Tabla de contenidos para No. 216 en iCreate

Apple’s Phil Schiller is moving on to a new role Apple news Apple’s beloved senior VP of marketing, Phil Schiller is vacating the position and accepting a new role as Apple fellow. Schiller joined Apple in 1987, helping guide Apple’s products and marketing for 30 years. “Phil has helped make Apple the company it is today and his contributions are broad, vast and run deep. In this new role he will continue to provide the incredible thought partnership and guidance that have defined his decades at Apple,” says Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. In his new role as Apple fellow, Schiller will continue to lead the App Store and Apple Events teams. Apple is a $2 trillion company This month Apple became the first US company worth over two trillion dollars.…

Selective adjustments The Light panel’s options enables you to selectively lighten shadows without overexposing highlights. You can also darken highlights without underexposing shadows. The Brilliance tool also helps reveal missing tonal detail. Add control point The control point tool enables you to sample a particular tone in the shot, such as an underexposed shadow. After taking a sample, the tool adds a control point to the curve. By dragging the point you can lighten or darken the sampled tone. Healthy histogram Our start image was underexposed, so the histogram’s graph was clumped towards the left to indicate strong shadows. After tweaking the shot’s tones, the edited histogram has spread to the right, indicating that more shadow and midtone detail is visible. S-curve Here we’ve pushed a control point upwards to…

Color Balance The Colour Balance icon gives you access to a suite of tools that can counteract cold or warm colour casts produced by your camcorder’s incorrect white balance settings or mixed lighting conditions. White Balance The White Balance tool’s eyedropper analyses whether a clip is too cold (blue) or too warm (orange). It then warms up or cools down the sampled area’s colour cast to create more natural looking colours throughout the shot. Match Color This colour-correcting tool enables you to transplant the colours from one clip to another. In step eight we use the warm colours of a sunny shot to warm up a cold blue clip. Skin Tone Balance The standard White Balance eyedropper can make skin tones look orange and oversaturated. This eyedropper tool warms up…

Work placement This type of effect works especially well when used to announce a new section of a song. Create it from a segment of the first bar and it creates a natural build, preparing the ear for when the new section comes in. EQ and balance Once you’ve got it in the right place, EQ the effect again to taste – roll off some low end, cut some low mids, and add in some highs as needed. Finally, balance it into the mix using the channel fader. Delete source file Once the reverse effect has been created, you can safely delete the copied section it was generated from, as it’s no longer needed in the project. Fade in If the reverb tail doesn’t fade in how you’d like, you…

1 Quit apps Are you one of those people who keeps loads of apps running, with hundreds of open documents reduced to your Dock? If so, close/quit all of the stuff that you don’t need and it will undoubtedly speed things up. 2 Restart your Mac Although many of us probably don’t do it as much as we should, restarting your Mac can free up memory by flushing out cache files, which might provide a small, but welcome boost. 3 Update macOS If your Mac is being sluggish then there may already be a software update available that addresses the issue. Click on the Apple menu bar icon and choose About This Mac>Overview>Software Update. 4 Dynamic Desktop off Effects, like Dynamic Desktop in macOS Mojave, look good but suck processing…

Sometimes, certain apps may have issues that cause them to use up more than their fair share of your Mac’s system resources – perhaps there is an update available to address the problem? You can see exactly which apps are overloading your CPU by using your Mac’s built-in Activity Monitor app. Here’s how… 1 Launch Activity Monitor The quickest way to launch this app is to hit cmd+spacebar and then enter the name. It usually resides in the Utilities folder in Applications. 2 View processes Open Activity Monitor and click on the ‘CPU’ tab. Then go to View>Windowed Processes to view all open apps by the amount of CPU they are using. 3 Close app If an app is causing too much drain on the CPU, click on it to…

We have already looked at one way of removing apps by using your Mac’s built-in storage optimising utility, but here we take a look at another. Because just deleting apps doesn’t remove all of the data associated with them on your hard drive, you will either need to use the uninstaller for the specific app you wish to remove or grab a specialist app that does the job for you. 1 Grab AppCleaner Go to freemacsoft.net and download the free AppCleaner app. Launch it and the interface will consist of a small window into which you drag unwanted applications. 2 Select an app Navigate to your Applications folder and drag the icon of an app to uninstall into the AppCleaner window. It will scan for all files associated with that…

