The Tech Department recommends that you practice transferring files before you have a deadline. We also recommend that you use more than one method, so that when your work is due you have backups of your important files. If your files do not work when you get to Burke, you will not be given an extension!
- Create or upload your document with Google Apps (Docs & Drive). You will be able to access your files from any computer by opening a browser and logging into your Google Apps account. This is the best method.
- Copy the files to a flash drive and take the drive back and forth between school and home. If you have a Windows computer at home, we recommend that you format the drive (erase it before you use it for the first time) at home before bringing it to school. Windows computers cannot read Mac-formatted drives and vice-versa. For maximum compatibility, format the drive as FAT or FAT-32.
- Email the files home as attachments. This will generally preserve the formatting of the files. If you do this, be sure to test that the attachment works!
- Email the files home by cutting and pasting into the body of the email. This will not preserve formatting, but will avoid issues where our computers can't read the format you save in (if you use WordPerfect, for example).
- Use an online storage site, where you can upload your files to a server on the Internet and download them from that server later from any Internet-capable machine. Mediafire is a good online storage site with a large amount of free storage space if you are looking to use this option.
Quick Tip: Saving as a PDF
Any time you can print on a Mac, you can save your document as a PDF instead, and send that as an attachment to yourself or other people. The advantage of a PDF is that it can be read by basically any computer; the disadvantage is that you cannot edit a PDF.
To save a document as a PDF at school, open the document and choose Print. Click on the PDF button at the bottom left of the dialog box. Then choose Save as PDF... from the dropdown menu.
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