Using automator as a preflighter

i've never really used automator - but can anyone tell me if it's possible to use it to check pdf files for any RGB elements and flag these? in other words use it as a very basic preflighter?
thanks very much.
james b (uk)

Hi James.
It doesn't really work like that, you need an Action that could check for embedded RGB;s as far as I know there isn't one written yet.
You will need something like Pitstop or Acrobat Pro, they handle pre-flight nicely, but cost a bit !
regards
Ric

Similar Messages

How to resize and change the resolution of a batch of photos using Automator

I searched for a long time tonight looking for the answer to this (seemingly) simple question:
How do I use Automator to scale and change the resolution of a batch of images?
It was not so simple.
Links to this question:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/12341246#12341246
https://discussions.apple.com/message/12342026#12342026
https://discussions.apple.com/message/5785047#5785047
https://discussions.apple.com/message/1173358#1173358
https://discussions.apple.com/message/5641853#5641853
https://discussions.apple.com/message/3207516#3207516
These are just the links on this site - I found them all over the place at MacRumors, Apple Tips, Mac Help, etc.
You can actually manage this in Automator.
Here are the steps that worked for me:
Create an Automator APPLICATION - not a workflow (this is due to the way that I'm batch converting images - workflows might be ok for some cases)
Step 1 is Copy Finder Items
My flow inserts an SD card, opens the DCIM folder that my Nikon creates, selecting the images that I click (command + click to multi-select) and once I have the photos highlighted, I drag them onto this Automator App we're creating.
<== You'll have this guy soon!
As a result - I want to copy the originals to my computer as step 1. I don't touch the originals on the SD card (and cards are cheap so I tend to leave them on the cards as well)
Step 2 is the Scale Images action - you can search the library for this and find it quickly. For my part, I found that scaling images to about 38.8 percent of their size on the SD card is good for uploading to a blog. Change this value to whatever you wish.
Step 3 is Run Shell Script - and here is where we marry the brilliance found at this link with our script.If you have a hard time reading the text in the image, it is as follows:
#bin/bash
for f in "$@"
do
/usr/bin/sips -s dpiHeight 72.0 -s dpiWidth 72.0 $f
done
Save this application (I named mine "Format Photos")
Place the application inside the target folder where you want the images to end up. I do this because when I have the SD card window open, I can also open my "Photos" window and see my App sitting there. I select my images as I mentioned and drag them on top of this app. The app copies the originals and the conversions into the folder.
NOTES: When you open a converted pic in Preview, you will see Resolution = 300 dpi if you go to Tools --> Adjust Size... This reading is explained by another brilliant discussion as sips only touches the JFIF properties inside the file's MetaData. However, if you look at the bottom of the Adjust Size... window, you'll see the image size is probably around 500 kb (give or take depending on the original). My goal was to get the images down from the 3.0 MB I shoot at to around 500 kb. Therefore even though the MetaData still thinks that it is 300 DPI according to Preview, it has been changed to 72 (open it in some other applications mentioned at the links and you'll find different readings - it all depends on what the application reads from the Meta).
This does not rename the files, so you'll get DSC_1000.jpg and DSC_1000 copy.jpg in all likelihood. If that annoys you, add a step into the Automator Application that renames the file after the "Run Shell Script" action has run, and you can have each file renamed according to some convention that you like.
This took a heck of a lot longer than I expected - so I decided to put in the effort to share this with the community and save others the hassle.

PPI is pixels per inch of the image. It is difficult to increase resolution as you are trying to add data that is not there.
But for printing purposes what you want is dpi or dots per inch.
The image processor either accessed from Bridge (tools/photoshp) or PS is a good way to change a batch of images.

Using Automator to open a program with a delay after a programmed restart

Hi to all! With my old PowerPc I used to start unattended sessions of my Newsreader (Unison) overnight simply putting Unison in my Login elements window, and programming a restart at a fixed hour. Unfortunately, with my very fast new iMac this doesn't work: Unison opens too fast after the programmed restart, before a network connection has been established, and Unison is unable to see the NewsServer online when it starts (error "nodelist not found", typical of a not yet established Internet connection). Note that I downgrade to Unison 1.8.x to do this, as the Unison 2.x program cannot be closed with a session running to resume it after start: it simply defaults to "Pause transfers" after quitting, and need a clic on "Resume" after reopening.
Obviously, what I need is to introduce a "wait (say) 2 minutes before the opening of Unison", or anything that can check the Internet connection before Unison starts. May anyone instruct me to do this with Automator and/or AppleScript?
In fact, I tried to generate a workflow in Automator, with a Pause after the start of the process, then the instruction to open Unison. I put the saved workflow in my Login elements, but it didn't work on my iMac 27, i7Core, Snow Leopard installed. I added an "execute workflow" at beginning of the process, but the Pause command gives always an error and the process stops before Unison' opening.
Any suggestion or help in writing an Automator or AppleScript workflow/script to be put among the startup items?
Thanks a lot!

