Quick Tips:
Option Key Fun

by Terry Wilson

In this article, which is reprinted from a recent issue of PMUG Dialog, the newsletter of the Princeton Macintosh User's Group, Terry Wilson shares some of her tips for using the Option key in the Finder, Adobe Illustrator, and QuarkXPress. — MLL

Finder

Opening a folder—Hold the Option key as you double-click a folder, and its parent folder will close behind it. It sounds goofy, but try it when you need to open something nested more than a few folders deep, and it really cuts down desktop clutter. If you need to get back to one of the parent folders, just hold the Command key and click on the window title to get a pop-up path.

Clean Up—With the Option key, this becomes Clean Up by Name, alphabetizing your icons. (By holding down the shift key, you can Clean Up just the selected icon, moving it onto the invisible grid.)

Duplicate a file—Drag-copy a file to another folder on the same hard drive, and it just moves it. Holding the Option key down while doing so copies it to the new location.

Resize Box—In System 7, the resize box resizes the window to fit the contents, but if you’d like to regress, and have the window blow up to fill the screen, just hold the Option key while clicking anywhere on the title bar.

Adobe Illustrator

Change Templates—Adding the Option key when opening a file gives you the chance to assign a new template to the document. It’s a little tricky, but here’s how: First, hold the Option key down as you select Open or type Comm-Op-O. In the first dialog, double-click on the document you’re opening. Another dialog box comes up. Now choose the template you wish to open. (This whole sequence is not intuitive, so write it down or I guarantee you’ll forget how when you need to know six months down the road.)

Copy—Adding the Option key copies a PICT file of your selection to the clipboard, which is Pastable to the Scrapbook and other programs, like Word, that will take a PICT but cannot import eps. 

Comm-Op-Y—Previews just the selected artwork

QuarkXPress

The Option key added to common keyboard shortcuts brings up related dialogs.

Duplicate—Comm-Op-D brings up Step & Repeat…

Check Word—Comm-Op-W checks spelling for entire story.

Print—Comm-Op-P brings up Page Setup…

Save—Comm-Op-S brings up Save As…

Preferences—Comm-Op-Y brings up Typographical Preferences…

Send to Back/ Front—This has no keyboard shortcut, so hold down the Option key and the menu choices change to Send Backward/ Forward, for layer-at-a-time shuffling.

Tabs—Option-click on the ruler in the Tab dialog box to remove all tabs.

Rulers—Option-click rulers to remove guides.  If the pasteboard is next to the ruler, you delete the pasteboard guides. If the page itself is next to the ruler, the page guides go.

Search & Replace Dialog—Holding the Option key will turn Find Next into Find First.

Apply button in various dialog boxes—Option-Apply keeps the Apply button ‘live’ so you get instant feedback as you change settings.

Scrolling—Holding down the Option key while dragging the scroll box provides a live scroll for fine tuning your views.

©1993 Terry Wilson. Terry Wilson is an illlustrator and graphic artist for her company, Rainbow Creek Studios in Southampton, New Jersey. She edits the PMUG Dialog, the newsletter for the Princeton Mac Users' Group. Contact her on America Online at TerryW6.  •