Summarize: A Great Hidden OS X Feature
There have been many times when the PDF document I am reading is just way too long and I have wished that I could just have a “cliffs-notes” version of it. It took me a while to find, but there is actually a wonderful feature hidden inside Mac OS X that allows this to happen by quickly summarizing documents you are reading. The feature is simply called “Summarize“, but it is pretty deeply hidden in the menu bar.
In order to use Summarize, you need to be on a native OS X program such as Preview, TextEdit, Safari, Mail, etc. If you are in one of these programs, getting your summary takes just a second and it is fully customizable. If you are not in one of these programs, simply copy and paste your text over into TextEdit and you will be able to use it hassle free. To get started, simply select the text that you want summarized, navigate up to the menu-bar, and drop down the menu by selecting the name of the current application that you are on. In this sub-menu you will find the “services” section. From there, you can select Summarize. The summary box will look something like this:
As you can see, you will be able to edit how long you want the summary to be and if you want it in sentences or paragraphs. The accuracy of the summaries has actually been quite impressive in my past experience with this great feature.
It doesn’t work in non-English installs!
It works in my non-English install. I have a Spanish install and works fine…
Interesting feature, though it “only” selects the sentences it deems to be the most important. This can lead to some problems, as was shown by summarising a chapter of a novel of mine: what was a succession of distinct scenes devoid of any sexual connotations suddenly is full of them.
You can judge the results:
“…He had just dreamt of being drowned by a wave in the open sea, and found to his surprise that he was wet.
…The girl had cried out his name in relief, and one of the constables turned to greet him while the other one put an arm around the baby-sitter and ushered her away.”
And to think that the original text described the man getting in a fight, being knocked out, being woken up by a cleaner with a bucket of water, going home and finding his neighbours’ baby-sitter surrounded by policemen.
[...] Vía | MacApper [...]
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