I am trying to use Automator to restart an application. I figured how to quit the application, however when I relaunch it, it asks for password permission... how can I use automator to enter the password? or is there a way to launch the software with password in a script?

Using automator to render and save hundred's of LT files

hello. I have a few hundred LiveType projects that I need to render to QT movie--need to make them eneditable but still usable in FCP--So, does anyone know if I can do this with Automator, i.e. point it at a folder and let it open, render, save to different folder and close (rinse/repeat)?
Or is there an applescript that can do this?
thanks in advance.

Well, I was able to use automator, somewhat... where the hiccup occurs is when the file needs to be saved. If the render time takes more than a minute or so, then automator chokes. Fortunately, most of my files took less time to render, so the majority could be automated. When a hiccup occurred, the mac let out an alert sign and I manually rendered that file(s) and set automator up again until the next hiccup.
there is a "timeout" selection in Automator for each step, but try as I may to get the save step to delay 3 minutes, it wouldn't work. I tried everything.

Using automator to edit text - find and replace

Hello. I have a huge database of tv repair tips. Unfortunately, when i started to accumulate the tips I put them in an html table like this:
<tr>
<td class="NoiseDataTD">TELEVISION </td>
<td class="NoiseDataTD">SONY </td>
<td class="NoiseDataTD">36XBR400 </td>
<td class="NoiseDataTD">DEAD - NO H.V. - INTERMITTENT START UP - 'D Board' NG. </td>
<td class="NoiseDataTD">IC6501, MCZ3001D 0r MCZ3001DB(8-759-670-30) - >>>HARD TO REPLACE!---tip:CUT PINS FROM TOP THEN PULL OUT SLOWLY </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="NoiseDataTD">TELEVISION </td>
<td class="NoiseDataTD">SONY </td>
<td class="NoiseDataTD">63A </td>
<td class="NoiseDataTD">INSUFFICIENT HEIGHT </td>
<td class="NoiseDataTD">CHECK C522 REPLACE IF PARTIALLY OR COMPLETELY OPEN </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="NoiseDataTD">TELEVISION </td>
<td class="NoiseDataTD">SONY </td>
<td class="NoiseDataTD">AA-2 </td>
<td class="NoiseDataTD">Int. loss of pix (HV) after 10 Min. Audio Normal.Pwr up again & OK for 10Min </td>
<td class="NoiseDataTD">H Protect Circuit. D521 (7.5 zener) ECG5015 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="NoiseDataTD">TELEVISION </td>
<td class="NoiseDataTD">SONY </td>
<td class="NoiseDataTD">AA-2D </td>
<td class="NoiseDataTD">VERTICAL HEIGHT PROBLEM </td>
<td class="NoiseDataTD">BAD YOKE: BAD YOKE WINDINGS MEASURED 6 OHMS, SHOULD BE CLOSE TO 9 OHMS </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="NoiseDataTD">TELEVISION </td>
<td class="NoiseDataTD">SONY </td>
<td class="NoiseDataTD">AA-2W </td>
<td class="NoiseDataTD">Negative main pix, pip video ok. Customer heard pop then pix went dark. </td>
<td class="NoiseDataTD">IC355. CSA2131S </td>
</tr>
Now, I want to input the tips into a MySQL database with an insert statement like:
INSERT INTO `otips` (`id`, `brand`, `model`, `problem`, `solution`, `user`, `date`) VALUES (NULL, UCASE('SONY'), UCASE('KP-53XBR200'), UCASE('CONVERGENCE OFF'), UCASE('REPLACED CONVERGENCE IC''S STK392-020 AND PICO FUSE PS5007 3.15 AMP open'), '0', '0000-00-00');
I've been all over the help files and different websites with tutorials and I cannot figure out how to do this using automator. Could anyone tell me if this can be done with automator and perhaps point me in the right direction.
Thanks,
daniel
IMac Intel Core Duo Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Are you familliar with regular expressions? If you are, then you can create a shell script and incorporate it into your workflow. Or you could use bbedit or textwrangler from barebones.com to search and replace in multiple files.