One thing we haven’t yet touched on is malware and how it can be the root cause of a misfiring Mac if left undetected. Thankfully, there is lots of free malware-scanning software available, such as Malwarebytes. This app offers a free trial, so you can scan your Mac and see if there is any malware present before deciding whether to purchase the software to perform more frequent checks. 1 Download app Go to malwarebytes.com and click on the ‘Free Download’ button to save the software to your Mac. Once it has downloaded, double-click the .pkg file and go through the installation process. 2 Allow software When you first run the software you will need to authorise it. Head to System Preferences>Security & Privacy and then click on the ‘Allow’ button…

Another type of Safari extension is the content blocker. This acts like a filter that allows certain types of content through on web pages, but blocks other types of content. The most common type of content blocker is the advertising blocker. There are many different ones, free and paid, although they all have the same purpose, which is to eliminate advertising on web pages. Other content blockers could block unwanted web tracking technologies, adult content and so on. 1 Find content blockers Open the App Store and search for ‘content blocker’. There are a dozen or more apps; AdGuard is one of the most popular. Download it, install it and then open it. 2 Enable content blockers This type of extension does nothing until it is enabled. Open Settings>Safari>Content Blockers.…

Knowledge base Manual data entry If your vinyl sleeves have barcodes on them then Discogs can make short work of scanning and adding them to your collection. But what about those rare promos and white labels that don’t have barcodes? No problem, just enter the artist and/or the name of the track and Discogs’ extensive database will throw up possible matches to choose from. Pick one and add it to your collection as usual. Extensive search By tapping ‘Search’ you can then tap the barcode scanner icon in the search field or enter artists or album keywords manually. Sales History If you are valuing your music collection (all formats are covered), then this is the figure to pay attention to – it tells you how much each item is worth.…

“They may look retro but delve inside the cabinets and the contents are very much from the modern age” Key features Bluetooth 5.0 with Qualcomm aptX HD decoding • Hi-res audio • 45Hz-40KHz • Class-D amplification Learn more edifier.com Available from amazon.co.uk EDIFER’S LATEST SET OF bookshelf speakers meet the modern demands for a wireless environment while providing a quality of audio that makes them the perfect fit for home recording and mixing. Doffing their cap to classic bookshelf speakers of old, the S2000 MKIIIs feature retro wood panelling, sturdy feet and removable grilles. The only thing that betrays their old-school aesthetic is an OLED LCD screen near the base of the active speaker that displays the input source, volume and sound effect modes (more on these shortly). Delve inside…

“There is none of the lag you have perhaps come to expect from running a virtual PC on your Mac” Price £69.99/$79.99 Requirements macOS 10.13.6 or later • 64-bit processor • 16GB RAM Learn more parallels.com Available from parallels.com AMAZING AS IT MAY SEEM, BUT SOME MAC USERS ACTUALLY NEED TO RUN WINDOWS! Whether you need to use PC applications when working remotely, you’re in the process of migrating your PC files to Mac, or you just want to play PC games, Parallels Desktop 16 is one of the best ‘virtual PC’ apps we’ve tried. Easy to set up and use, (although you will need to download Windows 10 in-app), Parallels Desktop 16 is ready when you need it (no restarting is required) and allows you to share files, copy…

A photo’s shadows, midtones and highlights are reproduced using a series of grayscale tones. These tones are measured in levels. The darkest, blackest shadows have a level of zero. The brightest, whitest highlights have a level of 255. The rest of the shadows, midtones and highlights have levels that fall between these two extremes. You can use Photos’ Levels tool to remap incorrectly exposed tones to lighter or darker levels. This is another effective way of making selective tonal adjustments. 1 Analyse histogram Import ‘Levels_start.jpg’. The histogram shows that this shot lacks strong shadows at the left. It also lacks strong highlights at the right. Toggle open the Levels panel. 2 Remap tones Drag the Luminance tone handles as shown to remap the shot’s levels. The adjusted histogram graph now…

