves from the new collection are the sparse and paper-like Simple Info, and the pastel and plastic Business. An installer app is included to make sure that your new themes end up in the proper place on your Mac. Jumsoft sells each theme for $9.99 or you can buy the entire pack of ten themes at a 30% discount for $69.99. If you're an iWeb fan and want some additional design options, take a look at the new themes.
High-res Motion templates at motionVFX
motionVFX, a new source of templates for Apple Motion, is offering 2d and 3d templates prepped at 1920x1080 and 24fps. The 10 second clips are downloadable for $10, so I took one for a spin. There are rare circumstances when I would use a template for a finished piece, and motionVFX has a relatively small (but growing) starting selection which limits the chances that I'll find anything "perfect" for a current project. However, I love getting inside of other people's work to figure out new ways of doing things and the template I picked was well done, well organized and I did actually learn some new tricks. The site navigation is mostly intuitive, but lacking in a few features. The previews are quick and helpful, but I miss the "lightbox" functionality found on most stock sites. Maybe they'll get to that as the collection grows. Checkout with Paypal is great for me, but the offsite credit card processing breaks from the overall professional look of the site. The fact that I was quite happy with my purchase made that a moot point for me, though. motionVFX is offering TUAW lovers a special discount... 25% off of your purchase, including their high-res stock photos, with unlimited use through the end of February. Just enter the coupon code "J2LGR7" at checkout. And because I care about our readers, I tested that too. It works.
iSale updates bring Safari 3 compatibility and over 200 templates
Whether you make a living from buying and selling on eBay or you merely sell off your basement junk when it gets too crowded down there, iSale is a fantastic eBay client that merges the wonders of Mac OS X with the world's leading online marketplace. Offering beautiful tempaltes, WYSIWYG auction composing, integration with iCal, Address Book and iSight, a Dashboard widget for monitoring auctions, Google Maps and worlds more, iSale has everything you need to get your eBay on. Like so many other web-integrated Mac OS X apps, however, iSale was hit with compatibility issues if users installed the Safari 3 beta. Fortunately, a couple of recent updates have fixed those issues and added over 30 new templates to bring the grand total to more than 200 different auction templates, organized by category. With a wide variety of template styles, imagery and layouts, you'll be hard pressed to not find something that'll fit just about anything you post for auction. This most recent v4.2 of iSale is a free upgrade for registered 4.x users, and a demo is available. A single user license costs $39.95, while family packs start at $49.95 and go up from there.
Pages Templates 1.0
Despite its baby-app shortcomings, I'm finally beginning to warm up to Pages. It's a very Apple-esque word processor (surprise surprise) with all the power I need without having to deal with the behemoth that is Microsoft Word. That said, I've been finding Pages a bit short on templates lately, and the iWorkCommunity Template Exchange is coming up just isn't doing it for me. Thankfully, I just caught Jumsoft's Pages Templates 1.0, a collection of 20 snazzy lookin' new templates for books, brochures, business cards, invitations, resumes, sales posters, portfolios, catalogs, menus, and even business reports and invoices. Even better, nearly every template offers multiple pages with alternate layouts from the screenshots you see at Jumsoft's site. Since these are mere templates, it appears Jumsoft doesn't offer any kind of downloadable demo for obvious reasons (I should also note that these templates only work with iWork/Pages '06, not '05). Fortunately, they do include multiple screenshots on the templates that offer more than one layout, so you can at least get a good look at everything the $39 price will get you.[via MacMinute]
TUAW Tip: Stationery Pad option makes a template of any file
The Finder's Get Info window (View > Get Info or cmd-i) is one of those unsung heroes of Mac OS X computing. It houses a lot of great options, and Stationery Pad is one of them. If you have any kind of workflow where you need to repeatedly modify some sort of a file template, checking this option in any file's Get Info window will tell its parent application to open a copy of it by default, ensuring that the original file remains unedited. While some applications that manage files for you can offer similar functionality, this is a great option for anyone who, for example, use Word docs as contract templates, or begins with a basic pre-built file for various Photoshop or hand-coding CSS/PHP freelance work. You can simply build the file any way you like, save it and check this box in Get Info to tell any app you open it with to open a copy instead of the original. Easy breezy file templates, with no AppleScripts or plugins required.
iLifeStuff releases additional iWeb templates
A few weeks ago, we pointed to iLifeStuff, a site that creates alternate templates for Apple's iWeb. At the time, they had three templates available and they've since added three more: "Pink," "Light" and "Green." You can buy any individual template for $12.99US, or get all six for $29.99US.You can also find some great templates (and all-new page layouts) for iWeb at 11 Mystics (I really like this one).
iLifeStuff offers iWeb templates
If you're like me (impatient and easily distracted), you've already grown bored with the default iWeb templates. You should visit iLifeStuff. They've got three original iWeb templates for sale, namely, "Water," "Wood" and "Yellow." You can buy any individual template for $12.99US, or get all three for $29.99US.As for me, I'd love a design that says "kids" without the "cutesy."[Via MacMinute]
