<![CDATA[onekerato - BLOG]]>Thu, 28 May 2026 05:39:55 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[Introduction to PDFoo]]>Wed, 10 Mar 2021 09:18:23 GMThttps://www.onekerato.com/blog/introduction-to-pdfooThe PDFoo app allows you to build hyperlinks into the content of PDFs, so you can locate information quickly, by simply following a link.

The following video shows PDFoo in action. You open a PDF, assign a prefix, pull out hyperlinks to content like chapters & sections or any selected text, and then click the special pdfoo URLs to open the PDF to the right spot.

Once you're familiar with the basics of the app, you can turn off "Open PDFoo User Guide document at launch" option in the app's Preferences.
]]><![CDATA[PDFOutliner 1.5 Released on Mac App Store]]>Sun, 23 Sep 2018 13:44:53 GMThttps://www.onekerato.com/blog/pdfoutliner-15-released-on-mac-app-storeAn update to PDFOutliner is now available on the Mac App Store.

The update improves the AutoTOC feature and you can now mark the fonts used for building the table of contents. You can also save these "font sets" to a text file on disk, to load it for the next run. For example, I use Ulysses to write documentation for my apps, and export a PDF. To add a table of contents, I use PDFOutliner. The video below shows the workflow in PDFOutliner (5 min.)
]]><![CDATA[Free App: OneNoteGrab 1.0]]>Thu, 06 Sep 2018 18:58:43 GMThttps://www.onekerato.com/blog/free-app-onenotegrab-10
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OneNoteGrab 1.0 for macOS 10.10+
OneNote on the iPad Pro is an exceptional tool for note-taking, especially when writing using the Apple Pencil. However, OneNote on the Mac currently does not support copy-pasting of hand-drawn content to other apps. To address this oversight, OneNoteGrab 1.0 is a simple utility that automatically extracts a PNG image from the data copied to the clipboard by OneNote on the Mac, so that you can copy-paste your hand-drawn content into other macOS applications.
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I use OneNote on the iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil to take hand-drawn notes on Udemy courses. The above is a notes snippet from a Teach Your Child to Read and Write course for K-2 kids. I use Evernote to sequence and prioritize such snippets.
Use the lasso selection tool in OneNote for macOS to precisely select the hand-drawn content. Then hit ⌘ C to copy.

With OneNoteGrab running. a PNG image will be automatically placed on the clipboard for pasting into other macOS apps.

This utility makes it easy to use hand-drawn content created in OneNote on your iPad Pro or Galaxy Note or Surface Pro, in your macOS authoring apps like Scrivener or Ulysses.

Get OneNoteGrab 1.0 on the Downloads page, for free.
]]><![CDATA[Introducing LightSpeech 1.0]]>Tue, 04 Sep 2018 05:06:21 GMThttps://www.onekerato.com/blog/introducing-lightspeech-10
LightSpeech is a text-to-speech application for macOS 10.8 and later.

You select text in any app, and send it to the LightSpeech app which reads it out for you. LightSpeech can help you read long articles, chapters and even entire books. And the app keeps track of your reading statistics which may even motivate you to read more.

Visit the product page to download a fully-functional trial version.

LightSpeech is an excellent companion to PDFSpeech. While the latter enables text-to-speech in PDFs, LightSpeech works with any macOS application where you can select text.
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]]><![CDATA[New Book: Fast Track to Prolific Writing on Windows with Dragon Professional Individual 15]]>Tue, 04 Sep 2018 04:56:35 GMThttps://www.onekerato.com/blog/new-book-fast-track-to-prolific-writing-on-windows-with-dragon-professional-individual-15
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ISBN 9781939046055
Would you like to write more, write fast, and write well?