Record Enable Once they are added to track headers, these little buttons can be toggled on to flash and prime the track for recording multiple audio inputs across each one simultaneously when the project’s master record commences. Multiple takes Multiple takes captured within a track cycle area overlay one another as independently recorded regions. The number is in the top-left corner and clicking it shows the takes pop-up for selection. Record button The master record button is between the play and cycle buttons in the control bar. Use this or tap the R key shortcut to start recording, clicking stop or tapping spacebar to halt. Cycle area Toggle the cycle area on/ off using this control bar button or the C key. A yellow strip in the timeline below marks…

Alter timings Your screen saver is set to turn on after 20 minutes of inactivity, but you can change this using this menu. You can set it as low as a single minute or as high as one hour. Show with clock If the loss of the clock in the corner of your screen when in Screen Saver mode is an irritation, simply tick this box and the time will be displayed within the screen saver. View preview To see what the screen saver will look like on your Mac before you set it, hover over the large image and the ‘Preview’ option will appear. Click on this to view the screen saver in all its splendour. Hot Corners You can trigger your screen saver instantly by setting up a…

Profile First Aid This tab provides options for running a Verify test on your stored colour profiles. The window reports on the test findings and, like Disk Utility, offers you a handy ‘Repair’ option. Devices & Filters Devices shows all of the registered ColorSync devices spanning scanners, cameras and more, and the Filters tab allows you to modify colour filters in a profile. Profiles This tab provides a more detailed list of available colour profiles, such as System, Computer, User and Other. Profile info shows a Lab Plot view you can toggle from Lab to XYZ, rotatable in 3D. Calculator This can be used to determine the colour value of a pixel on your screen and compare across RGB, HSV, HLS, Lab, Luv, XYZ, Yxy, Gray and CMYK based on…

Free downloads If an app is free, why do you need a password? There is an option to save your password but choosing ‘Require Password’ offers more security and control. Check purchases You can view all of the apps that have been purchased from the App Store under your account by clicking on your avatar in the lower-left corner of the App Store interface. Password for app purchases There are two options here and it is possible for the App Store to remember your password for 15 minutes, which is handy for multiple purchases. ‘Always Require’ is the most secure option. Hide purchases Hover your cursor over a purchased app and then click on the ‘…’ icon. From the resulting menu you will see the option to ‘Hide Purchase’, which…

Privacy report When you visit a new site, you’ll be able to click on this Privacy Report button to see how the site is treating your privacy. Clicking ‘i’ will provide a tracking report. Your Start Page When you open a new Safari browsing window or tab, the Start Page will be the first thing you see. This groups together your essential web content, allowing you to jump anywhere in a single click. You can also personalise what is displayed by going to the customisation tools. Powerful tabs Safari will be able to display more tabs, all of which display favicons (the small icons) by default. If you hover your cursor over a tab, you will also be able to see a thumbnail preview of the open page. Customisation tools…

If you want to start optimising the space on your Mac’s hard drive then this can be done straight from the Apple menu, like so… 1 Click Apple menu Click on the Apple logo menu item and choose ‘About This Mac’, then click on the ‘Storage’ tab at the top of the main overview window. 2 Start optimising Your Mac will display how much free space is on the disk and how the occupied space is being used. If space is tight, click on the ‘Manage’ button. 3 Recommendations Your Mac will suggest ways in which you can save space on your device quickly and easily. Click on the buttons to perform the corresponding action.…

1 System Preferences Open your Mac’s System Preferences and then click on the ‘Users & Groups’ icon. If you have multiple user accounts on your Mac, then select your personal account in the left column. 2 Login items Click on the padlock icon and enter your username and password to make changes to these preferences, and then click on the ‘Login Items’ tab to see what automatically loads when you log in. 3 Remove items If there are apps that open automatically that you don’t absolutely need, click on them to highlight them and then click on the ‘–’ (minus) icon underneath. The item will now be removed completely.…

Kill the zoom Go to System Preferences>Dock and start off by unchecking the ‘Magnification’ option so you can’t enlarge sections of the Dock as you hover your cursor over them. Scale your windows Set the ‘Minimize windows using:’ option to ‘Scale effect’. Having it set to the ‘Genie’ effect plays a pointless downscaling animation when you minimise your windows. Disable animations Also uncheck the ‘Animate opening applications’ option and, if you want to get really picky, the ‘Automatically hide and show the Dock’ option, too. Reduce transparency You can also speed up your Mac by reducing the transparency of the Dock. To do this, go to System Preferences> Accessibility>Display and tick the ‘Reduce transparency’ option.…

