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Authors: Chris Seibold
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huge version of the program’s icon and information
about the application.
In Column View, the arrow keys work exactly as you’d
expect, moving the selection either up, down, left, or right.
Holding Shift while pressing ↑ or ↓ allows you to select
multiple items in the same directory. To change the width of the
columns, drag the two tiny vertical lines at the bottom of the
dividers between columns; hold Option as you drag to resize all
the columns at once.
Figure 3-13. Column View is particularly useful for drilling down
through stacks of folders
Cover Flow View (⌘-4)
Cover Flow View is very slick. If you use iTunes,
an iPod Touch, or an iPhone, you’re familiar with this view,
shown in Figure 3-14 . It
displays the items in a directory as large icons. You can adjust
the size of the Cover Flow area by dragging the three tiny
horizontal bars below the previews; Mountain Lion will resize
the icons accordingly.
In this view, the ↑ and ← keys move the selection up in
the list below the Cover Flow area, whereas the → and ↓ keys move your selection down the list.
Figure 3-14. Cover Flow View—the go-to option if you want eye
candy
Common Finder tasks
You’ll end up using the Finder for many basic tasks.
Want to rename a folder? Copy or move files? The Finder is your best
friend. Here are some tasks you’ll likely use the Finder for:
Rename a file, folder, or drive
In the Finder, simply click the icon of whatever
you want to rename and then press Return. Mountain Lion
highlights the name so you can type a new one. Hit Return again
to make the new name stick.
Create a folder
To create a new folder, you can either choose
File → New Folder from the
Finder’s menu bar, or press Shift-⌘-N. The new folder appears as
a subfolder of whatever folder is currently selected. New
folders are creatively named “untitled folder.”
Quickly look inside a file
You can get a pop-up preview of a file’s contents
by using Quick Look. In the Finder, select a file, and then
press the space bar or ⌘-Y, or click the eye icon in your Finder
toolbar (if you don’t see this icon in the Finder’s toolbar, see Customizing the Finder toolbar to learn how
to add it). An easy-on-the-eyes window (like the one in Figure 3-15 ) pops up,
displaying the contents of the file.
Quick Look is file savvy; look at a Word document and
you’ll see what’s written on the page, look at a spreadsheet and
you’ll see rows and columns, look at a movie and it will start
playing. All this without having to open the program associated
with that file.
While Quick Look is visible, click a different file and
Quick Look displays that file instead. Switch Finder windows
(you can have a gazillion Finder windows open at a time) and
Quick Look displays the item in the current window. You can even
preview more than one file at a time with Quick Look: simply
select multiple files, and arrows will appear at the top of the
Quick Look window that you can use to flip through previews of
all the files you selected.
Figure 3-15. Dawn Mann edited this entire book using only Quick Look
and Messages
Make an alias
There are times you want access to a file or
folder without having to burrow through directories to get at
it. Some people’s first inclination is to move the item to a
more accessible location, but the best solution is to make an
alias. An alias acts just like the regular file or folder, but
it points to the original: put something in a folder alias and
it ends up in the original (target) folder. Delete the alias and
the item it refers to is unaffected.
You can spot an alias by a
curved arrow in the lower-left corner of its icon. To create an
alias, select a file in the Finder and then choose File → Make Alias (or press ⌘-L). Then simply
drag the alias to where you want it.
Duplicate files and folders
If you want a copy of a file or
about the application.
In Column View, the arrow keys work exactly as you’d
expect, moving the selection either up, down, left, or right.
Holding Shift while pressing ↑ or ↓ allows you to select
multiple items in the same directory. To change the width of the
columns, drag the two tiny vertical lines at the bottom of the
dividers between columns; hold Option as you drag to resize all
the columns at once.
Figure 3-13. Column View is particularly useful for drilling down
through stacks of folders
Cover Flow View (⌘-4)
Cover Flow View is very slick. If you use iTunes,
an iPod Touch, or an iPhone, you’re familiar with this view,
shown in Figure 3-14 . It
displays the items in a directory as large icons. You can adjust
the size of the Cover Flow area by dragging the three tiny
horizontal bars below the previews; Mountain Lion will resize
the icons accordingly.
In this view, the ↑ and ← keys move the selection up in
the list below the Cover Flow area, whereas the → and ↓ keys move your selection down the list.
Figure 3-14. Cover Flow View—the go-to option if you want eye
candy
Common Finder tasks
You’ll end up using the Finder for many basic tasks.
Want to rename a folder? Copy or move files? The Finder is your best
friend. Here are some tasks you’ll likely use the Finder for:
Rename a file, folder, or drive
In the Finder, simply click the icon of whatever
you want to rename and then press Return. Mountain Lion
highlights the name so you can type a new one. Hit Return again
to make the new name stick.
Create a folder
To create a new folder, you can either choose
File → New Folder from the
Finder’s menu bar, or press Shift-⌘-N. The new folder appears as
a subfolder of whatever folder is currently selected. New
folders are creatively named “untitled folder.”
Quickly look inside a file
You can get a pop-up preview of a file’s contents
by using Quick Look. In the Finder, select a file, and then
press the space bar or ⌘-Y, or click the eye icon in your Finder
toolbar (if you don’t see this icon in the Finder’s toolbar, see Customizing the Finder toolbar to learn how
to add it). An easy-on-the-eyes window (like the one in Figure 3-15 ) pops up,
displaying the contents of the file.
Quick Look is file savvy; look at a Word document and
you’ll see what’s written on the page, look at a spreadsheet and
you’ll see rows and columns, look at a movie and it will start
playing. All this without having to open the program associated
with that file.
While Quick Look is visible, click a different file and
Quick Look displays that file instead. Switch Finder windows
(you can have a gazillion Finder windows open at a time) and
Quick Look displays the item in the current window. You can even
preview more than one file at a time with Quick Look: simply
select multiple files, and arrows will appear at the top of the
Quick Look window that you can use to flip through previews of
all the files you selected.
Figure 3-15. Dawn Mann edited this entire book using only Quick Look
and Messages
Make an alias
There are times you want access to a file or
folder without having to burrow through directories to get at
it. Some people’s first inclination is to move the item to a
more accessible location, but the best solution is to make an
alias. An alias acts just like the regular file or folder, but
it points to the original: put something in a folder alias and
it ends up in the original (target) folder. Delete the alias and
the item it refers to is unaffected.
You can spot an alias by a
curved arrow in the lower-left corner of its icon. To create an
alias, select a file in the Finder and then choose File → Make Alias (or press ⌘-L). Then simply
drag the alias to where you want it.
Duplicate files and folders
If you want a copy of a file or
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