Automator Keyboard Shortcuts

I'm new to Automator so this may be obvious, but I see no way to assign a keyboard shortcut to a work flow created in Automator. I checked the Automator help, the doc, it's not popping out for me. Any pointers?
Thanks.

The way I do it is to use Butler (which can be found here: http://www.manytricks.com/butler/)
Create your workflow, save it as an app. Then in Butler, drag that app into the window on the left (the items). You can then launch item in that left window by assigning a keyboard shortcut. Hope that helps.

Similar Messages

All versions of ID - JS: Automating keyboard shortcuts

Hello everyone:
Once again I have an off-the-wall question. This small script used to change color settings that I am working on is almost complete; I just need to add a few more touches to it to make it perfect. My intention is to link it to a keyboard shortcut once it is distributed to the 100-odd machines (Mac and Windows) we have in the plant.
Actually linking the script to a keyboard shortcut, however, on all those computers is going to be tedious and time consuming. I would love to write a script to do the job, if that is possible in JS.
Looking at the documentation, however, I saw no information on how one might go about automating the setting up of a keyboard shortcut. Does anyone know if it is possible, and if so, where I can read about it?
TIA,
John

InDesign shortcuts are in a file that you can copy to your users' hard disks in the right spot. This would overwrite their existing shortcuts so it might be of limited use.
You can also add and COLOR the corresponding menu using menu sets. You can also make an entire "workspace" file which I believe can incorporate all those things at once.
As Peter said, installing these files on 100+ hard disks would NOT be scriptable through InDesign. [edit: NOT]
However you could likely write a Windows BAT file or an AppleScript to put the desired master ".indk" or XML files in the right spot:
~/Library/Preferences/Adobe InDesign/Version 5.0/InDesign Shortcut Sets/John's Colorsetting shortcut.indk
First start with a clean slate, then add the shortcut(s) normally in ID. Then copy the resulting file to another user's computer and see if the setting shows up correctly.
Hope this helps until Adobe adds it to the scripting model ;)
Darryl

How do you assign a keyboard shortcut to an Automator workflow?

This has to be an incredibly basic question, but my searches haven't turned up anything.
I created an Automator workflow to "Create new email message".
I'd like to be able to launch this with a keyboard shortcut.
In System Preferences, I can see how to assign keyboard shortcuts to menu items, but can't figure how how/if you can do this for automator shortcuts.
Thanks.

Found in a thread about Automator elsewhere (https://discussions.apple.com/message/19043068#19043068):
Assign a keyboard shortcut in System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Keyboard Shortcut -> Services

Having problems with automator and setting up universal keyboard shortcut

I have set up a service in automator to open quicktime, new audio capture, start capture. I named it "launch quicktime." I then when in to system preferences and went to the keyboard shortcuts section. I have tried in both services, and in application shortcuts to use my "launch quicktime" with the keyboard shortcut control + esc. I test it out in various applications and it doesn't work until I go to the top of said app for example safari and then go to services and select my launch quicktime. From that time on it works great. If I close safari and then relaunch it, it forgets that keyboard shortcut. What gives? I just want to be able to hit 2 keystrokes and have it launch quickime and begin an audio recording. Would greatly appreciate any help out there as to why it doesn't remember my keyboard shortcut.
Cheers,
Jon

BUG: KEYBOARD SHORTCUT KEYS DO NOT ALWAYS ACTIVATE A SERVICE (A WORKFLOW)
When you assign a keyboard shortcut to a Service (such as a Service Workflow created in Automator) using the System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts, if that shortcut key combination includes the Command key, pressing that shortcut will always successfully activate the Service. No problem there.
However, shortcut key combinations that do not include the Command key (for example, the shortcut key combo Ctrl-Shift-D) WILL NOT activate the Service in any newly opened application, until you click on the Services Menu option in that application.
For more info, see THIS THREAD.

Automatically run a keyboard shortcut after opening a document

I unknowingly posted this elsewhere, but was asked to post this here.
I have a curio document/template that I use often.
Curio has a mode called: full screen view, which only works by:
the keyboard shortcut: Cmd *
or by: click on Window and then clicking on Full Screen
I'm looking for a way to have all my documents open up full screen every time I open curio (or curio documents). Is there an apple script or automator action possible for this? Can you pls help? I'm new to this. Thanks.
I tried what was posted by arthur, but apart from the document opening up in curio, it does not go to full screen.
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=11128555#11128555
Maybe something's wrong with my workflow. I noticed that Curio is not coming to front. Is that it?
I then tried the link provided by baltwo, and installed automatedworflows.com demo 'type keystroke', but i only get the demo pop-up.
I appreciate any help. Thx.

then the workflow should be like this.
1. open "finder items".
2. run "apple script"
on run {input, parameters}
tell application "Curio" to activate
tell application "System events" to keystroke "8" using {command down, shift down}
end run
save it as an application and put it on the desktop and/or in the dock. also go to system preferences->universal access and check the box to enable access to assistive devices.
now when you drop a file onto your automator application it should open that file with Curio and then execute the shortcut commandshift8.

