You can use the Automator app that comes pre-installed on your MacBook to automate an almost endless array of everyday tasks β including those repetitive, monotonous and time-consuming tasks that everyone hates!
Simply boot up Automator, grab some items from its various menus and drop them into Automatorβs built-in editor. You can then tweak, customise and combine these items to create exactly the workflow you had in mind. The possibilities are pretty much endless!
Despite all its potential, Automator is probably one of the most underused and under-appreciated Mac applications. So in this article Iβm going to show you how to get started with Automator by creating 5 applications thatβll automate some of the seriously irritating and time-consuming tasks that your typical MacBook user spends way too much time on.
But before we get started, letβs take a quick look at how Automator works.
Using Automator 101
To launch Automator, navigate to your MacBookβs βApplicationsβ folder and double-click the Automator app. The first thing Automator does is ask what kind of program you want to create. In this tutorial Iβm going to be concentrating on applications, so make sure you select βApplicationsβ from this window.
Once youβve made your selection, youβll be taken to the main Automator user interface, which is split into two halves:
- Menus. On the left-hand side, youβll find a menu containing all the different Automator categories. Select a category and a new menu will appear listing the various items that you can incorporate into your workflow. To create a workflow, grab an item from this menu and drop it into the second part of the Automator user interface, which isβ¦
- The editor. This appears on the right side of the Automator UI. Depending on what items you drag into the editor, youβll be able to make different tweaks to your workflow, for example if you drag βCopy Finder Itemsβ into the editor, the next step is specifying where you want Automator to copy these Finder items to. Keep dragging items from the different menus and dropping them into the editor, until youβve created your perfect workflow.
One of the most important things to note about Automator, is that thereβs usually multiple ways of accomplishing the same goal. To give you the best overview of what Automator is capable of, Iβm going to explore as many different techniques as possible throughout this article. Some of these techniques will be interchangeable, so if thereβs something you like about a particular workflow, then you can always try incorporating it into other workflows. Automator is all about choice and experimentation!
1. Bulk rename your files
Thereβs many situations where you might want to rename multiple files at once, but one of the most common has to be when youβve attached your digital camera to your computer after taking a bunch of photos β and realise just how many files you have to sort through!
If youβre anything like me, then you love taking photos but hate organising them. One of the most effective ways of quickly bringing order to a large number of photos, is to use a consistent naming convention, for example you might name your holiday snaps Tenerife, 2016-1, Tenerife, 2016-2, and so on. However, working your way through potentially hundreds of photos and renaming them one by one definitely isnβt my idea of fun!
So why not let Automator do the hard work for you? Letβs use Automator to create an app that can rename a large number of files in one fell swoop.
Create a new Automator app, and then complete the following steps:
- Make sure the βActionsβ button is selected (towards the upper-right of the Automator window).
- Select βFiles and Foldersβ from the left-hand menu.
- Drag βAsk Finder for Itemsβ into the editor. Whenever you include βAsk Finder for Itemsβ in your workflow, double-clicking the finished Automator app will launch a Finder window where you can select the files you want to edit.
- Since the whole point of this workflow is to rename multiple files at once, make sure the βAdd Multiple Selectionβ checkbox is selected.
- Find βRename Finder Itemsβ in the side-menu and drag it into the editor.
- At this point youβll see a popup warning you that this action may change the original files. Automator will then prompt you to preserve the original files by adding a βCopy Finder itemsβ to your workflow. This action will create a copy of each file, and then apply any subsequent edits to the copy only. Since our app is only going to rename our files, Iβm not going to bother preserving the originals, so select βDonβt Add.β
- You can now set some rules about how Automator should rename your files. Letβs imagine I really am creating an Automator app to rename my holiday photos β in this instance, Iβm going to select βMake sequentialβ from the dropdown menu and then specify how I want each number to be separated from the filename (you can choose from space, forward slash, dash, underscore, or none).
- Next, Iβm going to select the βNew Nameβ checkbox and let Automator know how it should rename my photos β continuing with my holiday example, Iβm going to go withβTenerife, 2016.β
And thatβs it β your workflow is now complete! Save it by selecting βFile > Save,β from the menu bar, give your app a descriptive name, and then click βSave.β
To take your Automator app for a spin, simply navigate to wherever you saved it and then double-click it. This will launch a Finder window where you can select all the files you want to rename. Your newly-created app will then automatically rename all these files for you in one fell swoop.
2. Easily Resize Multiple Images
While weβre on the subject of photos, another common tweak you may want to make is resizing your photos. If you have a large number of images you want to resize, or you find yourself regularly resizing photos, then it may make sense to create an Automator app that can make resizing photos easy.
