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Mac Automation: E-mail songs from iTunes
What do you do if you need to email a song from iTunes to your work computer, or to another machine you own? If you have one machine where you do all your CD imports, you might want to send a track to the office; maybe you've got your GarageBand compositions in iTunes and you want to send one to a friend. We can simply this process by using Automator for Leopard. In this how-to, I am going to show you how to quickly and easily e-mail songs from your iTunes library.Continue reading to learn how to e-mail songs using Automator.
Mac Automation: Get remote screenshots via Mail
I've talked about getting your Mac to shutdown via an e-mail (or even take a picture from your iSight and e-mail it back to you), but I have received some comments and e-mails about using this script to send a snap of your computer screen when you want to "check up." So, in this Automator tutorial, I am going to show how to get a screenshot of your Mac no matter where you are -- via e-mail.Continue reading to learn how to generate screenshots via Mail.
Mac Automation: create a Mail-triggered "spy cam"
Have you ever been away from your Mac, then come back only to find that your co-worker has stolen your favorite Apple pen? Well, I am going to show you how to catch them in the act by creating a Mac "spy cam." For this how-to, you will need to create an Automator workflow, AppleScript, and some Mail rules. So, cue the James Bond music, and let's begin. You do need an iSight or a newer Mac with a built-in camera. (Yes, I know there are some tools prebuilt to do this -- but what's the fun in that?)Continue reading to learn how to create the Mac spy cam.
Create a PDF of newspaper headlines with Automator
Some of you news hounds may be aware of Newseum, the "interactive museum of news." Every day, they publish the front pages of over 600 newspapers from several companies. Wouldn't it be cool to get just the ones you like delivered to your (virtual) door as a single PDF? Automator to the rescue!Dave Bednarski sent a great script he wrote to the folks at 37signals which serves that purpose. Basically, you enter the addresses of the papers you'd like to receive, filter for PDFs, download the result to the desktop and combine the lot by appending the pages into one big file. It's just that easy.For an added bonus, attach this script to an iCal event and have your news waiting for you each morning. All that's missing is your mug of coffee, and the muddy pawprints of the family dog on the carpet after he runs out in the rain to chase the paperboy.
Mac Automation: automating Microsoft PowerPoint 2008
Welcome to the 3rd Microsoft Office 2008 automation post. Previously we covered automating Excel 2008 and Word 2008, now we shine the spotlight on PowerPoint 2008. In this how-to, I will show you how to create an Automator workflow to automate the daunting task of applying animations to the slides and converting a presentation into a QuickTime movie file. For this workflow, you'll need the following Automator actions (in the same order): Apply Animation to PowerPoint Slide Parts Convert PowerPoint Presentations to Movies Play Movies Continue reading to learn how to create this workflow.
Mac Automation: automating Microsoft Excel 2008
This is the second part of Mac Automation: automating Microsoft Office 2008. In this how-to, I will show you how to create an importer for Microsoft Excel 2008. This importer will allow you to type text in TextEdit.app (or other text editor) and import it into an Excel file.For this automation, you will need the following Automator actions (in the same order): Create New Excel Workbook Set Excel Workbook Properties Get Specified Finder Items Import Text Files to Excel Workbook Save Excel Workbooks Continue reading to learn how to automate this process.
AppleScript language guide updated, finally!
Many people have criticized Apple for not updating their AppleScript language documentation regularly (myself included). Scoff no more, because Apple updated their documentation yesterday. The last update to the AppleScript language documentation was on May 5, 1999 -- almost 9 years ago. For anyone who thought that Apple was abandoning AppleScript for other ways of automation (such as Automator), fear not. This shows that Apple is still committed to bringing custom automation/scripting to Mac OS X and the 21st Century.
Mac Automation: automating Microsoft Word 2008
When Microsoft released Office 2008 for Mac, they did something that I must applaud -- they joined the ranks of Mac developers creating Automator-able applications. When you do a search in Automator for "Microsoft," it will reveal all of the Automator actions that ship with Microsoft Office 2008. There is lots of great stuff included, so we'll be covering some of it in this four part Mac Automation series. I will take you through how to automate each of the Microsoft Office applications: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Entourage.First off, let's take a look at what you can automate in Word 2008. Doing a search for "Word" in Automator will display the available actions for Microsoft Word. As you can see, there are plenty of actions that you can automate. For this how-to, we'll focus on a workflow that does the following: Creates a new document Sets document properties Gathers text from the clipboard Places a watermark in the document Saves the document Prints the document Continue reading to learn how to create this workflow.
