Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Copy the Font Style of Some Text
Let's say you're working on a complicated document in TextEdit and want to
add a paragraph. However, you also want to copy the same font and style as
a paragraph earlier in the document. Simply place your cursor within the
older paragraph, and hit OPTION + COMMAND + C . Then place the cursor where
you'd like to type, and hit OPTION + COMMAND + V . If you start typing, you should
find it matches the font and style.
Search Better
If you search for a word or phrase in TextEdit, you'll see that the document
view is dimmed, and any instances of the search term are picked out in stark
white. Additionally, you can click the left and right arrow buttons in the Find
toolbar to move a yellow “blob” highlight through the document that shows
instances of the search term.
The problem is that the yellow “blob” expands beyond the boundaries of the
word or phrase and covers letters to the left and right, which can make it
difficult to see whether this particular instance of the found search term is
the one you're looking for.
The solution is to click anywhere within the document. This will deactivate
the screen dimming. The search toolbar won't disappear, and if you keep
using the left and right arrows to find the search term, the yellow blob will
contract to a simple highlight of the word or phrase, within a second or two
of finding it. It's a subtle but useful difference.
Replace Text Within a Selection
At first glance, TextEdit doesn't seem to offer any way of replacing text within
a selection you've made in a document. However, if you hold the All button
on the Find/Replace toolbar, a pop-out menu will offer the option. See Figure
57, Replacing text within a selection in TextEdit , on page 393 for an example.
Add Word Counting
TextEdit lacks one key feature that students and professional writers might
miss: word count.
This feature can be added using a little AppleScript, as follows (with many
thanks to tip creator Mike Riley, author of fellow Pragmatic Bookshelf title
Programming Your Home ):
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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