19.8.Notes
Let's face it: No operating system is complete without Notes. You have to have a place
for little reminders, phone numbers, phone messages, Web addresses, brainstorms,
shopping-list hints—anything that's worth writing down, but too tiny to justify heaving a
whole word processor onto its feet.
The silly thing is how many people create reminders for themselves by sending
themselves an email message.
That system works, but it's a bit inelegant. Fortunately, Mac OS X now has a dedicated
Notes feature. As a bonus, it syncs automatically to the Notes folder of your iPhone's
mail program, or to other computers, as long as you have an IMAP-style email account
(see the box on Section 19.2
).
Notes look like actual yellow notepaper with ruled lines, but you can style 'em, save 'em,
and even send 'em to your friends. You can type into them, paste into them, and attach
pictures to them. And unlike loose scraps of paper or email messages to yourself that may
get lost in your mailbox, Notes stay obediently tucked in the Reminders section of the
Mailboxes list so you can always find them when you need them.
Tip: Ordinarily, Notes also appear in your Inbox, at the top. If you prefer to keep your
Inbox strictly for messages, though, you can remove the Notes. Choose Mail
Preferences Accounts Mailbox Behaviors, and then turn off "Store notes in
Inbox." The Notes will still be waiting for you in the side column, down in the Reminders
area.
To create a note, click the Note button on the Mail toolbar. You can also choose File
New Note or press Control- -N to pop up a fresh piece of onscreen paper.
Once you have your Note, type your text and click the Fonts and Colors buttons at the top
of the window to style it. To insert a picture, click the Attach button, and then find the
photo or graphic on your Mac you want to use. Figure 19-21
shows an example.
Note: You can also attach other kinds of files to a Note—ordinary documents, for
example. But you can't send such Notes to other people—only Notes with pictures.
Figure 19-21. They may look like little pads of scratch paper, but Mail Notes let you
paste in Web addresses and photos alongside your typed and formatted text. If you
want to share, click the Send button to have the entire Note plop into a new Mail
message, ready to be addressed.
When you're finished with your Note, click Done to save it. When you look for it in the
Reminders category of the Mailboxes list, you'll see that Mail used the first line of the
Note as its subject.
To delete a Note for good, select it and press the Delete key.
If you've worked hard on this little Note and want to share it, double-click it to open the
note into a new window. Click the Send button on its toolbar. Mail puts the whole thing
into a new Mail message—complete with yellow-paper background—so your pal can see
how seriously (and stylishly) you take the whole concept of "Note to self."
. 19. 8. Notes
Let's face it: No operating system is complete without Notes. You have to have a place
for little. you can remove the Notes. Choose Mail
Preferences Accounts Mailbox Behaviors, and then turn off "Store notes in
Inbox." The Notes will still be