14 DAY TRIAL // Open/Preview Files in the Trash
Have you ever moved a ton of files to the Trash, and then wanted to check a few of them one last time before they were gone for good? You would doubleclick on a file-but, alas, OS X would only tell you that you couldn't open the document because (doh!) it's in the Trash.
Here are two workarounds.
First, you can open these files from other applications if you use the hidden Go To The Folder command. If you'd like to check some image files, for instance, use Preview. Within Preview, select File: Open. When the dialog box appears, press 1-shift-G (or press the forward slash [/]) to make the Go To The Folder entry box appear. Type ~/.Trash as the path, and click on Go. You'll see a list of all the files in the Trash. Select one or more, click on Open, and voil? - Preview opens the images.
Alternatively, just use the Dock. Double-click on the Trash to open a Finder window that shows its content. Then drag one or more files from the window, and drop them on an application in the Dock that can open that type of file.
Set Multiple Folder Views via Automator
Do you prefer to use one type of Finder window and only one type? If so, you probably find OS X's ability to pick different views, seemingly at random, pretty frustrating. If you've upgraded to Tiger, Automator has a simple solution. This two-step workflow makes all the subfolders (within whatever folder you choose) assume identical views. For example, you can make them all appear in icon view with a purple background. Launch Automator (/Applications). Then click on the library item specified at the beginning of each step and drag the action that follows (both appear in bold below) from the Action list into the Workflow pane below any previous actions. (To learn more about Automator, see Help Menu in Finder).
Using Automator, you can create a workflow that will give all of your folders an identical look and feel- and you're in charge of exactly what that look will be. I've chosen to apply the changes to all folders, including subfolders. See image A.
Step 1 Finder: Get Specified Finder Items Click on the plus sign (+) at the lower left corner of the Get Specified Finder Items action window. In the dialog box that appears, navigate to your user folder (or whatever folder you want to change). Click on Open.
Step 2 Finder: Set Folder Views This action changes the settings for all folders in your user folder. Here you can set the icon size, text size, label position, item information, preview, and so on; you can even specify a background color. Select the Apply Window Properties option to show the toolbar or status bar or even set the width of the sidebar. The key to the workflow is an option at the bottom of this action window. Select the Apply Changes To Sub-Folders option to change the views on all the folders in your user folder. That's it. Click on the Run button. When the workflow is done, every folder in your user folder will use the display settings you chose. Save your Automator workflow somewhere handy for future use.