Opal

Name: Opal
Rating: 4.9 (5 reviews)

1.3

19 February 2020

Outline processor for note organization, successor to Acta.

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Overview

Opal is an outliner. It lets you organize just about anything - ideas, reports, lists, notes, projects, graphics - as an outline. It stands out for its uncluttered, fluid interface. But Opal includes features not found in other organizers:

Shrink a topic to a single line
Alphabetic and numeric sorting
Magnify on-screen text
Word count
Focus on part of the outline
Multiple selection
Link to other documents
Just create notes - no need to name them
Open Acta outlines
Spotlight search
Topic filtering via toolbar Search field
Smart checkboxes automatically track completion
Open or save OPML outlines
'Smart quotes'
Complete, self-contained documentation
Japanese localization

What's new in Opal

Version 1.3:

Note: Now requires OS X 10.14 or later

64-bit app
Compatible with macOS 10.14 or later

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13 Opal Reviews

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I was thrilled to see a 64-bit version of Opal, which I had used a lot in its 32-bit form. Then I downloaded the new version, only to find that I can't use it because Apple won't let me install OS 10.14 on my pair of 2011 iMacs. Stuck in the middle again!

Version 1.3

just a remark: Opal it's not free. It's 32$

Like (1)

Version 1.3

1 answer(s)

Vitalii@macudate.com

19 February 2020

Developer's website, Downloads section: "We’ve made this version free, in thanks for your support over the years. You will need to right-click and use the Open menu item the first time you launch it."

Version 1.3

Zx81

04 February 2016

Still working fine on 10.11.3.

Version 1.2.5

I use this app almost every day. It's a great tool for doing "brain dumps" for software design, basically I use it as a mind mapping tool without all the graphical clutter. It's also great for taking notes in meetings.

Like (2)

Version 1.2.5

I've been using Opal 1.2.2 for the last few days. I find this program very comfortable to use - it is easy to make it fit my needs and the way I work. For instance, I can easily enlarge the size of the text on my screen without changing font size. I can give alternating lines a different colour of my choice to easily differentiate and enclose lines of text. It is obvious that the creators of Opal have put a lot of thought and experience into making this program. They seem to know what a user like myself needs. I had occasion to contact the programers - on a Sunday! - and was quite astonished to have almost immediate responses that were both succinct and helpful. The help section is excellent. One thing that puzzled me, though, was that the part about preferences says that you can set a preference to allow you to give any menu item whatever keyboard combination you want. I couldn't find this in the preferences but would love to have it in the future. Or maybe someone could tell me how to do this in case I have just missed something. Another thing I would like to see would be a highlighter feature with a button on the toolbar - such as in Scrivener or DevonThink, among others. There is a workaround possible in Opal by using copy and past style, but this isn't quite as convenient as a dedicated highlighter. Personally, I am very grateful for Opal and look forward to using it for some intensive and constructive outlining - as I used to do with ACTA.

Like (2)

Version 1.2.2

3 answer(s)

Lev

05 August 2009

Re short cuts: For all OS X apps you can go to System Preferences > Keyboard & Mouse > Keyboard Shortcuts and set shortcut keys either for individual apps or globally.

Version 1.2.4b3

Merrimac

24 November 2009

@LEV: Perhaps the solution you mentioned here requires a specific minimum version of OS X? I tried it on 10.4.11, and it didn't seem to work. I couldn't find any application specific settings for Opal, nor could I find any applicable universal settings. The built-in shortcuts for indent and outdent definitely aren't ideal for my fingers... would love to adjust this, since it's a great app.

Version 1.2.5

Merrimac

24 November 2009

Sorry -- I had given up prematurely. I have now figured out how to do it using the "+" button to add a new shortcut. I still couldn't find away to make the tab key work for indenting and outdenting, but I was able to input a workable alternative. Thanks for the tip.

Like (1)

Version 1.2.5

Whatever this 1.2 download is, it's corrupted. It downloads a .bz2 compressed file, and if you extract that you get a .bz2.cpgz file. If you extract that, you get a .bz2 file again. The only way I can get it to extract is to use BetterZip and extra the package, as the default BOMArchiveHelper app won't do it. So you get an Opal 1.2 DMG file, which when double clicked notes "no mountable file systems." FAIL. This isn't an issue with MacUpdate per se, as the downloads from the developer site (and their mirror) exhibit similar behavior. Perhaps they should try a better packaging mechanism next time. I've used .bz2 archives before and they've worked (LaunchBar is compressed this way), though frankly straight .dmg files are nicer, and they can compress as well. Maybe not *quite* as well as .bz2, but 2.6 MB versus 5 MB for a download these days is pretty trivial.

Version 1.2

4 answer(s)

David-Dunham

01 June 2008

This is covered in our FAQ . Rename the file to ".dmg". Since we only post .dmg files, I would love to know who is changing them to .dmg.bz2 -- I always test both download links before going public, and they always work for me.

Version 1.2

MacUpdate-Lon

01 June 2008

The ".dmg.bz2" issue is fairly well known: http://unsanity.org/archives/mac_os_x/my_dmg_is_bwoken_after_download.php A google search using the criteria .dmg.bz2 gives more info.

Version 1.2

David-Dunham

01 June 2008

Thanks, I set that up on our server. I couldn't reproduce the bug though, so I don't know if it fixes things.

Version 1.2

MacUpdate-Lon

01 June 2008

Well, for what it's worth, I just now downloaded Opal 1.2 using Safari 3.1.1 (4525.18) on OS X 10.4.11 from my home here in Mexico (TelMex broadband service) and the .dmg appeared on my desktop as "Opal-1.2.dmg" and the image mounted with no issues.

Version 1.2

Basic outlining par excellence.

Like (2)

Version 1.1.1

1 answer(s)

Funjoy

17 September 2016

I've been using this app on and off since 1986 (when it was called Acta, then Dyno Notepad). It's basic, and very useful, but woefully overpriced and hasn't been updated in years.

I keep it for existing old outlines but I've sadly moved on.

Except now it's called Opal. The classic early Macintosh outliner ACTA has been brought up to date without adding the bloat found in other outliners, but still adding a great new search feature and multiple topic selection, a very handy feature. The property of selecting a topic with a single click and opening it with a double click (carried over from ACTA) is a particularly big winner - I can't stand outliners that open a topic with a single click - what, do these people never reorganize their outlines?! It opens all my old ACTA outlines and runs as a Universal App providing a great bridge to the latest Macs. Kudos to David Dunham and A-Sharp - Web Heroes in my book! Jim PS: I was a beta tester, but I have no financial interest in the product.

Like (1)

Version 1.0.6

Can't mount the 1.0.2 disk image under 10.4.8 using either the OS or Toast to mount it.

Version 1.0.2

3 answer(s)

David-Dunham

18 November 2006

Please use our support system -- we can give you much faster support. I think the answer may be in our FAQ. Chances are the .dmg file somehow got named .dmg.bz2. If so, just remove the ".bz2" portion of the extension and try again. If neither that nor the other possibilities in the FAQ help, contact us (bugz _at_ a-sharp _dot_ com).

Version 1.0.2

Sandy-C

18 November 2006

Thanks. That did it.

Version 1.0.2

David-Dunham

28 December 2006

Also, I just reconfigured our server. One user who reported the ".bz" issue says it now works like it does for most people.

Version 1.0.4

This is a "free preview." In other words once it is out of beta it will no longer be free. The price - "We don't know yet"

Version 1.0b1

1 answer(s)

Whocares742

05 September 2006

MacUpdate changed the description from free to demo. Thanks for the correction.

Version 1.0b1

Opal

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