Client Success Story – Valspar’s Image and Color Swatch Automation

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Automated Workflows worked closely with Valspar to develop and deliver a suite of custom software utilities that help designers quickly and accurately organize and visualize colors for the web and print.  As a result, Valspar’s designers are now able to keep up with growing partner demand, while continuing to devote time and attention to creativity and color. [Learn how Valspar uses automation...]

My Productivity Session Schedule for Macworld/iWorld/MacIT 2013

168796_10151283456801624_803934990_nAttending Macworld / iWorld / MacIT Conference in San Francisco next week?  I'm doing a number of presentations on productivity.  I hope you can make some of them.  Here is my schedule of sessions:

MacIT Conference

Friday, February 1st, 2013 - 3:50pm - 4:35pm - Automation and Security in Mountain Lion

Mountain Lion introduces a number of security measures designed to make your users more efficient. Some of these measures, however, can impact AppleScripts and other automation tools. In this session, we'll discuss the automation-related security changes in Mountain Lion. You'll learn how these changes will impact your existing scripts and workflows, and what you need to do to ensure compatibility and minimize support issues. Any user or Mac IT admin who utilizes automation in their daily routines won't want to miss this important session.

MacWorld / iWorld

Thursday, January 31, 2013 - 3:00 PM – 3:45 PM - Mac User Productivity Tips

It's an all-too-common scenario. You're working on an important document when you hear that familiar sound. A new email has arrived! It might be something important, so you switch to Mail, where you find the latest edition of the Star Wars newsletter. The next thing you know, it's two hours later and you're on Wookieepedia again, the Star Wars wiki, researching the metaphysical properties of lightsaber crystals. What were you supposed to be doing again? Let's face it, it's becoming harder and harder to remain focused on the task at hand. Your inbox is full. Your Desktop is cluttered. You can't find that PDF file you need. You're late for an appointment. How can you possibly manage to get everything done without going insane? In this session, we'll explore some general Mac productivity tips that can help you take control of your data. You'll learn how to organize your files, prioritize your todos, and deal with email overload, so you can get back to focusing on the task at hand. Any Mac user who's feeling overwhelmed and is interested in improving productivity will want to attend this informative session.

Thursday, January 31, 2013 - 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM - RapidFire - Killer Tips for Email Productivity

Let's face it, email is like like the Terminator. It's out there.  It can't be bargained or reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, remorse, or fear, and it will never, ever stop, until you are dead. In this 5 minute RapidFire session, you'll learn some quick and dirty tips and techniques that can help you combat our shared enemy, the inbox.  Learn how to gain focus and clarity, while reducing stress, as you strive for true victory - an empty inbox.

See you there!

-Ben

Save 35% on Peachpit Mac Automation Made Simple Videos

My 8 chapter Mac Automation Made Simple video series is 35% off through the end of the year if you use coupon code VIDEO12.

[Learn more here or visit the Peachpit website]

MacTech Conference 2012 > Deploying an AppleScript Server

I'll be speaking about AppleScript servers at the upcoming 2012 MacTech Conference.  Hope to see you there.

-Ben Waldie

 

Deploying an AppleScript Server

AppleScript automation capabilities have existed on the Mac for years, and are widely used throughout the Mac enterprise market. Like many businesses, you may be using scripts to streamline your user workflows and improve productivity and efficiency.

In this session, you'll learn how to take scripting to the next level by deploying a dedicated AppleScript server. Find out how your users can hand off files and other data to the server for processing, allowing them to focus their attention on other important tasks. Explore ways of implementing schedule-based scripts, which can run at night or during other downtime. Get tips for migrating existing scripts to function in an unattended environment.

Any Mac professional who wants to increase efficiency, improve quality, and take workflow automation to the limit will not want to miss this session.