We have already mentioned that certain special effects can place an increased workload on your Mac’s system – especially if it is already working to the limits of the latest macOS requirements and doesn’t have loads of RAM – but there are other features you can disable, too, in order to speed things up… 1 Limit Spotlight Many people find Spotlight a useful tool, but indexing disks, especially mechanical ones in older Macs, is slow. Go to System Preferences>Spotlight>Search Results and disable any categories that you don’t need to search in. 2 Ignore disks Still in the Spotlight settings, click on the ‘Privacy’ tab, then click on the ‘+’ icon and select any disks that you don’t want included in your Spotlight searches, such as connected backup disks and USB…

Knowledge base Update across iOS When you have finished updating your Memoji within the Messages app, you will want to update it as it appears in other apps, too, such as your Apple ID. To do this, open your Contacts app, tap on your card at the top of the database and then tap ‘Edit’. Select your new Memoji (displayed under ‘Animoji’) and then tap ‘Done’. It should then update. Save changes After editing your Memoji, tap ‘Done’ and then your Memoji stickers will be updated in the Memoji tray within the Messages app. Select Memoji In Messages, tap on the App Store icon to the left of the text field and then select the Memoji icon above the keyboard. Make the changes You will be able to change hair…

Knowledge base Keep on top of your inbox When viewing an email, you typically have four options: reply, flag/unflag, read/unread, and trash or archive. You can make use of these by hard-pressing on an open email and making your choice. It’s also possible to swipe left in a mailbox to delete and flag or right to unread/read. A hard-press on the screen when in a mailbox will allow you to compose a new message. Change the preview When you scroll through your emails, you can see a preview of up to two lines. You won’t need to scroll as much if you alter this to one line or decide to remove previews entirely. Default replies Save time by making use of default replies. Here you can edit the existing set…

Key features Two Thunderbolt 3 ports • 60W notebook charging Learn more owcdigital.com Available from amazon.co.uk DESIGNED TO HANDLE the demands of pro creative workflows, the Thunderbolt 3 Pro Dock from OWC is a digital Swiss army knife that features 10Gb Ethernet, front-side CFast and SD 4.0 card readers, Thunderbolt device support and plenty of peripheral ports. See more, access more Weighing in at 0.8kg and with dimensions of 3.5x21.2x10.8cm, this dock is a chunky beast, but it serves as your all-in-one, on-location, post-production ‘mission control’ that is fast and efficient enough to handle heavy traffic on tight deadlines. As we mentioned, the front-side is reserved for the card readers and a USB-A port for connecting and charging devices. On the rear are ports for eSATA (multi-bay external drive access),…

Price Arcade subscription Requirements iOS 13.0 or later • 3.6GB Learn more amanita-design.net Available from iOS App Store FROM THE CREATORS OF MACHINARIUM comes an altogether more freakish puzzle adventure for iOS and Mac. Unnerved by exploding light bulbs and peeling wallpaper, our unnamed protagonist’s curiosity gets the better of him and he descends into a dark world inhabited by avian folk and vicious furniture monsters. The aim is to progress but the way forward is anything but clear, as you have to pull switches, trigger gates and lure the salivating creatures away from areas that you need to get to. The hand-painted visuals are stunningly gorgeous and the eerie sounds and eclectic score really gets your spidey senses tingling. Challenging and very compelling. Verdict A suspense-filled puzzle adventure that…

EPIC GAMES, PUBLISHER OF THE POPULAR ONLINE MULTIPLAYER GAME FORTNITE HAS FILED  A LAWSUIT AGAINST BOTH APPLE AND GOOGLE FOLLOWING ITS GAME’S REMOVAL FROM BOTH COMPANIES’ APP STORES. The spat between these three organisations started when Epic Games released an updated version of Fortnite that bypassed the usual App Store approval process and circumvented the payment options in both Apple’s App Store and Google’s Google Play service. The problems started when Epic Games announced a 20 per cent price reduction on V-Bucks, the in-game currency used in Fortnite. “Starting today, any V-Bucks or real-money offers you purchase on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC and Mac are now discounted by up to 20 per cent. You don’t need to do anything!” Epic Games posted. Using a process called Epic…