How can I set up a custom keyboard shortcut for volume control?

Hi all,
I use my black MacBook at work, connected to an external monitor and external keyboard. I'm looking for a way to set up the F buttons on my external keyboard as volume control, just as they do on my laptop keyboard. Looking for F3 to F5 to be volume mute, down, and up, respectively.
I tried going into Keyboard Shortcuts in System Preferences but since there is no menu item for volume control I can't seem to add it. Anyone know how I can go about doing this or what I'm missing?
Thanks
Mike

paste the following into Applescrpt Editor (it's in /Applications/Utilities)
<pre style="
font-family: Monaco, 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;
font-size: 10px;
margin: 0px;
padding: 5px;
border: 1px solid #000000;
width: 720px;
color: #000000;
background-color: #ADD8E6;
overflow: auto;"
title="this text can be pasted into the Script Editor">
set curVolume to output volume of (get volume settings)
-- work out the new setting
if curVolume < 96 then
set newVolume to curVolume + 5
else
-- can't go over 100
set newVolume to 100
end if
-- and apply it
set volume output volume newVolume</pre>
this script will increase volume by 5 (out of 100) any time you run it. you can adjust this of course. save the script somewhere.
You can use a 3rd part app launcher to bind a keyboard shortcut to it. I use Butler. there are many others: Quicksilver, ikeys, quickeys, Spark, Launchbar.
this will work the fastest.
If you don't want to use 3rd party tools for this you can make a service using automator but that might be a bit slower than the first option. open automator. it will give you a pulldown screen wiuth the choice of what you want to make. choose "service". set it to receive no input and be available in all applications. add the following "run apple script" action to the service
<pre style="
font-family: Monaco, 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;
font-size: 10px;
margin: 0px;
padding: 5px;
border: 1px solid #000000;
width: 720px;
color: #000000;
background-color: #ADD8E6;
overflow: auto;"
title="this text can be pasted into the Script Editor">
on run {input, parameters}
set curVolume to output volume of (get volume settings)
-- work out the new setting
if curVolume < 96 then
set newVolume to curVolume + 5
else
-- can't go over 100
set newVolume to 100
end if
-- and apply it
set volume output volume newVolume
end run</pre>
save the service, go to keyboard system preferences->keyboard shortcuts->services and make a shortcut for the service you just created.

BUG: KEYBOARD SHORTCUT KEYS DO NOT ALWAYS ACTIVATE A SERVICE (A WORKFLOW)

BUG: KEYBOARD SHORTCUT KEYS DO NOT ALWAYS ACTIVATE A SERVICE (A WORKFLOW)
When you assign a keyboard shortcut to a Service (such as a Service Workflow created in Automator) using the System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts, if that shortcut key combination includes the Command key, pressing that shortcut will always successfully activate the Service. No problem there.
However, shortcut key combinations that do not include the Command key (for example, the shortcut key combo Ctrl-Shift-D) WILL NOT activate the Service in any newly opened application, until you click on the Services Menu option in that application.
As soon as you click on the application's Services Menu, this seems to bind the shortcut key combo to the Service, and thereafter, that keyboard shortcut will activate the Service in that particular app. But if you then quit and reopen the app, you'll find the Service will once again lose its binding to the shortcut key combination and will thus fail to work again.
This means that shortcut key combinations such as Ctrl-D, Ctrl-Shift-D, F15, Alt-F15, etc are not really viable shortcuts for Services, because they will not work in any newly-opened application until you click on the Services Menu in that application.
This bug thus greatly limits the shortcuts that you can employ for Services, because you can only reliably use shortcut key combos that contain the Command key. This is a fault that Apple really needs to fix. This is a very old glitch: I notice it is present in Snow Leopard 10.6.8, as well as Yosemite 10.10.1.
This bug does not apply to application shortcuts, however, or to other shortcuts in the Shortcuts Preference Pane, just to Services shortcuts (including the Mac's default Services, or any Services you make yourself using Workflows on the Automator software).
To give some examples:
The following keyboard shortcuts for Services WILL NOT work until you click on the Services Menu in the application you are using (and they will cease working again when you quit and reopen the app):
Ctrl-X
Ctrl-Shift-X
Ctrl-Alt-X
Ctrl-Alt-Shift-X
Alt-X
Alt-Shift-X
F1, F2, F3, etc
So until Apple fixes this bug, the above type of key combinations, that do not contain the Command key, are best avoided as shortcuts for Services. It is particularly unfortunate that function keys F1 to F19 do not work reliably, as these would make great single-key shortcuts to Services.
However, the following sort of keyboard shortcuts for Services, all containing the Command key, once set up will always work without fail:
Command-Alt-X
Command-Ctrl-X
Command-Shift-X
Command-Ctrl-Shift-X
Command-Alt-Ctrl-Shift-X
Command-F1, Command-F2, Command-F3, etc
So all the above can be reliably used as shortcuts to Services.
Here X denotes keyboard keys such as A, B, C, 1, 2, 3, =, \, [, etc.
Note that even for keyboard shortcuts containing the Command key, you may very occasionally need to click the Services Menu to get them to work initially in an application (notably in the System Preferences application itself). But if this is necessary, it is just required once when they are first set up, and thereafter the shortcuts containing the Command key will always work without fail.
The above was tested on Yosemite 10.10.1, but most likely applies to other versions of OS X as well, as I believe this bug is an old one. This bug is definitely present in Snow Leopard 10.6.8, because I have observed this same fault in an old Mac I have that runs Snow Leopard.
I have reported this bug to Apple, so hopefully they will see my report and act upon it. However, it might be an idea if others also report this problem of Services shortcuts not working property, to ensure that Apple get the message. You can report a bug to Apple via their bug feedback page here.