Attendees will learn:

  • What an AppleScript server is, and what it can do
  • Tips for implementing your own AppleScript server
  • Tips for implementing folder watching scripts
  • Tips for implementing scheduled scripts
  • Tips for migrating existing scripts for use on an unattended machine

The MacTech Conference runs from October 17-19, 2012 in Los Angeles.  It's a 3-day, immersive, technical conference specifically designed for Apple developers, IT Pros, and Enterprise.

[Learn more or register on the MacTech Conference website...]

MacTech Article > Automation and App Usage in Mountain Lion

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard rumors about automation-related changes in Mountain Lion.  Here are the big ones going around… Gatekeeper doesn’t let you run apps or scripts that aren’t in the Mac App Store – third party app and script distribution is dead!  Sandboxing prevents apps from talking to one another – AppleScript and inter-application automation are dead! First, let’s get something straight.  These are rumors.  Second, like lots of rumors, they aren’t true.  So, what’s the real deal, then?

[Read the full article in MacTech magazine's July 2012 issue, available in print and in the MacTech iPad Newsstand app]

Mac Productivity: Quick Scripts and Workflows – Clean Up Your Desktop with Your Voice

I tend to keep a pretty uncluttered Desktop. I typically have only a handful of active files there at any given time, which I promptly remove when I'm done working with them. I strongly suspect, however, that I'm in the minority. Often, I see people with hundreds or even thousands of files on their Desktop. They truly work off of their Desktop, and this simply isn’t efficient. Locating files on a cluttered Desktop requires scrolling through tons of irrelevant files, moving icons around, searching, and more. Perhaps if Siri was on the Mac, she could help. Wouldn’t it be great if you could verbally instruct your Mac to clean things up for you? Well, with Speakable Items and AppleScript, you can. Here's how. [Read more on the Peachpit blog...]

Now Available: New Mac Automation Made Simple Videos!

Peachpit has bundled a new series of my Mac Automation Made Simple videos on Automator.  They're now available for purchase as DRM-Free downloads, so you can play them on your Mac, iPhone, or iPad.  Topics in this 8-part series include:

  • Automate generating job folders - If you use job folders for multiple projects to keep organized, learn how to save time and reduce errors by building workflows in Automator to create job folders consistently and quickly. You'll also learn the basics of actions and variables in Automator.
  • Batch-create folders from an Excel list - If your workflow ever requires you to create a large number of folders or sets of subfolders with specific naming conventions, Excel and Automator can work together to eliminate the manual creation of folders. By using the powerful features in Excel to build lists of file names in large numbers and use Automator to process those lists into hundreds of folders in minutes.
  • Display Growl notifications for new content - File sharing over a network is great for larger files that you wouldn't send via email, but how can you be sure that you're always notified when a new file lands in your folder? Learn how to team Automator with the popular notification software Growl to build a great workflow that eliminates the need for you to get an email or phone call notifying you of new files.
  • Schedule backups via a network - Do you manually back up your Mac to a server? If so, you've probably had to set up calendar reminders and run through the process on a regular basis or risk losing your data. In this lesson, learn how to make that process automatic and painless with Automator and iCal.
  • Share files via Dropbox - Take the powerful PDF tools offered in OS X a step further by building your own Print Plugin with Automator. You'll learn how to set up a Print Plugin that automatically posts any document you print to PDF to the online file sharing tool Dropbox. You'll also learn the basics of setting up actions to rename files to be friendly for upload tools by removing offending characters.
  • Batch-convert image files to PDF - If you've ever had the daunting task of scanning a book or a box of images with a flat bed scanner, you know that it isn't easy to combine all those files into a single PDF without some heavy-hitting applications like Photoshop and Acrobat Pro. But what if you don't have those applications or are just looking for an easier way? Learn how to set up a quick and easy way to combine multiple images into a single PDF without the hassle.
  • Batch-process images for iPhoto - If you're like most people with a smart phone, an amature photographer or have a large photo digitizing project on your plate, you'll import, manipulate and save hundreds to thousands of images a year. In this lesson, you'll learn how to unleash the power of Automator and free third-party tool to streamline your workflow and make importing images to your iPhoto library a snap.
  • Batch-process multiple InDesign files to PDF - Exporting multiple InDesign files to PDF can be as quick and easy as dragging and dropping your files. You'll learn how to create a drag-and-drop application with AppleScript and Automator that opens, exports, names, and saves PDFs from InDesign. You'll be able to use the same custom application for both InDesign CS4 and CS5.