Source clips Our source clips are very short (less than a second) as they filmed a fast-moving macro subject at a high frame rate of 240 frames per second. The handheld camera work is very wobbly when played in real time but looks smooth and stable when slowed down. Split edit By detaching a clip’s audio track we can extend it over the following clip. This sound bridge helps knit the clips together into a more seamless sequence. Here the sound of a flying bee overlaps two shots. Beautiful bokeh effects Macro clips have a shallow depth of field, so most of the image has a soft, blurred photographic bokeh. This causes floating pollen particles to look blurred. We mimic pollen particles using the Bokeh Random effect. Slow down You…

Log out and vanish When the hidden admin user logs out, there will be no trace that they were using the Mac and the next user will be none the wiser. There are many uses for such an account. Simple commands The Terminal commands you need to use are not too complex, but make sure that you understand what they do before you use them. Go to http://support.apple.com/ en-us/HT203998 for more details. Hide user accounts You can hide usernames in the login screen in System Preferences>Users & Groups, but an admin can change this setting. You need to do much more to create a truly hidden account. Finder invisibility With a few commands, you’ll be able to hide the admin user in Finder, which is vital because you are aiming…

Your Mac will automatically set up to only accept downloads from the App Store. However, as this is a Safari download, your Mac will block it from being added. Luckily, it only takes a couple of steps to enable downloads from other sources. However, once you have downloaded Aerial it might be worth changing the setting back to be on the safe side – especially if you read our tips for tightening up your App Store security, starting on page 42. 1 Unlock security settings Go to System Preferences>Security & Privacy and then click on the padlock icon in the lower-left corner and enter your administrator password to make changes. 2 Change app settings Click on the ‘General’ tab and then select the ‘App Store and identified developers’ option. You…

In macOS El Capitan and higher, the default Display preferences have been simplified, including the regular Calibration Assistant. However, you can still access an Expert Mode by holding the alt/option key when clicking on ‘Calibrate’ within System Preferences>Displays>Colour. This crucially adds two additional stages for manually adjusting Native Gamma (Luminance) and then Target Gamma (contrast) levels. Here’s how it works… 1 Native Gamma These steps are used to determine your display’s native luminance response curves. Drag the blue dots either side of the Apple logo up or down to make it appear neutral. 2 Target Gamma This single stage enables you to adjust a slider control when Use Native Gamma is toggled off. The Mac Standard Gamma is 22 but watch what happens when you deviate.…

If you really want to feel secure, there are more ways to protect your Mac. For example, it is possible to limit the downloading and installation of apps to only those from the App Store. Apple has strict rules about the apps that developers can add to the store and these are designed to protect users from scams, malware, spyware and dodgy programming. Apps from the App Store are far safer and Apple handles all of the payments too. 1 Security & Privacy Go to System Preferences>Security & Privacy, click on the ‘General’ tab and then click on the padlock icon and enter your administrator password to make changes. 2 Restrict downloads You should now see the ‘Allow apps downloaded from’ option. If you select the ‘App Store’ option then…

Pick a category Categories relating to everything that is likely to require disk space will be listed in the Storage sidebar. Click on one to view a list of content to scrutinise. Be vigilant Even apps like Messages can have files that eat into your storage space. Clicking here will list all image and movie attachments. Highlight them, right-click and select ‘Delete’ to batch-remove the lot. Delete items You can remove items quickly by right-clicking on the highlighted app and then choosing the ‘Delete’ option that appears. You will then need to confirm your action. Review content When you click on a category, all of the related content will be listed. Click ‘Last Accessed’ to see the items you have used the least listed at the top.…

As we use our Macs, small files are stored in cache folders that speed up certain processes. For example, Safari keeps copies of website images so that the loading times are reduced the next time you visit that site. Over time, though, these caches get rammed and so it is good practice to clean them out and then allow them to rebuild themselves. After all, they may be keeping images of sites you are unlikely to visit again. In this walkthrough we show you how to clean out your caches and help speed up your Mac. 1 Open Finder In Finder, press cmd+N to open a new Finder window and then click on the ‘Go’ menu and select the ‘Go to Folder’ option. 2 Locate caches You will now need…