How do I use Automator to duplicate a folder with graphics on my desktop and erase their Resource forks?

How do I use Automator to duplicate a folder with graphics on my desktop and erase their Resource forks?
I do not use command line and tried to use ZapResourceForksAMAub_1.2 which I downloadedand instaled the Zap Resource Forks.action. Next I tried to use their sample copy-zap-rsrc.workflow in Snow Leopardon my Mac Pro. The 3 different steps are displayed in Automator but there is no place to put in which folder (on my deskto) to copy, and remove the resource forks from the graphic files.
Can sombody please step me through this please please.
W.W.

Unfortunately, Back to My Mac only works across computers using the same iCloud account.

How can I use automator to open terminal change directory run a python script?

Hi all,
I dont really ever use automator - which may be my big problem - and I am trying to make an apllication that seems fairly simple in theroy. I want something that will lunch terminal, cd to the place where my python script lives and then run it. I have tried a number of suggested ways and can get the terminal to open and the directory to change but cant figure out how to run the script. This is my workflow if i did it manually each time
- open terminal
- type cd "the place where my file lives"
- type python uploadr.py -d
I can get terminal to open then cd to the right place but cant get the "python uploadr.py -d" to run without an error.
any help would be very appricated
thanks!!!
J

this is the script I got closest with - I know its something to do with breaking those two commands up but i just dont know how to do it
on run {input, parameters}
          tell application "Terminal"
activate
                    if (the (count of the window) = 0) or ¬
                              (the busy of window 1 = true) then
                              tell application "System Events"
keystroke "n" using command down
                              end tell
                    end if
                    do script "cd /Users/behole/Desktop/FlickrUpload/" & "python uploadr.py -d" in window 1
          end tell
          return input
end run
this is the error I get in terminal after I run it
Last login: Mon Jul 23 15:37:17 on ttys000
be-holes-MacBook-Pro:~ behole$ cd /Users/behole/Desktop/FlickrUpload/python uploadr.py -d
-bash: cd: /Users/behole/Desktop/FlickrUpload/python: No such file or directory
be-holes-MacBook-Pro:~ behole$

How can I use Automator to search only in folders whose name contains a certain word?

I'm very new to Automator. What I am trying to accomplish is this:
I am using Transmit as my FTP client. I have mounted a server as a disk to my desktop. I am using Automator to try and search this server and open files whose path contains the word "mobile", then open files with the name "order.php" with my HTML editor. There are hundreds other files on this server that have the name "order.php", so I just want to target the ones found in paths with the name "mobile" applied.
Where I get stuck is the "search only in paths that contain the word 'mobile' ".
Please advise.
Thanks.

I'm very new to Automator. What I am trying to accomplish is this:
I am using Transmit as my FTP client. I have mounted a server as a disk to my desktop. I am using Automator to try and search this server and open files whose path contains the word "mobile", then open files with the name "order.php" with my HTML editor. There are hundreds other files on this server that have the name "order.php", so I just want to target the ones found in paths with the name "mobile" applied.
Where I get stuck is the "search only in paths that contain the word 'mobile' ".
Please advise.
Thanks.

Can i use Automator in app such as illustrator, Photoshop, Indesign?

I want to use automator in illustrator. How can I use it?
I tried to make services menu in illustrator cs5. but, It doesn't work.
Simply explain one thing about illustrator. I want to make keyboard shortcut for file>script>script menu(this is what I want to make keyboard shortcut)
I can make action for a script menu and defind keybosrd shortcut. It deserpeard after restart app.
I tried to rocord "whatch me do" in illusrrator. but It doesn't work, either.
How can I use Automator in illustrator?

The short answer is this is not possible.
The long answer is Photoshop & Illustrator use print fonts installed on your system (True Type, Open Type, Post Script).
Web fonts (ie: Google, TypeKit, Edge, etc...) need a web browser to display them because they use file types that are not recognized by other applications.
EOT Compressed
EOT Lite (uncompressed)
TTF (raw TrueType Fonts for screen)
SVG (xml version)
SVGZ (gzipped version)
WOFF (gzipped, web only, cross-browser font)
Nancy O.

