The tools I use

22 Nov 2010 4 Comments

by Richard Iorio in Life, Technology, thoughts

I’ve been a bit silent of late. Dealing with life, as well as knocking out a lot of Rogue Games projects.As I work on these projects I realized how many specific tools I rely on to do my work. These tools have become the default tools I use, and pretty much all my work centers around them. The more I work with them, and the more I build up my dependence on them, I realize that I do not know what I would do without them. So what tools do I use? Here you go. 

Writing

• Scrivener (site): Without a doubt this is my go to writing tool. It has replaced my use of a number of word processors. All my writing takes place here, and I only export the document out when it is time to send it to editing. Since using this writing has been easier, more organized, and most importantly, productive.
• Pages (site): This is where I do the rest of my polishing, editing and the like. I’ve been using Pages since the first version, and to be honest, it has gotten better and better. Hell all of iWork is used, and I’ve never seen a reason to use Office. With the Mac I bought last year, I never even installed Office. For what I need, Pages is perfect.

Knowledge Management

• DEVONthink Pro (site):  I started using this a few weeks ago. It was a trial, because I was curious. I take a lot of notes, as well as do a lot of research, and up until recently I managed all these bits in a Bento Database I designed. The database worked fine, but soon iI outgrew it and needed something more. I looked at DEVONthink, and within an hour of using it, I bought it. I am now slowly scanning all my paper notes and copies, and will be building a online database for all my research. I am glad I tried this, because this soon going to be my must use app.

PDF Storage

• Papers (site): I do a lot of research. A. Lot. I try to be as paperless as I can, and because of this, I have a lot of PDFs. They became so unmanageable, I soon was looking for another tool to make PDF storage, organization and retrieval easier. Again I created a Bento database, but this was not an option. That is when I tried Papers, and man, I am glad. Not only does is store and organize PDFs, it is a great management tool for research.

So there you go. The four apps that I use and work in every day.

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