How Can I Sign a PDF on a Mac?

Recently, I was asked to sign a document. No big deal right? Well, it was a scanned copy of a document that was emailed to me. How in the world was I to sign a digital copy of a document and then send it back? I could've printed it out, signed it, scanned it back in and sent it back, but that's an awful lot of work... and I didn't have a printer or scanner handy. Thankfully, Mac OS X comes with Preview, the system's default PDF viewer.

Preview is sometimes overlooked, and some people don't even realize they're using it, but it can quite handily manage PDFs and other files like photos. Should you find yourself in a situation like mine where you need to add your signature to a PDF, here are the steps:

1. Open Preview. (Duh.)
2. Click on Preview > Preferences on the menu bar in the top left corner of the screen.
3. Click on "Signatures" on the window that opens up.
4. Click the plus (+) button in the bottom left corner of the window.
5. Hold up a white piece of paper with your signature on it, making sure the bottom of your signature aligns with the blue line overlaid on the camera picture shown.
6. Your signature is now saved!

To use your new signature, go to Tools > Annotate > Signature from the menu bar. (Again, the menu bar is the collection of drop down lists in the top left corner of your Macs screen.)

Practical Tip of the Day:
Preview gives you several other ways to make notes on (AKA "annotate") your PDFs. You can highlight text, underline it, strike-through text, add shapes, text, lines and many other things. Next time you're sent a PDF and you want to make changes to it, open up the Tools menu option and see what things you can do.

What iOS Apps Should All Small Business Owners Have?

It seems nearly impossible to run a small business without technology nowadays, and smartphones and tablets have gained a firm foothold in this market. When speaking with small business owners, they almost always ask which apps I consider “must haves.” Here are the top three iOS (meaning for Apple products) apps I recommend for people either running or looking to start a small business:

iWork/Quickoffice Pro- Every small business owner needs to look at and sometimes edit documents. Be it text documents, spreadsheets or presentations, being able to view and change them on the go is very helpful. If you own a Mac and use iWork, using the iWork apps will make for a seamless document transition between your iPhone/iPad and your Mac. If you use Microsoft Office either on the Mac or Windows machine, Quickoffice Pro will offer a similar experience for your Office documents.

TurboScan- Are you currently using your device’s camera to take pictures of documents? With TurboScan, you can turn those photos into multipage PDFs that you can then either save or email. That means you could take pictures of your receipts while you’re away on a business trip,  turn them into a single PDF and email them to your secretary or simply keep them on your device for your records.

Square Card Reader- If you do any sales, either products or services, the Square Card Reader is highly recommended because it allows you scan credit cards and have the funds transferred right into your account. Now, as a quick side note here, Square makes their money on the 2.75% fee on every charge you make on their app, but they do also give you a free credit card scanner when you download their free app. Yes, a free scanner for downloading their free app.

Practical Tip of the Day:

Looking to connect with other professionals you know in a forum more formal than Facebook or Twitter? LinkedIn is a website that allows professionals to connect, keep in contact with each other and even offer referrals to each other. LinkedIn, in addition to their website also have a free app. 

If you'd like more information about these apps and how to utilize them in your business, feel free to contact me at www.TechKNOWLEDGEyToday.com and I'd be more than happy to help walk you through the decision. You can also follow me on Facebook and Twitter for updates and periodic tips and tricks to help you with the technology you use daily.

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TechKNOWLEDGEy Today was founded on the idea that through better understanding of technology you can empower people to better their lives more than they ever thought possible. It is with this in mind that we strive to better our communities through the services we offer.

We provide personalized group or individual training on technology in your home or office. Specializing in Apple products like the iPhone, iPad and Mac, we offer purchasing and implementation consultations, software training and instruction on computing basics like the Internet, email and smartphones.

What Is Google Docs?

It seems that more and more things are being done online. We keep our files online, we talk to people online, we place games online, and now you can make your business files online as well. If you're used to Microsoft's Office suite (Word, Excel, Powerpoint) or to Apple's iWork suite (Pages, Numbers and Keynote) you won't be too confused when first you meet the Google Docs suite.

Google Docs does the basics of what you're used to doing in your normal office programs, but cuts out most of the bells and whistles. You can create a word processing document, a presentation, a spreadsheet, a form, or a drawing. You needn't remember to save as it auto-saves up to Google's cloud regularly, and you also have the option of downloading it to your computer so you can work on the document offline assuming you have a similar program on your computer. (You can also upload a file from your computer to Google Docs if you wish to work on it from any computer with internet access.)

You can also share your documents with others with a click of a button, allowing others to either download your document, view it online, or work on it online with you. These are handy options for people who need to collaborate with others who may use different types of computers or programs. It also has a very nice price point- free. That's right, you pay nothing for Google Docs; It's included in your free Google account. Now, keep in mind what I said in the beginning that it is missing some whistles and bells, but if you only do basic document creation and editing, I recommend checking out Google Docs.

Practical Tip of the Day:
In Google Docs, you have many options on which way you'd like to download your document. If you'd like to be able to edit it on your computer without having an internet connection, downloading it in the common Microsoft Office format is recommended (Word, Excel, and Powerpoint), but if you do not need to be able to edit it and would like to make it the easiest to view on a wide range of computers and mobile devices, PDF format is best. PDFs (portable document format) are not easily editable, but are able to be viewed using software that is usually included on modern computers, and easily downloaded in case it isn't there. Picking the format of your file is important as it dictates what you can do with your files, and how you can do it. Choose carefully!