Create a Text File Using the Standard Redirect Symbol (>) You can also create a text file using the standard redirect symbol, which is usually used to redirect the output of a command to a new file. If you use it without a preceding command, the redirect symbol just creates a new file. This is an excellent Mac power user tip, and if you find yourself frequently accessing the same menu items within an app or all applications, consider setting up a custom keyboard shortcut for that item to speed up your workflow. Create Files in TXT Format on Mac: Editing the Preferences Apparently, there is a – kind of – hidden feature in TextEdit that will allow us to save our files in the plain text format. It requires us to go into TextEdit’s preferences, and tweak some settings.
Jay Walsh
June 18, 2017 at 11:25 AM
Categories: iPhone | View Comments
June 18, 2017 at 11:25 AM
Categories: iPhone | View Comments
Since we do a lot of work with iPhone data, we're often asked how to save text messages and iMessages as a PDF. You may want to archive your text messages for sentimental reasons or you may need to export text messages to PDF for business, legal, or family matters.
How to save iPhone text messages to PDF:
- Download the free trial of Decipher TextMessage and install the software on your Windows or Mac computer.
- Open Decipher TextMessage, select an iPhone, and choose a contact whose text messages you want to save as PDF. Select 'export' from the menu. Note: If you don’t see your iPhone in Decipher TextMessage, you simply need to make a backup of your iPhone via iTunes.
- Open the exported folder containing your messages and double-click on the html file. The file will open as a local web page in your default web browser. Below is how to then best convert the saved iPhone text messages to a PDF on Mac and Windows.
Mac
How To Create A Text File On Mac For An App
Select Print in your web browser. The OSX print dialog has a built-in button to 'print' to PDF. You can find the 'PDF' button in the lower-left corner of the print dialog box.
Windows
Our recommendation to save text messages as a PDF on Windows is to use Google Chrome to 'print' the exported messages to a PDF file. Chrome not only has a very easy PDF export feature, it also does a great job rendering our iPhone-like formatting of the messages.
- If you need to install Google Chrome, you can do so from the Chrome website.
- Right-click on the html file exported from Decipher TextMessage and choose 'Open With' and then select Google Chrome.
- Press Ctrl+P or press the button in the upper right that looks like three lines, and Print from the drop down menu.
- Towards the bottom of the print options, make sure the checkbox that says “Background Colors and Images” is checked. (We've noticed that recent Chrome updates have a bug where you may need to uncheck and check the “Background Colors and Images” option again to get the bubbles to appear in the preview.)
- Under “Destination” select “Change..” and then from “Local Destinations” select “Save as PDF”
- Your “Print” button likely just turned into a “Save” button, press Save, and then select where you'd like to save your PDF text messages!
If you have any questions about saving or exporting text messages from your iPhone as a PDF document, contact us via our Decipher Tools Support page and we'll be happy to assist.
How to Create a Simple Service to Append Text to a file
Quick Mac Tip, 30 January 2011
Quickly adding URLs and text clippings to a file after I’ve narrowed down my research helps me solve problems on a website I do volunteer maintenance for. I clip bits of code to rewrite and use to solve an issue or keep ideas for future development. Today I discovered that I could simply create a Service in Automator to do that for me.
This guest Tip is written by April Mains, Arteliance.
Creating a service using Automator is quick and easy. For this example I will be appending text to a BBEdit text file but it also works with TextEdit.
April Mains has been doing print design since 1985 and working with Mac computers since 1989. She has been hanging out with Miraz on everything from mailing lists to twitter since 1996. April began blogging in 2005 and can be found at Arteliance as well as on twitter and facebook.
Create A Simple Service in Automator:
- Open Automator and choose the
Service
template - Drag
Set Contents of BBEdit Document
to the workflow area - Choose
By: Appending
from the drop-down menu (the other two options are:Replacing Entire Contents
andReplacing Selection
) Save
your Service with a descriptive name
Now I can simply select text and use the
OS X Contextual Menu > Services > [New_Service_Name]
to append the selected text to a BBEdit text file. I use this mainly to add urls or snippets to the inbox of my todo list. An
Append to BBEdit Scratchpad
service already exists and might be useful as well. Txt File On Mac
Note that for this menu item to function, BBEdit must be running and a text document must exist.
Choose By: Appending from the drop-down menu.
Bonus Tip:
You can also create an Automator app to
Ask for Text
and then Set Contents of BBEdit Document > By: Appending
to enter your own text and add it to your todo list or text file. Save as Application
to ~/Library/Scripts
and then use FastScripts (free for up to 10 keyboard shortcuts) to set a shortcut for your new program.How To Create A Text File On A Mac
What’s your experience with Automator and Services? Tell us in the Comments. Could you write a guest MacTip? If so, contact me.