Then this is the book for you. In "Dragon Professional Individual 15: Fast Track to Prolific Writing on Windows", you will learn how to use the Dragon application to convert your speech into text with speed and precision.
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You'll also learn:
  • how to speak so your PC understands exactly what you say
  • what you must remember in order to quickly edit your work
  • how to train Dragon to build an Assistant that's in tune with your writing style
  • how to zip ahead to a first draft even if you dread getting started on a blank page
  • how to work on your iPad while tapping into the power of Dragon on your PC
  • how to build a workflow that makes you happy to write

Version 1.0 of this book covers Dragon Professional Individual version 15.3. The book is available on the Kindle store, and for a limited time, under the Kindle Unlimited subscription service.
]]><![CDATA[Convert EPUB to PDF for PDFSpeech]]>Sat, 14 Jul 2018 04:08:33 GMThttps://www.onekerato.com/blog/convert-epub-to-pdf-for-pdfspeechWhy choose PDF?
EPUBs are great for reading on mobile devices, however PDFs have the advantage for serious reading, especially on large screens like tablets and desktops. Unlike EPUBs, PDFs allow for annotations, and precise references through page links (for example, PDFoo URLs) and bookmark outlines (PDFOutliner). I like to fast read technical manuals in PDFSpeech, which makes it easier to consume "boring" parts using text-to-speech technology. To convert an EPUB to PDF, we will use Calibre, the free and excellent e-book management app.

Calibre for Converting EPUB to PDF

Import the EPUB into Calibre by dropping it onto the window. For this example, I'm using the OmniGraffle 7 Reference Guide. Note that on the right sidebar, below the book cover, is a link "Click to open" that will reveal the folder where the e-book is saved on disk. We will need to access this folder directly in the last step.
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 Right click on the book row, and select Convert books → Convert individually, from the contextual menu. In the dialog that opens, select PDF in the top-right. Then select "Page setup" in the left sidebar, and ensure that the Output profile on top is set to Tablet. This ensures that images in the EPUB (often included by the publisher at very high resolutions) are not unnecessarily downgraded when printed to PDF. 
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Tweak the PDF page size for PDFSpeech

In the same Convert dialog, select the PDF output tab in the left sidebar. Check the option for "Preserve aspect ratio of cover". The default page size is specified here (Letter by default) though you can specify a custom page size too.
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You will usually want to experiment with page sizes for the generated  PDF. You can run the EPUB to PDF conversion multiple times in Calibre if you wish, and Calibre will replace the generated PDF. For this EPUB, I chose a size of 13 x 26 inch to balance the relative size of text and images on the page. I like to have sufficient content on each page of a PDF so that when PDFSpeech highlights and reads text, I can see it in the context of headings & images around the text.
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Make the PDF Compatible with macOS Tools

The PDF generated by Calibre is however not fully compatible with Preview and other tools based on the macOS PDF engine. You can view the PDF but you cannot select the text within. Two workarounds: open the PDF in Preview, then Export as PDF... to generate a compatible PDF. The other option is to use ghostscript utility from the command-line, in Terminal app, for which you'll work in the book's directory on disk.
]]><![CDATA[Introducing Documoov 1.0]]>Thu, 28 Jun 2018 06:01:25 GMThttps://www.onekerato.com/blog/introducing-documoov-10
Documoov is a macOS application for making movies out of PDFs.

Why would you want to do that? Well, a lot of good quality content is only available in PDFs. And once you've read or browsed through a PDF, you may only want to refer to a part of it anyway. Enter Documoov. Add narration to pages of your PDF, and export as a movie. Then you can share the movie or carry it on your iPhone whenever you need to review it. All the insights you gleaned from the PDF can thus be played back on demand.

Here are a few creative ways to use Documoov:
  • Add voiceover narration to presentation PDFs
  • Summarize sketchnotes and handwritten notes into a video
  • Record awesome story time videos for your kids!
  • Make educational videos rapidly from illustrated books

Documoov 1.0 is available for macOS 10.11 El Capitan and later.

​Get a 7-day fully functional trial version of the app from the Documoov product page or the full version from the Mac App Store.
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