The Basics of StuffIt Lite

Creating New Archives
An archive is a special type of file that contains other files and folders. When you use StuffIt Lite, you will be working with archives. Creating an archive is a  simple process. In StuffIt Lite, go to the File menu and choose “New Archive…” or type Command-N. You will be prompted with a dialog asking for the name of the archive and the place where you want the archive to be created. This dialog works much like the Save directory dialog in other applications. StuffIt Lite will automatically add the letters “.sit” to the end of the archive as a basic convention. It makes archive files easier to spot if everyone follows this convention; however, the name is up to you. Enter the archive name, select the location for it to be saved in the usual manner, and hit Return or click the “New” button.

Creating 1.5.1 Archives
At the bottom of the dialog, there is a check box that allows you to create “1.5.1” archives. The 1.5.1 version is an older version of StuffIt that used a different file format and did not achieve the compression speeds and sizes of this version of StuffIt Lite. StuffIt Lite works with all StuffIt archives. Use 1.5.1 archives if you are sending archives to someone who hasn’t gotten their copy of StuffIt Lite yet.

Opening Existing Archives
To work with an existing archive, you must open it. Choose “Open Archive…” from the File menu or type Command-O. You will be presented with the familiar Open dialog as in other applications. Locate the archive you wish to open, select it, and click the “Open” button. You are allowed to open archives created by StuffIt Lite as well as self-extracting archives and StuffIt SpaceSaver files.

If you’re a registered StuffIt Lite user, you get the added functionality of being able to open up to eight (8) archives at one time. With eight archives, you'll have the ability to drag Stuffed items between the archives.

Stuffing Files and Folders
To Stuff files to the current archive, choose “Stuff…” (Command-S) from the Archive menu or click the “Stuff” button in the Archive Palette. A dialog appears with a list of files and folders on the left side. Select a file or folder on the left side and click the “Add” button. The item you select will move to the “Items to Stuff” list on the right and the “Stuff” button (in the lower right corner) will become active. Continue adding files or folders to the list on the right. Click the “Stuff” button when you wish to Stuff all of the items in the “Items to Stuff” list.

If you added a wrong file or folder to the “Items to Stuff” list, simply select it in the “Items to Stuff” list and click the “Remove” button. StuffIt will remove the item from the list, and you can repeat the “Add” procedure, this time adding the correct file. 

Add Match
The “Add Match” dialog presents you with a number of criteria you may select from to narrow the range of files that will be Stuffed within the folder you’re archiving. The more criteria you specify, the more narrow the range of files to be archived from that folder. See “The Stuff and Add Match Dialogs” chapter for a better description of Add Match.

UnStuffing
Now that you have an archive with some items in it, how do you retrieve those items?  You UnStuff them. When a file is UnStuffed, it is restored to its original status on your disk, ready for use.

To UnStuff one or more items:
1. Open the archive that you wish to Unstuff items from.
2. Select the items that you want to UnStuff in the archive window
3. Click the “UnStuff” button (Command-U).
4. Tell the Macintosh where you want the UnStuffed items to be saved.

You can also drag the item(s) you wish to UnStuff onto the UnStuff button or select the item(s) to UnStuff and choose “UnStuff” from the Archive menu.

After initiating the UnStuff command, you will be presented with a dialog resembling the standard “Save As…” dialog. Besides the usual “Save” button, there are also buttons labeled “Save All”, “Skip”, and “Cancel”.

To save the UnStuffed item, click the “Save” button. Note that the original name will be given to you as the suggested name. You may change the name or the location you’re about to UnStuff to before saving.

To UnStuff and save all selected items to the same location using the suggested names, click “Save All”. Should a file name conflict arise during the Save All process, you will be presented with this dialog again, allowing you to cancel, rename, or continue the UnStuffing process.

Selecting Items in an Archive
To select a single item, just click it. If the item is not in view, use the scroll bar in the usual manner to bring it into view, and then click it. You will see that the item name will be highlighted.

To select a continuous range of items, select the first item in the range. While holding down the Shift key, select the last item in the range. All items between and including the two will be highlighted.

To select a discontinuous group of items such as the first, the fourth and the tenth, hold down the Command key while selecting the item(s). All selected items will be highlighted. Using the Command key while clicking an item toggles whether an item is selected or not. By Command-clicking, you can add or subtract any items from your selection.

That’s it for Stuffing and UnStuffing files - the two primary functions of StuffIt Lite.