Take control of your system

Gems favorites: Rick LePage, Macworld’s editor at large:

Resizing images or converting them to PNG or JPG is painless with ImageWell, which is also a great tool for quick edits or for watermarking images without having to go into Photoshop.

LaunchBar ( )

For me, there’s no more useful program than this all-purpose file launcher and search utility. It adapts to my work brilliantly, and the developer continues to add the right features while keeping it bloat-free.

Menu Master ( )

I use quite a few of Unsanity’s haxies, and Menu Master—which lets me customize my menus to suit the way I want to work—is the one I absolutely can’t live without. It’s simple and elegant, and it’s the first thing I install on any new Mac.

Snapz Pro X ( )

Snapz Pro is obviously the best utility for making screen grabs for reviews and blog entries, but it’s so good that I keep finding new uses for it. The movie-capture feature, for example, lets me show my folks how to do something in iPhoto.