Exactly where do you want to use a GO BACK "shortcut" in Bridge? Maybe I don't even understand what you mean by Go Back. Bridge is only a file browser, nothing more. It doesn't open, edit, manipulate or save files at all.
Are you simply referring to going back to view a folder that you viewed before?
Please don't take this a criticism. As someone who will gladly pay money not to have to learn any shortcuts at all, I'm just puzzled and curious, that's all.

Can I create a keyboard shortcut for changing text colors in Mail?

When composing an email in Mail (v5.2), I often have the need to change the text of a few words to red to highlight them (e.g. names of people assigned to an action item) but want to do it via keyboard shortcut. I know I can do the following:
Press Command-Shift-C brings up to Colors panel
Choose the color (e.g. Red) with my mouse
Type the text
Choose the color (e.g. back to Black) with my mouse
Continue typing text
And that's if I want the color panel to stay visible (add at least 3 more steps all together if I close it in the interim).
I've tried using keyboard shortcuts to assign a color (couldn't find the right menu path) and Automator to create a script (the color panel always has to be in the right location which it may not be). None of those techniques work.
It's an annoyance more than anything else but I imagine it should be possible.
Thanks for any assistance!
John

Not only is this very possible, it's also very easy. You can do this not just for Quark but for any application in OS X. To accomplish what you want, do the following:
* Firstly, quit QuarkXPress completely. The rest of the steps won't work if it is still running.
* Go to the Apple menu and select System Preferences.
* Click the Keyboard & Mouse System Preference Pane
* Click Keyboard Shortcuts
* Click the + button to add a new shortcut.
* Select QuarkXPress as the application.
* In the Menu Title field type "Place Name" exactly like that but without the quotes.
* Click inside the Shortcut field and type the key combination you want to use for this shortcut. I suggest using Command + one of the F keys, like Command+F1.
* Click Add.
* Close System Preferences
* Run Quark, open a document, and try it out!
Robert

Why can't I create a keyboard shortcut?

I created an Automator Service to restart my computer in Bootcamp (since I was getting very tired of having to navigate to the Startup Disk Prefence pane every time). What I would like to do, is make this service have a global keyboard shortcut. However, when I try to set one in the Keyboard Shorcuts preferences (i.e. double-clicking and holding down the desired keys), my computer just beeps at me. What am I missing? As far as I can tell, I'm doing what it's telling me to do.
I thought maybe it was not allowing the specific shortcut I was trying - thinking maybe it was already in use. So I tried many other key combinations - enough to come to the conclusion that this was not the issue.
Thanks for any help you can give me!

click the right hand side of the window (where other commands are shown) not the name of the command, it won't work. If you already have the shortcut assigned it'll tell you that it's a duplicate and tell you where you use the shortcut again.
Good luck!.

How to create a keyboard shortcut in firefox for email link

I would like to create a keyboard shortcut for firefox for the EMail Link menu item. I specified shift-Command-S as the keyboard shortcut. When I hit the key sequence the File on the menubar flashes but the Email Link window never opens. Does anyone have a clue as to what I need to do to get this to work or is there a reason it doesn't work. I do use Outlook for my mail client. That shouldn't be a problem because when I manually select EMail Link from the File menu Outlook is properly used.
thanks for your help
john

You need automator to create services, as detailed in http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2241804 a four-parter by Sal Saghoian on *Automation in Snow Leopard*
This, describes old and new automator—services stuff:
http://www.reynoldsftw.com/2009/08/automator-and-finder-interactions-in-os-x-10- 6/
Alternatively, just save the script
*+tell application "Firefox" to activate+*
as an app, put it on the Dock, and click it to activate it. However, seems simpler just to put the FF icon on the Dock and a single click launches it. Why would you want a service or AS to do the same thing?