Sold as a set, or individually, you can find them on Peachpit's website.

Automation and Productivity Sessions at Macworld | iWorld 2012

Well, it's that time of year again. Folks are gearing up for Macworld San Francisco. This year, the conference has been renamed Macworld | iWorld, and a secondary conference has been added specifically for MacIT. As usual, I'll be there, presenting a number of sessions on automation and productivity. Here's the list of my sessions...


MacIT Sessions

[More info about MacIT]


Macworld | iWorld Sessions

If you're planning to attend my workshop, you can save $25 using priority code CCU18842 and registering here.

[More info about Macworld | iWorld]

Going to be there too? If so, be sure to find me and introduce yourself.

Hope to see you there.

-Ben Waldie

Benefits of Workflow Automation

Automating a company's workflow offers many benefits. For one, it can help to reduce the number of tasks employees would otherwise do manually, freeing them to work on other important non-repetitive tasks. This essentially allows more things to get done in the same amount of time. In addition, this reduction of repetitious work in an employee's day can help to increase employee motivation and productivity by making their job more interesting and allowing them to spread out into other areas of production.

Automation also helps companies to generate more accurate and consistent products. By automating areas of production, there are fewer chances of mistakes occurring. So, companies can begin generating higher quality products with more features, with little or no additional increase in production time or resources. In fact, Automation can help improve the speed of a workflow because computer programs can perform tasks much faster than humans. This offers the potential to generate more revenue with fewer expenses.

While there is usually a cost involved in developing and maintaining an automated workflow, this is easily justified by the return on investment that will be gained from the automation.

In general, the following benefits are typically achieved through workflow automation:

  • Increased Consistency
  • Increased Efficiency
  • Increased Productivity
  • Increased Speed
  • Increased Profit
  • Reduced Errors

Read about the return on investment potential from implementing AppleScript solutions in a workflow AppleScript-ROI.

Who Can Benefit from Automation

Any company utilizing Macs in their daily workflow can benefit from workflow automation. The following are some of the many industries that are benefiting from the use of automation:

Real-World Benefits

  • AppleScript allowed NASA to have the largest archive of daily radar animations available anywhere in the world.
  • In TV Guide's Editorial Graphics department, it took 4 - 5 designers a week to lay out a pay-per-view listings section of the magazine. After implementing an AppleScript-based workflow, it took 1 designer about 20 minutes.
  • In just three years, from 1997 to 1999, AppleScript allowed TV Guide's Ad Production department to increase their advertising volume by over 20,000 ads a year.
  • In 1999, TV Guide's Ad Production department saved approximately $52,000 in supplies alone by utilizing AppleScript to automate the process of digital ad printing and proofing.
  • At Piermed, Inc., the process of manually converting PDF form files for client delivery would take approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes of non-stop manual processing. Using an AppleScript-based solution, this process now takes approximately 10 minutes.
  • Companies that implement fully automated workflow systems typically generate a 4.3 times return on their investment during the first year alone.
  • Using AppleScript to automate a small workflow system can often result in an initial 2.8 times return on investment in the first year alone.

Apple.com Article > Workflow Automation in Mac OS X

Efficiency is something that many people strive for in their daily routines. Yet, in the digital world, workflows are not always as efficient as they could or should be. Often, workflows involve countless time consuming and repetitive tasks that take time away from other important things.
Digital photography is one realm in which lengthy processes and repetition are becoming increasingly clear. With thousands of images to manage, convert, color correct, and more, efficiency has become a valuable commodity. [Read more...] (pdf)