Filed under: iLife, Software, Tips and tricks
Trigger an Automator workflow by plugging in a digital camera
While cruising around Automatorworld this afternoon, I discovered this great tip for triggering an Automator workflow just by plugging a digital camera into your Mac. Once you've created your workflow, save it as an application. Next, launch the Image Capture application, and navigate to its preferences. Select the workflow application you just created under “When a camera is connected, open:” and you're all set. The next time you plug in your camera, your workflow will run.A simple trick, but you could do some cool stuff with it. Like renaming images or moving copies to a burn folder or archive disk before transferring to iPhoto. I have a Powerbook and an iMac at home - keeping the two libraries in sync is a pain, and sharing those massive libraries over Airport I've found to be just short of agonizing. Now I'm thinking of creating a workflow that will logon to the iMac from the Powerbook, transfer the new photos to a designated folder and then upload to iPhoto on the Powerbook. Then all I need to do is drag the destination folder into iPhoto when I'm sitting at the iMac. Easy! After all, isn't that what computers are for? To make our lives easier?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Scott McNulty said 6:01PM on 8-10-2005
And that is what Automator is all about, putting the power of Applescript into a much easier to use package.
Though, I would wager that an Applescript solution might be slightly faster... but really who cares? As long as it works. :)
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Dom M said 7:28PM on 8-10-2005
But this is where Automator is great for those of us who have never learned Applescript.
I've been using this Image Capture app idea for a couple of months now although I run mine from 'Download' so I can select the images rather than on camera plug-in. Mine's set up to allow me to give the files a name and sequence number before importing them into iPhoto. Why is that better than batch renaming them in iPhoto? Well, it means that when you do a Spotlight search for the image later, you'll get a proper name rather than an img_5003.jpg in the results.
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Scott McNulty said 8:56PM on 8-10-2005
I agree with you, Dom! I should have said, 'Applescript would run faster, maybe..' If you don't know Applescript Automator is the way to go, and you'll get results nice and fast. :)
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tifighter said 12:32PM on 8-11-2005
Thanks for the great tip. After reading your tip I jumped in and made a little automator app that does the following:
1. Lets you view and accept/decline/skip and rotate the images from the camera.
2. Creates a folder, which the user names, in a ~/Pictures/New Arrivals folder.
3. Asks the user to batch rename the files, appending a number behind each.
4. Downloads the resulting images to the predefined folder.
5. Prompts the user to accept/decline/skip the images again for import into iPhoto (may not want exactly every image in iPhoto).
6. Imports the resulting images into the iPhoto Library (or an album if so desired).
This is perfect for me as I archive all of my original photos to my external drive separate from iPhoto. Plus with the batch renaming of the files they will import into iPhoto that way.
Let me know if anyone wants this little app.
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matt said 11:16PM on 10-30-2005
Thanks for the tip! tifighter, I'd like to try out that app of yours if you still want to share it. you can contact me at neocortical at gmail dot com.
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