In our previous app, we selected photos using the Finder (by adding βAsk Finder for Itemsβ to our workflow). Letβs try something different this time around, and select files by dragging them onto our finished application. For most Automator applications you create, these two selection methods are interchangeable, so use whichever method works the best for you.
Create a new Automator app, and letβs get started!
- Select βFiles and Foldersβ from the left-hand menu.
- This time around Iβm going to create a workflow that preserves the original files β because resizing a photo is a much more drastic change than simply renaming it. Iβm going to grab the βNew Folderβ item and add it to this workflow, so Automator will know to create a new folder containing copies of the original files.
- Specify the name of the output folder and where it should be created, using the βNameβ field and βWhereβ dropdown, respectively.
- Drag the βGet Folder Contentsβ item into the editor.
- Select βPhotosβ from the left-hand menu.
- Grab βScale Imagesβ and drag it into the editor.
- Automator will once again warn you that this action could change the original files. However since weβve already added a βNew Folderβ item to our workflow, our app will automatically create a copy of each image and store that copy in the output folder. This means we donβt need to worry about overriding the original image, so select the βDonβt Addβ button.
- After dropping βScale Imagesβ into your workflow, you can specify exactly how Automator should resize your images.
Save your workflow and test your finished application by dragging the image(s) you want to resize, onto your application. Your app will generate a new folder in the location you specified β open this folder and youβll find resized versions of all your images.
3. Rotate multiple images
When youβre rushing to capture an image, itβs inevitable that youβre going to tilt the camera at whichever angle delivers the best shot. However, when it comes to sorting through your snaps, this can result in a bunch of photos that are orientated at the wrong angle.
While technically you could open and rotate each image in turn, thatβs going to take some time (plus itβs probably going to be really boring) so why not create an Automator app that rotates your images for you?
- As always, create a new application and make sure the βActionsβ button is selected in the left-hand menu.
- Select βFiles and Folder.β
- This time around, Iβm going to create a copy of the original images, and then rotate these copies. To create a copy of each selected file, drag βCopy Finder Itemsβ into the editor window, and then specify where you want Automator to store these copies.
- Select βPhotosβ from the βActionsβ menu.
- Drag the βRotate Imagesβ item into the editor.
- Tell Automator how it should rotate your images β whether thatβs left, right or 180 degrees. If you know youβre not particularly consistent about how you orientate your camera, then you may want to create multiple βRotate Imageβ applications for each possible angle.
And thatβs it! Save your workflow, then drag and drop the image (or images) you want to rotate onto your newly-created application. Β Your application will create a rotated copy of each image in the location you specified.
4. Quit All Applications
Do you ever have so many apps running, that you completely lose track of whatβs even open? Itβs easy to leave apps running in the background, but itβs also bad news for your laptopβs battery
, memory and overall performance.If this sounds familiar, then itβs time to close some apps! But manually closing each and every app thatβs running on your MacBook can be a time-consuming task. Wouldnβt it be nice if you could just quit all your applications in one fell swoop? Once again itβs Automator to the rescue!
To create a βQuit Allβ application, create a new Automator app and then:
- Select βUtilitiesβ item from the left-hand menu.
- Drag βQuit All Applicationsβ into the editor.
- Depending on what applications Automator is quitting, you may lose some unsaved work. To make sure this doesnβt happen, you may want to select βAsk to save changesβ at this point.
- If thereβs certain applications you donβt want Automator to close, you can create an βexcludeβ list. Even when you run your βQuit Allβ app, the applications on this list wonβt be affected. To create this list, give the βAddβ¦β button a click and then select the application(s) you want to exclude.
Save your application. If you plan on running this application on a regular basis, you may want to place it in your Dock so itβs always within easy reach.
5. Extract text from a PDF
Thereβs several reasons why you might need to extract text from a PDF β maybe you like the PDFβs content but are finding its layout distracting (or just plain painful to look at!) or perhaps you want to quickly share the text with a friend.
If youβve ever tried to copy/paste blocks of text from a PDF into a text document, then youβll appreciate how fiddly, frustrating and downright time-consuming this process can be.
In this section, Iβm going to show you how to create an Automator app that pulls every last piece of text out of a PDF and deposits it in a text document for you.
Create a new application and then complete the following steps:
- Select βPDFsβ from the left-hand menu.
- Drag βExtract PDF textβ into the editor.
- Specify whether Automator should save the extracted text as a plain text or rich text document, and then use the dropdown menu to select where Automator should save this file.
- Decide whether the generated file should have the same name as the original PDF, or a custom name.
Save your application, then test it out by grabbing a PDF and dropping it onto your application. A new text document should appear in the location you specified, containing all of the PDFβs text content.
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