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Create Evernote 5 template notebooks with AppleScript

Create Evernote 5 Template Notebooks with AppleScript

Evernote 5 is a wonderful app for gathering information and keeping it organized and synchronized between your devices. In Evernote, you create notebooks and fill them with notes. These notes can be anything - thoughts, web clippings, files, photos, audio, etc. Whenever you need to recall information you've added to Evernote, just type in a few keywords to instantly locate it.

This post shows how to use AppleScript to create template notebooks that contain default template notes. You can use these templates for creating new projects, jobs, or anything else you might need. Let's get started.

To Configure

1. First, go to the Documents folder in your home directory and create a folder named Evernote Templates.

2. Go into Evernote and begin creating some notes to serve as templates for your notebook. Suppose you're creating a template for a design project. You might create template notes for materials, meeting notes, phone notes, a status report, etc. Go ahead and enter placeholder text and assign default tags for these notes, as well.

Create Evernote 5 Template Notebooks with AppleScript

Creating template notes in Evernote

3. Once you've created your template notes, select them all. You're going to export them so they can be imported later when you want to create a notebook.

Create Evernote 5 Template Notebooks with AppleScript

Selecting your template notes in Evernote

4. Choose File > Export Notes to bring up the export window. When prompted, enter a name for your template notebook, such as Design Project, and save it into the Evernote Templates folder in your Documents folder. Make sure you're saving in Evernote XML Format (.enex), and that you've chosen to Include tags for each note.

Create Evernote 5 Template Notebooks with AppleScript

Exporting your template notes as an Evernote XML file

5. Repeat the process for any other template notebooks you might want.

Create Evernote 5 Template Notebooks with AppleScript

A folder of exported Evernote XML files that serve as templates

6. Launch AppleScript Editor, located in /Applications/Utilities, and create a new document.

7. Enter the following script into the document:

(If you have any trouble, you can download the complete script here.)

8. Save the script as an application and drag it to your Dock, so you can quickly trigger it at any time.

Create Evernote 5 Template Notebooks with AppleScript

Saving the AppleScript as an application

To Use

Launch the AppleScript application you saved (if you prefer to test right from AppleScript Editor instead, click Run in the toolbar). First, the script looks in your Evernote Templates folder and retrieves a list of exported .enex files. It then asks you to choose one.

Create Evernote 5 Template Notebooks with AppleScript

Choosing a notebook template

Next, the script asks you to enter a name for the new notebook. Type the desired name, and click OK.

Create Evernote 5 Template Notebooks with AppleScript

Entering a notebook name

The script creates a new Evernote notebook named accordingly, and imports the chosen .enex file. The script then searches the opened Evernote window for the newly imported notes.

Create Evernote 5 Template Notebooks with AppleScript

A new notebook created from a template

Create Evernote 5 Template Notebooks with AppleScript

Notes imported into the newly created notebook

Congratulations, you've written your very own notebook template utility for Evernote! Now, with only a few clicks, you can quickly create notebooks containing pre-existing default notes.