Mac OS X 10.5.2 offers Automator fixes
Apple has been on a tear for the first two months of 2008, releasing over 20 software updates. What's been lacking, lately, is a descriptive explanation of the changes. While OS 10.5.2's description was pretty well documented, it wasn't exhaustive.This silent treatment isn't universal -- thanks are due to Automator World for sharing a description of the undocumented changes in Automator, including Show When Run issues Tiger-based actions not working because of File-or-Folder typing Tiger-based droplets not responding Incorrect Find and Filter action results If you're an Automator junkie, you should find these changes more than welcome.
Mac Automation: listen to a text document
Don't have time to read that Word, Pages, or TextEdit document at your desk? Why not listen to it on your iPod instead? In this Automator how-to, I am going to show you how to create an audio file using text that you have in an open document, then sync that using iTunes to your iPod or iPhone. Creating the workflowFor this workflow, you need the following Automator actions (placed in the same order): Get Contents of TextEdit Document Text to Audio File Import Files into iTunes Continue reading to learn how to build this workflow.
Mac Automation: Save websites to iPod for later
iPods are great. They allow you to take your complete music library on-the-go, along with some iPod games, and movies. But what if you are in the middle of reading, say, your favorite blog (you know, us), and you want to go somewhere? Well, you certainly don't have to stop reading! I am going to show you how to use Automator to create a workflow that gets the current text from Safari and syncs it to your iPod as a new note.Continue reading to learn how.
Mac Automation: Birthday greetings
I am sure that everyone has forgotten other peoples birthday's from time-to-time (*raises hand*). Luckily, with Mac OS X's built-in Address Book and Automator, you can automate the remembering and sending of greeting cards by e-mail -- thus eliminating the awkwardness of forgetting. In this how-to I will show you how to create a birthday field in your Address Book contacts, and how to send an e-mail birthday greeting when the time is right. To learn how to do this, read on.
Mac Automation: notes on your iPod
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/apple/Mac_Automation_creating_iPod_notes_using_Automator'; Many iPod users run into this challenge: we are always carrying our iPods, so we want to use them to help us remember things. Well, using Automator, we can easily address this issue. In this how-to, I will walk through creating iPod notes very easily (and all without opening a text editor).For this how-to, you will need the following Automator actions loaded into a new workflow: Ask for Text New iPod Note Update iPod Read on for the next steps.
Mac Automation: image tweaking plug-in for Finder
Here's a task that most computer users run into on a daily basis: cropping and dealing with small image tweaks. This could be a daunting task if it were not for the Mac and Automator. In this how-to, I will show you how to make a small Finder plug-in that will allow you to manipulate images quickly. Please note, some of the actions required for this how-to are dependent upon Pixelmator being installed. For this automation, you will need the following Automator actions (in the same order): Get Selected Finder Items Transform Images (this action is only available when you install Pixelmator)
Mac Automation: saving Automator workflows
Now that you've been introduced to Automator, let's let's get into the "nitty-gritty." In the previous Automator post, we learned how to make a workflow that would take photos from your camera, import them into iPhoto, then allow you to e-mail them. Let's look at the three ways in which you can save this workflow for later reference. Workflow File You can save the workflow as an actual Automator workflow file by clicking File > Save; choose "workflow" from the format drop-down menu. By saving as an Automator workflow all of your actions are preserved, and when you re-open the file, you will be presented with your workflow just as you left it. This is a great way to save your workflow for editing later on.
Mac Automation: holiday photos
Now that you have downed the Egg Nog and feasted on the holiday food, it's time for the worst part of Christmas ... importing and organizing all those photos. Thanks to Automator and iPhoto, this task can be extremely easy. In this how-to, I will show you how to import your photos, carefully tuck them away in a new photo album, and e-mail them to friends and family. This tutorial assumes that you are using Mac OS X Leopard, and iPhoto 08; however it may work with Tiger and iPhoto 06.
Mac Automation: Automator for Leopard
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/apple/Mac_automation_Automator_for_Leopard'; A few people commented on my first Mac Automation post that they didn't understand Automator. This post will clear that all up. AppleScript is very powerful, but it has a learning curve. When Apple set out to make Automator, they tried to make an automation environment that not only gave the user flexibility, but also power. Apple includes several actions that programs can use; they also include a plug-in type model for developers of Mac software to add even more actions.