Quarantined files You can check which files have been placed in isolation by clicking ‘Quarantine’ and choosing ‘Show Quarantine’. You should then consider dragging the items from this folder to the trash and then deleting them. Check settings Go to Malwarebytes>Preferences and ensure the default action for potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) is ‘Quarantine’. This moves suspect files to a separate folder and isolates them from the rest of your Mac. Easy access Malwarebytes provides instant access to its services through a menu bar item. To turn this off go to Malwarebytes> Preferences>General and then tick the ‘Hide application icon’ option. Perform a scan Through the app you can scan your Mac HD for virus threats at any time by clicking here. You can also schedule scans to take place at…

Select a disk A disk may be divided into several partitions. Select the boot volume and check it with First Aid to make sure it is okay. Also select external USB drives and check those. View the details Several tests are performed on the disk. You can click ‘Show Details’ to view a detailed report of each one. If all of the errors are not fixed, then run First Aid again. First Aid Problems with the drive hardware are very rare and most disk problems are with the filing system. Errors can slow down the Mac, so click on ‘First Aid’ to fix them. Use Disk Utility You will find the Disk Utility app in your Mac’s Utilities folder in Applications. Open it, click on ‘First Aid’ and then click…

Action extensions Extensions can perform actions on a web page’s content in Safari and some appear here, like AdGuard. Tap the icon to access an extension’s features and functions – in this case, to configure blocking options. Sharing extensions Items in the top row share something, like a URL and some extensions appear here, like Pocket and DuckDuckGo. Tap Safari’s share/actions button and then tap the extension icon to use it. Swipe for more. Add more items Extensions are disabled by default and must be enabled before they can be used. Swipe left over the top and bottom rows to reach the ‘More’ button and tap it to add a new extension. More actions Add actions to this list by scrolling down and tapping on the ‘Edit Actions’ option. You…

Knowledge base Accessibility options If you have physical limitations, you can tap ‘Accessibility Options’ during the Face ID setup process. Face ID will then capture a specific pose rather than have you move your head around the screen, making unlocking more convenient. It does mean you have to position the iPhone in a very specific way each time you access it, however. Check app access You can allow third-party apps to access Face ID for verification purposes (banking apps are a typical favourite). Be sure to keep a eye on these by tapping ‘Other Apps’ to manage access. Turn off Face ID Use Face ID for unlocking your iPhone, accessing iTunes/App Store, using Apple Pay or autofilling your passwords. Or turn it off with the relevant sliders. Reset Face ID…

Knowledge base How to ensure you’re pressing the right buttons Entering your passcode on a blank display can be difficult. Try going to the lock screen, wiping the display clean and entering your passcode in the hope that you will leave fingerprints. Or place paper over the screen, mark where the keypad is located and cut out a square so you’ll at least be tapping around the location of the numbers. Enter a passcode You will be able to issue the voice command you’ve created whenever you are asked to enter your passcode using the on-screen numerical buttons. Utter the command You don’t need to say, “Hey Siri” – just issue your command, such as “crack open”, and the device will pick up on the phrase and act on it.…

Is it possible to sign digital documents on my Mac by using my iPhone? Or have I been told a fib? Denzil Wilson 1 Open a doc Make sure that your Mac and iPhone are signed into the same Apple ID and on the same Wi-Fi network, then open a doc in Preview and then click on View>Show Markup Toolbar. 2 Select iPhone Now click on the signature icon in the toolbar and a drop-down window will appear, showing options to use your Trackpad, Camera or iPhone, click on the ‘iPhone’ option and your device will come to life. 3 Sign off Now, using your finger or a stylus, you will be able to write your signature on your iPhone screen and, as you do, it will appear within the…

macOS Finder Face Mask £10.36/$13.88 redbubble.com Seeing as how face masks have become a staple of everyday life as we try to claw back some semblance of normality post-lockdown, you might as well treat yourself to a nice one. In truth, pretty much any custom theme you can think of is covered by Redbubble, including games, movies, tech and popular culture. There are thousands of masks available from its website, including this Finder-themed face covering designed by LittlepixelUK. Edifier TWS6 True Wireless Earbuds £89.99/$59.99 edifier.com Featuring eight hours of playback (plus 32 extra hours from a fully charged case) and an IPX5 water resistance rating, Edifier’s TWS6 earbuds sound great and are built for the great outdoors. The wireless buds feature an ergonomic 12mm design, Knowles drivers and built-in voice…