Tag Archives: skitch

Applications I Couldn’t Live Without In 2010

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This is the fourth post in the “Applications I Couldn’t Live Without Series”. I began this series of posts in 2007, and have continued on in 2008, and 2009. Each year I recap the Mac applications I couldn’t live without during the previous year. Some applications have remained on this list for years, some applications have been replaced, and others have dropped off or been added to the list. Thank you to all the Mac developers out there who make beautiful Mac software. These are the applications I couldn’t live without in 2010, in no particular order.

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Video Monkey is my go to application when I need to convert video. Development of the application was very slow in 2010, but the project is still in development and it remains a very solid application. Any video that goes onto my original Apple TV is converted with Video Monkey.

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1Password continues to be one of my favorite Mac applications. It makes managing your online passwords incredibly easy. 1Password 3 added some nice features, including the ability to manage software license information. I’ve entered a number of my software licenses into the application. The 1Password iPhone App (iTunes link) gives you the ability to make your login information mobile, which has been incredibly helpful at times. There is also a iPad App and Windows version as well.

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Applications I Couldn’t Live Without In 2009

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For both 2007 and 2008, I listed a number of applications I couldn’t live without those year. It’s now time to release the same list for 2009. Some applications remain unchanged from 2008, but a few have dropped off the list all together and a few more have been added. I’d like to say “Thank You” to all the Mac developers out there who make beautiful Mac software. These are the applications I couldn’t live without in 2009, in no particular order.

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1Password remains one of my favorite Mac applications. It makes managing your online passwords incredibly easy. I recently upgraded to 1Password 3 in advance of my move to Snow Leopard. 1Password 3 adds some nice features, including the ability to manage software license information. The 1Password iPhone App (iTunes link) gives you the ability to make your login information mobile.

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I still write every AMHQ post with MarsEdit. Not much has changed over the last year with MarsEdit, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Blogging with MarsEdit makes blogging easier, so I’m going to continue to use it. Alas, MarsEdit still doesn’t have bullet and numbered list support. Maybe it will happen in 2010?

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Applications I Couldn’t Live Without In 2008

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At the end of 2007, I listed a number of applications I couldn’t live without that year. I recently realized I hadn’t updated the list for 2008 so I decided to do it now. Some applications remain unchanged, but others have been replaced or dropped off the list all together. I’d like to say “Thank You” to all the Mac developers out there who help make the Mac the premier computing platform today. These are the applications I couldn’t live without in 2008, in no particular order.

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Blogging wouldn’t be as fun or as easy without MarsEdit. The ability to draft posts offline allows me to work anywhere and publish once I get online. I love the ability to add new categories without visiting my WordPress powered site. If you blog without MarsEdit you aren’t being as productive as you could be. My one wish for MarsEdit would be bullet and numbered list support.

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While there are a number of good ftp clients for the Mac, many of them aren’t free. I’m not a power ftp user and Cyberduck allows me to get the job done. Cyberduck supports ftp and sftp and has integration with Spotlight, the Keychain, AppleScript, and Growl. If you don’t want to spend money on an ftp client, give Cyberduck a try. If you try Cyberduck and use it frequently, consider a donation to the developer (I donated).

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In 2007 I used iBank to manage my household finances. Sometime in 2008 I switched to Cha-Ching as my Mac money management application of choice. Neither application is perfect, but I liked the UI and ease of use of Cha-Ching. Cha-Ching 2.0, currently in beta, improves the UI and a number of other features. There is even a Cha-Ching iPhone application in beta (I’m testing it right now) that will sync your Cha-Ching database to your iPhone. When both of these Cha-Ching applications are officially released, it will create a killer experience.

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Software Pick Of The Month: Skitch

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I’ve wanted to write about Skitch for some time now. In its most simple form, Skitch is a screenshot application. In its most complex form, Skitch is a drop dead simple, yet powerful, image manipulation tool.

When you launch Skitch, it shows up as a menu bar icon. You’ll most often use Skitch when you activate it with a keyboard shortcut, though you can click the menu bar icon too. You can capture images several different ways.

  1. Drag-able cross-hair snapshot
  2. Full screen snapshot
  3. iSight snapshot

Once you take a snapshot, you’ll be presented with the image in the Skitch window.

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From the Skitch window, you have an enormous number of options. You can add text to images, add arrows, erase, circle, color fill, resize, and so much more. Once you’re done manipulating the image, just click the “drag me” tab (see the red arrow) and move the image wherever you want. You can drag the image straight from the Skitch window into emails, the Flickr upload tool, or just about anywhere else. You don’t need to save the image, just drag it!

Along with the Skitch software, there is also Skitch.com. Skitch.com is a webservice that gives you “1-click uploading of images for fast and fun image sharing.” Skitch.com gives you a place to store your Skitch images if you don’t have online storage else where. You can set the Skitch images to public, secret (open but with a secret URL), and private. People can even add comments to your Skitch.com images. If you want to get comments from multiple people on an image, Skitch.com will certainly come in handy.

If you take screenshots of any kind or frequently add text to images, Skitch is absolutely invaluable. If you are blogging and don’t have Skitch, you’re wasting time. Skitch is perhaps the single most useful tool on my Mac. Don’t know if Skitch is for you? Watch the video below for a quick 3 minute video tutorial.

Skitch has been in beta for quite some time. Skitch is currently free, though I’m sure it will cost something once it leaves beta. Skitch was created by Plasq, the folks behind Comic Life.