How can I use automator to import a .csv file into a an excel file

I would still like all the import settings that I get if I am using excel to do the process, i.e. going in with the text format instead of the general format. That way my dates don't change

You'll need to use Applescript in Automator.
Note: File extension cannot be CSV (Excel will assume that the file is comma separated), so add an action to copy or rename with extension TXT.
(You can rename back at end of Workflow is needed)
The Applescript Action is:
on run {input, parameters}
     repeat with f in input
          tell application "Microsoft Excel"
               open text file filename (f as string) data type delimited field info {{1, text format}} other char "|" with use other
          end tell
      end repeat
      eturn input
end run
NOTE: This is formating the 1st col to text
If you need to format the second, then you need to:
open text file filename (f as string) data type delimited field info {{1, general format}, {2, text format}} other char "|" with use other
(You'll need to list the 1st col, 2nd col, etc until you get to the col to format as text). Formats are (from the Applescript Excel Library):
[field info list] : A list contain parse information for the individual columns of data.
Formats are general format, text format, MDY format, DMY format, YMD format, MYD format, DYM format, YDM format, skip column.
Or you can skip using Automator and just use an Applescript App (this is a droplet, just drop the files on the icon, or click to choose files):
on run
     set fs to choose file with prompt "Select one or more files to open:" default location alias (the path to desktop folder as text) with multiple selections allowed
     proceed(fs)
end run
on open fs
     proceed(fs)
end open
on proceed(fs)
     repeat with f in fs
          tell application "Microsoft Excel"
               open text file filename (f as string) data type delimited field info {{1, text format}} other char "|" with use other
           end tell
      end repeat
end proceed

How can I use Automator to extract specific Data from a text file?

I have several hundred text files that contain a bunch of information. I only need six values from each file and ideally I need them as columns in an excel file.
How can I use Automator to extract specific Data from the text files and either create a new text file or excel file with the info? I have looked all over but can't find a solution. If anyone could please help I would be eternally grateful!!! If there is another, better solution than automator, please let me know!
Example of File Contents:
Link Time =
DD/MMM/YYYY
Random
Text
161 179
bytes of CODE    memory (+                68 range fill )
16 789
bytes of DATA    memory (+    59 absolute )
1 875
bytes of XDATA   memory (+ 1 855 absolute )
90 783
bytes of FARCODE memory
What I would like to have as a final file:
EXCEL COLUMN1
Column 2
Column3
Column4
Column5
Column6
MM/DD/YYYY
filename1
161179
16789
1875
90783
MM/DD/YYYY
filename2
xxxxxx
xxxxx
xxxx
xxxxx
MM/DD/YYYY
filename3
xxxxxx
xxxxx
xxxx
xxxxx
Is this possible? I can't imagine having to go through each and every file one by one. Please help!!!

Hello
You may try the following AppleScript script. It will ask you to choose a root folder where to start searching for *.map files and then create a CSV file named "out.csv" on desktop which you may import to Excel.
set f to (choose folder with prompt "Choose the root folder to start searching")'s POSIX path
if f ends with "/" then set f to f's text 1 thru -2
do shell script "/usr/bin/perl -CSDA -w <<'EOF' - " & f's quoted form & " > ~/Desktop/out.csv
use strict;
use open IN => ':crlf';
chdir $ARGV[0] or die qq($!);
local $/ = qq(\\0);
my @ff = map {chomp; $_} qx(find . -type f -iname '*.map' -print0);
local $/ = qq(\\n);
#     CSV spec
#     - record separator is CRLF
#     - field separator is comma
#     - every field is quoted
#     - text encoding is UTF-8
local $\\ = qq(\\015\\012);    # CRLF
local $, = qq(,);            # COMMA
# print column header row
my @dd = ('column 1', 'column 2', 'column 3', 'column 4', 'column 5', 'column 6');
print map { s/\"/\"\"/og; qq(\").$_.qq(\"); } @dd;
# print data row per each file
while (@ff) {
    my $f = shift @ff;    # file path
    if ( ! open(IN, '<', $f) ) {
        warn qq(Failed to open $f: $!);
        next;
    $f =~ s%^.*/%%og;    # file name
    @dd = ('', $f, '', '', '', '');
    while (<IN>) {
        chomp;
        $dd[0] = \"$2/$1/$3\" if m%Link Time\\s+=\\s+([0-9]{2})/([0-9]{2})/([0-9]{4})%o;
        ($dd[2] = $1) =~ s/ //g if m/([0-9 ]+)\\s+bytes of CODE\\s/o;
        ($dd[3] = $1) =~ s/ //g if m/([0-9 ]+)\\s+bytes of DATA\\s/o;
        ($dd[4] = $1) =~ s/ //g if m/([0-9 ]+)\\s+bytes of XDATA\\s/o;
        ($dd[5] = $1) =~ s/ //g if m/([0-9 ]+)\\s+bytes of FARCODE\\s/o;
        last unless grep { /^$/ } @dd;
    close IN;
    print map { s/\"/\"\"/og; qq(\").$_.qq(\"); } @dd;
EOF
Hope this may help,
H

