Under the File Menu there are items for Save and Save As. What's the difference and what does Save As do?
Save
When a file has a name, using Save overwrites the existing file. It saves the new version of the file on your disk using the same name and location. This is often what you want to do. For example, if you have made corrections to a word processing document, you want to save only the version with the latest corrections. You don't want to save the older, incorrect version. Save accomplishes this.
You should save your file frequently while you are working on it. This will save you retyping and recreating your document if anything goes wrong with the computer. Always use save before Spell Checking and before Printing. Instead of always clicking on File, Save try the keyboard shortcut Command + S (hold down the Command Key and press S).
If a file does not have a name then there is no difference between Save and Save As. You essentially are in Save As even if you choose Save.
Save As
Save As lets you specify a:
Save As lets you specify a new name (if the file is unnamed) or another name (if the file has a name) for a file.
It also optionally lets you specify a location for the file to be saved. The location can be anywhere on your computer or the network.
Another option is to specify the format of the file, for example AppleWorks, Word or WordPerfect. This is also where you can specify the Mac save the file in a PC format, i.e. on a floppy disk that can be read by a PC machine.
Use File, Save As when:
The screen below shows some of the parts of the Save As screen.
This file will be saved with the name "Student Paper #1". If the the box were highlighted, anything I typed would overwrite what is in the box now. This is where you could type in a new name for the file. If you want to append something to what is in the box, hit the right arrow key on the keyboard and the highlighting should disappear. e.g. hitting the right arrow key and typing B should result in this file's name being "Student Paper #1B".
Just above the file name box, where it now says Save As: ClarisWorks, is the format box. What the "Save As:" here means is save in a particular format. It is a little confusing because the whole feature under the File Menu is called Save As and here there is another Save As which refers only to the kind of file or format in which the file will be saved. What kind of formats are there? If you click on the downward facing triangle next to the word ClarisWorks you will open a drop down menu. Here you will have several choices such as ClarisWorks 4.0, HTML, RTF and Text. You normally don't have to use this part unless you are moving a file to another machine or there is some other reason why you'd like to make a format change.
The top left part of the screen shows that this file will be saved in the folder "ClarisWorks 5.0 Folder". Under that, in gray, are the names of files already existing in that folder. If you click on the downward facing triangle next to the word ClarisWorks 5.0 Folder you will get a hierarchy of folders up to and including your Desktop. By clicking here you can change the folder into which the file will be saved. There is also an oval around the word Desktop over to the right which allows you to go to the Desktop immediately.
When the name, location and format are as you want, click on Save (in the oval) and your file will be saved.
Clicking on the Places button will display a list of folders for you to save your file in. Clicking on the Desktop button will display the folders available on your Desktop. since your Desktop includes the hard drive icon (usually called HD or HardDrive) all the sub folders can also be made available.
Save Your Files Frequently
Instead of always clicking on File, Save try the keyboard shortcut Command + S (hold down the Command Key and press S).
04/12/1999