I know that most of you are sitting at home wondering how you can take control of your clipboards. You are, right? Well, even if you’re not, hopefully the following will help you streamline your workflow a bit.

Desktop Managers

ClipMenu Screenshot

My current clipboard manager of choice on my iMac is ClipMenu. ClipMenu works by keeping a history of the items that are stored to the system clipboard. This gives you the ability to collect a bunch of text snippets, images, or videos and then paste them where necessary. This prevents you from having to bounce between documents, folders or other sources while you are copying and pasting many items. I use control + command + V to activate ClipMenu’s history. As much as I like ClipMenu it does have its shortcomings. I find the folder approach to ClipMenu’s history menu to be slow to navigate.

Jumpcut Bezel

For a long time I was using Jumpcut on my iMac as a clipboard manager. I was happy with Jumpcut but it does not keep a full clipboard history. Jumpcut does not include images or videos in its cache of clipboard items. I mention it here because I feel that the user interface of Jumpcut is far better than ClipMenu’s. You can cycle through history items via shortcut keys and an on screen bezel. This type of navigation is much more user friendly than the method employed by ClipMenu. If you only want to manage text clipping then take a look at Jumpcut. I know that if Jumpcut ever adds the ability to store rich media to its history then I will drop ClipMenu.

As a final note, another clipboard manager worth taking a look at is Clips. I used it for a bit but, alas, I found it to be a memory hog.

iPhone Manager

Pastebot Screenshot

By now, most iPhone users that have been looking for a clipboard manager have at least heard of Pastebot. If  - by some chance – you have missed this fantastic app by Tapbots,then you are missing out. It’s a steal at $2.99 in the iTunes store [Pastebot Sync. Pastebot Sync adds the ability to send any of the items in Pastebot’s history to a Mac running Pastebot Sync. It does this over WiFi.

Pastebot will store up to 99 items in your clipboard. These items can be anything that you have the ability to copy to your clipboard on the iPhone. These items can be images, videos, text, or urls. Pastebot also gives you the ability to add filters to your text to aid in reformating, plus you are able to sort favorite clippings into folders for later use. Pastebot also has a laundry list of additional features. I suggest that if you want more information then I you should take a look at Pastebot on the Tapbots site.

Putting It All Together

Pastebot is one of those apps that I really wish I could have running in the background. I am really looking forward to the updated iPhone 4.0 OS to add this ability.

So let’s take a look at how I use this in my clipping workflow. First, I copy a piece of text and then I hit my iPhone’s home button and then launch Pastebot. Whatever is in the iPhone’s clipboard will be added to Pastebot as soon as it is launched. I will just leave it there but continue the process throughout the day. A short time ago, I promoted Pastebot to my iPhone dock. This makes the process of popping between Pastebot and other apps a little faster. I am really hoping that iPhone OS 4.0 with multi-tasking will negate the need to hop between apps.

Then, when I am on my home WiFi, I can send these clippings to my iMac over WiFi. I launch Pastebot and go down my list, tapping on each text clipping. These clippings are being sent back to my iMac and ClipMenu is keeping a history of all these clippings.

Once at my iMac I can invoke ClipMenu, via the keyboard shortcut, and review the clippings. These clippings can be pasted wherever I want to insert them, URLs, book titles, addresses, etc.

This is just one of the many use cases that I have for this dynamic clipboard duo. How do you master your clipboards? What tools do you employ?

cc licensed flickr photo shared by CraftyGoat

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About the author

Matt
I'm Matt and I share how to build an internet presence through internet business, social marketing, lifestyle design and productivity tools. While here, read about me to learn my story or find out how you can hire me.

5 Comments for Mastering Your Clipboards [Pastebot, ClipMenu, Jumpcut]

Michae Spielman

I’m new to clipMenu and while I can see it’s uses (eventually, if I ever get help with it) it’s maddening because there is no readily accessible help. Can you past all the entries at once? Or several? How? What are snippets as opposed to other items? Can you delete several items at once (apparently you can delete single items by pressing Control and accessing a menu — but it is pure chance that I stumbled upon that one). Where can one find comprehensive information about the program so that us simpletons can use it?

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Matt Hooper

Since writing this article, I have switched to JumpCut and only use it now. I used to go between the two but in the end I found that I used JumpCut and I have never had a strong reason to go back to anything else. 

Due to this, I recommend having a look at JumpCut because it is what I use and what I find works better into my workflow.

Reply

Matt Hooper

Since writing this article, I have switched to JumpCut and only use it now. I used to go between the two but in the end I found that I used JumpCut and I have never had a strong reason to go back to anything else. 

Due to this, I recommend having a look at JumpCut because it is what I use and what I find works better into my workflow.

Reply

SWLinPHX

Is there something for iOS (or is it possible or perhaps soon to be offered) with Pastebot to use it WITHIN an app, like when chatting in a social networking app?  If I have to quit the app each time and launch Pastebot to copy something new and paste where I want it in my conversation, that sort of defeats the purpose, no?

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Matt Hooper

As far as I know, it’s not possible to do this within an app. Double clicking the home button lets you switch between apps quickly but it is still not that smooth. 

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