Mac Preview for Personalizing Existing PDFs

The above video continues on from the post on using the Macintosh Preview program for making annotations on screenshots and .jpg.

This video shows how you can personalize an existing PDF, adding your own text descriptions and individual information for marketing purposes.

Short and easy to follow, if you need written step-by-step instructions and visuals using screenshots see Editing .jpgs and Screenshots.

Adding Arrows and Text to Images in Mac Computer Preview

pr-toolbarinvideoSometimes in business, as well as personally, we wish to add PDFs and/or annotated images to our communications.

Very recently I was most excited when I discovered that I could edit directly in Preview on my Mac. Preview is the Mac computer program for both reading and creating PDFs. What a revelation for me!

I also experienced being able to add clean arrows and text directly onto photo .jpg images.

Continue reading

Finding Facebook’s How-to-Upload Photos Help

In the first video in this series on How to Upload Photos and Create Photo Albums in Facebook, I started showing where to find the information on Facebook. The menu that had been there the previous day had changed. So I created this short 3 minute video.

Where to find Help in Facebook for How-to Upload Photos
1 – Click on the small Gear Icon located far right at the top of the page.

2- At the bottom of the drop down menu click on Help.

3 – Then in the Search box Type in what you wish to find. In this video I typed in Uploading Photos.

Several links appeared, including “How do I Upload and Create a New Album” and several other related links.

Please share your photo and Facebook experiences and questions in the “Reply to this post” at the bottom of this post, or

Email me at Easy Senior Technology at Gmail.com.

To make it easy for you, there is a link in the footer at the bottom of this page.

How to Create an MP3 Recording Download Link for Your Site or Email

My friend Morgine Jurdan taught a class on “How to Live as Love”.  It was recorded in one of the teleseminar recording programs and she got the download link.  Her question to me was how she could put the MP3 link on her own site, as well as provide it as a download link from there for her visitors.

Although this question goes beyond what would seem to be the scope of newbies for this Technology for Seniors Made Easy site, I do know there are some of you who make MP3 recordings. I’m guessing you would be like to share one or more on a Website and/or through email, if only you knew how.

The first thing you must do is download the recording yourself into your own computer.

mp3-download-to-computer1. Go to the URL where the recording is being held.

2. Right click the link that says “Download.”

3.  “Save Link As” with a short name that you will remember. This will become the extension to the new URL you will ultimately be creating for email,  your website or on Amazon S3, a free storage service.  No website, or special uploading, is required for the latter. Continue reading

Uploading Photos to Facebook – Creating Photo Albums

The video below demonstrates how to upload your photos to Facebook and create albums there.


In a phone conversation with a follower of Technology for Seniors Made Easy, I learned that she did not know how to upload photos to Facebook. She had attended some important family events and was anxious to share her photos with family and friends.  I explained in detail. The next day, by visiting her Facebook page, I learned that she was able to upload them individually. She wrote, though, that she could not upload more than one at a time.

Uploading Photos to Facebook

1 – Go to either your Home or Your timeline page. Continue reading

Writing Emails that People Read

Do you want people to read your emails?

In the above video, Racheli Smilovits, “Your Favorite Marketing Tips Guru” demonstrates the elements of an email that will make it easy for people to read your messages. Racheli is also Vice-President of Technology for Women in eCommerce (WECAI.org).

Although this was videoed for an audience of business women, the points made are important, especially for those of us seniors who are impatient or challenged with reading dense pages.

Racheli points out there are three ways to write an email: Continue reading

Making Requests by Email to Promote an Event

There are times that we would like our friends and associates to promote something for them by email and/or social media – Facebook and Twitter, most commonly.

The intent of this post is to point out the necessity of being very clear on what we want people to know about the activity and what information we want them to pass on.  The most efficient way to do this is to actually put the information about the event in the body of the email you send to them, along with any attachments you might want them to see.

Be sure the Subject Line also reflects what the email is about. For example, Subject: Invitation to Upcoming Art Show

My mentor often reminds me, “A confused mind will not take any action.”  A case in point:

Listen as you scroll down to see examples.

To listen to the recorded story, click on the arrow on the left in the icon above. To Pause, click on the 2 parallel vertical lines.  You can adjust the sound both on your computer and in section on the right by dragging the magenta colored knob.  If you want to skip ahead or go back, simply drag the knob in the main portion of this icon.

The Story
that had me write this post:

An artist friend recently sent me an announcement about an upcoming puppet show in a local theater, plus information on a show she was having and another a month or two later that a poet was doing. She requested I pass it on.

Her email message was a forward of a message from someone else, plus a flyer with that.  In addition there was an attachment with a flyer for an art show she had planned.

Be clear on the point to your email –
The top portion that my friend wrote, included something about going to a show, driving and other details and a request to pass on the information. I wasn’t even sure what it was she was inviting me to or wanted me to pass on.

copy of email rquest

I scrolled down and saw the forwarded information, but I had spent so much time trying to figure out what she wanted that I put it aside and never got back to it.

A week later
I got a reply from the same friend to an ezine I had sent. It had the full copy of the ezine with her message covering several things happening in her life, concluding with the request to forward an attachment she added with the above-mentioned postcard to her event.

Request in Reply EmailThere was a postcard attachment added

There is no way I can forward what she sent to me. To do what she requested requires my saving the attachment and creating my own e-mail to which I would add her postcard.  There is also a way I could forward it, which would require several steps, not necessary to go into here because:

My BOTTOM  LINE recommendation is:

When you are requesting someone forward information, create the email with the exact information you’d like his/her friends, family and associates to receive.  Not everyone finds it easy to write, especially if they’re not sure what you want.

Make it EASY for your friends and family. Tell them what YOU want people to know.

The same thing holds true if you are asking that they post in Facebook. Write the message for them and ask them to cut and paste into a post, of course giving them the option to edit anything you’ve written.

Much success to you in all your planning and sharing with your communities.

Video Using iPhone Facing Either Direction in a Stand

iphone-stand-100w-facinginI do get excited with the “little” things in life.  I recently posted how delighted I was using my new iPhone stand.

Today, I had another eye-opening, “of-course,” discovery. When my iPhone is on the solid, mini stand I have for it, it still can photograph or video in either direction.  Since the camera lens is on the side of the phone, the stand does not block it as it would a traditional camera where the lens is in the center. I’d been looking at it, and operating, from a past frame of reference.

Whole new possibilities are now open for me in relation to videoing tutorials for Technology for Seniors Made Easy, as well as other things I’d like to record with a steady hand,

How about you? What kinds of iPhone discoveries have you made recently?  What most excites you with your iPhone?