Automation on the Mac
Welcome to the first of many AppleScript and Automator "how-tos." These tips are mostly geared toward Mac users who may know a little AppleScript, but want to learn more. If you've never opened Script Editor or Automator these tips will also help you get up to speed. First things first, what the heck is AppleScript? It is an easy-to-use and easy-to-learn programming language. AppleScript was created in the early 90s as a simple way for people to create their own custom automation programs. This is one of the reasons the Mac remains popular in the printing and creative industry, where users can take large work flows and automate them relatively quickly.
Seven cool features of Leopard that might get stubborn friends to upgrade
There are dozens of little niceties in Leopard: like how Front Row now lives on my iBook (sans remote) and allows me to operate the thing as a sort of thin-client media jukebox (courtesy a Mac mini server). Or how Font Book now prints books of your fonts (especially nice for those non-techies). With the 300+ new features, I still have yet to fully explore this thing, but I'm certainly starting to believe this is the Mac OS Apple really wanted to deliver a few years back. There's no doubt in my mind this is a big turning point for the platform, and I really believe user adoption in 2008 will be unprecedented as a result.Following is a list of features and specific "cool things" I think you can point out if you are trying to explain to a friend why they should upgrade. For the record, I installed Leopard on a 1.24 GHz iBook G4, and it runs beautifully, which in itself is a selling point.1. Finally, a Record button for your actions Automator now has a UI recorder. Anyone who remembers the good old days of macro recorders before OS 8 will look at this and sigh, but I, for one, welcome my new robot overlord. Automator is finally useful for mortals with UI recording. Oh sure, it isn't perfect, but it really beats trying to explain just the concept of Automator to the average human. Never mind the metaphors and the workflow within Automator itself -- eyes will glaze over. UI recording is absolute heaven when you do a lot of drudge work, like contracts, filling, prepping photos, etc.2. Mail gets GTD fever If power users turn up their noses at Stationary in Mail, point out how they can now put their notes, to-do's and RSS into Mail. I haven't really set all this up as I'd like yet (the iBook isn't my primary work machine), but my unfettered hatred of Mail.app is somewhat lessened now by the fact that it is starting to behave like a "real" email client. The notes and to-do's are icing on the cake, but also very important if you like to get things done and stay organized. A few smart folders and you have a truly powerful system. Still, it is disappointing to see Apple take half a decade to figure out the whole "archive mailbox" thing, but pobody's nerfect I guess.3. Web clipping makes Dashboard relevant again My wife quit using Dashboard long ago. It simply served no purpose for her. But web clipping, baked right in to Safari? That had her mildly interested. Tracking the top 3 Twitters, or whatever the top story on Perez or TMZ happens to be with a keystroke is a selling point for folks who aren't using RSS. The only downside is that you need a pretty big screen if you want more than a couple of pages to appear.4. Shared drives finally "just work" and Shared Screens work with other OS'esGranted, there have been issues with networking in Leopard, but seeing shared Macs in my sidebar? That's pretty sweet. In previous versions of OS X you had to click on Network, now it just shows up. Is a few clicks a big deal? Well, for the average user, yes, this is a big deal. The average user doesn't like to explore. They can be timid, and frankly, don't necessarily know (or care) what the Network thing even is. Displaying networked components directly in Finder will greatly increase the probability that users will at least see everything. It has already saved me time when trying to reconnect and move things around my home LAN. For me, the real fun was seeing how VNC "just worked" when I was able to access my Mac mini (which was already running as a VNC server) via Screen Sharing. Even though the mini runs Tiger, and despite a slightly wonky connection, overall it was super easy to set-up. Think about it another way: average users don't want to run a third-party application like Chicken of the VNC. Average users don't necessarily trust those apps (thank you, Bonzi Buddy) and it is a lot easier to remotely control a machine if the functionality is built into the OS. Oh, and did I mention you can share screens with Linux? I finally have a use for that old Dell laptop and my Ubuntu CD!
Quick Look Automator workflows
We've fallen in love with the convenience of Quick Look here at TUAW. With the click of the spacebar, you can preview documents right in the Finder. It's very useful.Now, look what happens when you apply Quick Look to an Automator workflow: You're presented with the entire workflow, step by step. Say you need to remember how you pulled off a particular process or sequence of steps. No need to open the thing with Automator, just take a quick "peek" to jog your memory. We love it.
