iClip: Very Complex Clipboard Enhancer

excellent
key review info
application features
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Another week, another clipboard enhancer. But don't get me wrong, iClip is by no means a newcomer, and has been around the block for quite a few time now. Over the years it has become better and better, and for some it is the ideal clipping solution. It has its own personal approach on the entire clip matter, which can best be described as a clip dock.

How it works When you open up iClip, it will give you a dock-like list of 'bins' in which you can store all your clippings. The list can be set to hide or show itself automatically or it can be invoked and dismissed using a menubar item that should be visible from any application. The default iClip list has eight bins but you can add as many as you want, furthermore, you can define clipping sets, each with any number of bins. Add it all up and you have a whole lot of bins.

Getting information into iClip There are several ways in which you can interact with iClip, the first is making use of the Clipboard Recorder. The application automatically remembers everything you copy and adds each clipping to a bin. The maximum number of remembered clippings is dictated by the number of bins in the Clipboard Recorder, and can be changed at any time. As you might expect, when all bins are full, the oldest clippings will be deleted to make room for the new ones. All this takes place without you having to lift a finger and without any shortcut modifications.

The second method is to use drag and drop to get content into the bins, which will act like wells. You can drag from any application that supports drag and drop.

The third method involves bringing up the iClip window and clicking on one of the little arrows next to each bin, specifically the arrow pointing away from the application you were working in and towards the bin. Several modifier keys change the behavior of this method. If you hold down the Option key, iClip will not grab the clipping from the current application and will take it from the clipboard instead. If you happen to have a large block of text, you can paste each line into a separate bin by pressing Option and Shift.

Lastly, you can set up several shortcuts, that can be anything you like, and when invoking them you can either add the current contents of the clipboard to the end of the current clipping set, or add the currently selected information to any clipping set, using either the number keys (1-0) or the arrows to navigate and select the desired bin.

Getting information out of iClip As you might expect, the ways of getting information out of iClip are almost exactly the same as the ways of getting it in. Clicking on the little arrow pointing away from the bin will paste that information in the current application, and holding Option will place it on the clipboard instead. You also have the option of pasting all the bins, one after the other, each on a separate line, by keeping Option and Shift pressed.

Just like you drag stuff in, you can also drag it out of any bin and into any application.

And lastly, much like the keyboard shortcuts you can invoke to get information into a bin, you can use the same method of selection to paste something into the current application or the clipboard.

Other nifty things iClip can be the perfect tool for those who are not exactly looking for a clipboard enhancer, but a note manager. Just click on any bin and a text window pops up in which you can write your note. Use it to store your ideas or shopping lists or just about anything else. It even supports movies and audio files.

Any clipping can be named, and you can opt to have the name displayed in the bin instead of the preview. This makes it very easy to differentiate between various blocks of text, and all you have to do to see the content of the clipping is to hover the mouse over it.

The Good iClip offers a heap of options and ways of interacting with it. It is very customizable and can be set up any way you want it. With unlimited flexibility and good organization, you can have hundreds, if not thousands of bins, and still be able to find everything easily.

The Bad The only thing that can be bad for some people is that iClip is pretty complex, has quite a number of features and takes some setting up in order to get it working just right.

The Truth One of the most complex clipboard enhancers out there, has everything you could possibly need, and probably quite a number of things you don't. Fortunately you can set it up any way you want so with a little tweaking you will come out on top.

Here are some screenshots, click to enlarge:

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user interface 4
features 5
ease of use 3
pricing / value 4


final rating 5
Editor's review
excellent
 
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