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Summarize Text Automatically With “Summary Service”

Posted on August 17, 2006 by Ben Stevens Posted in Mac OS X 3 Comments
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Wouldn’t it be nice to have a lengthy section of text automatically summarize itself for you? Mac OS X (Tiger) has this capacity built right in, called “Summary Service” — although for some reason, it receives little fanfare.

This function is found under the “Services” menu, and it is therefore available in most programs. Summary Service allows you to automatically summarize any selected text in most software programs. It works in all Apple products (Pages, Keynote, Safari), most web browsers, but not Word.

Better yet, you have the ability to adjust the length of the summary on the fly to make it as long or short as you want. You also have the option of displaying the summaries in either paragraph or sentence mode, which can be particularly useful with longer summaries.

I have found this feature to be particularly helpful for summarizing affidavits, online appellate decisions, and even medical research. While not perfect, it does a surprisingly good job of including the most important content in its summarization.

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3 thoughts on “Summarize Text Automatically With “Summary Service””

  1. evil_nit says:
    August 20, 2007 at 12:10 pm

    Can you please tell me(if you have any idea) about the way that this ‘summarizing’ thing is done?

    Reply
  2. Shane.pp says:
    December 2, 2009 at 8:38 am

    Where is the “summarize service” in Snow leopard??

    Reply
  3. strayduck says:
    December 14, 2009 at 11:08 am

    Summary Service is an option you need to turn on in SN. Go to: System Preferences > Keyboard > Services. There are different sections but under “Text” you’ll see “Summarize” as an option.
    Also, you can find the program in: HD > System >Library > Services > SummaryService.app

    Reply

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