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Setting up new MacBook Pro

Changing the Defaults and Software Install

This week I got a new MacBook Pro laptop at work. This means that I had to set up the computer to the way I link to use it.

Here are three things that I had to get done. I created this blog post for future reference.

Apple Screen Capture

I use Apple Screen capture all the time. However, I don't like the drop shadow and I don't want the PNG format since it's usually larger than the JPG format.

Remove Drop Shadow

The drop shadow is so 2010. Remove the default drop shadow on all screen captures.

defaults write com.apple.screencapture disable-shadow -bool true

Save as JPG

Save disk space and make your captures JPEG files. Why did Apple make the default screen capture as PNG format?

defaults write com.apple.screencapture type jpg

Restart the System Server

killall SystemUIServer

All together now

Simple Cut/Paste of the three commands mentioned above:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture disable-shadow -bool true
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type jpg
killall SystemUIServer


Fix BBEdit Settings

Removed the dreaded return after applying a paragraph tag:

defaults write com.barebones.bbedit HTMLParagraphMarkup_ParagraphsOnSeparateLines -bool NO

BBEdit Default Preferences

Make the following adjustments:

Appearance

  • Application appearance should be set to dark.
  • Editor color scheme should be Haunted Mansion (cryan.com)
  • Turn off Page guide at [90] characters.

Application

  • When BBEdit becomes active set it to "Do Nothing"

Completion

  • Enable "Include system text replacements in completion list"

Editor Default

  • Enable "Soft wrap text to" and select the Window Width.

Applications Install

These are my helper applications - outside of anything specific that my work provides.

  • BBEdit - Essential text editor
  • Keyboard Maestro - #1 Productive App
  • LaunchBar - Launch Applications quicker
  • Panic's Transmit - Transer files between the computer and server
  • Magnet - I use Mosaic on my personal computer, but Magnet has the iCloud license. Keyboard shortcuts are essentially the same.
  • Photoscape X - Quick graphic editor.
  • iTerm2 - Essential Terminal App.
  • DBeaver - DB management tool

 

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About

As someone who has worked on Macs since 1989, I will use my experience to share tips and tricks with you on Fridays. As a Mac user since 1989, I have seen the evolution of Mac software and hardware, and I know how Mac computers work. I also know how to troubleshoot and fix Mac problems that can arise.

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FridayMacintosh
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