Using automator in OSX 10.5.8

I'm interested in using Automator. I've downloaded a workflow and it has these instructions to install:
"To install it copy the workflow file into the ~/Library/Workflows/Applications/Finder/ folder (where ~ is your home folder)."
Sounds easy, but I I don't have a "Workflows" folder within my "Library" folder. How can I fix this?
I'm using OSX 10.5.8?
thx
scott

Use the Finder's New Folder command as needed.
(61922)

Using Automator to cut up a video

Hello,
I've been trying to use automator to do some repetitive tasks for me, but I seem to keep running into brick walls since I've not really used it before.
What I'm trying to do is cut a video file into single frames, and save each one as a jpeg. I know it's possible to do this is Photoshop by importing the video, and making each frame a different layer, then exporting each layer as a file. Problem is this is limited to do only the first 400 frames of your video.
So far I've made it so automator goes in to photoshop, move to the next frame, save that frame as a jpeg.
Here's where I run into trouble. I want it to rename each file as it's created automatically so it goes file00001, file00002 and so on and then loop back around so it does the whole video while I go off and made myself a sandwich or something.
Could anyone possibly help me?

There are two ways to do this in iMovie 09
1) Use Chapter Markers
2) In the Project Library View, select the project and then click FILE/DUPLICATE PROJECT. Do this as for as many copies as you need. Then to create a shorter portion, delete the clips you do not need for that portion.
If you are open to using another application, you can Share your movie in iMovie. Then use QuickTime Pro ($30) or MPEG Streamclip (free) to split the movie.

Using Automator to change Kensington Trackball Settings

Hi All,
I have several shared company computers, all have the Expert Kensington Trackball Mouse. The computer in question is an Intel Mac Pro running Leopard. I have 2 sets of users that need to use the rig and both sets of users prefer different settings to the Kensington Mouse (I only need 2 separate profiles, not 4). Kensington does not provide software to quickly switch user profiles. The simplest solution is to create different users for the computer, but that is not an option here. We've been trying to use Automator to script the changes quickly between mouse profiles, but while using the 'Watch Me Do' (none of us are particularly experienced with Automator) feature, we are able to set the bottom two mouse buttons, but the top 2 buttons result in the error message "This operation cannot be performed". The Kensington settings are in System Preferences, and have several drop-down menus and text boxes. There must be a better way to do this. Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

I have a similar problem with the ultra sensitive trackpad with the "Clicking, Dragging, Drag lock" checked in Preferences/Keyboard & Mouse. I'm always turning them on and off depending on which application I am using.
My problem is that when I record a series of actions in Automator, the resulting action list has no text behind the action for the mouse click for the Clicking checkbox. Its as though it doesn't even know that its there. All of the other actions show up.
Got any ideas on how to fill that void or another workflow that would do the same thing ? I think that running the workflow again would turn it back on as the actions are identical.

Using Automator to create a text box of certain size

I'm very new to using automator... in fact I haven't used it at all, but I am wondering if I can use it to create a text box of the same size each type to type in within preview (a PDF document). Basically I want to click or push something and have a text box be generated that is the same size each time.
Thanks!

1. In the Finder actions you will need:
- Get Specified Finder Items, and point it towards the folder that will contain the movie.
- Get Folder Contents - to get what's inside the folder.
- Filter Finder Items - set to filter by 'Name Extension' 'Is equal to' 'mov' and make sure all your video files have the right extension...
- Open Finder Items - in QT Player - note that this might cause problems if there are multiple files in the folder...
Then from the QT Player actions:
- Play Movies.
2. Save As... Application, then after saving, drag the app into the login items for the user account.
3. That's going to need some AppleScript, but this thread should get you started:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=455825&tstart=0
Ian

Using automator as a preflighter

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for