Keyboard Shortcuts for Nested Menus

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/deb6404/AutomatorKeyboardShortcutExample. png
If you take a look at the above screenshot, you'll see that there are a couple automator functions I've added as plugins in Finder.
They work great when I use them, but I can't seem to get a keyboard shortcut to work. When I assign them by name (System Preferences -> Keyboard and Mouse -> Keyboard Shortcuts -> Application Keyboard Shortcuts -> Finder, then add a new one) it puts a shortcut next to it as though it should work.
But it doesn't. If I navigate to the Automator menu in Finder as show below, the keyboard shortcut WILL trigger.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/deb6404/AlmostWorkingAutomatorKeyboardSho rt.png
But accessing it with just the file selected, Finder doesn't seem to want to access the nested menu.
How do you add a nested Finder menu to Keyboard Shortcuts?
Thanks!

What you want would be very handy, but I don't think it can be done. AFAIK the menu shortcuts that you can add are for those in the menu bar, not the Contextual menu, I was astonished that it even FOUND the contextual menu and started displaying a "shortcut" for it, not in the least bit surprised that the putative shortcut didn't work. You probably want some sort of shareware application like Spark or QuicKeys. Spark is free and I liked it in Tiger, don't know if it will work in Leopard, and is free. QuicKeys is, I think, rather pricey.
Francine
Francine
Schwieder

Creating keyboard shortcut to open a folder?

hello all.
is there a way to create a keyboard shortcut that opens a specified folder? i.e. command shift u opens the utilities folder and command shift a opens applications. i would like to create a shortcut command that opens a specific folder in my home directory.
thanks, rick

rick.myers wrote:
hello all.
is there a way to create a keyboard shortcut that opens a specified folder? i.e. command shift u opens the utilities folder and command shift a opens applications. i would like to create a shortcut command that opens a specific folder in my home directory.
thanks, rick
You can use the Automator
http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1261
or AppleScript
http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=724
to do such a thing.

Keyboard shortcut for Spaces?

I'm pretty new to mac, and loves space on my macbook. But I've run into a problem...when I'm out and about I use spaces all the time, but when I get home I have external monitor that I use as a secondary display. I normally disable spaces when I get home, because I don't want create spaces like I was without a second monitor. Currently I'm going into spaces and just disabling it, but is there a keyboard shortcut that will allow me to disable spaces without having to go into system preferences?
Thanks in advance.

there is no built in tool for this. but if you REALLY want to do this you can make a service that toggles spaces on/off using automator and applescript. you can then assign a keyboard shortcut to run ot. or you can make two separate services one for turning spaces on and another to turn them off and make separate shortcuts to them. I can supply the details but do you actually want to go through all that? I would recommend using spaces at home too. I find them quite convenient with two monitors as well as with one.

Is there a keyboard shortcut to open the Services submenu?

I'm trying to learn how to use Services and Automator. One thing that seems to be missing is a keyboard shortcut to open the Services submenu (in any application) I'm guessing after highlighting the object of interest the shortcut starts with option but what comes next I haven't the foggiest.
Gene W.
(intel iMac running OS 10.6.7)

@leroydouglas. Your reply although factual is not in answer to my question.
for example: I'm reading my question and your reply on a web page using Safari (with OS 10.6.7)
If I select (highlight) a portion of any text in my question (or your reply) and then right-click (control-click) I get a contextual menu. While the same text is highlighted, I go up to Safari's menu bar and pull down to and select-click Services submenu, I get another menu. Similar to the result of right-click, but different.
I just thought that a feature of OS 10.6.x, Services, which relies so heavily on keyboard shortcuts would have a keyboard shortcut to open it. So, far that shortcut has eluded me.
TIA

Keyboard Shortcut to open Finder?

Is there a keyboard shortcut to open Finder? On my old windows machine I could press the windows key and E to open an explorer window and I used that all the time. I would love it if there was something like that for Finder. Sure I could click the icon on my dock, but I like using keyboard shortcuts as I find them faster. I know I can alt-tab, but if I have many things open then that is not fast at all. Please tell me I am not out of luck!

If you like the keyboard you will really like writing a script or using the automator, either of which are extremely easy to learn and use.
Automator:
http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1261
AppleScript:
http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=724

Automator Keyboard Shortcuts

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