Install iLife from MacBook Air USB Key

Stick the USB stick into another Mac and try the command below in Terminal:

open /Volumes/Mac\ OS\ X\ Install/Packages/iLife/iLife.pkg

Get the text from a PDF

I needed this at short notice, and it works flawlessly.

I like the use of PDF’s, they work well and (usually) appear the same on ever computer. One of the advantages of PDF’s is the text embedded within the file, and the abilty to manipulate. Although many PDF readers have functions to copy and paste text, whats quicker than creating an Automator script to extract PDF text into a text file.

This process only take a couple of steps so read carefully.

1) Open Automator, found in Applications > Utilities

2) In Automator drag out “Get Selected Finder Items”, then “Extract PDF Text”. I recommend changing the output option to Rich Text.

3) Save the file. Either as an application or a file.

4) Test. Drag a PDF file onto the Automator file and let it do its work, after a short time you will have a text file with the extracted text.