Archives for March 2012

Mac Productivity: Quick Scripts & Workflows – Revealing File & Folder Paths

 In my last post, I explained how to create an Automator workflow that can quickly and easily copy file and folder paths to the clipboard.  Then, you can paste them into an email or document to share with others.  What if you’re on the receiving end, though?  How can you quickly and easily navigate to those files or folders?  Automator can help with that too.  Here are steps to build a Service workflow, which will reveal selected file or folder paths in an opened email or document... [Read more on the Peachpit blog...]

Mac Productivity: Quick Scripts & Workflows – Sharing File & Folder Paths

 If you work in an office, the odds are good that you have shared locations for files and folders.  Your office might have a Projects share, for example, where you keep project folders and related files.

Suppose you need to direct your buddy John to a specific file in one of these project folders?  What’s the easiest way to do it?

Well, you could type out directions to the file, such as Company Projects > Active Projects > 2012 > March > Some Project > Some Folder > Some Other Folder > Some File.  Of course, this takes time.  A few seconds here and there doesn’t sound like a lot, but it all adds up.  There’s also a lot of back and forth, looking at the file and going back through its parent folders, trying to figure out its exact path.  It’s easy to make a mistake, typing a folder name incorrectly, making it difficult for John to follow your roadmap and find the file in question.  Maybe you could open up the folder in list view, expand the folders down to the file, take a screenshot, and email it to John?  What a hassle.  There has to be an easier way.

There is.  A simple Automator workflow can do the work for you, copying the paths of selected files and folders to the clipboard, so you can quickly and easily send them to John.  Here’s how you do it... [Read more on the Peachpit blog...]

Mac Productivity: Quick Scripts and Workflows – Archiving Selected Mail Messages

Keeping up with email often seems like a losing battle. One thing that can help is reducing the number of messages in your inbox. Filing messages into individual mailboxes can be time consuming and inefficient. While dumping them all into a single mailbox may seem like a way to create a big mess, Mail’s search capabilities actually make it quite easy to locate specific messages.

Taking a lesson from Gmail’s All Mail feature, Mail in Lion includes a new option for archiving messages. Just select a message, choose Message > Archive from the menu bar, and the message is moved into an Archive mailbox, which Mail will create if it doesn’t exist. This feature gives Mail users a quick and easy way to file messages, getting them out of that bloated inbox.

I’d love to use Mail’s built-in Archive feature. However, it only archives to the mail server (for IMAP accounts, anyway, which is what I have). I keep my email archive locally. So, I used a combination of AppleScript and Automator to create my own Archive feature. Here’s how... [Read more on the Peachpit blog...]

Adobe InDesign Automator Actions Released in the Mac App Store

I'm pleased to announce that my ID Automator Action Pack, which includes 20 actions for interacting with Adobe InDesign in Mac OS X Lion and Snow Leopard, has been released in the Mac App Store. It can be found here.

Information about my other Lion action packs can be found here.

-Ben

Text Automator Action Pack Updated to 4.0.3 – Includes 2 New Actions

The Text Automator Action Pack has been updated to version 4.0.3. Changes include:

  • Added a new 'Add Prefix to Text' action
  • Added a new 'Add Suffix to Text' action

This action pack extends the power of Automator with 30 actions for performing text manipulation functions in Mac OS X.

The new version is available in the Mac App Store.

Maccast Podcast 2012.02.26 – Automator Basics

I recently spoke with Adam Christianson about Automator in Mac OS X for the Maccast.  Topics included getting started with Automator, building a simple workflow, and troubleshooting workflow problems.  Check it out on the Maccast website or in iTunes!