Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Supercharge Your Clipboard
Cut, copy, paste. You've probably done those things thousands of times without even thinking
about your
clipboard
, the temporary storage space OS X uses to hold whatever you've cut or
copied. OS X's built-in clipboard is boring, but numerous utilities can supplement or replace
it with powerful new capabilities that will save you time and effort.
With one of these utilities installed, you'll never again have to worry about your Mac crashing
right after you've cut or copied something but before you paste it. You'll also be able to see
and use things you copied to your clipboard hours or days ago; change the clipboard contents
between the time you copy it and the time you paste it; and more.
Learn What a Clipboard Utility Can Do
You might think you can do just fine without a clipboard utility, but remember: people used to
think that about cars and microwave ovens, too! Here are some of the groovy tricks you'll be
able to perform:
•
Access your clipboard history:
By default, every time you cut or copy
something to the clipboard, whatever was there before disappears. By contrast,
every utility mentioned in this chapter maintains a clipboard
history
, which is
to say you can view a list of dozens or hundreds of previous clipboard items
and paste any of them at will. (I especially like using a keyboard shortcut,
such as Command-Control-V, to paste the just-previous item from my clipboard
history—that way, I can easily copy two different things and then paste them
both consecutively.)
•
Juggle multiple clipboards:
What if you had not just a single clipboard (with
a historical record of its contents) but two, five, or a dozen clipboards—each with
its own history? If you need to copy multiple sets of things and refer to them by
name or category, multiple clipboards may be just the thing.
•
Store and reuse clippings:
Normally, your Mac's clipboard is cleared when
you shut down or restart. Most clipboard utilities preserve not only your current
clipboard but also your clipboard history across restarts. Some even let you
manually save and name clippings for future reuse.
•
Edit a clipboard's contents:
Sayyou've copied something youintend topaste
multiple times—but you find an error in the copied text. Some clipboard utilities
